News
‘Composting’ birds: Avian flu hits West Tennessee farm and 267,000 birds are destroyed
The first sign of something awry was the road closure on the two-lane country road that goes right past Will Burton’s Weakley County farm, his fields, barns and the one-story house he shares with his fiancee and three kids. White trucks — emblazoned with the seal of the Tennessee Department of Agriculture and “fire and […]
Teachers would get $60K minimum salary under bill in Congress making grants to states
WASHINGTON – A panel of policymakers and educators, including author Dave Eggers and former U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, gathered at the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday to promote the American Teacher Act. The bill, if passed, would authorize the federal government to create four-year grants for states to enact and enforce minimum school teacher […]
Democrats in Congress condemn Biden administration expansion of Title 42
WASHINGTON — Nearly 80 Democratic members of Congress sent a letter to the White House expressing their “great concern” that the Biden administration is walking back on its promise to restore migrants’ access to asylum. In the letter, they also condemned the administration’s expansion of a controversial policy that immediately turns away migrants at the […]
National Dems give New Hampshire, Georgia more time to change 2024 primary dates
WASHINGTON — New Hampshire and Georgia will have a bit longer to implement key changes to when and how they hold Democratic presidential primaries, under an extension a Democratic National Committee panel approved Wednesday. Election officials will have until June 3 to move New Hampshire’s 2024 Democratic presidential primary to Feb. 13 and Georgia’s to […]
Tennessee attorney general challenges Biden program allowing asylum seekers path to U.S.
Tennessee on Tuesday joined 19 other GOP-led states in challenging a new Biden Administration program that provides some asylum seekers from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela a legal path to entering the U.S. The parole program, announced last month, would give up to 30,000 people per month a chance to legally enter the U.S. if […]
GOP senators sent message to interim correction commissioner on Community Corrections
Republican senators upset about the phasing out of Tennessee’s Community Corrections program met last fall with the state’s interim correction prisoner and other officials to make a last-ditch effort at salvaging the intensive effort to keep felons out of prison. The handful of senators didn’t raise the roof but sent a strong message. They were […]
Juvenile justice recommendations from legislature lean heavily on institutions
A legislative committee charged with reviewing the state’s troubled juvenile justice system made more than a dozen recommendations on Wednesday that are expected to serve as a blueprint for General Assembly action this year. Among the recommendations from the Ad Hoc Committee on Juvenile Justice: constructing a new secure lockup for youth, adding mental health […]
Health commissioner declines to answer reporters’ questions on HIV funds
Health Commissioner Ralph Alvarado got a hall pass in his first appearance before the Senate health committee, then dodged reporters Wednesday inquiring about the state’s new policy to end federal funding to nonprofits for HIV services. Alvarado, who came to Tennessee in December after serving in the Kentucky legislature and running for lieutenant governor there, […]
Wave of mass shootings prompts Biden to call yet again for assault weapons ban
WASHINGTON — Following a mass shooting on the eve of Lunar New Year in which 11 people in a predominantly Asian neighborhood in California were killed, President Joe Biden again urged Congress to pass legislation banning assault weapons. Communities across America “have been struck by tragedy after tragedy, including mass shootings from Colorado Springs to […]
Tennessee House Speaker lays out legislative priorities in Nashville speech
Tennessee House Speaker Cameron Sexton outlined his top legislative priorities for 2023 during a speech in Nashville Tuesday, among which were further reducing taxes on businesses, implementing toll lanes to mitigate the state’s traffic congestion issues, and integrating charter schools into the state’s education system. A guest speaker at the weekly meeting of the Economic Club of Nashville, […]
Lawmakers look for motive in HIV funding shift
Two Memphis lawmakers are raising concerns about the state’s decision to cut federal HIV funding from nonprofit agencies and direct it through metro health departments, saying such a move could endanger lives. State Rep. Antonio Parkinson is asking the Tennessee Department of Health why it is cutting HIV funds received through multi-million dollar grants from […]
Austin Peay State University lands grant for study of grassland development
The Southern Grasslands Institute at Austin Peay State University has received a $495,000 grant to study the establishment of grasslands across millions of acres on the Cumberland Plateau in Tennessee, Georgia, Kentucky and Alabama. The grant will be used to “prioritize the habitat needs for at least 185 species of conservation concern that need or […]