Investigates
Staff, children recovering after COVID outbreak at Nashville juvenile detention center
Eleven children and eight staff members tested positive for COVID-19 at the Davidson County Juvenile Detention Center in June. All have since recovered. The east Nashville facility is one of five juvenile detention centers around Tennessee that have had positive coronavirus cases among staff or youth, according to data obtained from the Department of Children’s […]
Living conditions at Tennessee drive-through safari raise red flags
On any given day at the Tennessee Safari Park in Alamo, visitors in vehicles line the gravel driveway for several hundred yards, snaking past the entrance, down the road, and doubling back again to finally enter the park. Once inside the park visitors can drive through 5.5 miles of safari trail and feed a variety […]
Tennessee’s Hispanic community absorbs a third of COVID cases
Manuel Caló, a 56-year-old Nashville construction worker from Guatemala, fell so ill so quickly that, although he took the test for COVID-19, he couldn’t wait for the results. Friends took him to Vanderbilt University Medical Center, where he was placed on oxygen and hospitalized for four days. Even feeling so sick, Caló had to overcome […]
East Tennessee migrant workers at mercy of employers
Evensville, Tenn. – In April, nearly 200 migrant workers came to Rhea County from Mexico to grow tomatoes, then in May they seemingly vanished. With long, winding unpaved roads leading deep into untouched forest, Rhea County seems disconnected from the rest of Tennessee, and this seemingly innocuous fact is reinforced when some of their population […]
Nashville health director authorized distribution of private patient data
At the center of continued controversy over sharing COVID-19 patient information with police is Dr. Michael Caldwell, who stepped into the job as the city’s newest public health director the day after Nashville’s first identified coronavirus case. It was Caldwell who decided to provide lists with the names and addresses of positive COVID-19 individuals in […]
Administration ends practice of sharing patient information with law enforcement
Gov. Bill Lee’s administration will stop giving daily lists of patients who have tested positive for COVID-19 to law enforcement, but the sharing of private patient information continues in Tennessee’s capitol city. The practice of sharing patient information with law enforcement and first responders drew outrage from both Republican and Democratic lawmakers, the Tennessee Black […]
Despite bans on large gatherings, a local Little League returns to practice
[bctt tweet=”Just in from @tnnaterau: GOP Majority Whip @JohnnyGarrett4 flouts @GovBillLee rules on crowd size, cranks up Little League baseball practice. ” username=”TNLookout”]While the Memphis Grizzlies, Nashville Predators, Nashville SC and Tennessee Titans remain sidelined because of the COVID-19 pandemic with no public plans for returning to play, one prominent Middle Tennessee little league announced […]
Release of health data to law enforcement raises privacy concerns
The release of private health information of Tennesseans who have tested positive for COVID-19 to law enforcement by Gov. Bill Lee’s administration is facing pushback from lawmakers, advocates for minority communities and at least one police force that originally agreed to get the information. The Tennessee Black Caucus on Saturday called on Lee to end […]
UPDATE: List of Law Enforcement Agencies with MOUs
The Tennessee Department of Health has provided a list of law enforcement agencies in the state that have entered into memorandums of understanding with the state to accept personal data about COVID-19 patients in their jurisdictions. As the Tennessee Lookout reported earlier, Gov. Bill Lee requested the Department of Health to provide daily updates to […]
Health department gives names, addresses of Tennesseans with COVID-19 to law enforcement
The Department of Health is providing the names and addresses of Tennessee residents who test positive for COVID-19 to sheriffs and chiefs of police across the state on a daily basis — a practice raising deep concerns about privacy and government intrusion into the lives of ordinary citizens. The offer to share the otherwise protected […]