Author: Clint Confehr

By Clint Confehr TAMPA, FL — Count this Tennessee State University graduate as a happy man now. He’s still doing what he wants. “I always knew I wanted to be an architect,” Jerel McCants says at his East 7th Avenue office in Ybor City, an historic part of Tampa where cigars were made. Now, it’s a nightclub district with Cuban and Latin American eateries, boutiques, vintage shops, and second-story offices, including JMA Inc. Jerel McCants Architecture was selected last year by the TSU Foundation to design what’s to be the Amos and Brenda Otis Alumni Center in Nashville where John…

By Clint Confehr NASHVILLE, TN — In the wake of a new state crime lab policy — simple possession marijuana “cases will receive no further testing” — Davidson County’s district attorney says treatment is better than jail. “If the only way to prove the case is with a lab report, and we do not have a lab that is willing to test for the THC content, then we are not going forward on those cases,” District Attorney Glenn Funk said carefully because details matter. Metro police got a crime lab under Mayor Karl Dean. It works like the state lab.…

By Clint Confehr NASHVILLE, TN — Four civil rights groups say Davidson County’s criminal court is violating state and federal laws when keeping cash bond money for defendants’ court bills. People arrested on, for example, misdemeanor domestic violence, theft, trespassing or traffic charges who deposit cash to get out of jail must agree their fees, costs and restitution can be paid from cash bond. It’s a “corrupt” garnishment, the civil rights groups say. Bond is to make defendants go to court, not pay bills. All of the money is supposed to be refunded when a case is over. “Our courts…

By Clint Confehr INGLEWOOD, TN — At-large Metro Councilman John Cooper became the city’s ninth mayor last weekend with Metro’s most diverse council, and hope for change. “It is time to invest in Jefferson Street, and Antioch … Donelson … Bellevue … Goodlettsville and other neighborhoods that make this a great city,” Mayor Cooper said at Stratford STEM Magnet High School. “What our fellow citizens want from us,” Cooper said, listing: “a Nashville where tourism benefits residents, not the other way around; cost effective, fiscally responsible government that is managed for everyone; and a transparent open government committed to high…

By Clint Confehr COLUMBIA, TN — Morning Star Lodge No. 11, Prince Hall Affiliated of the Free and Accepted Masons, is inviting the public to its annual Prince Hall Americanism Day on Saturday in Mt. Lebanon Missionary Baptist Church. A short program will be conducted to honor John the Baptist during the event starting at 1 p.m., said Terry Nevette, worshipful master of Morning Star Lodge No. 11. “Prince Hall Americanism Day is a celebration of St. John the Baptist,” Nevette said. The lodge is hosting the event and the 18th District of Tennessee Prince Hall masons is sponsoring it,…

By Clint Confehr Congressmen representing Nashville and Memphis agree — there’s no place for animal abuse at Tennessee Walking Horse shows — and Tennessee’s first African American licensed to practice veterinary medicine concurs. The annual Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration ends Saturday in Shelbyville where show officials oppose abuse. Meanwhile, hundreds of veterinary, animal protection and equine groups want a new law to strengthen a 39-year-old law against soring, the infliction of pain to make horses step higher for an exaggerated gait, according to U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen, a sponsor of the Prevent All Soring Tactics (PAST) Act. Among other…

By Clint Confehr NASHVILLE, TN — The extreme closeness between longtime friends was very much in evidence last Sunday, as the mother and closest companions of Debra Porter Johnson remembered her. Her mother and friends maintained Johnson was the sweetest, most loving and happy-go-lucky daughter, and without question the leader of the group. Johnson, 64, lived near the West Tennessee State Penitentiary in Henning where, law enforcement officials said, she was murdered on the morning of Aug. 8. Born Dec. 10, 1954 at Mt. Pleasant, she will be laid to rest in the Faith Garden of Greenwood Cemetery North, 1248…

By Clint Confehr NASHVILLE, TN — Four ZIP codes in Memphis have a very high rate of infant mortality, and a state senator wants to fix that. Compassion and the sad statistic motivate Sen. Katrina Robinson, D-Memphis, a health care business founder and registered nurse. “I’m talking about kids who come to the hospital … dying in the first six months of their lives,” Robinson said during the annual National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) summit Aug. 5-8. Maternal mortality is also why she advocates better funding for Health and Education departments. “It has a lot to do with education…

By Clint Confehr NASHVILLE, TN — Women struggling secretly, looking for spiritual survival are invited to a conference sponsored by the “…But God” Ministry late this month. “It’s a conference for any woman who looks in the mirror and sees herself,” says Antoinette Hargrove Duke, the ministry’s founder and visionary. “We all have a different story.” Personal stories of depression, divorce, disease, domestic violence, distraction and drugs are shared at conferences organized by Duke, a La Vergne resident who’s served others for years. Faith in God is a common thread among those in pain who find solutions listening to the…

NASHVILLE, TN — Social occasions to entertain supporting patrons of the Tennessee Performing Arts Center this month start with a tip of the hat to the historic musical “Hamilton.” The Broadway blockbuster makes its Nashville debut New Year’s Eve followed by a three-week run through Jan. 19. Various TPAC programs are possible with its annual fundraiser; TPAC Gala. This year, the party starts at 6 p.m. Aug. 24 in Jackson Hall. It includes fine-dining on stage, presentation of TPAC’s Applause Award and special performances. With a score blending hip-hop, jazz, blues, rap, R&B and Broadway, “Hamilton” is the story of America…