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Lamar tapped for Shelby County vacancy in Senate
The Shelby County Commission voted Thursday in a lengthy—and sometimes testy— special meeting for Rep. London Lamar to serve as the interim senator for District 33, a seat vacated by former Sen. Katrina Robinson. Robinson was ejected from the Tennessee Senate in February after a federal court found her guilty of fraud charges. By state […]
Editor’s column: Dearth of Democratic candidates in CD 5 leaves voters underrepresented
A redistricting that sliced Congressional District 5, the historic Nashville district, into three parts like so many pieces of the pie caused a freakout among Democrats. U.S. Rep. Jim Cooper, who has held the seat since 2002, announced the day after the redistricting was made public that he would not seek reelection. Never mind that […]
Editor’s column: Blackburn’s role in opioid crisis overshadows her crack pipe concerns
Given the Republican Party is so full of conspiracists and crackpots these days, it’s understandable Tennessee’s federally elected GOP characters get short shrift from the media. Competition is tough from U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia who doesn’t know the difference between the Nazi Germany police force and cold tomato soup. A year ago, […]
Editor’s column: Lee’s partnership with Hillsdale aimed at creating a religious state
A little over a decade ago, Tennessee went through a Great Muslim Scare. A longstanding Muslim congregation in Murfreesboro decided in 2010 to build a mosque and all hell broke loose. Bomb threats were phoned in. Construction equipment was vandalized. Murfreesboro residents sued to block construction. A Rutherford County state representative, caught up in the […]
Editor’s column: Fewer gun laws and more book bans is no way to help kids
“You don’t know how it feels—in here,” an elementary school librarian told me recently, placing her hands over her midsection for emphasis. “You don’t know how it feels to have to conduct active shooter drills with children.” My librarian friend continued, telling me that she can’t bring herself to tell the kids she shepherds into […]
Editor’s column: What the hell is wrong with Tennessee.
What the hell is wrong with Tennessee. Childhood and college friends who now live elsewhere have increasingly asked me this over the last few years and Thursday, I got a number of calls and texts. We made national news twice in a 24-hour period last week and this time, the state legislature wasn’t involved. First, […]
Editor’s column: GOP legislative leadership should police their own
The Tennessee General Assembly has come a ways since the days of Tommy Burnett. Burnett was a Democratic state representative of legendary proportions. An epic schmoozer and confidant to the late Gov. Ned Ray McWherter, Burnett was elected to the state House of Representatives in 1970, rising to become majority leader, and remained popular with […]
Crowd protests GOP-drawn congressional maps on MLK Day
Concerns over COVID-19 and lingering snow from a weekend storm halted several Middle Tennessee events traditionally held on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day to honor the late civil rights leader, but more than 100 people turned out in Nashville to protest new GOP-drawn congressional and legislative district maps. The Nashville Justice League, which is comprised […]
Editor’s column: The role of conservatives in denying equity to Black Americans
The approach of the federal holiday recognizing Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s life and work means this is a good time to think about the difference in equality and equity for Black Americans and the role conservatives play in the fight for equity. Equality offers all groups the same opportunities and resources without recognizing that […]
Commentary: A backsliding democracy and a civil war in the making.
The day Joe Biden was declared winner of the 2020 presidential election, my husband asked me why I wasn’t happier: He thought I’d be in a good mood. When Biden had taken the oath of office, I told him, I might — just might — feel a smidge of relief. You couldn’t have followed politics […]
Nashville judge vacates 1987 convictions for child rape and murder
A Nashville judge has vacated the convictions of a couple in the rape and murder of a 4-year-old child in 1987. Judge Angelita Blackshear Dalton ruled in favor of Joyce Watkins and Charlie Dunn, both of whom had always proclaimed their innocence. Watkins served 27 years in prison before being paroled in October 2015 and […]
The year in photos: Part Two
In our second gallery of photographs that defined 2020, we share works by photojournalists John Partipilo and Karen Pulfer Focht on topics including the environment, families with special needs children and immigration issues. While 2021 wasn’t characterized by the same type of demonstrations that marked 2020, the year nonetheless had its share of demonstrations by […]