Day: March 17, 2018

Enter Another Opposing Voice On $9 Billion Transit Plan: Nashville Plan ‘B’

Laura Baigert

Former Nashville Mayor Megan Barry loudly proclaimed “There is no Plan B” to her $9 billion Let’s Move Nashville transit plan. It turns out she was wrong. A new voice has entered the transit debate that focuses entirely on mass transit alternatives. The group is calling itself Nashville Plan “B.” The tagline for the website declares, “We aren’t against mass transit. Just this plan.” Nashville residents John Maddox and Johann Porisch are two of the voices behind the Nashville Plan “B” Alternatives. Porisch, a public relations professional, burst on to the scene during the Resign Now! Megan Barry Rally where he introduced his effort to organize a recall election to replace Mayor Barry, now moot with Barry’s resignation March 6. Nashville Plan “B” joins the first group against the $9 billion Let’s Move Nashville plan, No Tax 4 Tracks, which launched two months ago with the headline that paying for the $9 billion transit plan would raise Nashville’s sales tax to the highest in any major U.S. city.  The effort to defeat the plan on May 1 was then joined, as reported in the The Tennessee Star, by the grassroots movement Better Transit 4 Nashville. Proponents of the $9 billion Let’s Move…

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Onerous Licensing Law for ‘Hair Braiding’ Faces Repeal in Tennessee General Assembly

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Specialized ‘hair braiding’ salons – called ‘natural hair styling’ salons – may soon have reason to celebrate, as legislation sponsored by Rep. David Hawk (R-Greenville) and Sen. Mark Norris (R-Collierville) would eliminate the requirement for stylists to be licensed by the Tennessee Board of Cosmetology and Barber Examiners in order to ply their trade. So onerous are the license fees and fines, that Forbes.com recently featured the story of professional natural hair styling salon owner Fatou Diouf, who faces $16,000 in fines because she employed hair braiding stylists who did not have the license: Ever since she was a little girl, Fatou Diouf has been braiding hair. And for almost two decades, Fatou has turned that tradition into a vocation by working professionally as a licensed natural hair stylist in Tennessee. “I never did any other job but hair braiding my whole life,” she said. “I cannot recall a time when I did not know how.” But in recent years, Tennessee has forced Fatou to pay a staggering $16,000 in fines, simply because she employed workers who did not have a government license to braid hair. Nor is she alone. After examining meeting minutes and disciplinary actions for the Tennessee Board of Cosmetology and Barber Examiners, the…

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Commentary: After the School Walkouts, America Has a Newly Minted Batch of Victims

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Thousands of young people across this country “walked out” of their classrooms on Wednesday of this week — and of course many of those who did (some in elementary school) were far too young to know exactly what was going on. Ostensibly, the goal of the walkouts was to honor the victims of the Parkland, Florida, massacre last month and to explore new ways to prevent any others from becoming victims of violence themselves.

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Shingrix, Shingles Vaccine for Older Adults, Now Available at CVS

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Pharmacy-retail giant CVS announced on Friday that it will now carry the shingles vaccine Shingrix in all 9,800 of its locations, with many insurance providers covering the preventive treatment recommended for adults age 50 and older, the company said in a statement. Yet, CVS stores in one state, Florida, won’t carry the vaccine because of state regulations, the company announced.

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Bill to Close Tennessee’s Primaries Gains Steam

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The Williamson County Republican Party Executive Committee announced Friday they passed a resolution to strongly support HB0887 and its companion Senate bill SB0772.  The proposal’s summary – sponsored by Rep. Ryan Williams (R-Cookeville) and Sen. Mark Pody (R-Lebanon) – simply states: As introduced, requires a person to declare a statewide political party affiliation before voting in a primary election. – Amends TCA Title 2. (emphasis added) Williamson County Republican Party Chair Debbie Deaver said the measure, which passed overwhelmingly 10-0, would be a welcome change. “It’s a little disingenuous to allow someone to select a candidate for a party they don’t identify with and who they will not vote for in the general election. Just like Alabama doesn’t let Tennessee pick its head coach, and Apple doesn’t have the board of Microsoft select its CEO, we should not let non-Republicans pick our nominees.” The next stop for the bill proposal is the Senate State and Local Government Committee, where it is scheduled to be heard.

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High Court to Say if Pregnancy Centers Can Be Forced to Advertise Abortions

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An anti-abortion pregnancy crisis center in 2016 ran afoul of a then-new California law that requires such nonprofit organizations to tell women that they are eligible for free or low-cost “family planning” resources, including birth control and abortions. The statement that Pregnancy Care Clinic must provide to anyone who walks through the door also must include…

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The Top Six Things You Didn’t Know About Saint Patrick

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Saint Patrick’s Day is here, and so it goes we join millions across the globe to don our best green garb and imbibe in a panoply beverages from the unnaturally verdant Shamrock Shake to the local pub’s green draft – all in a joyous tradition to cheer one another in the name of a spiritual hero of Ireland. But did you know the true-life story of the man who would become St. Patrick is as harrowing as any high adventure you might find in the pages of a Batman comic? Here are 6 facts you might not have known about the life and times of St. Patrick: (1) St. Patrick was not Irish. St. Patrick’s only known name prior to his canonization is “Patricius.” He was a born late in the fourth century in Roman Britain – most likely the modern Wales region, although some scholars say it was Scotland. Like many Romans of that era, his family were devout Christians. His father, Calpurnius was a deacon, and his grandfather Potitus, was a priest. (2) St. Patrick did not share his family’s faith, and was a skeptic. In his book, Confessio, St. Patrick writes that as a boy, he was not…

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Toys ‘R’ Us to Close All US Stores

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Toys ‘R’ Us, the iconic retail chain that has captivated American kids for generations, has announced plans to shut all of its US stores, becoming one of the biggest casualties of the retail shakeout amid the rise of e-commerce. The debt-plagued company announced in the early hours of Thursday that it has filed a motion for bankruptcy court approval to liquidate its US operations, a move that could hit 33,000 jobs.

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Democrat Phil Bredesen Claims ‘I’m Not Running Against Donald Trump,’ But Heads to New York City to Raise Big Money from Never Trump Liberals

Tennessee Star Staff
Democrat Phil Bredesen Claims ‘I’m Not Running Against Donald Trump,’ But Heads to New York City to Raise Big Money from Never Trump Liberals

Former Gov. Phil Bredesen, the 74-year-old “new hope” for Democrats in Tennessee who is running unopposed for his party’s U.S. Senate nomination, launched a television ad last week in which he said “I’m not running against Donald Trump.” Despite that claim, Bredesen is headed to a high end restaurant near New York City’s Central Park in Manhattan to raise big money from Never Trump liberals who want to destroy Trump’s presidency and the GOP. “Pols Love New York City,” reads the headline from a recent New York Post article, which adds the details Tennesseans will find of interest: Democrats from the heartland come to New York for the same reason Willie Sutton said he targeted banks: “Because that’s where the money is.” Former Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen, looking to move to the US Senate, will have a fundraiser at Bobby Van’s on Central Park South on April 19. The New York Times reported in November that Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) helped persuade Bredesen, whom he “courted personally,” to run for the U.S. Senate in Tennessee. You can see the New York Post article here:   A multi-millionaire, Bredesen has said that it will take at least $50 million…

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