Day: March 28, 2017

Senate Education Committee Approves State Benefit for Illegal Immigrant Students; Silent on Protecting Students in School Bathrooms

Chris Alto
Tennessee Star

  When the Senate Education Committee last week passed SB1014, Sen. Todd Gardenhire’s bill to make illegal immigrant students living in Tennessee, eligible for in-state college tuition and at the same time,  they not only voted to violate the Tennessee  “Eligibility Verification for Entitlements Act,” they also turned their back on vulnerable students who need protection from predators in school bathrooms. SB1014 passed in the committee on a 7 to 2 vote. Sen. Todd Gardenhire (R-Chattanooga), the bill’s sponsor, Sen. Jim Tracy (R-Shelbyville), Sen. Dolores Gresham (R-Somerville), Sen. Reginald Tate (D-Memphis),  Sen.  Rusty Crowe (R-Johnson City), Sen. Steve Dickerson (R-Nashville), and Sen. Ferrell Haile (R-Gallatin) all voted yes to give illegal immigrant students in-state-tuition and violate existing Tennessee state law. Sen. Joey Hensley (R- Hohenwald) and Sen. Brian Kelsey (R-Germantown) voted no. During that same committee meeting, after Chairman Dolores Gresham announced “seeing no motion” to hear SB771, Sen. Beavers’ bill designed to protect the privacy of K-12 students in Tennessee, Chairman Gresham gaveled down the bill and dismissed Sen. Beavers.  This meant that Sen. Beavers was not given an opportunity to explain her bill nor was the committee able to debate its merits, a confusing outcome to say the least since the same committee members…

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Tennessee Republican Assembly Calls for Ethics Investigation of Boss Doss Over TDOT Contracts

Tennessee Star Staff
Tennessee Star

The Tennessee Republican Assembly has asked Speaker Beth Harwell (R-Nashville) to begin an ethics investigation of the business conduct of State Rep. Barry Doss (R-Leoma), a vocal supporter of Gov. Haslam’s gas tax increase proposal, over potential Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT) contracts for his firm. “The Tennessee Republican Assembly (TRA) is calling upon you, Speaker Beth Harwell, to investigate a potential ethics violation by Rep. Barry Doss, who also serves as Chair of the Transportation Committee,” the organization said in a letter dated March 27 signed by its entire leadership team and hand delivered to members of the Tennessee House of Representatives on Tuesday. “Chairman Doss should have recused himself from the proceedings that could potentially have a direct financial impact on his business,” the TRA said of his oversight of the Transportation Committee as it considered the gas tax increase proposal last week. “In this role, Rep. Doss has the capability to sway the committee by means of influence or by manipulation of the rules governing the committee derived from Mason’s Manual,” the letter continued. “In a stunning abuse of power, State Rep. Barry Doss (R-Leoma) broke a long-standing rule of the Tennessee House of Representatives to ram…

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UPDATE: SUSPECT ARRESTED – Police Searching For Man Believed To Be Homeless Suspected Of Attacking Woman In Belmont Area

Wendy Wilson

UPDATE: Police apprehended Jason Williams at 4:35 p.m. Tuesday off Whitsett Road in South Nashville after a foot chase through a creek bed and culvert.  Police responded to the area after a citizen on Collier Avenue saw Williams emerge from her home crawl space at 4 p.m. Police spotted Williams as he ran through the neighborhood. He ultimately surrendered and will be booked into jail on charges of especially aggravated rape, aggravated kidnapping and aggravated robbery.  ORIGINAL ARTICLE Police are looking for a man they believe to be homeless suspected of brutally raping, kidnapping and robbing a young woman in the Belmont area Monday morning. Jason Jarrell Williams, 31, is accused of attacking the 25-year-old victim in her Portland Avenue apartment around 4 a.m., according to a Metro Nashville Police Department news release. The door to her apartment may have been unlocked, allowing him to enter, police say. Police say Williams inflicted superficial cuts on the victim with what they believe was a razor blade and then repeatedly sexually assaulted her. He later made her leave the apartment and ride with him in her vehicle to a bank ATM where he forced her to withdraw cash. After driving to the…

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Teacher Claims Lab ‘Confirmed the Presence of Mold’ at Bellevue Middle Prep in Nashville; School Officials Deny

Wendy Wilson
Tennessee Star

  School officials say Bellevue Middle Prep does not have a mold problem, despite talk on social media and at least one teacher who claims that a sample taken from the school confirmed the presence of molds, according to the lab that tested it. In a March 21 email to staff obtained by The Tennessee Star, Principal Mark Pittman said, “You may have heard about or seen some social media reports about possible mold or poor air quality in our school.” He went on to say that the Department of Workplace Safety has inspected the school at least three times or four times this year but has not found mold, though did conclude that the school needs a thorough cleaning, which Pittman said would be done that week. Pittman also said that an independent lab test of the air quality found nothing out of the normal range. However, a teacher who spoke anonymously to The Star said there is mold in multiple areas around the building. The teacher took a sample from a vent in an HVAC system that circulates air in numerous classrooms as well as the cafeteria. Charles River, a lab used by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) confirmed…

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