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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Public Safety Remains High Concern Amid Tennessee Bail Reform Discussions
A suitcase of marijuana, drunk driving, car burglary, a high-speed chase, murder and prostitution were some of the issues discussed during more than nine hours of testimony this week in front of Tennessee’s Joint Senate Judiciary and House Criminal Justice Committee to Study Bail Reform.
Much of the early testimony centered on data and costs regarding how those accused of misdemeanors and felonies are handled in the pretrial process.
Read the full storyReport: Nearly 300 Afghan Refugees En Route to Nashville
Roughly 300 Afghan refugees are headed for Nashville, but one of the organizations taking them in refused to say Monday whether someone or some entity is vetting those refugees for health or security risks. Staff at the Islamic Center of Nashville did not return The Tennessee Star’s repeated requests for comment Monday.
Read the full storyMayors of Tennessee’s Largest Cities Refuse to Say Whether They Support Critical Race Theory in K-12 Public Schools
The mayors of Nashville, Memphis, Chattanooga, and Knoxville declined to say Monday whether they support public schools teaching Critical Race Theory (CRT). This, even though those four mayors — Jim Cooper, Jim Strickland, Tim Kelly, and Indya Kincannon — belong to the United States Conference of Mayors, which recently adopted a resolution supporting CRT in K-12 public schools.
Read the full storyTennessee Agrees to $65 Million Economic Grant for Oracle to Come to Nashville
In a unanimous vote, state leaders approved a measure to provide approximately $65 million in economic incentives for Oracle, the cloud technology company that provides computing infrastructure and software, to build a new campus in Nashville.
The grant from the state, meant to offset some of the cost of the $1.2 billion investment, was approved from the “Fast Track Economic Fund.”
Read the full storyAll Star Panelist and Epoch Times Editor-at-Large, Roger Simon Talks Quick Chat with Elder and U.S. Open
Thursday morning on the Tennessee Star Report, host Michael Patrick Leahy welcomed The Epoch Times Editor-At-Large, Roger Simon in studio to talk about his friendly chat with Larry Elder and the US Open.
Read the full storyDavidson County Council Endorses Indoor Mask Mandate
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.
Read the full storyLeft-Leaning Group in Nashville Says Anti-Black Policies Drive Poverty, and They Plan to Hand Out Massive Sums of Money to the Poor
Members of one organization said a shortage of cash and a surplus of anti-black policies generates poverty, and they want to prove that theory true by handing out generous sums of money throughout North Nashville. Members of that group, Moving Nashville Forward, said on their website that Nashville residents must reassess how they treat the destitute. They said they have raised more than $250,000 from Nashville residents and will use that money to create a Guaranteed Basic Income (GBI).
Read the full storyMusic Spotlight: Bridget Caldwell
NASHVILLE, Tennessee – Singer-songwriter Bridget Caldwell does not come from a musical family. They loved music, but did not play or create music. Her mother had “exquisite” taste in music and would play anything from Bonnie Raitt and Hank Williams to Miles Davis and Ella Fitzgerald.
Caldwell said she has always been a loud, boisterous kid and in third grade when she was cast as Snow White in the school play, her love for musical theater began. One day she started singing, her teacher ran down the hall to get her mother who was a special needs teacher, and said, “You have to come to hear this.”
Read the full storyTennessee’s Recall Laws Are Limited
Tennessee statutes allow recalls in any “governmental entity having a charter provision for a petition for recall.” This delegates the decision about recalls of local officials to each municipality. If a local government’s charter allows for such recalls, then state law establishes the signature requirements and filing deadlines for conducting them. This also applies to school board members. Tennessee law says, “Any member of the board of education of the city elected or appointed…may be removed from office by the registered voters of the city.”
Tennessee also allows any county with a metropolitan form of government and more than 100,000 residents to establish its own recall procedures in its charter. One example of this is in Nashville, which has a population of 715,884, according to 2020 census data. In 1963, the governments of the city of Nashville and Davidson County merged to form the Nashville-Davidson Metro Government.
Read the full storyFar Too Many People in Nashville Make it Easy for Thieves to Steal Their Cars, Police Say
Too many Nashvillians are losing the personal belongings that they keep in their vehicles, and they are also losing their own automobiles because they aren’t taking one simple precaution, according to the Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD). MNPD officials said several Nashvillians continue to keep their keys in their vehicles.
Read the full storyMetro Nashville School Board Members Deny Critical Race Theory Prompted New Resolution
Members of the Metro Nashville School (MNPS) Board this week passed a resolution that they said promotes multi-cultural education. One local media outlet described the resolution as pushback against Critical Race Theory (CRT).
