Vivian Wilhoite District 29 Nashville, TN

Food stamp hike helps families cope

2009-07-13T01:49:00.000-07:00

$210M is likely to flow through Tenn.'s economy
By Bonna Johnson • THE TENNESSEAN • July 13, 2009

TRACKING THE STIMULUS
Slowly cruising the aisles of her favorite grocery store, Rosa Diaz kept an eye out for specials to help her stock up on staples, like fruit juice and packaged snacks for her 2-year-old son.

"That's a decent price," Diaz said as she placed a couple of large jugs of orange juice, advertised at two for $3, in her shopping cart.

Ever since her food stamps increased in April — from $289 a month to $375 — the 21-year-old single mother can afford to fill up the pantry for her small family, which also includes her younger sister, and keep them fed until she gets more money the next month.

"Sometimes we came to the end of the month, and we didn't have any more food," said Diaz, who stretches her monthly allotment by staying away from expensive name brands and searching out sales at the H.G. Hill store near her apartment in Madison.

As part of the federal stimulus package, families on food stamps across the country got a boost in their monthly benefits of about 13.6 percent. On average, a family of four received an $80 increase per month, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

The stimulus-funded bump in food stamp payments is intended to not only increase the purchasing power of poor families but also help the economy grow by infusing millions more into grocery stores, which in turn pay their employees and suppliers, and trickling down to the farmers growing crops and even the truckers hauling food.

In just the first three months since the increase in payments, an additional $49 million in stimulus funds has been spent in food stamps in Tennessee, according to Michelle Mowery Johnson, spokeswoman for the Tennessee Department of Human Services.

Over the course of the next fiscal year, which started July 1, some $210 million in stimulus funds is expected to flow through the Tennessee economy because of the increase in food stamps, she said.

Anti-hunger advocates don't expect recipients to start purchasing caviar and Perrier now that they have more money.

"I think the impact is probably that it's going to help people buy more food," said Brian Zralek, executive director of Manna Inc., a Nashville anti-hunger group.

For Diaz, who is five months pregnant, this means less anxiety about being able to feed her family all month long. Indeed, benefit amounts have not kept pace with the cost of groceries and needed to be increased anyway, said Richard Dobbs, policy director for food stamps at DHS.
"It's really helped," Diaz said. "They needed to do something."

At the same time, though, it's not going to help her buy a new car or pay her rent, she said. The worsening economy, plus a bit of bad luck, has made it increasingly difficult for the young mother to make ends meet.

She had been working with her mother and sister in a cleaning business, but as the economy took a downward turn, they lost clients. After her car was wrecked recently, she's had no regular transportation to get to the clients they have left.

"Things are still hard," Diaz said.

A second stimulus
Diaz isn't the only one feeling the limitations of President Barack Obama's $787 billion stimulus package approved in February. There is already talk of a second stimulus even as Republicans criticize the current package for not working and failing to create jobs.

Enrollment in the food stamp program, which was recently renamed the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, has been rising in Tennessee as layoffs mount and the Tennessee unemployment rate climbed above 10 percent in May.

While the aim is to help poor families weather the recession, they likely would have gotten the same increase in October, when the federal government usually applies a cost-of-living adjustment anyway, Dobbs said. Because of the April increase, there won't be another increase this year, he said.

At the same time, though, he sees the higher payments as a way to help protect the jobs of cashiers and shelf stockers. And, "the more benefit we provide to (recipients) to purchase food, that frees up more income to pay rental expenses or utility bills or medical bills," Dobbs said.

Many grocers, though, have not noticed the extra injection of money into the economy and said it may take more time.

"The initial thought is that they haven't seen a direct impact from the food stamp increase," said Jarron Springer, president of the Tennessee Grocers and Convenience Store Association.
Christy Davis, a clerk with Johnny Howell Produce at the Nashville Farmers Market, said she's not noticed any change now that her food stamp customers have more to spend. About one-third of sales of Howell's farm-fresh produce are paid through food stamps, she said.

At the Madison H.G. Hill, business is up, but not so much from higher food stamp payments, said owner Todd Reese. "More people are going to the grocery store instead of eating out," he said.

Pump primer
Some economists credit an increase in food stamp amounts — along with unemployment benefits — as being the most effective way to prime the economy's pump.

"People who receive these benefits are very hard-pressed and will spend any financial aid they receive within a few weeks," wrote Mark Zandi, an economist with Moody's Economy.com, in a 2008 report. "These programs are also already operating, and a benefit increase can be quickly delivered to recipients."

Infrastructure spending, no matter how "shovel-ready" the projects, won't help the economy so quickly, Zandi wrote in a forecast earlier this year.

Critics, though, say higher food stamp payments won't help the economy grow faster and instead will expand welfare spending to unaffordable levels.

"Every dollar Congress hands out from food stamps must be taxed or borrowed from someone else," said Brian Riedl, a senior federal budget analyst at the conservative Heritage Foundation, a critic of the stimulus package.

"You're taking water out of one side of the pool and dumping it into another side of the pool, but you haven't raised the water level."

Raising food stamp payments may be a humane policy, Riedl said, "but that doesn't mean you're growing the economy any faster."

It's perfectly fair to say you don't want people to starve, Riedl said, and that's what officials should use as a line of argument instead of claiming that the increase in food stamp payments will stimulate economic growth.

For Makeesha Ayodele, 30, it all comes down to feeding her two children, ages 10 and 4.
At $384 a month, she usually pitched in an extra $100 of her own money to keep her family fed.
When her payment rose to $440 in April, she could use some of that extra hundred bucks "to help pay part of my rent and keep the cell phone on," said Ayodele, who was back at the

Nashville food stamps office last week trying to get back on the program after losing her benefits in May.

What health care reform means for you

2009-07-13T01:36:00.000-07:00

By David S. Hilzenrath • THE WASHINGTON POST • July 13, 2009

As President Obama and Congress try to overhaul health care, almost every American has a stake. Will you get the care you need? Can you avoid financial ruin?

