Republican legislatures in several states are finding it difficult to stick to one of their mantras: the government closest to the people governs best. In Tennessee – where the GOP now holds a supermajority – the state is making power plays on issues ranging from charter schools to property rights. Increasingly, the state believes it knows best.
Haslam Specific on Crowd Pleasers, Vague on Hot Buttons
Governor Bill Haslam laid out a plan in his third state of the state address to cut taxes, pay state employees more and still save money for a rainy day. Hot button policy proposals were mentioned, but far from fully fleshed out.
Fungal Meningitis Outbreak Leaves Lasting Scar on 2012
Before 2012, few knew the first thing about fungal meningitis – even doctors. And compounding pharmacies flew well under most people’s radar. That changed as moldy spinal injections sickened hundreds across the country.
Anti-Sharia Activists Influencing Tennessee GOP
Listen Now: It’s getting tougher to be a Republican in Tennessee while also fully accepting the practice of Islam.
After Years of Work, Musical’s Future Hinges on Nashville Preview
Actor and Comedian Jerry Lewis will be in Nashville for the next month so, but don’t expect to run into him in Five Points or Centennial Park. He’s spending his days and nights, deep in the bowels of the Tennessee Performing Arts Center.
Teach for America Alums Face Off in School Board Race
Listen Now: Teach for America is making incremental moves from the classroom to the political arena. The program recruits college grads who studied something other than education to spend two years teaching in underperforming schools. Several are going on to win elected office, and more are right behind them. A school board race in East […]
Reaching Refugees by Going Mobile
Listen Now: The Tennessee Foreign Language Institute recently surveyed dozens of refugees around Nashville and asked if English classes were taught in their apartment complex, would they attend? All of them said yes. Yet free ESL classes are already offered around town, and few were enrolled. The proposed solution is a mobile classroom.
WPLN’s StoryCorps:Books Provide an Escape from Poverty
Listen Now: 67-year-old Loney Fred Hutchins grew up dirt poor in the mountains of East Tennessee and Southwest Virginia. He was the middle child in a family of eight. Loney Fred talked with his son about what it was like to grow up in a family where neither of his parents could read or write.
Provocation to Punch Line: The Music of Todd Snider
Respected folksinger Todd Snider doesn’t mind if people laugh when he voices his opinions. In fact, he’d prefer it.
A New Chance to Listen to a Pivotal Moment
Recordings of key leaders in the civil rights movement are newly available online. The conversations from the mid-1960s hint at shifts that were coming in the struggle for racial equality.
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