Early Voting Begins

Early voting started without a hitch today in Nashville. Candidates for several offices including state legislature, school board and even the US senate were out shaking hands with voters. Election administrator Ray Barrett says the new electronic machines have gotten a good response so far. “That’s what surprised me. They’re really liking them. I never […]

A new report shows that a year after state judges were given more sentencing discretion, the most serious felony offenders are getting less jail time. Upon the recommendation of a Governor-appointed task force, state legislators passed a law in 2005 that gave judges more discretion on sentencing all felony cases. The task force has monitored […]

Early voting for the August third primary election starts today, and across the state voters will be using new electronic voting machines. Over the last few weeks, the Davidson County election commission has been demonstrating the new machines to groups across Metro. The commission expects the election to run without a hitch, but getting people comfortable with the new machines could be a challenge.

Governor Phil Bredesen announced today that an additional 5-thousand four-year-olds will be served in the state-supported pre-kindergarten program this year. From a 20-million dollar appropriation, the state awarded grants for 227 new pre-k classes. Those grants have to be matched by the local education authorities, or in some cases, a private organization like the United […]

After spending a day and a half meeting with credit rating agencies in New York, Governor Phil Bredesen says the state made a good case for raising Tennessee’s bond rating. In 2000, the state lost its triple-A rating, the highest bond rating available, because for three consecutive years, the legislature spent one-time money on recurring […]

More than a hundred union members carried signs and chanted labor slogans as they marched to the local office of the National Labor Relations Board in downtown Nashville today. They delivered a petition calling for public hearings on how the term “supervisor” is defined. Under law, supervisors can not unionize.  Union members say employers are […]

With only two days before early voting begins, state senator Jim Bryson officially kicked off his campaign for governor today by flying to six cities. At the last stop in Nashville, Bryson says he’s running as the republican nominee for governor to fix problems he says incumbent Governor Phil Bredesen has ignored. Bryson says if […]

Twelve principals from Metro school spent part of their summer break in China, getting a first hand look at what schools there do well, and at the strengths of our educational system. Marshall Middle School Principal Barbara Ides was among the group that visited Guandong province. She was interested to find that many educators there […]

The state is buying 13-thousand acres of “high priority” land from paper company Bowater Incorporated. The money will come from 20-million dollars of bonds allocated by Governor Phil Bredesen. But the Heritage Conservation Trust Fund, which was formed one year ago by the Governor, will take credit for the deal. Bowater forestry director Barry Graden […]

The new vaccine that’s been shown to dramatically reduce the risk of cervical cancer will not be put on the list of required vaccines children in Tennessee must receive before entering school. The Food and Drug Administration approved the new vaccine called Gardasil in early June. Gardasil protects females as young as nine against four […]