News
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: DNC Member Owen: “I didn’t give money to McConnell”
On Wednesday, the Tennessee Lookout reported Bill Owen, a former state senator from Knoxville and one of four Tennessee members on the Democratic National Committee, survived a challenge from party officials that would have removed him from the DNC. Among the charges levied against him were his numerous contributions to Republican elected officials. Owen has […]
North Nashville schools would be consolidated under new proposal
The Nashville school board will consider a plan at its Tuesday meeting to close several schools in the Pearl-Cohn and Whites Creek cluster as part of a multi-year consolidation proposal by new Director Adrienne Battle. The board isn’t likely to vote at the May 12 meeting on the consolidation plan called Metro Schools ReimaginED. In […]
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 […]
GOP Senate hopeful serves with his donors on White House panel
WASHINGTON — Tennessee Senate candidate Bill Hagerty is serving on a White House economic advisory panel alongside several of his highest-profile campaign donors. Hagerty — who served as President Donald Trump’s ambassador to Japan until last July — was named by the president in April as a “thought leader” on the panel aimed at reopening […]
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 […]
The Equity Alliance leaders make case for mail-in voting amid pandemic
Tennessee is one of 16 states that requires an excuse in order to vote by mail, a policy stance under increased scrutiny during the COVID-19 pandemic. The nonprofit and nonpartisan Nashville-based Equity Alliance filed a lawsuit last week seeking to expand vote-by-mail because of the pandemic. Tennessee allows for mail-in voting if someone is ill, […]
TN voucher law in limbo as state loses request to stay judge’s order
A Nashville judge rejected the state of Tennessee’s request to allow parents to continue applying for education savings accounts pending a legal appeal of her earlier ruling that the new law is unconstitutional. Chancellor Anne Martin ruled from the bench on Thursday that the Department of Education can accept no more applications for the new […]
COVID-19 spike in heavily immigrant communities tied to fear of ‘Public Charge’
A “heat map” released by Metro Nashville officials shows concentrations of COVID-19 cases in two Davidson County zip codes — 37211 and 37013 — that are home to many of the area’s immigrants. Some local advocates for the immigrant community say fear of the federal policy known as “Public Charge” is one reason for the […]
TIRRC joins national coalition to protect meatpacking workers
Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition (TIRRC) discussed a nationwide coordinated effort with other immigrant rights leaders in order to highlight COVID-19’s impact on immigrants. In response to the rising number of infected workers across the country, adult children born in the U.S. have collaborated on behalf of their parents, many of whom are undocumented […]
Dollar General hit with labor complaint over COVID-19 response
Dollar General is the subject of a federal unfair labor practices complaint filed by a former corporate employee who said the company has failed to keep its workers safe and pay them adequately during the COVID-19 pandemic. In a Twitter thread on Tuesday evening, Daniel Stone, who worked as a marketing and planning analyst for […]
From hospital, Justice Ginsburg slams Trump birth control rules
WASHINGTON — Hospitalization for a gallbladder condition didn’t stop U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg from assailing Trump administration’s birth control rules on Wednesday. Ginsburg, 87, was hospitalized at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore on Tuesday night, but was animated as she participated in an oral argument via teleconference surrounding a Trump administration policy that allows […]