Briefs
Nashville to offer hotel vouchers to immigrant families with COVID-19 cases
Clarification: Metro is still working on the details of distributing hotel vouchers and will base distributing on the need to provide someone a place to isolate, according to Metro Health Department spokesperson Brian Todd. A previous version of this story said the vouchers were currently being distributed. Hispanics continue to make up more than 19% […]
Bedne urges Hispanic residents, immigrants to continue COVID-19 tests
In spite of efforts to reach Davidson County’s Hispanic residents, who make up 19.3% of the county’s current 2,776 COVID-19 cases, testing has decreased this week, said Fabian Bedne in his two weekly Spanish language press conferences. Bedne, a former Metro Councilmember who serves as planner in Mayor John Cooper’s office, provides the conferences as […]
Report: 1,120 Tennessee businesses closed permanently due to pandemic
Between March 1 and July 10, 1,959 businesses in Tennessee have shut down in response to the pandemic — with 1,120 reporting their closures are permanent, according to data compiled by the business-rating site Yelp. In the Nashville-Franklin-Murfreesboro metro areas collectively saw at least 410 business close for good, Yelp reported. An additional 331 have […]
Bedne provides Spanish-language COVID updates in Nashville
Hispanic residents make up 19.2 % of Nashville’s current 4,218 COVID-19 cases, Fabian Bedne, a staff member in Mayor John Cooper’s office, reported Tuesday morning. Nashville has had 21,770 total confirmed cases and 195 fatalities attributed to the novel coronavirus, with 17,357 total counted as recovered. There are 176 active hospitalizations which put hospital capacity […]
Hamilton County to invest in high-speed internet for 28,000 public school students
Low-income families with children in Chattanooga Hamilton County public schools will get access to high-speed internet services under a plan announced Wednesday by city and county leaders. The investment, estimated at $8.2 million over the next ten years, is a first-of-its-kind effort by any U.S. municipality to provide free broadband services to any family with […]
Hargett to U.S. Senate: Georgia cat’s application to vote proof of voter fraud
Tennessee Secretary of State Tre Hargett cited an alleged instance of a voter registration form being mailed to a cat in Georgia as rationale for Tennessee’s continuing emphasis on in-person voting during a Wednesday hearing of the U.S. Senate Rules and Administration Committee. Among other instances of alleged voter fraud by mail Hargett cited were […]
Nashville-based HCA reports $1 billion in profits in second quarter of this year
HCA, the Nashville-based chain of 186 hospitals, reported more than $1 billion in profits in the second quarter of the year, a span from April to June that saw cutbacks in elective surgeries and other inpatient services as the U.S. healthcare system was hit hard by the growing novel coronavirus pandemic. Revenues were down 12% […]
Nashville lawsuits target unsolicited robocalls in recall effort
Two federal lawsuits were filed on July 17 against an anti-tax group that made unsolicited robocalls to Davidson County voters encouraging support for an effort to recall Nashville Mayor John Cooper and Metro Council members. The class action lawsuits claim that the anti-tax group No Tax 4 Nash broke federal laws that ban such calls […]
Poll: Majority of Tennesseans more likely to vote for candidate supporting background checks
A poll just out from former Arizona U.S. Rep. Gabby Giffords’s gun violence prevention organizations shows eight out of 10 Tennesseans polled approve of background checks before a buyer can purchase a weapon
Group led by Nashville lawyer pushes anti-tax referendum
Davidson County voters received a petition in their mailboxes this week asking for signatures to support a referendum that would overhaul how Metro raises property taxes, deals with excess property and issues bonds. It’s unclear who is behind financing the initiative, which is dubbed the Nashville Taxpayer Protection Act, but Nashville attorney Jim Roberts is […]
Trump’s reversal on international students negates need for preparations
The Trump administration reversed their proposal on Tuesday to ban international students from U.S colleges if campuses transitioned to online-only classes, but local universities have already put in place policies to protect their international students. Luca Joens is one of a few international students that chose to remain on campus at Cumberland University in Lebanon […]
From the 901: Beale Street Blues
Bar owners are having it tough across the state but some are giving as good as they get. In both Memphis and Nashville, bar owners have resorted to legal action after leaders for their respective cities have closed them or limited crowd size. Monday, 16 bar owners in Memphis sued the city, citing “significant economic […]