Author

J. Holly McCall

J. Holly McCall

Holly McCall has been a fixture in Tennessee media and politics for decades. She covered city hall for papers in Columbus, Ohio and Joplin, Missouri before returning to Tennessee with the Nashville Business Journal. Holly brings a deep wealth of knowledge about Tennessee’s political processes and players and likes nothing better than getting into the weeds of how political deals are made.

Artist Michael McBride with his mural at the corner of Commerce Street and 5th Avenue in downtown Nashville. (Photo: John Partipilo)

Artist McBride drew inspiration from John Lewis

By: - November 23, 2021

Michael McBride and the late U.S. Rep. John Lewis had much in common. Both grew up similarly, in rural Southern farming communities: McBride in Medon, Tennessee, in Madison County, and Lewis in Troy, Alabama.  Both were members of Phi Beta Sigma fraternity. McBride, a Nashville-based Black artist and professor at Tennessee State University, never had […]

COMMENTARY
U.S. Capitol. Photo by Russ Rohde/Getty Images

Editor’s column: Grading congressional newsletters

By: - November 17, 2021

I spend a lot of time thinking and talking and writing about the Tennessee General Assembly because too few news outlets in our state have the resources or capacity to do the same, and I figure, larger outlets than this one do have the means to check on our federal delegation.  But a few months […]

Historic Metro Nashville Courthouse. (Photo: John Partipilo)

Nashville mayor names transportation director

By: - November 16, 2021

Nashville Mayor John Cooper has named Diana Alarcon, currently director of transportation and mobility for Tucson, Ariz., as director of the new Nashville Department of Transportation and Multimodal Infrastructure. Cooper launched NDOT in July and Faye DiMassimo, his senior advisor for transportation and infrastructure, has served as interim director. NDOT was formed after Cooper reorganized […]

COMMENTARY
WASHINGTON, DC - SEPTEMBER 21: Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) speaks during a Senate Judiciary Subcommittee hearing on September 21, 2021 in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Ting Shen-Pool/Getty Images)

Editor’s Column: Tennessee’s GOP representatives blew infrastructure vote

By: - November 10, 2021

There’s no secret that Tennessee’s infrastructure is in woeful condition.   The most notable recent example came in May, when a routine inspection of the Hernando de Soto Bridge in Memphis prompted frantic calls to 911: Inspectors found a crack in the bridge so large the waters of the Mississippi River below were visible through it.  […]

COMMENTARY
Rep. Tim Rudd, R-Murfreesboro (Photo: John Partipilo)

Editor’s column: Rudd’s concern for unruly DAs needs to begin at home

By: - November 3, 2021

(Editor’s note: This column incorrectly stated Bret Gunn, former Assistant District Attorney in Putnam County, was forced to resign. Gunn self-reported to the Board of Professional Responsibility of the Supreme Court of Tennessee and was cleared of any ethics violation in Jan. 2021. We apologize for the error.) Much ink has been spilled over last […]

COMMENTARY
Community members re-enacting roles as members of the United States Colored Troops stand by "March to Freedom" in downtown Franklin. (Photo: John Partipilo)

Editor’s column: A Southern town evolves

By: - October 26, 2021

Saturday morning, I got up and had coffee as usual before donning my Stetson and walking from my house to downtown Franklin for a Civil War-themed event. The last gasp of the Confederacy in Tennessee came in fall 1864, so there’s no surprise that the weekend featured two Civil War-themed events and it’s not a […]

First draft of new Metro Council districts. (Map: Metro Planning

Nashville redistricting to change Metro Council, school board districts

By: - October 15, 2021

East Nashville resident Adam Vollrath has concerns about new redistricting maps released by the Metro Nashville Planning Department on Friday morning.  “I have specific concerns about splitting McFerrin Park between Districts 5 and 6,” said Vollrath, who served as president of the McFerrin Park Neighborhood Association in 2018-19. “There are obvious logistical concerns about splitting […]

COMMENTARY
A bill seeks to regulate the arrests of juveniles after former Rutherford County Juvenile Court Judge Donna Scott Davenport, in green judicial robes, came under fire in 2022 for the detention of more than a thousand children. (Photo: RutherfordCountyTN.gov)

Editor’s column: Sickening systemic abuse in Rutherford County calls for action

By: - October 12, 2021

I love Tennessee. I’m a native and no matter where I’ve gone, I always thought my home state is the most beautiful place I’ve ever been.  But for the last few days, I’ve felt sad and sick to be a Tennessean for once again, Tennessee has achieved a place in the national consciousness and once […]

Scales of justice with back-light on wood table.

Vanderbilt University sued for gender discrimination and retaliation

By: - September 30, 2021

A 25-year employee of Vanderbilt University has filed suit against the university for discrimination and retaliation on the basis of sex and gender identity and disability. Olivia Ruth Hill, who was hired by Vanderbilt in 1996 to work in the university’s Facilities Plant, and her legal team filed suit Wednesday on nine counts. They claim […]

COMMENTARY
Attorney General Herbert Slatery has filed a motion with the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals to lift a stay on a 6 week abortion ban. (Photo: Tennessee Attorney General)

Editor’s column: Slatery’s tenure as AG shows mixed legal bag

By: - September 23, 2021

A week or so ago, a tweet about Tennessee government caught my eye: “We don’t legislate by law, we legislate by lawsuit,” wrote someone in response to another story about Gov. Bill Lee’s legal woes.  I don’t remember which one of the Lee administration’s suits to which the Twitter wag referred, and that’s the problem: […]

COMMENTARY
American president Woodrow Wilson (1856 - 1924) gives a speech to Congress, Washington DC, 4th December 1917. (Photo by FPG/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Editor’s column: Presidential precedent exists for drastic action in times of crisis

By: - September 12, 2021

On Thursday, President Joe Biden announced a six-prong strategy to try to get the current surge of COVID-19 under control. His platform includes fairly non-controversial steps that include making home COVID testing kits more readily available and extending the mask mandate in commercial air travel.  But the leading piece of Biden’s plan is one that […]

Walter Hussman, CEO of WEHCO Media, owner of the Chattanooga Times Free Press. (Screen grab from YouTube.)

Chattanooga Times Free Press announces conversion to all-digital format

By: - September 11, 2021

The Chattanooga Times Free Press, one of Tennessee’s largest daily news outlets, is converting to an all-digital format with the exception of a Sunday print edition, publisher Walter Hussman announced Saturday.  The daily print edition will cease by mid-2022.  Hussman announced the changes to newspaper staff Friday afternoon and editor Alison Gerber told subscribers in […]