This week, District 14 Council Member Kevin Rhoten filed a resolution to end vehicle emissions testing in Davidson County – the only county in Tennessee still mandating emissions testing.
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On Tuesday night, Metro Nashville City Council members’ attempt to impose an indoor mask mandate was indefinitely deferred. Councilmember Joy Styles, chief sponsor of bill BL2021-872, moved to indefinitely defer the legislation that would have imposed a mask mandate in all indoor spaces in Nashville.
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The Metro Nashville government has formed a COVID-19 Financial Oversight Committee in order to help decide where COVID relief funds are spent. Nashville has received $260 million in American Rescue Plan funding that is supposed to be used to help with COVID response, mitigation, and prevention.
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Friday morning on the Tennessee Star Report, host Michael Patrick Leahy welcomed Metro City Council Member-At-Large, Steve Glover to the newsmakers line to discuss the unintended consequences of a never-ending mask mandate in Davidson County.
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Metro Council members voted to move forward late Tuesday with a proposed ordinance that would impose an indoor mask mandate for individuals living and working in the city of Nashville and Davidson County.
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The Metropolitan Council of Nashville and Davidson County, Tennessee voted on Tuesday evening to urge the Metropolitan Public Health Department’s (MPHD) Chief Medical Director Gill Wright to reinstate a citywide mask mandate for public indoor spaces.
Councilpersons Joy Styles (District 32), Burkley Allen (At-Large), Jennifer Gamble (District 3), Sharon Hurt (At-Large) and Sandra Sepulveda (District 30) sponsored the resolution, which passed with 21 councilpersons in favor, nine opposed and five abstaining.
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host Leahy welcomed all-star panelist, Dr. Carol Swain, in studio to advise of her upcoming in-store appearance at Puffy Muffin where she will be signing her new book Black Eye for America this Saturday, and governor Lee’s lack of Republican leadership.
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Tuesday morning on the Tennessee Star Report, host Michael Patrick Leahy welcomed Maury County Mayor Andy Ogles in studio to discuss the lack of clarity in Bill Lee’s executive order for K12 mask mandates.
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The Nashville metropolitan area was the 20th-fastest growing statistical area in the country since 2010, according to data released by the U.S. Census Bureau.
With a growth rate of 20.9% from 2010 to 2020, the Nashville area now is the 36th-largest metropolitan area in the country with nearly 2 million residents. The census numbers showed the metro Nashville population increased by 343,319 people to 1,989,519.
Tennessee’s population grew by 8.9% between 2010 and 2020; lower than the 11.5% and 16.7% increases during the previous two census counts. Four of the past six census counts have shown double-digit increases in Tennessee’s population growth.
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Thursday morning on the Tennessee Star Report, host Michael Patrick Leahy welcomed California refugee Craig Huey in studio to examine the actions of Director of Schools Jason Golden and Dr. Adrienne Battle’s stupid mask mandates for elementary school students.
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Thursday morning on the Tennessee Star Report, host Michael Patrick Leahy welcomed Speaker Cameron Sexton to the newsmakers line to weigh in on his current letter to Governor Bill Lee requesting a special session to debate COVID mandates in the state.
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Members of a group who oppose the Nashville Taxpayer Protection Act announced this week they have filed suit against the Davidson County Election Commission. “Save Nashville Now” members announced the lawsuit against the Davidson County Election Commission in a newsletter to their supporters Tuesday.
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Friday morning on the Tennessee Star Report, host Michael Patrick Leahy welcomed Nashville Taxpayer Protection Act Attorney Jim Roberts to the newsmakers line to describe the many ways in which they are still winning the fight against the Metro government and dishonest information.
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Two Republicans have replaced two other members of that political party on the Davidson County Election Commission. Davidson County Administrator of Elections Jeff Roberts on Tuesday identified those two new Republicans as Dan Davis and Ross Evans. Through their votes, Davis and Evans may ultimately help determine whether the Nashville Taxpayer Protection Act goes to a referendum.
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Members of a Davidson County Grand Jury have indicted a six-person robbery crew allegedly linked to 150 holdups of primarily Latino families throughout Nashville between 2017 and 2019. According to a press release, grand jurors indicted these six individuals on 126 criminal counts.
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Friday morning on the Tennessee Star Report, host Michael Patrick Leahy welcomed Nashville Attorney Jim Roberts to the newsmakers line to urge Davidson County residents to download the Nashville Taxpayer Protection Act petition and get it in before the March 26 deadline.
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Nashville’s COVID-19 vaccine registration website crashed early Friday, as the vaccine became more widely available in the state.
“The Metro Public Health Department said that a system malfunction is preventing people from registering for a COVID-19 vaccine on Friday morning,” according to The Tennessean. The glitch comes on the first day of sign-ups for residents 65+ in Davidson County and was likely due to a high volume of traffic starting at 7 a.m., city spokesperson Brian Todd said.”
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Thursday morning on the Tennessee Star Report, host Michael Patrick Leahy welcomed Sherry Hage and Richard Page of the Noble Education Initiative to discuss their new charter school, Nashville Collegiate Prep.
