Author: Clint Confehr

MNPS Director Dr. Adrienne Battle appreciates “teacher, staff, and community feedback” toward changing the system’s Student Parent Handbook, but members of NOAH’s Education Task Force have objections.                  By Clint Confehr     NASHVILLE, Tenn. — A social justice organization’s task force says Metro Nashville Public Schools’ proposed student discipline policies include “harsh” practices. System leaders disagree.         One change might increase the maximum for a student’s suspension from five to 10 days. It’s criticized as exclusionary discipline flowing to the school to prison pipeline. Educators’ counterpoint: Discipline starts with…

By Clint Confehr NASHVILLE, TN — Maybe Tennessee’s property tax rate formula should be a required mathematics lesson in public schools. It’s simple arithmetic, but questions come up when people talk about a $1 tax hike. Meanwhile, a petition is being circulated for a Dec. 5 referendum to cap tax property rate hikes at 2-percent. It’s a month after the Presidential election because of laws on ballot initiatives. This one needs enough Metro residents’ signatures to equal at least 10 percent of voters in the Aug. 6 primaries. See 4goodgovernment.com on Facebook. Officials say Metro hasn’t had a property tax hike…

By Clint Confehr For decades, Libertarians have endorsed legalization of recreational marijuana. They still do. It’s time for Tennessee lawmakers to just do it. Libertarians don’t endorse the use of marijuana, nor do we. However, the war on drugs is a failure, a waste of money and other states collect sales taxes on recreational cannabis. Tennessee faces huge problems because sales tax revenue dropped during the coronavirus quarantine. Nashville’s mayor proposes a property tax rate hike of nearly one third more on a rate that’s so high that people live elsewhere and commute. As with the establishment of a state…

By Clint Confehr NASHVILLE, TN — Potential guests and returning fans of our city’s distinctive spirit are being told “When you’re ready, we’re ready.” Emphasizing public health, Nashville Convention & Visitors Corp. (NCVC) CEO Butch Spyridon predicts slow, responsible hospitality re-openings here. “Significant … activity will be closer to August, rather than June or July,” said Spyridon, offering his “best educated guess” on our economy’s future. Cancellations from the quarantine through last month bumped 853 meetings of various sizes representing nearly 600,000 hotel-nights, and more than 400,000 attendees, Spyridon said. “We lost about a third of our business.” Travel sentiment…

By Clint Confehr NASHVILLE, TN — Davidson and Shelby counties successfully challenged Tennessee’s Education Savings Account Act in chancery court, but advocates of what’s also known as school vouchers say they’ll appeal Chancellor Anne Martin’s ruling. Chancellor Martin’s decision issued Monday evening follows a six-hour hearing April 29 when Metro Law Director Bob Cooper argued the state Constitution was amended in 1953 to protect local governments from “the General Assembly’s excesses and treatment of local government.” Arif Panju, senior attorney for the Institute for Justice, said Martin shouldn’t invalidate the law providing state money to help Nashville and Memphis students…

By Clint Confehr COLUMBIA, TN — The rap lyrics “You can’t touch this” filled the air from a disc jockey’s truck during a rolling street dance party that provided relief from the coronavirus quarantine. Social distancing was the order of the day when the DJ’s entourage could have rewritten the title of MC Hammer’s 1990 album, “Please Hammer, Don’t Hurt ’Em” as an appeal to Covid-19; Pandemic, Don’t Hurt ’Em. “We’re just trying to make it though the quarantine in a positive way,” street dancer Kaliente Glenn said. “We’re doing social distancing in the streets. We’re going to keep moving…

NASHVILLE, TN — State health officials tracked potential coronavirus patients in January. Now: with thousands of infected Tennesseans, contact tracing has been distressingly late; and, reportedly, automation offers a speedy lifeboat. Google and Apple want to help reduce the spread of coronavirus by using Bluetooth to detect and report social distancing for people who permit location information, the tech-giants said April 10. In May, they’ll release software to support tracking. While more manpower is on the horizon, traditional tracking methods are said to be slow. “The health department contacted me to notify me about a patient who’d been exposed to…

Sextortion is a crime that happens online when an adult convinces a juvenile to share sexual pictures or perform sex acts on a webcam. To report it call (800) 225-5324 or go to #stopsextortion or tips.fbi.gov. NASHVILLE, TN — Young teens are at greater risk of online sexual exploitation because they’re quarantined to contain the spread of the coronavirus. Child sexploitation became a greater threat when schools were closed and stay-at-home orders offered perpetrators more time to go online, according to federal and private cyber security authorities. Children explore the Internet more during the summer and that free time started earlier…

By Clint Confehr NASHVILLE, TN — Lee Chapel’s pastor appropriated $5,000 from a Community Foundation grant to pay dumping fees for volunteers’ removal of tornado debris from a North Nashville neighborhood. At about that time, public works storm debris operations were suspended because of emergency orders to contain the coronavirus, although a private demolition landfill continued to accept truck loads of debris. Josh Murphy and Scott Moran have heavy equipment to remove debris from the March 3 storm, but they were stymied by rules that come with federal funds. To measure need, debris must be weighed. Volunteerism cuts federal spending.…

By Clint Confehr NASHVILLE, TN — Neighbors of the man who found a murder victim in his back yard were traumatized recently, as he was. Emotions intensified without insight on police procedures. Dr. Shirley Lightfoot called 911 at 3:55 a.m. Feb. 4 to report gun shots — later revealed as a death knell for Julian Williams, 31. She complained he remained uncovered four hours after police arrived at her Heiman Street backyard. No disrespect was intended, police spokesman Don Aaron explained. Murder victims are “generally not disturbed” as police use “a state-of-the-art, pan-a-scan device” to find and preserve evidence. Heiman…