Metro Nashville officials plan to spend taxpayer money to create public art that, in some way, acknowledges the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic as well as the tornadoes that battered Middle Tennessee last month.
Last Friday Metro Nashville Arts Commission board members approved re-allocating $40,000 from their operating funds toward this project, part of their THRIVE program, said Metro Arts spokeswoman Emily Waltenbaugh.
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Across the country governors, county commissioners and executives, and city and town officials have announced “lockdowns” or stay-at-home orders of dubious constitutional validity. The result of these orders is the bizarre situation in which jails are being emptied of criminals while individuals engaged in their ordinary business at appropriate social distance have been arrested for the crime of being outside their home.
One of the most high-profile examples of this inverted constitutional order happened in California, where a paddle boarder was arrested near the Malibu Pier for ignoring orders from lifeguards to get out of the water. CBS News Los Angeles reports the unidentified man spent 30 to 40 minutes paddling in the ocean waters off Malibu Beach after refusing to heed orders from L.A. County lifeguards to go ashore. LASD Harbor Patrol brought in a boat, at which point the paddleboarder voluntarily swam in and was taken into custody.
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The researchers whose model the White House has used to help guide its coronavirus response lowered their estimate Sunday for the number of Americans projected to die during the first wave of the pandemic.
The model, from the Institute of Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washington, now projects 81,766 deaths in the United States through Aug. 1, with most of the fatalities occurring by the middle of May. The IHME team projected a range of between 49,431 and 136,401 for the same period.
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In a list released last week from the Tennessee Secretary of State’s office of the candidates for the Tennessee General Assembly, the vast majority will have no opponent in their party primary, the general election or both in 2020.
The list includes candidates who filed their nominating petitions as of the qualifying deadline of last Thursday, April 2 at 12 noon.
Candidates have one week, or until Thursday, April 9 at 12 noon, to withdraw.
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UPDATE: The Office of the Prime Minister issued the following statement late Monday:
Since Sunday evening, the Prime Minister has been under the care of doctors at St Thomas’ Hospital, in London, after being admitted with persistent symptoms of coronavirus.
Over the course of this afternoon, the condition of the Prime Minister has worsened and, on the advice of his medical team, he has been moved to the Intensive Care Unit at the hospital.
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During the third hour of Monday’s, Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy, Metro Councilman at Large Steve Glover expressed his disagreement with the significant property tax increase proposed by Mayor Cooper last week. He stated that he didn’t believe that this was a solution to the problem and vowed to stand up to his promise of protecting the people of Davidson County’s wallets.
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When Rahm Emanuel told audiences that former President Barack Obama should “never let a serious crisis go to waste,” he was applauded. Emanuel was referring to the Obama Administration’s response to the Great Recession. Clearly, President Obama agreed. Obama ushered in the greatest reorganization of the American socio-economic order under the auspices of resolving the financial crisis (which, of course, Obama never actually did resolve).
Similarly, the outbreak of the novel coronavirus from Wuhan, China offers President Trump a momentous opportunity to enact his own sweeping agenda – all of which would be far more beneficial to the American people than Obama’s statism. Trump needs to press his advantage with as much vigor and alacrity as Obama pressed his during the financial crisis.
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U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN-09) announced that, as part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, the already publicly-funded Memphis Area Transit Authority will receive more nearly $36 million in taxpayer money.
This, according to a press release Cohen released late last week.
MATA is Memphis’ public transportation provider.
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In the second hour of The Tennessee Star Report, all-star panelist Crom Carmichael discussed misconceptions of China as a country that would gravitate towards open markets and democracy after experiencing the free markets of the United States.
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by Chuck Ross President Donald Trump again touted the drug hydroxychloroquine Saturday, citing an unspecified study showing that lupus patients are fighting off coronavirus infections because they take the drug hydroxychloroquine. Trump has come under fire from some health experts and journalists for hyping the hydroxychloroquine as a potential “game-changer.” That did not change Saturday when many Trump critics accused him of peddling pseudo-science. But as is often the case with the president’s claims, anecdotal accounts both support and undermine the study he is touting. The Lupus Foundation of America said Saturday that there is no evidence that lupus patients are shielded from the virus because they take hydroxychloroquine. An alliance of doctors studying coronavirus in people with autoimmune disorders also said 25% of patients the group is observing has the virus despite begin on hydroxychloroquine. There is some anecdotal evidence that lupus patients have lower rates of coronavirus than the general public. “None of my lupus patients have developed covid, which is quite remarkable,” Dr. Daniel Wallace, a rheumatologist at Cedars-Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles, said in a teleconference for the Lupus Research Alliance. Wallace said that of around 1,000 patients with coronavirus that have showed up at his hospital…
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The attorneys general who are involved in an antitrust investigation targeting Google are weighing whether to press the accelerator on the probe or focus resources on the coronavirus response.
Google is doing everything it can to protect not only its employees, but also Americans, Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry told the Daily Caller News Foundation. He is referring to what he said was the company’s work to help the Trump administration on the virus response.
Landry is one of the 33 attorneys general who is helping to spearhead the probe.
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Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is pushing back against reports that detainees in its facility in Tacoma, Washington, are going on a hunger strike.