The potential upsides and downsides reflect various proposals under consideration. How you fare could depend on the fine print of any legislative compromise — for example, whether you meet the income qualifications for insurance subsidies, and whether those subsidies are enough to allow you to buy insurance. Here's an overview of what you stand to gain or lose.

And remember, health care reform could fail to achieve some of its loftiest goals. Costs could continue to soar, quality improvements could fail to materialize, and pressure to cut costs could lower quality of care or disrupt access to medical services.

IF YOU'RE UNINSURED

Number affected (2007): 46 million

HOW YOU COULD BENEFIT FROM REFORM:
• If you have a low income, you could have an easier time qualifying for Medicaid, a program funded by the state and federal governments. Proposals by three House committees and the Senate Health Committee, plus a set of options laid out by the Senate Finance Committee, include loosening eligibility standards.

• In addition, based on your income, you could receive federal aid to purchase private insurance and vouchers for preventive care.

• A common theme of major legislative proposals is that you could gain the option of buying insurance through exchanges, novel arrangements in which insurers would be prohibited from denying coverage for preexisting conditions or taking into account your medical risk when setting your premium.

• Insurers in the exchanges would offer a minimum set of benefits. As spelled out in the House "Tri-Committee" proposal, for example, those would include an annual cap on out-of-pocket expenses and an end to co-payments and deductibles for preventive care.

• Older people could pay premiums closer to those paid by younger people, because age-based variations in rates could be restricted.

• You could gain the option of buying coverage from a government plan or nonprofit cooperative whose scale would enable it to pass along savings.

HOW YOU COULD LOSE UNDER REFORM:
• You could be required to buy insurance or pay a penalty. Any assistance the government offers may be too small to make coverage affordable.

• Young people and healthy people could end up paying relatively higher premiums, if age becomes a less significant factor and medical history ceases to be a factor in setting rates. As young people grow old and healthy people get sick, such sacrifices could even out.

IF YOU'RE ON MEDICARE OR MEDICAID
Number affected (2007): Medicare, 42 million; Medicaid, 37 million

HOW YOU COULD BENEFIT FROM REFORM: MEDICARE
• The "doughnut hole" for prescription drug coverage, which leaves you responsible for the cost when you've racked up $2,700 to $6,100 of annual prescription expenses, could be narrowed or closed.

• You could obtain preventive services without paying anything out of pocket.

• You could qualify for drug subsidies with more assets than current recipients are allowed.
• Income from the sale of your primary residence could be excluded from determinations of who pays higher premiums for outpatient coverage.

• Premiums could be reduced for seniors who enroll in wellness or disease-management programs.

• Payments to primary-care doctors could be increased, paving the way for them to play a larger role in your care.

• As outlined in a Senate Finance Committee options paper, your annual out-of-pocket expenses could be capped, protecting you from catastrophic bills.

MEDICAID
• Increased reimbursements for physicians could make it easier to find doctors. You also could gain access to private health plans.

HOW YOU COULD LOSE UNDER REFORM: MEDICARE
• Those with higher incomes could be required to pay higher premiums for drug coverage.

• To discourage wastefulness, you could face higher outpatient deductibles and lose the ability to purchase "first-dollar" Medigap policies that can spare you out-of-pocket expenses.

• Reduced payments to managed care or Medicare Advantage plans could prompt cuts to special benefits such as free eyeglasses and health club memberships.

MEDICAID
• If you are moved to a private health plan, you might lose special benefits such as hearing aids and eyeglasses for children and transportation to and from the doctor's office.

IF YOU HAVE AN EMPLOYER-SPONSORED PLAN
Number affected (2007): 158 million

HOW YOU COULD BENEFIT FROM REFORM:
• If you're employed at a small business, you and your employer could gain the option of buying coverage through an exchange, in which insurers would have to offer a minimum set of benefits, and factors such as health status would not count against you. The government might help your employer pay for health benefits.

• If health care reform succeeds in making care more efficient — a big "if" — your costs may rise more slowly than they would without reform. You could get better care as a result of efforts to increase coordination among providers, identify and encourage best practices, automate medical records, avoid unnecessary tests and procedures, and reduce medical errors.

• With expanded coverage for the uninsured, you and your employer could experience a reduction in what some call the hidden health tax you now pay to cover the cost of care that hospitals provide without compensation.

• If you leave or lose your job and have to buy your own insurance, you could face much better options than those now available to you (see explanation for people who buy their own insurance). Having new alternatives could make it easier for you to leave a job in which you feel trapped; if you get laid off, it could save you from joining the ranks of the uninsured.

HOW YOU COULD LOSE UNDER REFORM:
• Some or all of your health benefits, which are now exempt from taxation, could be taxed to help pay for covering the uninsured.

• Your employer could be penalized for failing to provide health benefits, and whatever affects your employer could affect you.

IF YOU BUY YOUR OWN INSURANCE
Number affected (2007): 15 million

HOW YOU COULD BENEFIT FROM REFORM:
• You could gain the option of buying insurance through exchanges, with an annual cap on out-of-pocket expenses, an end to co-payments and deductibles for preventive care, and no more annual or lifetime limits on coverage.

• Insurers in the exchanges could be barred from denying coverage based on your medical history. Insurers could be required to cover your preexisting conditions.

• Older people could pay premiums closer to those paid by younger people because age-based variations in rates could be restricted.

• You could gain the option of buying coverage from a government plan or nonprofit cooperative whose scale and purchasing power could enable it to pass along savings.

• Based on your income, you could receive federal aid to purchase insurance.

• Your employer could be required to provide health benefits or pay a penalty, increasing the odds that you would receive coverage at work.

HOW YOU COULD LOSE UNDER REFORM:
• You could face a penalty if you decide to go without coverage.

• Young people and healthy people could end up paying relatively higher premiums, if age becomes a less significant factor and medical history ceases to be a factor in setting rates.

• The coverage available to you could remain unaffordable.