Read the full storyMusic Spotlight: Jasmin Bade – Exclusive First Listen Premiere of ‘X’s & Y’s’
NASHVILLE, Tennessee – Jasmin Bade first discovered country music when she was six years old. It was Christmas time and she heard the Australian-country artist Kasey Chambers. Her aunt and uncle were playing her record and “fell in love with it” and wouldn’t stop singing her songs all the way home.
Besides Chambers, her mother would play Johnny Cash and Elvis Presley and the (Dixie) Chicks. Bade soon started guitar lessons and would take any chance she could to play. She would play on the streets (called busking in Australia) for pocket money. By ages 7 and 8, young Bade was singing in shopping centers.
Read the full storyMayor Andy Ogles Remembers Nashville Icon and King of Talk Radio, Phil Valentine
Tuesday morning on the Tennessee Star Report, host Michael Patrick Leahy welcomed Maury County Mayor Andy Ogles in studio to talk about what it was like working beside icon Phil Valentine during talk radio’s heyday.
Read the full storyNashville Community Oversight Board Director Makes Six-Figure Salary, Public Records Show
Metro Nashville Community Oversight Board (COB) Executive Director Jill Fitcheard makes more than $116,000 per year, according to public records, and that’s a generous pay increase over what she made as assistant executive director.
The Tennessee Star filed a public records request in July asking for information about what Fitcheard makes this fiscal year and what she made in Fiscal Year 2020. Those records show she made more than $42,000 as the COB’s assistant executive director.
Read the full storyHost Leahy and All-Star Panelist Carmichael Discuss the Legacy of Phil Valentine
Monday morning on the Tennessee Star Report, host Michael Patrick Leahy welcomed all-star panelist Crom Carmichael in studio to reminisce about the talk radio stylings of recently passed conservative talk radio host Phil Valentine.
Read the full storyMusic Spotlight: Sadie Campbell
Written and produced during the COVID pandemic, Sadie Campbell’s ‘Darkroom’ addresses mental health issues in an elegant, yet haunting way. EP is out on August 27th. Listen to the single “Fade” now.
Read the full storyNashville Schools Send Out Robocalls Telling Parents They Will Defy Governor Bill Lee’s Executive Order
In spite of Tennessee Governor Bill Lee’s executive order, Metro Nashville Public School (MNPS) officials have sent out robocalls to parents to tell them they may not opt their child out of COVID-19 mask mandates. The Tennessee Star obtained a recording of a robocall that MNPS officials sent out this week.
Read the full storyNashville Mayor John Cooper Backs School Defiance of Governor Lee’s Mask Opt-Out Executive Order
Nashville Mayor John Cooper backs school defiance of Governor Lee’s (R) executive order allowing parents to opt their kids out of mask mandates. Cooper called the order “disappointing.” The order follows the Nashville Metro Public Schools (MNPS) board voting to mandate masks in classrooms less than two weeks ago. As reported by The Tennessee Star, over 1,000 individuals signed a letter asking the Nashville Metro Public Schools to instate a mask mandate for the 2021 school year.
Read the full storyVanderbilt University Releases COVID-19 Policies for 2021-2022 School Year
Vanderbilt University officials have announced their COVID-19 masking requirements for the new 2021-2022 school year. Vanderbilt officials said in a Health and Safety Protocols memo that the Nashville-based school has a high vaccination rate of about 94 percent.
Read the full storyTennessee Law Puts Up Several Barriers to Keep Tennesseans from Recalling Their Local School Board Member
If you live in Tennessee and you’re so upset with your local school board member that you want to recall him or her then you’re not going to like what state law has to say about the subject. One of Tennessee’s largest cities will apparently permit you to recall your local school board members, but the state’s vast other regions will not.
Read the full storyNashville Area’s Population Approaches Two Million People
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.
Read the full storyThe Daily Wire’s Matt Walsh Told Metro Nashville School Board ‘No Mask Mandates’ Last Week
The Daily Wire’s Matt Walsh of The Walsh Show confronted the Metro Nashville Public School Board last Tuesday night in Williamson County regarding the newly decided reimplementation of mask mandates for elementary students. Walsh in turn schooled the board with his speech of facts and referenced mask-wearing as a form of child abuse which gained cheers from other parents.
Read the full storyFormer NFL QB Jay Cutler Says He’s Running for School Board in Tennessee’s Williamson County
Former football players becoming politicians isn’t new.
Plenty of ex-football players have been elected to Congress or state legislatures, and former NFL running back Herschel Walker is working on a U.S. Senate run in Georgia.
