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Tennessee Senator Lamar Alexander says he will vote to uphold a clean-air rule, even as attackers say he’s siding with President Obama in a quote “war on coal.”

Tennessee once again brought in more tax dollars than expected last month. That’s been the case for the whole budget year so far. But today’s numbers came with a few words of caution.

A new review of how Tennessee evaluates its teachers makes relatively few recommendations that would take approval from state lawmakers. But an outgoing Republican senator says one of them is a doozey.

A long-awaited review of Tennessee’s system for evaluating teachers came out yesterday. Six months ago Governor Bill Haslam asked the education group SCORE to study the new system, after hearing complaints from educators about the fairness of the evaluation, and how much time it takes.

The National Folk Festival is facing some tough questions about its plans for Nashville this year. Last summer the downtown music festival didn’t go as well as organizers had hoped, and what they’ll do this year is unclear.

Last month’s home sales in the Nashville area were the best since the economic meltdown four years ago. And home prices, while not what they once were, are showing improvement.

An Arizona-based charter school operator says it won’t give up on expanding into Nashville. Great Hearts Academies is appealing a rejection from the Metro School Board this month. Even if it doesn’t win approval this year, Great Hearts says it won’t walk away.

A top Metro education official is skeptical, after the state gave permission to three new charter schools to start in Nashville. The Metro school board has its own system for vetting charters, but the state recently gained the power to sometimes approve them as well, to teach students zoned for the weakest schools.

The state sales tax on food is set to drop a little bit next month. On Monday Governor Bill Haslam held a ceremonial signing for the new law, which lowers the current five and a half percent tax on groceries.

A controversial charter-school operator could soon announce whether it will try again for permission to launch in Nashville. Last week the Metro school board rejected an application from Phoenix-based Great Hearts, prompting calls for an appeal, and criticism from the mayor.