Illicit gun sales hit new high

2009-07-13T01:32:00.000-07:00

Police blame fear, new laws, social trends for growth
By Nicole Young • THE TENNESSEAN • July 13, 2009

The reasons include everything from a fear that President Barack Obama's new administration will crack down on gun sales, to recent legislative action opening more public places to carry-permit holders, to something more elusive in media culture that gives gun ownership a certain cachet.

This isn't a welcome development for Metro police.

In a week that has seen the tragic murder-suicide involving Steve McNair, the shooting death of a 12-year-old Nashville girl and reports of other gun deaths in the area, East Precinct Lt. Danny Driskell says he worries because illegal gun sales are at an all-time high in the city.

"We usually find between four and nine guns each week," Driskell said.

"Anytime we get over 12 guns, that's a lot."

About a month ago, the East Precinct recorded a record number of gun seizures. Fifteen were taken off the streets during the week of June 12.

Driskell said his officers are finding guns during routine traffic stops, home visits and on people just out walking the streets. In the past, the weapons were often found alongside drugs or with known gang members, but not anymore, he said.

1,041 guns confiscated
In Davidson County, Metro police have seen more than an 8 percent increase in gun seizures over last year. In 2008, 1,041 guns were seized between Jan. 1 and June 27. During the same period in 2009, the number jumped to 1,129.

The biggest increases by precinct have occurred in Central, West and East.
In 2008, the Central Precinct recorded 57 guns seized from January to June. In 2009, during the same time period, 92 were taken.

The West Precinct went from 103 guns seized during the first half of 2008 to 124 over the same span in 2009. The East Precinct went from 171 in 2008 to 191 in 2009.

Driskell said he's seeing an interest in guns from many different groups.

"There's a segment of the population that is nonviolent, and there's another segment that's immersed in culture," Driskell said. "There is a tremendous talk about violence in our movies, in music, in video games, even on TV. You listen to two rap songs, and I guarantee you that you'll hear something along the lines of, 'I got the gun and I shot the guy,' or something to that effect."

Recently, the Metro Police Department as a whole stepped up its efforts in getting guns off the streets.

Churches involved
Last week, for example, officers teamed up with area churches for a gun drive.

In two days, 84 guns were turned in.

The pastors from Corinthian Baptist Church, Watson Grove Baptist Church, Galilee Missionary Baptist Church and Greater Faith Missionary Baptist Church shared stories of some people arriving in tears to trade in their guns.

The Rev. Enoch Fuzz, pastor of Corinthian Baptist, said he collected four sawed-off shotguns in one night. A man brought a gun that fell from his stepson's pants. He feared for the kids living in the home. A grandmother turned in a gun that she saw her grandson playing with.

"These guns were taken out of our community. We don't have to worry about no one using them in a negative way," said the Rev. Michael Joyner, pastor of Greater Faith Missionary Baptist. "And it's just a blessing to look and see what has taken place in our community. And we're not going to stop."
Kristin Mumford, spokeswoman for Metro police, said the guns are in the process of being checked for involvement in any crimes. After that, they will be destroyed. So far, none of the weapons has come back as a match in any case.

On the streets, a gun sells anywhere from $100 to $200, making it cheaper and faster to purchase the weapon illegally than to visit a gun shop, Driskell said.

All walks of life come for McNair

2009-07-10T07:00:00.000-07:00

Thousands pay their final respects at public visitation
By Janell Ross and Jim Wyatt • THE TENNESSEAN • July 10, 2009

An attorney who represented Steve McNair, a welder from White House, a GM worker dealing with his own uncertainty — they and thousands of others filed past the former NFL quarterback's casket Thursday during the visitation at Mt. Zion Baptist Church.

"I think people respected him for what he did on the field and what he did for this community," said Roger May, the attorney. "He did a lot that people knew about, as far as his camps and the Katrina situation, but he did a lot of things for people that most people don't know.''
The crowd that filtered through Mt. Zion's Whites Creek location off Old Hickory Boulevard included people black and white, young and old, dressed in funeral black dresses and suits or jeans and football jerseys.

Inside the dimly lit sanctuary, a guitar rendition of "Blessed Assurance" played softly.
Ushers bearing boxes of tissues moved mourners through the process. Some people filed past McNair's closed casket without stopping or looking; others paused at one of the two photos flanking it. Some took seats on Mt. Zion's honey-colored, wooden pews, transfixed by a highlight reel projecting key moments of McNair's football career — from Alcorn State University to the Titans.

Marcus Taylor, a 33-year-old welder, didn't stay for McNair's funeral, but he drove from White House to pay his respects at the visitation. Taylor said he identified with McNair, a man from rural Mississippi, and respected his work on and off the field, and the way he handled the celebrity life.

"Steve McNair is one of the biggest celebrities in the state of Tennessee, that this state has ever seen other than Elvis and Johnny Cash," Taylor said. "But the thing about McNair was he was still just a good old country boy like us at heart. It was like he didn't believe that wealth and fortune made him above and beyond anybody else. Some people, you know, can't handle the fame."

He'd never met McNair, unlike Dorsey Hamby, 52, from Franklin, a personal seat license holder with seats in LP Field's south end zone. She came to the church Thursday wearing a McNair jersey and fought back tears as she talked about his life.

Hamby met McNair at a Kroger once and had several other brief encounters with him around the Nashville area.

"I wanted his autograph but had nothing to write on," she said of one. "I looked around, and my husband had a Titans cap on, and he signed it. He was always the sweetest person, treated us like he was my best friend.''

'An incredible man'
Some came to the event bearing their own, separate grief, like Demetrius Sanders, a 55-year-old GM worker from Murfreesboro dealing with the shutdown of his employer's auto plant. He also came with sympathy in his heart for Sahel Kazemi, the woman police say killed McNair and then herself Saturday.

"This was our leader here, an incredible man," Sanders said.

"But he was human, he was a man. I am a man. I cannot testify to all the things that he had in his personal life, but I can attest to what it is to be an athlete, what it is to keep going when you are in pain, to perform. That takes something. It means something.
"… But I just hope that his wife forgives him."

