Archives for July 2006

A high-end boutique hotel chain with ties to the Frist family will be part of Nashville’s newest skyscraper. Developer of the 65-story signature tower, Tony Giarratana has chosen the Kimpton Hotel and Restaurant Group to develop a 10-story, 200-room hotel for the building. The Frist family is an investor in the San Francisco-based Kimpton. Tom […]

With three and a half days of campaigning left, the three republican US Senate candidates continue to slam records and spar over campaign advertising. U.S. Republican Senate hopeful Van Hilleary, says rival Bob Corker should stop running ads Hilleary calls “over the top” and “devoid of honor and integrity.” “Implying and suggesting and trying to […]

With the use of bio-fuels gaining national attention, one Nashville man bought into what’s known as the “grease car diesel.” He converted his vehicle to run on straight vegetable oil. WPLN’s Blake Farmer reports on this eco-friendly Nashville songwriter who’s been through the ringer for his veggie van.

More homeless people are receiving disability benefits thanks to a new program started by the Metro Homelessness Commission earlier this year. The project is helping homeless people with either physical disabilities or mental illnesses access federal disability benefits that include health insurance through Medicare or Medicaid. Nashville’s Park Center, a community mental health center, runs […]

Harpsichordist Polly BrechtBefore the advent of the piano and the organ, there was the harpsichord. Polly Brecht is an Illinois native who came to Middle Tennessee in 1989. The keyboard teacher and recitalist (music starts here) at Westminster Presbyterian Church and Blair School of Music is also a member of the Stones River Chamber Players. She’s working on a collection of Harpsichord arrangements by church music composer Charles Wesley. As part of WPLN’s on going series, ‘Playing in the Band’, Polly Brecht talks to WPLN’s Andy Scheinman about the earliest keyboard, the harpsichord.

Tennessee Valley Authority customers will likely see a decrease in their electric bills soon. The TVA board voted today to a 4.5 percent rate reduction effective October 1. It’s the first time TVA has reduced rates in 14 years. The last reduction came in 1988 when rates were lowered by 6 percent. It also follows […]

Tennessee is considered to be one of the least healthy states in the nation, but a report from the state Department of Health finds that the situation is especially bad for African-Americans. According to the report, African-Americans are less likely to have health insurance or access to preventative care and health screenings. They experience higher […]

An immigrant rights coalition launched a state-wide billboard campaign today to ask that Tennesseans approach the immigration debate with sensitivity. The billboards read, “Welcome the immigrant you once were,” on a background of ethnically diverse faces. Organizers of the Welcoming Tennessee campaign say those words are meant to remind viewers of America’s history as an […]

With about a week to go until the state’s primary election, the candidates for the US Senate are bashing each other with a new round of television advertising. Former Chattanooga Mayor Bob Corker aired an ad last week that criticized his primary challengers for raising their pay while in Congress, and for being lobbyists afterward. […]