Read the full storyMetro Nashville School Bus Driver Says She Cannot Comply with COVID-19 Mask Mandate
A Metro Nashville Public Schools (MNPS) bus driver has informed her employer she “cannot in good conscience comply” with the school system’s new COVID-19 mask mandate. That school bus driver, Brenda Mason, filed a letter Monday stating she disagrees with the mask policy and must object.
Read the full storyNashville Releases Plan to Fight Homelessness Using Taxpayer Money
Metro Nashville officials this week released a plan that they said will tackle homelessness within the city. According to Nashville.gov, the city will serve up to 40 people at once at two new Mobile Housing Navigation sites.
Read the full storyMusic Spotlight: The Hobbs Sisters
NASHVILLE, Tennessee – When I first heard The Hobb Sisters, I stopped dead in my tracks. I am all about family harmonies but these two were next level. I guess that’s what happens when you have identical twins who are naturally gifted singers.
Lauren and Hannah Hobbs were encouraged to sing as young children by their grandfather, Pappaw John. He played the guitar and banjo by ear and would sing along with them.
Read the full storyMetro Nashville Schools Special Meeting on COVID-19 Masks Are a Waste of Time, Board Member Says
Metro Nashville Public School (MNPS) Board members will hold a special meeting later this week to discuss COVID-19 mask requirements, but one board member said Tuesday that it’s a waste of time. MNPS Board members have scheduled the meeting for 11 a.m. Thursday at the MNPS Central Administration Building on 2601 Bransford Avenue, said District Six Board Member Fran Bush.
Read the full storyPfizer Launches Trials to Test Booster COVID Shots in Knoxville, Nashville
Pfizer has launched trials in Knoxville and Nashville to test a third booster shot for the COVID-19 vaccine, marketed as an “updated version.” Alliance for Multispecialty Research (AMR) Knoxville’s Volunteer Research Group is conducting the Knoxville study, and Clinical Research Associates is conducting the Nashville study. Pfizer claimed in a press release earlier this month that a third dose of the COVID-19 vaccine would more effectively provide immunization, especially against the Delta variant.
Read the full storyMusic Spotlight: Gracie Carol
NASHVILLE, Tennessee – Gracie Carol is originally from Cincinnati, Ohio. As an athlete, Carol only remembers hearing her parents play country music as a child.
She recalled, “Every time we played games or practiced, my parents would be in the car just blaring new Kenny Chesney and Alan Jackson and George Strait and all the late 90s and early 2000s songs from country radio.”
Read the full storyThales Academy to Host Open House in Franklin Next Week
Officials at the Thales Academy in Franklin have scheduled an open house next week to allow prospective parents to tour the campus, visit classrooms, meet teachers, acquaint themselves with the school’s curriculum, or to ask questions. Franklin Academy officials have scheduled the open house for 6 p.m. Thursday, August 5 at their campus, located at 3835 Carothers Parkway in Franklin. Franklin Academy is an independent and private school.
Read the full story‘Save Nashville Now’ Files Suit Against Davidson County Election Commission over Nashville Taxpayer Protection Act
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.
Read the full storyMusic Spotlight: Hope Blanchard
NASHVILLE, Tennessee – Hope Blanchard is from Falmouth, Massachusetts. She grew up with her mother being a huge country music fan. When she was very young, not many from her town listened to country music.
She recalled, “My mom stayed at home and took care of us and that (country music) was what was always on.”
Read the full storyTennessee Supreme Court Says It Won’t Hear Nashville Taxpayer Protection Act Case Early
Members of the Tennessee Supreme Court announced Friday they will not involve themselves in legal action between the Davidson County Election Commission and the Metro Nashville Government over the Nashville Taxpayer Protection Act. Court officials announced this Friday.
Read the full storyCarol Swain Says Facebook Has Shadow Banned Her Politically Conservative Posts
Carol Swain said Facebook staff members shadow banned her last week and restricted her from communicating her ideas to her more than 77,000 social media followers. Shadow banning occurs when someone posts something and that same person can see what he or she published on a social media network. No other person, however, can see or respond to the post. Swain said she saw her published posts and asked her friends if they also saw what she posted. They did not.
Read the full storyMusic Spotlight: Kimberly Dawn
With her newest album, ‘Canyon Road,’ Kimberly Dawn has focused on creating inspiring music for others in a genre that has always spoken to her.
Read the full storyExclusive Premiere: Jarod Grubb’s Tiki Bar on the Beach
NASHVILLE, Tennessee – About as far away as you can get from a beach, Jarod Grubb grew up near Glacier National Park in northwest Montana.