Panelists suggest higher standards for education

2009-07-10T06:56:00.000-07:00

Bredesen cites Tennessee reforms
By Natalia Mielczarek • THE TENNESSEAN • July 10, 2009

Rigorous academic standards, more funding for career training and beefed up use of technology in the classroom: Those were among the things panelists at a national education conference that met Thursday in downtown Nashville said are needed to fix the U.S. education system.

Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen highlighted parts of the state's massive education reform started in 2007 as he joined Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty in a discussion of best practices in education policy. The session was moderated by former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush.

"One of the things that we've certainly observed here is that there really is a chasm between the educational process and what these young people find when they get out into the work world," Bredesen said.

The conference was organized by the Education Commission of the States, a nationwide, nonpartisan group that brings together policymakers from around the country devoted to improving public education. The main goal of the three-day meeting, which ends today, was to brainstorm on the best ways to prepare high school graduates for today's marketplace.
In Tennessee, Bredesen said, one strategy is to offer a single track of study in high school so all graduates get the same academic training, regardless of their plans.

"The thing that was an epiphany to me was: to get a good job in a factory almost takes the same set of skills as to enter an institution" like college, Bredesen said.

As part of Tennessee's education reform, the state will roll out higher-level math, English and science academic standards in the fall, as well as more demanding graduation requirements.
Bredesen was introduced to the crowd as an "education governor" and earlier accepted the Education Commission of the States 2009 Frank Newman Award for Innovation. The accolade recognizes excellence in shaping education policy.

Pawlenty, a Republican whose name has been mentioned as a presidential candidate, echoed Bredesen's sentiment of the importance of having "rigorous uniform standards for everybody" but said that high schools also ought to offer "differentiated" learning to those who gain knowledge in nontraditional ways.

"The ultimate goal is to reinvent high school," Pawlenty said.

Standards too low
In a speech before the panel discussion, Bush talked about some ideas that worked in Florida under his leadership that could be duplicated on a national scale to overhaul the entire education system. Rigorous academic standards were among them.

"Why don't we raise standards as a nation?" Bush said.

"They're too shallow and there are too many of them," Bush said. "They imply that some kids can learn and some kids can't."

The one item not specifically mentioned in his speech was No Child Left Behind, the education reform effort ushered in under former President George W. Bush.

Bush praised the Obama administration and the Republicans for working together to reach a consensus on the best education practices for all children.

Mayor Dean prepares to run Nashville schools

2009-07-10T06:49:00.001-07:00

He has plan in case he's asked to take helm
By Jaime Sarrio • THE TENNESSEAN • July 10, 2009

Nashville Mayor Karl Dean is speaking more candidly about the possibility of becoming the first Southern mayor to control his city's school district.

Test results to be released this month will determine whether Metro Schools will enter an unprecedented level of state control, one that would give officials the power to remove local school board members and appoint a trustee to run the district. It would take a change in the law to permanently transfer power to the mayor, a challenge Dean says he's ready for.
"If we don't make it, I would hope that would be a clear call we need to make some fundamental changes," he said. "I've prepared myself. I believe the status quo doesn't work."

Dean formerly would say only that he was preparing a plan in case he was asked. Now he is discussing the potential benefits of his school leadership and specific models that he is studying.
For five years, Metro Schools has failed to meet academic requirements laid out in the No Child Left Behind law. As a result, the district is subject to a series of interventions that get more intense as the years go on.

Cities such as New York, Cleveland, Ohio, and Boston have appointed mayors to run their districts with mixed success. Supporters of the leadership change say it streamlines school districts and clears the way for innovation; opponents say it limits parental feedback and participation and can create issues.

Models for mayoral control vary from city to city. In New York the mayor had the power to appoint the chancellor and a majority of members on the Panel for Education Policy, which replaced the school board. New York state lawmakers are debating whether to renew the law this year.

It is a model Dean said he favors.

"I'm not going to be out there running schools," he said. "What I could do is have somebody and have their back so they can carry out reforms they feel are necessary."

Dean said it would be "premature" to say whether Schools Director Jesse Register, who took the job in January, would remain on as his appointed leader. But he praised Register's communication skills and said he was capable of bold reform.

Register declined to take a position on mayoral control. "The governance structure is for other people to decide," he said. "I've tried not to focus on that. I've tried to focus on improving the quality of schools in the district."

Scores being appealed
Register said he knew the district's preliminary scores but would not reveal them. The district is appealing some of the results — a routine process that can change the outcome.

Board member Steve Glover, who represents the McGavock area, said he is optimistic that changes the district has made over the past year will have a positive impact on test scores.
"I haven't seen any data that says mayoral control is the answer," he said. "The people elected us to do a job, and I'm not moving from that job."

Exactly how power would transfer to Dean remains unclear. State Department of Education officials say it would take a change in state law, but House Democratic Leader Gary Odom of Nashville said he believes the mayor could be given temporary control before firmer laws are in place.

Getting local support would be crucial for Dean to assume control of Metro Schools. Odom said he is open to the idea of mayoral control.

Dean said running the district, something he calls "mayoral leadership," would uniquely position him to bring in resources from across the city and coordinate help from other departments. "It's easier for the mayor to raise money in the private sector, which we've shown," he said. Dean raised a reported $3 million in private funds and used some to bring teacher recruitment programs, Teach For America and the New Teacher Project, to Nashville.

Thursday, Dean's office released a report from the Parthenon Group that shows the district spends more per student than other Tennessee districts, but that a disproportionate amount of that money goes toward central office salaries.

The report also concluded that Metro Schools spends more on transportation and operations than other similar districts in the state.

Dean said the report proves that, even if the district does meet performance standards with test scores, there's more work to be done. That includes revamping teachers' salaries to include a performance pay plan and expanding the city's after-school program.

"If that occurs, then I will continue to do what I've been doing, which is to be involved in schools," he said. "We still have this huge battle to make the dramatic improvement we need to be making."

