Contraband In Tennessee Prisons Irks Senator

There were more questions than answers today about how contraband, like drugs and weapons, get inside Tennessee prisons. The legislative Oversight Committee on Corrections met for a status report on the department’s effort to increase drug searches of visitors, inmates, and prison employees. Many senators, like Nashville democrat Thelma Harper wanted more concrete answers than […]

After an intense, two-hour debate, Metro Council members gave the go-ahead for a new sports complex in Edgehill’s Rose Park. Among other concessions, Belmont will pay 50-thousand dollars plus inflation each year to the neighboring schools and community center. The university also will give full tuition scholarships to eight high school graduates from the community […]

Nearly 200 fugitives who turned themselves in to Metro law enforcement earlier this month are in court this week. A total of 561 participated in ‘Fugitive Safe Surrender’ and most were able to settle up with authorities on the spot at Nashville’s Galilee Baptist Church. Judge Gale Robinson dismissed many of the charges (today/yesterday) after […]

The pair of candidates working to be Nashville’s next mayor met on live TV last night in a debate hosted by WSMV-TV, Channel 4. The format returned to what was a hit in the general election – candidates asking each other questions. Former Metro Legal Director Karl Dean asked Bob Clement, a former congressman, if […]

A state board has given its stamp of approval to the practice of dumping waste from nuclear sites in five Tennessee landfills. This spring, people in Rutherford County were surprised to find that their landfill participates in the program known as BSFR. Their protests lead the General Assembly to temporarily stop dumping such material there, […]

Karl Dean showed up to an East Nashville homeless ministry (this morning/yesterday) to answer questions from the city’s poor and displaced. The mayoral candidate received cheers for his thoughts on building affordable housing and tepid applause for his opinion on enforcing public intoxication laws and panhandling rules. The one-time public defender said following the question […]

Senator Fred Thompson speaks to attendees at Iowa State Fair last week.

Nine of the last 14 days have set all-time energy consumption records for the Tennessee Valley Authority because of triple digit temperatures throughout the region. At the same time, one of the utility’s nuclear reactors was manually shutoff late last week because the river that cools it exceeded a threshold of 90 degrees for 24 […]

The state and federal governments are pumping big bucks into Tennessee this year for bio-fuel research. The U-S Department of Energy gave Oak Ridge National Laboratory a 5-year, 125-million dollar grant to research turning switch grass and poplar trees into ethanol.

Last week, Metro schools began their first day of classes and now there’s a waterfall start for private schools around Nashville. This morning, students at The Ensworth School will return from summer break, and for the first time, the school has a senior class. The school has been undergoing a massive expansion that includes adding […]