For several years running, the Tennessee Department of Children’s Services placed more children in foster care than kids it returned to their families. In 2014-15, 3,078 children of 8093, in 2015-16, 2895 of 8,001, and in 2016-17, 1365 of 14,421 children returned home. We asked for more recent data but did not hear back from DCS by press time. Former Commissioner Jim Henry (2013-2015) supported a number of reform initiatives like In-Home Tennessee to improve how the child welfare system works with families. He promoted and found money for Community Advisory Boards and community-based child abuse prevention. In 2014, Henry…
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‘Equality Trailblazers’ is Alan LeQuire’s fifth monument, in three cities commemorating Woman Suffrage. This public memorial honors activists from Shelby County, TN who participated in the nonviolent efforts to win the right to vote for American women. Ida B. Wells and Mary Church Terrell – two of six portrait busts by Alan LeQuire included in the Memphis Equality Trailblazers Monument. The bronze busts, and accompanying 60-ft wall with bios, honor individuals who were instrumental in the woman suffrage movement, as well as those whose careers were made possible by the suffragists’ victory. Back side of the 60-ft metal wall at…
Claudette Colvin no longer has a criminal record stemming from her 1955 arrest in Montgomery, Alabama. “My name was cleared. I’m no longer a juvenile delinquent at the age of 82,” were Colvin’s proud words almost three months after she and her legal team sought to have her record expunged. Alabama Juvenile Court Judge Calvin L. Williams approved the request that was made public on Dec. 16. Sixty-six years ago a then 15-yer-old Colvin was seated in the Black section of a bus when a white woman boarded seeking a seat in the same section. Colvin refused to move seats — at…
Passing out home test kits in New York City yesterday.Janice Chung for The New York TimesThe age gapBy now, you’ve probably heard someone say it, or maybe you’ve said it yourself: We’re all getting Covid.“Yes, you’ll get the virus,” Dr. James Hamblin wrote in his newsletter. “I think we all have a date with Covid at some point,” Helen Branswell, a health reporter at Stat News, said. “People are starting to give up,” my colleague Tara Parker-Pope told me.It’s an understandable feeling given Omicron’s intense contagiousness, even among the vaccinated. A surge that began in the Northeast is now spreading to the Midwest, South…
Nashville, TN (TN Tribune)–Nashville’s first Whataburger location is now scheduled to open January 5, 2022. Located at the corner of Old Hickory Blvd and Juarez Drive in Hermitage, the Texas staple was originally planned to open in the fall of 2021. The location now has a sign that says it will open January 5th. According to a manager, the original opening of December 13 was pushed back due to ongoing construction. The Hermitage location will be the first of serval locations planned for Middle Tennessee. Whataburger has announced it will open restaurants in Murfreesboro, Gallatin and Mt. Juliet, the latest…
NASHVILLE, TN — John Manson, current Presiding Night Court Magistrate, submitted his resignation and he announced his intention to run for Judge of the 7th Circuit Court, the Probate Court in Nashville, Davidson County. Magistrate Manson is the son of prominent attorney Richard Manson, founding partner of Manson Johnson Conner, PLLC, the oldest African-American law firm in Nashville. Magistrate Manson began with his father, before receiving his first Judicial appointment as Special Master for 8th Circuit Court. He has served as a judicial officer for more than 12 years, serving in Domestic court, Civil court, Probate court, Environmental court, and…
CLARKSVILLE, TN – The Tennessee Department of Children’s Services (DCS) took Lacreesha Hill’s children away on January 29, 2021. They said the reason was exposure to drugs and lack of supervision. Da’Cari, then one year old, probably picked up a Percocet pill from the floor in the bathroom. Hill had been taking meds after having her tubes tied; she spilled the container and picked them up but apparently missed one. There were no illicit drugs found in the home and she tested negative for opioids. Da’Cari’s Dad, Dominique Green, who does not live with them, was watching the kids while…
By Josh Boak and Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar WASHINGTON, DC — Fighting the omicron variant surging through the country, President Joe Biden announced Tuesday that the government would provide 500 million free rapid tests, increase support for hospitals under strain and redouble vaccination and boosting efforts. In remarks Tuesday at the White House, Biden detailed major changes to his COVID-19 winter plan, his hand forced by the arrival of the fast-spreading variant, whose properties are yet not fully understood by scientists. Yet his message was clear that the winter holidays could be close to normal for the vaccinated while potentially dangerous for…
By Mike RobertsBVM Sports Journalist BRONX, NY (BVM) — Cardinal Hayes quarterback Henry Belin IV has been one of the nation’s top signal callers since first taking over at the position his sophomore year. Grabbing the starting job wouldn’t be the only new hurdle Belin would have to face after making the move from New Jersey the prior year. Belin’s impact at Cardinal Hayes High School would be felt immediately, as the dual-threat quarterback helped lead the Cardinals to the NYCHSFL Class AAA championship during the 2019 season. The sophomore quarterback put up impressive numbers finishing his first season…
By Megana Sekar An acclaimed civil rights activist received UCLA’s highest award for his contributions to civil rights and talked about the urgency of ending violence in America at the award ceremony recently. Rev. James Lawson received the UCLA Medal, the university’s highest honor, at an event hosted by the Institute for Research on Labour and Employment. The medal has been given to individuals, including presidents, philanthropists and artists, who have demonstrated heroism. Past awardees include Secretaries of State Hillary Clinton and Madeleine Albright, author Toni Morrison, Congressman John Lewis, and President Jimmy Carter. Chancellor Gene Block said he thinks Lawson…