12-year-old Nashville girl shot, killed

2009-07-09T12:20:00.000-07:00

WKRN Afternoon Update

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Metro police are working to identify the gunmen responsible for fatally shooting a 12-year-old girl early Thursday morning.
Makia Woodland was shot shortly after 1 a.m. inside her home Murray Street, just south of downtown.

Metro police said Shannon Hooten, Woodland's grandmother with whom she lived, reported that around 1 a.m. she heard loud banging coming from the kitchen and to investigate.
Upon entering the kitchen, Hooten, 45, was met by several young black men dressed in white t-shirts and jeans. They ordered her back to her bedroom.

Police said as Hooten was calling police from her cell phone, she heard several shots.
Moments later, another granddaughter, a nine-year-old, called out her name.

Hooten then discovered 12-year-old Makia had been shot.

She rushed to Vanderbilt University Medical Center where she was pronounced dead.

Detectives believe Makia was shot as she went to check on the commotion.

In addition to the persons named above, three other individuals, Hooten's 28-year-old son, and two children, ages five and 10, were also in the home at the time of the gunfire.

Police called the shooting a tragedy for the neighborhood.

"I know that the Hermitage precinct puts in a lot of time in this area and to have a 12-year-old shot to death is truly saddening," said Metro Police Department Capt. Harmon Hunsicker.
Witnesses in the area reported seeing the suspects running from the rear of the home toward I-40.

A motive was not immediately known.

Anyone with information is urged to call Crime Stoppers at 74-CRIME.

Metro Council takes May Town off table

2009-07-09T06:56:00.000-07:00

Unanimous vote defers proposal indefinitely
By Michael Cass • THE TENNESSEAN • July 8, 2009

The Metro Council deferred the controversial May Town Center development plan indefinitely Tuesday, taking it out of the public debate for now, if not for good.

The council voted unanimously for the deferral less than two weeks after the Metro Planning Commission rejected the potentially $4 billion development for the Bells Bend area of western Davidson County.

Councilman Lonnell Matthews, who represents the area, said he moved to defer the rezoning request rather than simply withdraw it so he could hold the developers accountable for their pledge to donate 250 acres and $400,000 to Tennessee State University.

"I want the promises the developers made to stay on solid ground," Matthews said, adding that he plans to meet with TSU administrators today.

The May family asked for a rezoning that would let it build corporate headquarters, office space, condominiums, hotels and stores on about 550 acres. The Mays also planned to preserve about 900 acres they own in rural Bells Bend.

The proposal roiled the bend and the nearby Scottsboro area for more than a year. Some residents welcomed the chance for major economic development, but others said May Town Center would spoil one of the county's last large open spaces.

Many residents of neighboring areas in West Nashville also expressed concerns about the traffic the development would create.

Regarding the action of the Metro Council on Tuesday night, Bells Landing Partnership issued the following statement: "We respect Councilman Matthews' course of action."

In other business, the council started accepting nominations to replace Alan Coverstone on the Metro school board. Coverstone was hired Tuesday to be the school district's executive director for charter and private schools; he had already resigned from the board.

The council is expected to decide who fills the District 9 vacancy from among a half-dozen or so candidates on July 21. Coverstone represented the Belle Meade, Bellevue and Hillwood areas. Voters will get a chance to choose their school board representative at the next general election, in August 2010.

New garage can charge electric cars

2009-07-09T06:50:00.000-07:00

Metro installs two plug-in stations
By Anne Paine • THE TENNESSEAN • July 9, 2009

Metro employees with an electric vehicle at the city's Fulton Campus can take advantage of VIP parking and juice up their cars at the same time.

Metro has installed two stations in primo spots in its new parking garage so employees can charge their or Metro's electric cars while they're in the office.
Metro doesn't actually have any such cars, but one or more will be purchased by the end of the year, according to Velvet Hunter, assistant director for administration in Metro's general services department.

While some short-distance models are available from companies like VerdeGoh! in Williamson County, production is increasing on electric vehicles, with Nissan, for instance, announcing plans to begin sales in the United States next year.

"I think it's important for Metro to set an example for the community," Hunter said.
"We're working with agencies to identify if electric vehicles may be appropriate for their operations, in which case we could buy more than one or two."

The City of Franklin has one-upped Nashville by buying an electric vehicle that the police department began using last month as a money-saving way to patrol for parking violators.
Many of the less-polluting, electric vehicles available now can run about 30 miles on a charge and go up to 35 mph, so any that Metro purchases soon probably would be aimed at use in the downtown area.

A range of vehicles is under consideration that could cost $7,000 to more than $20,000, Hunter said.

Box contains plugs
Wednesday afternoon, Chris Reich, with Green Power Technology, pressed a small plastic card on a key ring against one of the two power boxes his company supplied Metro for the garage.
The sleek box, which looks something like a coin changer with a digital readout, opened to reveal an electric plug. It locks, also, when the car is charged, he said.
Information moves to a company in California via a cell-phone-like connection, including billing data about how much charge the car takes and what it cost.

The data is all available in a few minutes online, he said.

Hunter said stations where the public could charge cars using a credit card should be available by the Fulton Campus' opening in the fall of 2010. The campus includes the Metro Office Building, Howard Office Building and Lindsley Hall.

The public could have a fee of a few dollars included in the cost of a charge, Reich said.
Charlie Grimes, who owns a hybrid and an electric Tomberlin, called the plans "great."
"If there's a place outside where someone could plug in, that would be terrific," he said. "It's like going to the airport now and you have plugs for your laptop."

He charges his step-up-from-a-golf-cart vehicle, which can go 35 mph and has seat belts, a horn and license plates, at an outlet at home.

He and his family tend to stick to Westhaven, a Franklin-area mixed-use development, where the speed limit is 20 mph, he said.

The VerdeGoh! General Store, also in Westhaven, is one of the few locales with a public, complimentary charging station.

