Politics
Inside a bruising battle over a new charter school on Nashville’s west side
A proposed new charter school in affluent West Nashville has stirred up the echoes of the city’s most brutal public education battle in recent history and provided yet another test of a new state law that watered down local control. Nashville is just under nine years removed from Arizona-based Great Hearts Academy’s failed bid to […]
Governor signs permit-less carry bill – again – at Beretta plant
Nearly two months after signing his permitless carry bill, Gov. Bill Lee inked the document again, this time during a ceremony at the Beretta USA Tennessee gun factory in Gallatin. The Governor’s office touted the event as a constitutional carry bill signing, even though gun advocates criticized the legislation as falling short of true constitutional […]
Rep. Hakeem terms committee on refugee issues ‘extreme partisan effort’
A partisan committee formed by the House and Senate speakers will evaluate the impact of migrant children the federal government is bringing to Tennessee, even though figures show no significant increase since President Joe Biden took office. The Study Committee on Refugee Issues, which is spurred by reports about unaccompanied minors being brought to the […]
Stockard on the Stump: Survey spurred Carr to challenge Ketron
Former state Rep. Joe Carr has plenty of reasons to run against Rutherford County Mayor Bill Ketron in 2022, and a survey helped push him into the race. Asked this week if he conducted a poll showing he would defeat Ketron by a wide margin next year, Carr initially said he was “trying to decide” […]
Former Agriculture Commissioner L.H. “Cotton” Ivy dies at 91
Former Democratic state representative and Tennessee Secretary of Agriculture L.H. “Cotton” Ivy died Tuesday at the age of 91 in Decaturville, Tennessee, his home town. The son of a sharecropper, Ivy was the principal agent with Farm Bureau Insurance in Union City before running for the state legislature in 1984. He served two terms before […]
Carr unveils harassment complaints after hedging response
A day after denying knowledge of sexual harassment complaints against him within the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation, Rutherford County mayoral candidate Joe Carr went on the offensive. Carr, a former three-term Republican state house member from Lascassas, posted copies on Facebook Wednesday of the state’s harassment investigation of him, saying, “Liberal big government […]
Longmire files campaign paperwork, nabs endorsement for judge
The primary for Metro Nashville judicial elections is almost a year away but attorney Wendy Longmire got a jump on the competition Wednesday, filing paperwork necessary to officially start her campaign and snagging her first endorsement. Retired Davidson County Chancellor Claudia Bonnyman gave her endorsement of Longmire, who announced May 10 she is running for […]
State to retake coal mining regulation with industry at rock bottom
“Mister Peabody’s Coal train” doesn’t run much through upper East Tennessee these days. The trains John Prine sang about in his famous song, “Paradise,” are practically non-existent. Compared to the 1950s and ’60s when Claiborne, Campbell and Scott counties were considered coal-mining country, the industry has nearly vanished, according to those who monitor it. Yet […]
Attempts to ban teaching on ‘critical race theory’ multiply across the U.S.
WASHINGTON—From statehouses to Congress, Republicans have launched into a fight against the teaching of “critical race theory,” which just a year ago was a niche academic term. Experts in critical race theory say it’s about acknowledging how racial disparities are embedded in U.S history and society, and the concept is being mischaracterized by conservatives. But […]
Critics say proposed referendum wouldn’t lead to much tax relief
The proposed Metro charter amendment, currently slated for a special election on July 27, wouldn’t bring residents much property tax relief any time soon, critics say. The property tax portion of the proposal, which would completely overhaul how Metro government functions, seeks to reduce the property tax rate to its level prior to last year’s […]
Casada linked to Phoenix Solutions ownership
The FBI is investigating whether former House Speaker Glen Casada was owner of a shadowy vendor that did work for several Republicans and netted $231,000 from the House Republican Caucus, according to statements by a Tennessee lawmaker. Rep. Kent Calfee, a Kingston Republican who paid Phoenix Solutions for constituent services, recently confirmed to the Tennessee […]
Commentary: Medicaid expansion has never been about money.
As our legislators adjourn, they keep in place for the seventh year their law preventing their fellow Tennesseans from receiving federal health insurance. Legislators also keep in place the health coverage that they and their families enjoy, subsidized by the taxes of their fellow Tennesseans. In 2015, Republican Gov. Bill Haslam proposed to expand Medicaid […]