Tag: Davidson County

Metro Nashville Public Schools Says They Will Not Close Schools Amidst COVID-19 Spike

Aaron Gulbransen

Metro Nashville Public Schools said on Monday that shutting down in-person learning and switching the district to remote learning is “not an option”. 

An email sent out to staff by MNPS stated, “So, to be clear, switching the district to remote learning during this wave is not an option, and closing schools is not an option without extending the school year into the summer”. This is in compliance with current state guidelines, individual classrooms or schools may temporarily switch to remote learning for up to seven days, school districts are not allowed to. The need must also be documented.

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Nashville City Council Continues to Debate Ending Emissions Testing While Five Counties Are Set to End the Program Next Month

Kaitlin Housler

During a Monday joint meeting of the Budget and Finance Committee and the Health and Safety Committee of the Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County, officials from the Metro Public Health Department recommended council members end the current vehicle emissions testing program and replace it with a $4 fee for each vehicle registration. The $4 fee proposal would go toward air pollution mitigation efforts.

The Tennessee Star reported the resolution filed by Metro Council Member Kevin Rhoten (District 14), RS2021-1251, was filed November 9th. According to the legislation details, “this resolution would repeal Resolution No. RS2018-1171, which authorized the continuation of the Metropolitan Government’s vehicle inspection and maintenance program, also called the emissions testing program.”

The resolution to end emissions testing in Nashville will be further discussed, and most likely voted on, at the council’s next meeting in the new year on January 4th, 2022.

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Davidson County Council Endorses Indoor Mask Mandate

Bradley Vasoli

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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Nashville Area’s Population Approaches Two Million People

The Center Square

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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Two Republicans Join Davidson County Election Commission

Chris Butler

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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Nashville’s COVID Vaccine Registration Site Crashes as Vaccine Becomes More Widely Available

Peter D'Abrosca

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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Nashville’s Fatal Drug Overdoses So Far Surpass 2019 Total

Chris Butler

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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Davidson County Officials Will Not Cite What Gave Them the Legal Right to Change Date for Nashville Taxpayer Protection Act Referendum

Chris Butler

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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Davidson County Election Commission Cancels Meeting: ‘Since Nothing Is Urgent at This Point in Time We Made The Decision That It Was Not Necessary to Meet’

Chris Butler

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.

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Metro Nashville Legal Director Bob Cooper: 1949 TN Supreme Court Case Was About ‘Statewide Referendum Election Where the Constitutionality of the Referendum Was in Question’

Chris Butler

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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Nashville Mayor John Cooper on July 2: ‘Our Public Health Investigators Have Found a Record Number of Clusters Originating from Bars within the Past Week’

Julie Carr

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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Mortality Rate Not Listed as Factor in Davidson County’s Reopening Metrics Plan

Jason M. Reynolds

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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Attorney Jim Roberts Takes Victory Lap as Metro Government Found in Violation of Tennessee’s Open Meeting Act

Julie Carr

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.

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Metro Councilman at-Large Steve Glover: ‘If Metro Government Doesn’t Understand the Damage They’ve Done Right Now to Nashvillians, They Never Will’

Julie Carr

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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Commentary: It Is Time to Break Up Nashville

Admin

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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