Stations cost $9,000
The cost to "fill up" varies with the type of vehicle, how low the battery is and kilowatt-hour costs.

Hunter estimated a full charge for an electric vehicle with a 30-mile range at roughly 60 cents.

Employees who apply and are accepted will receive a plastic card to access the boxes and can charge for free, at least for now.

The two stations added $9,000 in costs to the just under $14 million garage, which has green features including cooling cross-ventilation, pre-cast walls from nearby Smyrna and preferential parking for hybrid drivers, carpoolers and bikers.

A side benefit for employees owning an electric car is that they'll have a place even closer to the Metro Office Building than the top bosses there.

Elected officials and dire
Sectors of departments there, including planning, codes and the election commission, have reserved spots on the far side of the charging stations.

Police confirm murder-suicide in Steve McNair case

2009-07-08T13:07:00.000-07:00

By Kate Howard • THE TENNESSEAN • July 8, 2009
UPDATED 2:50 P.M.

Police have ruled that the killings of Steve McNair and Sahel Kazemi are a murder suicide.

Metro Police Chief Ronal Serpas said the police believe Steve McNair was asleep when Kazemi shot him on the sofa and that she then sat next to him and shot herself.
Serpas also said police believe that Kazemi had communicated with friends days before she was ready to 'end it all' and that she had learned that McNair was involved with another woman days before the murder.

Police also believe Kazemi purchased the gun in the parking lot of Dave & Busters, where she worked.

REPORTED EARLIER
A state medical examiner has said that preliminary testing from the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation points to the likely conclusion of murder-suicide in the deaths of Steve McNair and Sahel Kazemi.

Feng Li, the assistant medical examiner who conducted the autopsies, said he will wait for the investigation to be closed before he completes Kazemi’s death certificate to reflect that she died of suicide.

“The results were very consistent in supporting our decision,” Li said.

Gunshot residue and ballistics testing are also consistent with a ruling of murder-suicide, Li said.
“With the lab tests to be obtained combined with the autopsy findings, we will put a final opinion on the death certificate,” Li said.

Kazemi and McNair were found shot to death in a condo off Second Avenue on the afternoon of July 4. A semi-automatic pistol was found under Kazemi’s body. Metro police said the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms traced the gun purchase back to Kazemi through a private person.

Metro Police Chief Ronal Serpas is scheduled to discuss the results of the ballistics and gunshot residue testing at a 2:45 press conference. The Tennessean plans to covers this press conference live on Tennessean.com.

Virtual companies enjoy real workplaces

2009-07-07T16:15:00.000-07:00

Businesses share office space, costs
By Bonna Johnson • THE TENNESSEAN • July 7, 2009

The new office is no office at all.

It could be a rented desk in a roomful of strangers. Or a virtual office that comes with a prestigious West End address.

Entrepreneurs and startups are turning to unconventional workplaces that are a step up from a corner table at Starbucks to cut costs and win freedom from four walls and a desk.

Advances in laptops, as well as smaller and smarter cell phones, have also helped make the American workplace more mobile just as a worsening economy makes long-term, high-rent leases that much more difficult to afford for small-business owners.

"The workplace is never going back to what it was," said Ron Runyeon, a Nashville real estate investor who is planning a novel co-sharing workspace in Germantown. "For a company to hire 10 to 20 employees and put them in cubicles, those days are over."

Runyeon's co-op is slated to open later this year and is among the first in Nashville to cater to lonely work-at-home entrepreneurs who crave social interaction and networking in a creative workspace.

For a membership fee — probably less than $200 a month — entrepreneurs can come and go from the open-space office that will be furnished much like a coffee shop with couches and tables, along with a few desks and small conference rooms. Extras will include fax machines, computers for those without a laptop and, of course, a coffeemaker.

It's a new twist on the virtual office concept, which has been around for decades but appears to be coming into its own during the down economy.

"We didn't know if we'd have 100 clients or two clients, especially in our first year, when we decided to go out on our own," said Patricia McCarter, a partner in the Nashville law firm McCarter and Beauchamp, which specializes in family law, particularly divorces.

To keep overhead low, she and her partner decided to do some of their work from home but also signed a one-year contract for a virtual office on West End for client meetings.

A receptionist, upscale office décor and the hustle and bustle of a shared workplace filled with other entrepreneurs gave the attorneys instant credibility not easily won via meetings in a coffee shop or home office.

Plus, "having an address on West End brought clients our way because it's a recognizable location," McCarter said.

Offices grow by designThe Regus Group, which operates virtual or shared offices worldwide, manages two locations in the Nashville area — HQ Business Center at 3200 West End Ave. and 725 Cool Springs Blvd. — with about 200 clients between them. Inquiries about virtual offices in the Nashville area are up in the past 12 months and business has increased 23 percent the first half of this year compared with a year earlier, said Scott Nelles, Southwest region vice president for Regus.

Nationally, virtual office subscriptions are up 12 percent so far this year, compared with 2008 and May sales were up 5 percent over last May, said Dennis Watson, Regus spokesman.

Another virtual office center, Chesapeake Business Centre in Maryland Farms and Cool Springs, also has seen more inquiries.

"I'm guessing it's because of the economy," said owner and leasing agent Murray Hatcher, who noted that some businesses are escaping from pricey office space and deciding to go virtual.

A virtual office, usually located in a desirable business center, includes mail and telephone service, a receptionist, office and conference space, and some administrative support, such as copy machines.

Virtual offices are popular not only with entrepreneurs, but also with businesses considering a second location in a new city or work-at-home employees of Fortune 500 companies, Nelles said. At Regus, prices start at $69 per month for just the mail service.

"A business may want that legitimate business address, instead of a P.O. box or their home address," Nelles said.

The most popular package costs $169 per month, which includes mail and phone services, as well as 16 hours per month of office use. A receptionist answers calls to the business and patches them through to the owner even if it's on a cell phone or at home.

Space helps with clients"It's so nice for our clients when they arrive there," said McCarter, who usually holds meetings at the West End office three to four days a week. "There is a body there to welcome them, offer them coffee, make copies for us. It really projects a professional appearance."

