wplnstaff

Six Nashville schools that have been struggling are being turned into magnet schools this fall. Metro hopes a new pool of students and parents will be drawn to them and academics will improve.

THIS WEEKEND ONLY for information/questions regarding debris
collection:

Several area utilities and agencies announced plans today to waive fees for flood victims.

Davidson County DRC closes, DRCs in Cheatham, Hickman and Montgomery Counties convert to Loan Centers, and Flood Repair Permits are being issued.

Mayor Karl Dean’s office issued an update on the flooding impact in Davidson County Monday evening, including an increase in deaths officials believe to be flood related.

Flood damage is widespread across West and Middle Tennessee. In Nashville, strong waters hit areas west and south of the city particularly hard. Along with homes, numerous hotels and apartment complexes were forced to evacuate.

A state lawmaker is using a measure aimed at drunk drivers to help fund hospitals and alcohol treatment centers. The proposal requires first time DUI offenders to place ignition interlocks on their cars.

Last week in a narrow senate vote, lawmakers took the first step toward allowing Tennesseans the chance to elect the state’s attorney general. Currently the Tennessee Supreme Court appoints the state’s top lawyer. WPLN’s Jacqueline Fellows talked with state capitol correspondent Joe White about the politics behind the effort to change Tennessee’s constitution to allow a statewide vote.

The Tennessee Senate is expected to take up a measure to ban any abortion funding under the new federal health care overhaul.

The latest proposal to allow handguns in bars survived a subcommittee vote in the Tennessee House of Representatives Wednesday. By one vote, Memphis Republican Curry Todd got his new “guns in bars” bill out of the House Budget Subcommittee, where Democrats had hoped to sink it.