Commentary
Keep arbitration an option for older Americans
Thanks to the arbitration process in Tennessee, countless employees have negotiated reasonable settlements with businesses regarding many types of disputes. As a student at the University of Tennessee studying this very issue, I know that this system has proven to be an efficient process that saves everyone thousands of dollars and wastes little time. Still, […]
Even a landslide doesn’t equal a mandate
Mayor-elect Freddie O’Connell won in a landslide last Thursday. He secured nearly two-thirds of the vote against a quality candidate, Alice Rolli. He ran an impressive campaign from start to finish and his speeches and response to countless questions showed what he wanted to accomplish as mayor, while demonstrating a deep understanding of our city. […]
Editor’s notebook: Democracy requires the media to hold candidates, officials accountable
Even as three of Nashville’s major cities — Memphis, Nashville and Knoxville — have either recently elected or will soon elect mayors, I’m already looking ahead to the next election cycle. Today is International Day of Democracy, established in 2007 by the United Nations to promote and uphold principles of democracy, and there’s no better […]
Stockard on the Stump: Demise of autopsy bill helped bring special session to close
The “autopsy bill” was supposed to be a victory of sorts for Covenant School parents who, along with their children, are coping with the horror of a mass shooting. Since Republican lawmakers refused to take up Gov. Bill Lee’s extreme risk protection order bill, it would be one way to make them feel the Legislature […]
Silently holding signs at legislative hearings is protected political speech
During the Tennessee General Assembly’s August special session on public safety at a House Civil Justice Subcommittee meeting, police escorted protestors out of the hearing for holding signs that read “1 KID > ALL THE GUNS.” Before the subcommittee chair called attention to them, the women were not shouting or being disruptive and were simply […]
Getting to the root of the ‘conspiracy industrial complex’
“Societies develop social structures, or institutions, that persist because they play a part in helping society survive. If anything adverse happens to one of these institutions or parts, all other parts are affected and the system no longer functions properly.” – Diana Kendall, author of Sociology in Our Times When humans organize into societies, the foundational […]
The Nashville mayoral end game
(Editor’s note: An earlier version of this story attributed a quote in the last paragraph to Alice Rolli instead of Freddie.) There are two ways to foreshadow how things will go down Thursday night when Nashville’s aeonic mayoral election saga finally streams its series finale. Most likely is the conventional wisdom prediction (it’s not called […]
Stockard on the Stump: Moderation becoming extinct in Tennessee politics
Young Democrats in the state House are riding a wave of Republican blunders that could reshape the state’s political landscape, eventually leaving moderates without a home. Republicans forced middle-of-the-roaders out last year when they defeated GOP Rep. Bob Ramsey of Maryville and redrew the district of independent Rep. John Mark Windle, who had already dropped […]
Fighting for the schools our children deserve
Our children have returned to school and many parents felt the effects of inflation while shopping for school supplies. For education workers across the country, the lack of respect, pay, benefits and job stability to support their own families is not new. In Tennessee, support staff have a chronic issue of short paychecks when school […]