For the first six months of this year, her firm has paid a total of $5,000 for its virtual office, McCarter said. That's much less than the cost of traditional office rentals, she said.

"We're a small shop, so this has been a perfect stepping stone," said McCarter, who said she and her partner are now contemplating leasing their own office space because business has been strong enough.

Runyeon's co-op has less to do with casting a professional image and more to do with being a gathering place for entrepreneurs in creative industries such as design, music and film.

"I may be a tech guy but have no marketing skills," Runyeon said. "I could hook up with someone I meet there on the marketing side, and we could barter some of those skills."

The co-sharing office will take up about 3,500 square feet on the third floor of an old flourmill that Runyeon is renovating at 100 Taylor Street. He's unsure how profitable the concept will be, but as startups succeed, he hopes they will end up renting other office space that will be available on the first two floors.

He plans to market the co-op as a "first step" out of a home office.

"The drawback of people working out of (a) home is the isolation factor," Runyeon said.

Other options aboundWhen Derek Hughey, 37, launched his own law firm in May, he opted for no office at all.

The corporate and securities lawyer worked at Nashville's Bass, Berry & Sims firm before opening Hughey Business Law as an all-virtual, nearly paperless law practice.

"Given these tough economic times, I know that many companies and individuals are looking for lower-cost alternatives," Hughey said. He figures he can offer rates that are 30 percent to 40 percent lower than what he would probably charge if he worked for a traditional law firm.

"The way technology has changed, you have the ability to do high-end legal work without the overhead of a building, a secretary, an IT department or an accounting department," Hughey said.

Merchant goes virtualDoris Franklin Matthews, owner of Chancery Lane Antiques, closed down her Belle Meade store in January after eight years there and 13 years in the business.

Now, she sells antiques online through a "virtual store."

"Business slowed down to the point that I knew I had to pare down what I was doing," said Matthews, who learned she was pretty savvy at Web site development.

Annual sales used to exceed $350,000. She's not at that level online yet, but she has reached her former profit level, in large part because she no longer has the overhead of a brick-and-mortar store.

The 2,000 or so small British antiques she stocks — mainly silver collectibles and antique tortoise shell — are in storage. She maintains the Web site, www.chancerylane.com, so potential customers can see her wares at the click of a mouse.

"This has brought all sorts of people from around the world into my store," said Matthews, who likes the flexible schedule of running a virtual business rather than having to be at a store's front counter from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

"I'm finding it much easier to do it this way," she said. "Profits are better than they've been in a long time."

Patients fear life without TennCare

2009-07-07T16:09:00.000-07:00

Review could find thousands ineligible
By Chas Sisk • THE TENNESSEAN • July 7, 2009

Three decades of life with quadriplegia have done little to deter Jacqueline Hopkins.

Unable to move her limbs, Hopkins nonetheless graduated from college, using a mind that was never dulled by the 1978 car accident that snapped her spine. Unable to speak above a whisper, Hopkins has maintained a social network that includes many others with the same disability, using a computer outfitted to respond to the movements of her forehead.

But at 51, the East Nashville resident says she has been able to remain so active only because of the aid of her parents, who have helped care for her since the accident on Interstate 65 disrupted her life as a sophomore at Middle Tennessee State University.

Now, she may lose the TennCare funding that makes that support possible.
"I think it's just terrible," Hopkins said with the assistance of her father, who after 31 years can more easily comprehend her soft voice. "There are so many people I know that qualify that don't have families to help them get the support they need."
Hopkins faces a reduction in state health-care benefits through an effort under way this summer to re-evaluate TennCare coverage for 154,000 Tennesseans. Many of them are having their eligibility reviewed for the first time in decades.

After a 22-year-old court order was lifted earlier this year, TennCare is now asking people like Hopkins to prove that they are truly worthy of coverage. The group, known as the Daniels class for the court case that led to the order, includes thousands of people with chronic medical conditions, including those with severe disabilities and mental illnesses.

The state spends about $400 million annually caring for those people, and the federal government an additional $800 million. But for two decades, TennCare had been barred even from checking whether members of the Daniels class still qualified to receive state aid — or if their medical conditions still warranted coverage at taxpayer expense.

Many advocates believe 130,000 or more Daniels recipients could be cut from the rolls, a figure that TennCare officials vigorously dispute.

But at a minimum, tens of thousands of people will see their coverage reduced or eliminated.

Hopkins and her family believe she will be one of them.
"I don't know how it would be (without TennCare coverage)," said her father, Andrew. "We've just had to have optimism."

State defends reviewsTennCare officials say they are looking at the Daniels class only because a federal law requires states to check the eligibility of recipients of public health insurance at least once a year.

But groups that lobby on behalf of TennCare recipients say the state had little interest in complying with that law until the program's financial woes began to mount.

The issue hinges on how the two sides look at the way in which TennCare is reviewing the status of Daniels patients, some of whom have not had to show they deserve coverage in more than 20 years.

TennCare officials say they have simply asked these people to fill out the same financial disclosure forms as others in the program, which serves about 1.2 million Tennesseans.

Opponents of the change say the tight deadlines and voluminous disclosure requirements are meant to maximize the number of people who will lose coverage.
Either way, the policy represents a big change for the Daniels class. Under the 1987 court order that created it, members of this group qualified automatically for coverage if they received Supplemental Security Income, a federal program for the elderly, blind and disabled.

Once enrolled, these people did not have to go through the same annual checks of income and medical eligibility as others in TennCare.

But with the state government's budget tightening, TennCare officials convinced a federal judge to lift that order in January and allow individual reviews. The program contacted the first batch of those Daniels class members in May, a group of about 40,000 people.

As of last week, TennCare had told 11,000 of those people that they were no longer qualified, and it had found 2,700 people who could remain in TennCare, the program said. An additional 24,000 cases were still pending.

Opponents of the new policy say the fact that most people who have been reviewed so far were terminated confirms their concerns.

