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Nashville Councilwoman Zulfat Suara rallies support to #EndSARS in native Nigeria
Metro Councilwoman Zulfat Suara ran for office last year with a platform focusing on the wonkiest of issues: city finances, schools funding, taxing policy. Issues like that are in Suara’s wheelhouse since most of her professional career has been spent in the field of accounting and her day job is working as an administrator for […]
COVID-19 case load becomes critical in Northeast Tennessee
In a 21 county region encompassing northeast Tennessee and parts of Virginia, North Carolina and Kentucky, officials at one hospital chain say they are on the verge of exceeding their capacity to care for coronavirus and other patients. Ballad Health provides the vast majority of hospital care in the region known as the Appalachian Highlands […]
Immigrant communities suffer as funeral traditions upended in pandemic
For many members of the immigrant community, sending the body of a loved one back to their native land is an important part of life in the U.S., but the pandemic has complicated an already complex procedure. COVID-19 has been affecting mortuary shipping services, and most international flights to and from the U.S. have been […]
Nashville charter referendum takes aim at soccer stadium project
Lost in the conversation about how the proposed Metro charter referendum would lead to massive mid-year budget cuts and overhaul how property tax increases are approved is the impact the ballot measure could have on the fairgrounds soccer project. There are five proposals included in the referendum. One would repeal the 34% property tax increase […]
Commentary: When will the Tennessee Walking Horse be Unchained?
Last month the 82nd annual Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration ended in Shelbyville. It’s an event that’s been brewing with controversy for more than half a century because of soring, where trainers inflict pain to horses’ front feet and legs to produce and artificial exaggeration of the natural gait, the “Big Lick.” Before trainers began […]
Nashville Rescue Mission women’s shelter closed amid COVID-19 outbreak
The Nashville Rescue Mission’s women’s campus is now closed to new admissions after scores of residents and at least six staff members tested positive for coronavirus, according to the Metro Public Health Department and a Rescue Mission spokeswoman. An additional 40 people connected to the campus have tested positive for coronavirus since 16 initial cases […]
Former extremists get opportunities for a fresh start through tattoo removal programs
There are always people trying to leave hate groups in hopes of living a better life after a destructive past. The process of exiting brings all sorts of complications as people come to terms with the magnitude of their hate-filled beliefs and make the choice to leave behind the friends and the groups that have […]
In conservative Williamson County, mixed political views emerge in early voting
More than 270,000 residents voted early in Tennessee by Wednesday, according to the Tennessee Secretary of State, confirming a 91% increase of early-voting turnout compared to 2016. Conservative Williamson County is no different in terms of turnout than Davidson County, it’s more progressive neighbor. Although the lines were not as long as the first day […]
COVID cases rise 50% among school age children across Tennessee since early August
At a COVID-19 briefing Thursday morning, Nashville Public Health Director Dr. Michael Caldwell cautioned that the city is seeing an unwelcome upsurge in coronavirus infections. Among the driving factors? Children, from infants to 17 years old, whose case rates have spiked 93% since the beginning of September, Caldwell said. Case rates mark the prevalence of […]
Nashville DA Glenn Funk joins list of prosecutors pledging not to enforce laws criminalizing abortion
Nashville District Attorney Glenn Funk has joined a list of more than 60 elected prosecutors who have pledged not to enforce laws criminalizing abortion in a collective statement released Thursday. The statement pledged a commitment from prosecutors in 30 states and the District of Columbia to “not prosecute women who obtain abortions and health care […]
Commentary: Cancel standardized testing during pandemic
Three weeks ago, I watched Governor Bill Lee and Tennessee education commissioner Penny Schwinn stand in front of a room full of reporters and say that among third graders reading proficiency rates were down 50 percent and math proficiency rates were down 65 percent. The Governor implied that this staggering result was caused, in part, by […]
Judge strikes Tennessees’s 48-hour abortion waiting period, but the wait may not be over
A federal judge on Wednesday handed abortion rights supporters a major victory when he struck down a 48-hour waiting period for women seeking abortions that has been a routine part of terminating a pregnancy in Tennessee for the past five years. It remains unclear whether the ruling will give women more immediate and full access […]