Like many young boys, his dream was to be a professional baseball player. And he was good enough to get a scholarship to play baseball in college.
Read the full storyMusic Spotlight: After Midtown
NASHVILLE, Tennessee – Adam Ernst and Michael Rotundo make up the duo After Midtown.
Ernst grew up in Pennsylvania about two hours outside of Amish country while Rotundo hails from Trenton, Ohio.
Read the full storyThink Tank Pitches Local Reparations for Nashville’s Black Community
Members of the left-leaning Brookings Institution said in an article late last week that local policymakers in Nashville should restore North Nashville’s black middle class — by pursuing a reparations policy. According to its website, the Brookings Institution is a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit.
Read the full storyHendersonville Man Pleads Guilty to Setting Fire to Metro Nashville Courthouse After George Floyd Rally
A Hendersonville man charged last year with the malicious destruction of property at the Metro Nashville Courthouse pleaded guilty this week in U.S. District Court. This, according to a press release for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Tennessee.
Read the full storyHomeless Encampment in West Nashville Growing, Businesses Asking for Change
A homeless encampment that has been located in West Nashville for years is still growing and it’s making local business owners concerned. As was reported on Fox 17, “One restaurant manager says people from the camp are coming in and begging dinner-goers for food.”
Read the full storyMusic Spotlight: Jeanna Paulette
Texas rancher, songwriter, and artist Jenna Paulette recently released her newest single, “Girl in the Country”, a song that is dedicated to country girls everywhere.
Read the full storyAmericans for Prosperity – Tennessee Launches Grassroots Effort on Nashville Taxpayer Protection Act
Americans for Prosperity (AFP) – Tennessee members announced this week they want volunteers to help them fight for the Nashville Taxpayer Protection Act. The referendum, if voters approve it, would roll back Nashville Mayor John Cooper’s 34 to 37 percent tax increase.
Read the full storyGOP Candidate Robby Starbuck Talks About Growing Up in America Without a Victim Mentality
Tuesday morning on the Tennessee Star Report, host Michael Patrick Leahy welcomed GOP Republican Candidate for the Fifth Congressional seat Robby Starbuck in studio to discuss education and growing up Cuban.
Read the full storyCrom Carmichael Compares Mayor John Cooper and Former Governor Don Sundquist on Tax Reform Discussions
Friday morning on the Tennessee Star Report, host Michael Patrick Leahy welcomed the original all-star panelist Crom Carmichael in studio to discuss the false claims of impending doom made by Mayor John Cooper to dissuade people from voting on the tax referendum.
Read the full storyMusic Spotlight: Alannah McCready
NASHVILLE, Tennessee- Alannah McCready had two passions growing up: singing and playing hockey. Growing up in Minnesota and getting her first pair of skates at the age of three, it was inevitable that McCready was going to become a hockey star. “It’s called the state of hockey for a reason,” she noted.
Read the full storyNashville Mayor John Cooper Wants More Revenue Sources to Fund Affordable Housing
Nashville Mayor John Cooper released a report Wednesday that not only calls for more affordable housing within the city but also calls for new sources of revenue to fund it. The report specifically calls on Metro Nashville officials to pursue additional revenue streams. Metro planners also suggest generating more affordable housing by using land already publicly-owned and underutilized. The report said city officials could expand Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILOT) to support Low Income Housing Tax Credits (LIHTC). This method, the report went on to say, would fund long-term housing by partnering with nonprofit and private developers. Metro planners also suggested creating “mixed use, mixed income communities.”
Read the full storyNashville Taxpayer Protection Act Supporters Prepare Media Counterpunch
The people who oppose the Nashville Taxpayer Protection Act this week began a paid media campaign to tarnish the Nashville Taxpayer Protection Act as the brainchild of “radical extremists.” But Nashville attorney Jim Roberts, one of the architects of the referendum, told The Tennessee Star this week that he and his supporters are currently crafting their own media counteroffensive.
Read the full storyMusic Spotlight: Bailey Callahan
Excerpt. Bailey Callahan released a new country-rock album, ‘The A & B Sides’ on June 4th. She will be touring to promote the record throughout the summer.
Read the full storyMayor John Cooper Says Nashville Taxpayer Protection Act Will Mistreat Minorities and Create Anarchy
Nashville Mayor John Cooper this month delivered a speech that invoked race and even Donald Trump as a means to frighten voters out of supporting the Nashville Taxpayer Protection Act. The referendum, if voters approve it, would roll back Cooper’s 34 to 37 percent property tax increase.
Read the full story