Briefs
Food City agrees to $44.5 million settlement with Tennessee over opioid role
Food City, a grocery chain with 130 stores in Tennessee, Virginia and Kentucky, has agreed to a $44.5 million settlement with the state over the role its in-store pharmacies played in fueling the opioid crisis, Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti announced Thursday. The settlement brings to an end a 2021 lawsuit that accused the privately-owned chain […]
Lobbying groups spent around $35 million to influence Tennessee lawmakers during the first half of 2023
Tennessee’s lobbying sector is doing just fine. From Jan. 1, 2023 to June 30, 2023, groups spent a combined $35 million on lobbying activity, according to filings released by Tennessee Registry of Election Finance earlier this week. It’s nearly $4 million more than groups spent during the same period in 2022, and a 66% rise […]
Immigrant, Black voters play key role in Metro Nashville elections
Immigrant and Black voters played a critical role in Metro Nashville’s municipal elections. Of the 26 candidates endorsed by TIRRC Votes, the political arm of the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition, 21 won their races — including Mayor-elect Freddie O’Connell. Other winners include Delishia Porterfield, Olivia Hill and Quin Evans Segall, who claimed seats […]
A new challenge to Tennessee’s abortion ban
Two doctors and three women filed a lawsuit against Tennessee’s abortion law, arguing it prevents the implementation of life-saving medical care. “Pregnant people in Tennessee have suffered needless physical and emotional pain and harm, including loss of their fertility,” said lawyers in suit’s filing documents. “These pregnant people are not imagined. They are not ideological […]
American Baptist College lands $3 million technology grant for minority communities
American Baptist College, the Nashville school responsible for educating a generation of civil rights leaders, has landed a grant of almost $3 million from the U.S. Department of Commerce through its Connecting Minority Communities pilot program. The funding, which comes from the department’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration, is designed to eradicate digital deserts within […]
Appeals Court clears the way to allow Jewish couple to sue Tennessee for discriminatory adoption law
An East Tennessee Jewish couple can move forward with their lawsuit challenging a discriminatory adoption law passed by state lawmakers in 2020. The Tennessee Court of Appeals reversed a three-judge panel ruling that determined Elizabeth and Gabriel Rutan-Ram did not have standing to sue the Department of Children’s Services. In January 2021, the couple was […]
Young, Gifted and Black PAC launches in Nashville
A group of African American business owners in Nashville have launched the Young, Gifted and Black (YGB) Political Action Committee to foster economic empowerment and political engagement for the area’s Black families. “Everything about us, especially as Black people, is attached to a policy,” said Carlos Partee, one of 10 founding members of YGB. Partee […]
New federal dashboard tracks heat-related health emergencies
Nearly one in four Tennessee counties is experiencing higher-than-average number of heat-related health emergencies, according to new federal dashboard that maps emergency medical services responses to heat-related illnesses. Launched last month by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Climate Change and Health Equity and the Department of Transportation National Highway Traffic […]
6th Circuit Court of Appeals promises swift ruling on Tennessee ban on gender-affirming care for minors
A federal appeals court has promised a swift decision in a legal challenge to Tennessee’s ban on gender-affirming healthcare for minors. At issue during Friday’s oral arguments, held before a three-judge panel of the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals: whether to set aside a lower court’s temporary block of the law. The appeals court has […]
Former senator seeks bail while challenging prison sentence
Despite admitting he is a convicted felon, former state Sen. Brian Kelsey is trying to avoid reporting to prison by Oct. 1 as he appeals a 21-month term for breaking federal campaign finance laws. Kelsey, formerly a Germantown Republican and chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, filed a request for bail this week to stay […]
State of Tennessee seeks to dismiss challenge to suit over the banning of protest signs
State lawyers are seeking to dismiss a legal challenge to a Tennessee House of Representatives rule banning protest signs at the Legislature, arguing that since the rules applied only to a special session that has now ended the case is moot. “The special session has now adjourned,” the motion, filed Wednesday in Davidson County Chancery […]
Continuance filed in Lawrence County federal civil rights case
Two Lawrence County officers who have been indicted on five counts of federal civil rights and obstruction charges are asking for a continuance in their case, which came after the two allegedly slammed a 61-year-old man to the ground during an October 2020 traffic stop. Sheriff’s Investigator Zach Ferguson and Deputy Eric Caperton are scheduled […]