Author: Clint Confehr

By Clint Confehr NASHVILLE, TN — At Large Councilman Jim Shulman wants to be vice mayor to focus metro council members on issues that should be resolved, he said, emphasizing protection of city residents. Shulman points to his legislative work to put Meharry General Hospital “in a position to be financially stable.” When hospital leaders sought more funding, he provided an amendment to an ordinance to do so. “There were several amendments,” he said, “but mine was the one that was adopted” to get more money for the hospital. “A safety-net hospital is important. We need to figure out better…

NORTH NASHVILLE, TN — Dozens of Haynes-Trinity Neighborhood Coalition members gathered Tuesday night in the lobby of the Metro Police North Precinct to vent frustrations and tell their councilman they want a waste disposal business moved far from their homes. Nearly 50 residents stood with their coalition leaders, neighbors and children to oppose the business’ request to Metro Nashville’s City Council for legislation that would allow the waste processing to move within District 2. The residents’ rally preceded Second District Councilman DeCosta Hastings’ meeting that included presentations from representatives of the processing business. Metro Council is set to meet on…

By Clint Confehr NASHVILLE, TN — With election day nearly two weeks away, early voting in metro’s runoff race for vice mayor ends Sept. 1. At Large Councilman Jim Shulman faces Acting Vice Mayor Sheri Weiner for the seat she obtained when then-Vice Mayor David Briley succeeded Megan Barry. On Aug. 2, Weiner and Shulman didn’t get more than half the votes in a three-way race, so there’s a runoff. The winner gets nearly a year left in Briley’s term. Vice mayors: preside at council meetings; are next in line for mayor; vote if there’s a tie; and can’t introduce…

By Clint Confehr NASHVILLE, TN — Metro council voted recently to proceed toward allowing a grease and oil disposal business to relocate in Councilman DeCosta Hasting’s district. “This is environmental racism at its worst,” neighborhood coalition member Mary Carver Patrick said, alleging state investigators found violations of environmental regulations at the current liquid solid waste disposal site. Dozens of Hasting’s District 2 constituents spoke against letting Onsite Environmental, 1421 Baptist World Center Drive, previously known as Combs Industrial Service, move to 2832 Whites Creek Pike. Onsite has “plans for a non-hazardous liquid waste processing facility” to continue disposal of restaurant…

By Clint Confehr NASHVILLE, TN — A dozen Haynes Middle School students were ahead of the game as school reopened this month because of TEAM 1. TEAM stands for Togetherness, Empathy, Acceptance and Motivation, according to Angela Booker who, with other volunteers, conducted a week of summer camp based at the school on West Trinity Lane. Teachers agree — ask any of them — summer programs keep students thinking and learning. So, during the third week of July, TEAM 1 members had life lessons, including hygiene, counting money, and appropriate conversations with adults and peers. TEAM 1 also provides older…

NASHVILLE, TN — Davidson County residents should benefit from the construction of a soccer stadium, according to people speaking Tuesday at City Hall. “We want the soccer team to pick a responsible builder,” said Odessa Kelly, StandUp Nashville co-chair with Anne Barnett. campaign and community coordinator for the Central Labor Council of Nashville and Middle Tennessee. If housing is built on the 10 acres proposed for a soccer stadium and other structures for commercial and/or residential purposes, then some of the housing units should be designated as affordable housing, Kelly said. “Good intentions are not a replacement for a Community…

NASHVILLE, TN — Metro’s council on Tuesday is to consider favorable recommendations from planning commissioners to rezone: 10 acres of park land for a soccer stadium; and, separately, 43 acres in Edgehill where architectural integrity would be conserved. The city council meets Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. in the Davidson Courthouse where the planning commission’s unanimous recommendation for a soccer stadium at the fairgrounds will be considered. The council also has a split vote — 4-3 — from planners for adding restrictions on dozens of homeowners. Both issues attracted hundreds of people Aug. 1 to the Sonny West Conference Room in the old Howard school office building…

By Clint Confehr A $26.5 million study — it’s to examine genetic and environmental factors associated with aggressive prostate cancer in African American men — has been announced by experts with national health groups. During their announcement, the experts made a public appeal to African American men who are diagnosed with aggressive prostate cancer; asking them to consider participating in the study. They need 10,000 men for comparisons. Possible associations between aggressive prostate cancer and exposure to neighborhood or environmental social stressors, including “discrimination, early life adversity and segregation,” are to be examined, according to Dr. Damali Martin, program director,…

Craig Fitzhugh’s campaign for governor this week started with his attendance at two Memphis church services and, at dusk Sunday, he was on a conference call with volunteers and supporters. “We have an amazing opportunity to put not just me, but to put you all on the first floor of the capitol — folks who believe, as we all do, about folks who need that — folks who don’t have that skyscraper elevator, who are in the shadow of that skyscraper for whatever reason,” he said. Fitzhugh knows that floor where lawmakers affect or afflict people’s lives. He’s House minority…

By Clint Confehr NASHVILLE, TN — A metro councilman and the executive director of historic zoning in Nashville anticipate amendments to a proposed set of restrictions over how homeowners could change their homes in this historically African American neighborhood. “There is a probability that something changes before passage, if we get to a final reading,” Councilman Freddie O’Connell says of a potential third and final vote by metro’s council to enact any new ordinance. O’Connell represents the north end of a nearly 43-acre-area proposed for a Neighborhood Conservation Zoning Overlay. Nashville’s Historic Zoning Commission might be voting on whether new…