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Tuesday morning on the Tennessee Star Report, host Michael Patrick Leahy welcomed Nashville Attorney Jim Roberts to the newsmakers line to talk about the adjustments made to the Taxpayer Protection Act petition to get it on the ballot.
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Wednesday morning on the Tennessee Star Report, host Michael Patrick Leahy welcomed the American Federation for Children’s Tennessee State Director Shaka Mitchell to the newsmakers line to discuss the pending lawsuit for Governor Lee’s new education savings account pilot program.
Read More Friday morning on the Tennessee Star Report, host Michael Patrick Leahy welcomed Nashville Protection Act famed attorney Jim Roberts to the newsmakers line to explain the details of his revised petition set for an anticipated April election.
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Exactly 1,605 people in Davidson County voted for former Nashville mayoral candidate Carol Swain as a write-in candidate against U.S. Rep. Jim Cooper (D-TN-05), who ran unopposed in this month’s U.S. Congressional elections. This, according to Davidson County Administrator of Elections Jeff Roberts in an email to The Tennessee Star.
Read More Friday morning on the Tennessee Star Report, host Michael Patrick Leahy welcomed Nashville attorney Jim Roberts to the newsmakers line to discuss the Chancellor’s unlawful ruling establishing more requirements for the referendum to get on the ballot.
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Shelby County Schools would save more than $2,000 for each student who chooses to utilize Education Savings Accounts, and Metro Nashville Schools would save more than $500 for each student who uses them.
This, according to a new research report that staff at the Beacon Center of Tennessee published Thursday.
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Nashville officials have recorded more fatal drug overdoses in the first nine months of 2020 than they did in all of 2019.
This, according to a press release that members of the Metro Public Health Department emailed late last week.
As The Tennessee Star reported in May, Nashville, at the time, had an increase in the number of overdoses since March. Mid-March was right around the same time that local, state, and federal officials in the United States first restricted people’s movements and other freedoms because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Friday morning on the Tennessee Star Report, host Michael Patrick Leahy welcomed Nashville-based attorney Jim Roberts to the show to give updates on the Nashville Taxpayer Protection Act referendum.
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Metro Nashville officials on Wednesday still refused to cite which portion of the Tennessee Code permits them to move the prospective election date for voters to say yes or no to the Nashville Taxpayer Protection Act.
They had ample opportunity to respond to The Tennessee Star’s requests for comment Wednesday.
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Members of the Davidson County Election Commission have cancelled a meeting they previously scheduled for Tuesday.
This, one day after The Tennessee Star demonstrated that Metro Legal Director Bob Cooper said something incorrect at a recent Election Commission meeting.
Cooper incorrectly stated that election commissioners had more than just a “purely ministerial” role taking on the Nashville Taxpayer Protection Act.
Read More In his testimony before the Davidson County Election Commission’s September 25 meeting, Metro Legal Director Bob Cooper cited a 1949 Tennessee Supreme Court decision, Cummings v. Beeler, as a “template” the commission could follow if it chose to accept a third option he outlined as a possible course of action– to “file a lawsuit in Davidson County Chancery Court seeking a declaratory judgment on whether the amendment should be placed on the ballot or should be rejected.”
Cooper stated the Cummings v. Beeler case was about “whether it [The Tennessee Secretary of State’s Office] could hold a statewide referendum election where the constitutionality of the referendum was in question.”
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Friday morning on the Tennessee Star Report, host Leahy welcomed the Vice President of Legal Affairs at The Beacon Center Braden Boucek to the show to discuss the recent ruling regarding the school voucher program in Tennessee.
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Thursday morning on The Tennessee Star Report, host Michael Patrick Leahy welcomed Metro Council Member-At-Large Steve Glover to the studio to discuss his efforts to cut Metro’s spending and the Bob Mendes tweet.
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Wednesday morning on The Tennessee Star Report, host Michael Patrick Leahy welcomed the original all-star panelist Crom Carmichael to the studio to discuss the recent ruling deeming the ESA and school voucher programs for Davidson and Shelby Counties unconstitutional.
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Of the 2,619 cases accounted for on a list of 49 COVID-19 hotspots in Davidson County connected with 10 or more cases of COVID-19, 114 – or 4% – were tied to the six bars on the list.
The list of 49 case clusters in Nashville was released by Metro Public Health officials.
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Here are Nashville Mayor John Cooper’s exact words, delivered at his July 2, 2020 press conference, beginning at 3:01 mark in the video of that press conference.
It’s worth noting the Nashville rate of confirmed cases did decline while bars and restaurants operated at 50 percent capacity in May. The Metro Parks facilities opened in phase three will remain open including dog parks, skate parks, basketball courts, and playgrounds. And recreational leagues and pools will still be permitted as outbreaks have not been traced back to these venues or activities.
Now, of course, we urge you to practice safe social distancing around swimming pools this weekend. Additionally, all bars in Davidson County known as limited-service restaurants that derive the majority of their revenue from alcohol sales will close for a minimum of 14 days beginning tomorrow which is equal to one incubation cycle of the coronavirus.