Over the past several days, activists have said detainees at the Northwest ICE Processing Center have gone on a hunger strike in order to force concessions out of ICE amid the coronavirus pandemic, claims that were then cited by several news outlets. However, the agency came out with a strong statement late Sunday, saying such claims are bogus.
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Former ICE Director Tom Homan joined The Tennessee Star Report Monday discuss his new book, as well as the effect the end of the pandemic will have on the United States’ southern border.
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Migrant smugglers reportedly posed as border wall construction employees, and one of them shot at a Border Patrol agent following a high-speed chase.
Smugglers on Wednesday entered the U.S. with vehicles, designed to look like pickup trucks involved with border wall construction, carrying numerous illegal aliens, according to a report from the Washington Times. A dangerous encounter took place after Border Patrol agents became suspicious of the pickup trucks and began to follow them.
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A professor at the University of Nevada, Reno encourages students and faculty to file bias reports to combat “coronavirus” racism.
President Donald Trump recently referred to the coronavirus as the “Chinese virus” at a press briefing saying, “It’s not racist at all.” Trump began using the term “Chinese virus” after China attempted to blame the U.S. military for the coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan.
Nicole Jacobs, associate dean of diversity and inclusion at the University of Nevada, Reno published an article on the university’s website, encouraging readers to combat “coronavirus racism.” According to Jacobs, Americans need to “ARISE” to become an “active bystander” and oppose “act[s] of racism and bias.” To Jacobs, this also includes comments like “Chinese virus.”
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An Ohio state representative says she wants to subject America’s sitting president to an international tribunal at The Hague over President Donald Trump’s response to the coronavirus.
State Rep. Tavia Galonski (D-OH-35) from Akron tweeted, “I can’t take it anymore. I’ve been to The Hague. I’m making a referral for crimes against humanity tomorrow. Today’s press conference was the last straw. I know the need for a prosecution referral when I see one.”
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Cincinnati has seen its first two deaths from the coronavirus, the city’s Health Commissioner Melba Moore confirmed on Monday.
The two men who died were ages 86 and 71 and both had pre-existing conditions, according to The Enquirer.
“On behalf of the entire City of Cincinnati, we express our deepest condolences to the family and loved ones of the patients who died as well as all families of those affected by this pandemic,” Mayor John Cranley said, according to Fox News affiliate Fox19.
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Ohio health officials and Gov. Mike DeWine continue to reference a coronavirus model that hasn’t been updated since March 28.
The Ohio Star still hasn’t been provided with any information on the identities of the Ohio State University researchers behind the controversial model.
The Ohio Department of Health (OHD) claims on its website for the forecast model that it was “created based on current data” and becomes “more precise as more information is available.”
However, the model still predicts that the coronavirus pandemic will reach its peak in Ohio on April 25 when the state is projected to have 9,689 new cases. But that number is based on the information that was available as of March 28 and hasn’t been updated since.
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A health institute that has been making national and state COVID-19 forecasts revised its model for Ohio, suggesting that the peak will be hit Wednesday, leaving far fewer cases and deaths than the gruesome numbers painted by Gov. Mike DeWine’s administration.
The Sandusky Register reported on the model update Monday.
The forecaster is the University of Washington’s Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHMC), and it is a model that has been cited by many state and federal officials, including President Donald Trump.
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At the Saturday meeting of the Tennessee Republican Party State Executive Committee, Chairman Scott Golden responded to the challenge of a candidate who donated to Democrats and voted as a Democrat in the last statewide primary by deciding the candidate is a bona fide Republican.
Golden’s decision overruled the vote of the members of the State Executive Committee (SEC) who were on the meeting conference call.
The candidate being challenged is Cecil “Eddie” Mannis, who is running for Tennessee House District 18. The seat is being vacated by State Representative Martin Daniel (R-Knoxville), who announced in March that he would not seek re-election to a fourth term, The Tennessee Star reported.
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Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz announced Monday that his office has created a “discrimination helpline” amid “rising reports of discrimination from the Asian American community.”
Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan claimed that America has a “distinct pattern” of “increased discrimination during uncertain and trying times, of needing someone to blame.”
“This is unacceptable and, as Minnesotans, we must work to break this cycle,” she added.
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Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said that she expects to extend the stay-at-home order originally expected to end April 14.
Whitmer originally instituted the “Stay Home, Stay Safe” order on March 24, saying that the stay-at-home order would stay in effect for the three weeks. Just days before, on March 22, Whitmer had also ordered that “public accommodation” like bars, theaters and gyms to close, as well as restricted restaurants to take-out or delivery only. That order is slated to end on April 13.
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A popular coronavirus model has lowered its total projected deaths for Tennessee by more than 2,000 since Gov. Bill Lee announced a statewide shelter-in-place order.
As of April 2, the University of Washington Institute for Health and Metrics Evaluation (IHME) predicted that Tennessee would have 3,259 deaths over the next four months. The IHME model estimated that the virus would reach its peak in the state on April 20 and would result in 159 fatalities in a single day.
The model now predicts that Tennessee will experience 584 COVID-19 deaths over the next four months – a drop of 2,675 projected deaths since last week. On Sunday, the model was predicting 1,000-plus deaths in Tennessee.
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