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Friday morning on The Tennessee Star Report, host Michael Patrick Leahy welcomed Attorney Jim Roberts to the studio to discuss the irresponsible spending by Mayor John Cooper in Nashville.
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Members of the Metro Nashville Public Health Department (MPHD) this week issued new recommendations to restrict interscholastic sporting events in Davidson County.
This, according to a press release that members of the department emailed this week.
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Members of the Davidson County Republican Party have scheduled an outdoor rally to see a live feed of U.S. President Donald Trump’s acceptance speech at the GOP Convention Thursday night.
Organizers said that people who attend can watch the speech on a large screen.
Read More Friday morning on The Tennessee Star Report, host Michael Patrick Leahy welcomed Nashville attorney Jim Roberts to discuss the latest update on the number of signatures needed for the Nashville Taxpayer Protection Act.
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Monday morning on The Tennessee Star Report, host Michael Patrick Leahy welcomed Nashville attorney Jim Roberts to talk about the number of petitions he’s received for the Nashville Taxpayer Protection Act and how it will appear on the ballot.
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Friday morning on The Tennessee Star Report, host Michael Patrick Leahy welcomed Dan Cook owner of Boutique Venues to the newsmakers line to discuss the modified reversion back to Phase Two and what that means for his private event business in Davidson County.
Read More Friday morning on The Tennessee Star Report, host Michael Patrick Leahy welcomed Nashville attorney Jim Roberts to the newsmakers line to give updates on the Nashville Taxpayer Protection Act petition.
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Davidson County has a plan for reopening the city from COVID-19. This plan uses a number of data points including the status of transmission rate, 14-day new case trend, public health capacity, testing capacity, and the number of regular hospital beds and ICU beds.
However, a key metric that is missing from the county’s reopening plan is mortality rate.
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Live from Music Row Friday morning on The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy – broadcast on Nashville’s Talk Radio 98.3 and 1510 WLAC weekdays from 5:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. – host Leahy welcomed Nashville attorney Jim Roberts to the newsmakers line.
At the top of the second hour, Roberts weighed in on his recent victory as the Metro government was found to be in violation of Tennessee’s Open Meeting Act statute. He contrasted his victory with the major league soccer franchise’s quest to take over Nashville Fairgrounds and described how with no contracts signed, taxpayers could get stuck with a large bill for the stadium should the MLS decided to leave.
Read More Live from Music Row Thursday morning on The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy – broadcast on Nashville’s Talk Radio 98.3 and 1510 WLAC weekdays from 5:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. – host Leahy welcomed Metro Nashville’s City Council Member-at-Large Steve Glover to the newsmakers line.
During the third hour, Glover described the situation where the Metro Nashville City Council voted 32 to 8 in favor of a 34 percent tax increase which was designed by Council Chairman Bob Mendes. He was clearly sickened by the vote and stressed to all registered voters that they need to head to the polls in December as well as sign the 4goodgovernment.com petition.
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Officials with a Nashville-based right-of-center think tank on Wednesday harshly criticized members of the Metro Nashville Council for jacking up property taxes by 34 percent.
Members of that think tank, the Beacon Center of Tennessee, said this in a press release.
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The most charitable thing anyone can say about Nashville right now is that the city is a dumpster fire. It isn’t just a small dumpster fire. It is a stinking, raging fire that is going to get out of hand if nothing is done about it.
Part of Nashville’s problems are not its own doing. No one could control the tornado that struck Nashville in March and no one could see, at least initially, what would happen with the COVID-19 outbreak.
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Nashville Mayor John Cooper is directing $24 million in funding from the federal CARES Act to provide every public school student in Nashville-Davidson County with a laptop.
And students who need internet connectivity will get it.
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Davidson County has had an increase in COVID-19 cases as a result of increased testing.
This, according to Metro Public Health Department spokesman Brian Todd.
“I checked with our epidemiologist and was told we have seen a steady increase in testing in Davidson County since mid-April,” Todd told The Tennessee Star in an email Monday.
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Tennessee must give all of its 4.1 million registered voters the option to cast ballots by mail during the coronavirus pandemic, a judge ruled Thursday.
Davidson County Chancellor Ellen Hobbs Lyle ruled that the state’s limits on absentee voting during the pandemic constitute “an unreasonable burden on the fundamental right to vote guaranteed by the Tennessee Constitution.” The judge wrote that any eligible voter can get an absentee ballot to avoid contracting or passing on COVID-19 in the “upcoming elections during the pendency of pandemic circumstances.”
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A Tennessee judge on Wednesday said the state’s guidance about who can vote by mail due to the coronavirus is “very ambiguous,” and she cited “weighty proof” that other states have expanded to let all voters cast absentee ballots this year — something Tennessee officials say is not feasible.
In a hearing via video conference due to the pandemic, Davidson County Chancellor Ellen Hobbs Lyle cast doubts on some of the state’s key arguments against two lawsuits that seek a by-mail voting option for all voters this year to curb the virus’ spread at the polls. Lyle also cautioned that whatever she orders needs to be “a practical, workable solution, or it will throw the election into chaos.” She raised particular concerns about costs for local governments.
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