By giving Daniels class recipients only 30 days to fill out the form — a packet that asks for everything from recipients' income to the market value of cemetery plots — the state is trying to trip people up, said people like Gordon Bonnyman, executive director for the Tennessee Justice Center, which fought to keep the court order in place.

"It's like a really complex tax return, and you've got a majority of them that have disabilities," Bonnyman said. "Instead of the state looking to save eligibility, it is summarily terminating them."

State savings unknownTennCare officials have declined to say how many people it expects will have their coverage cut through the reviews. They have also declined to estimate how much they think the state will save or to say specifically what will be done with the money. Tracy Purcell, TennCare's director of member service, said the money probably would be used to fund other TennCare programs.

But she said the move is not a money grab or a bid to deny coverage to people who qualify and need it.

The state expects 106,000 people to receive some public coverage once the checks are completed later this summer.

Before the first mailing was sent, TennCare identified 28,000 people who can switch to coverage through the federal Medicaid program, officials said.

They also said the early returns do not indicate the portion that eventually will be denied coverage because the first batch of reviews went to people who have out-of-state addresses and those who have been on the program the longest.

These people may no longer live in Tennessee — and thus shouldn't be covered through a state program — and they are more likely to have experienced an increase in income or change in their medical status that would call for a cut in coverage.

"We don't know enough about these individuals today to determine whether the individuals are eligible or not," Purcell said. "I don't think we can make any assumptions that they're not going to qualify."

Network helps vets cope with stresses

2009-07-07T15:59:00.000-07:00

Web site offers assistance with counseling, other aid
By Jennifer Brooks • THE TENNESSEAN • July 7, 2009

Mike Jones returned from tours of duty in Afghanistan and Iraq with a Bronze Star, a Purple Heart — and combat stress.

He was restless and irritable. He wasn't sleeping, and the most commonplace things — a noise, a word, a date on the calendar, even an argument with his wife — triggered combat-honed reflexes that were completely inappropriate for civilian life.
"I came home and I realized a lot of other soldiers were facing the same issues," Jones said.

He got the help and counseling he needed to deal with his war trauma, but knew many of his fellow veterans were trying to gut out their problems alone.
Thousands of soldiers have marched home from war, only to find that it's not so easy to leave the stress and terror of the battlefield behind.

They're not alone anymore. Jones and Nashville businessman Carter Andrews have teamed up to found the Warriors' Legacy Fund, a network dedicated to getting returning soldiers the counseling and help they need, and that the system doesn't always provide.

"This is a community foundation in Middle Tennessee dedicated to helping soldiers and their families deal with the invisible wounds of war," Andrews said.

Veterans share stories online
Their Web site is a place where veterans and their families can share stories and reach out for help. There are forums, personal narratives, blogs and educational resources.

In one recent blog post, a poster named "Bulldog" talked about the toll civilian life has taken on his unit since it returned home. His unit has been deployed three times, and the soldiers were recently informed that they would be redeploying within the year.

"My unit had been home for a little less than six months. We had one suicide threat, multiple car accidents, divorces, at least one that I remember in jail for domestic assault. I had one kid that went AWOL, twice, and he was a good soldier," Bulldog wrote.

Still, when he got together with his buddies for the Fourth of July, he realized that life could still be sweet.

"Even though we were all dealing with our demons, I was still thankful that life was good," he wrote. "That's my point. Even though we have our demons, life can still be good. If you can still sweat and you can still bleed, then it is good."

The Warriors Legacy Fund operates a toll-free hot line, 800-273-8255, for those who urgently need to talk.

For more information, visit the site at http://www.notalone.com

Restaurant lawsuit amended to say gun law confusing

2009-07-07T15:55:00.000-07:00

By Michael Cass • THE TENNESSEAN • July 7, 2009

A restaurant owner battling a new law that would allow guns into eateries added another argument to his lawsuit Monday, saying the measure would create confusion for gun owners and police officers.

The law, adopted by the General Assembly last month over Gov. Phil Bredesen's veto, will allow more than 200,000 handgun carry permit owners to bring their weapons into restaurants and bars, effective July 14. The law says patrons carrying handguns can't consume alcohol.

In Tennessee, places that serve liquor by the drink are technically classified and licensed as restaurants because they also must serve food as their primary purpose under the law.

Restaurateur Randy Rayburn and a group of restaurant employees and handgun carry permit holders are arguing the new law is "unconstitutionally vague."

"It is a Class A misdemeanor for a permit holder to carry a gun into a place that serves alcohol that is not exempted as a restaurant," the amended lawsuit says. "Permit holders will have no notice or way to determine if an establishment is a restaurant or a bar (whether its primary purpose is serving meals) as there is no distinction by licensing laws or notice."

David Randolph Smith, an attorney for the plaintiffs, said the state Alcoholic Beverage Commission sometimes fines establishments whose food sales drop below 50 percent, but it generally doesn't shut them down.

"How do you know?" Smith said. "Technically, that wouldn't be a restaurant under the carry law."

The plaintiffs also are claiming the law would create a public nuisance threatening the safety of the public and violating the constitutional rights of restaurant/bar owners, patrons and employees. John Harris, executive director of the Tennessee Firearms Association, which pushed for the law, has called the lawsuit misguided.

A court hearing on the matter has been rescheduled from today to 1:30 p.m. Monday in Davidson County Chancellor Claudia Bonnyman's court.

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Titans to hold McNair tribute at LP Field

2009-07-07T15:50:00.000-07:00

By Jim Wyatt • THE TENNESSEAN • July 7, 2009

The Titans will open LP Field on Wednesday and Thursday to give fans an opportunity to pay their respects to quarterback Steve McNair at the place where he made such an impression.

A large photo mural of McNair has put up outside Gate One at LP Field, and a floral display is also up honoring McNair, who was shot four times and killed over the weekend.

From 9 a.m.-7 p.m. on Wednesday and Thursday, fans will be able to watch a rolling video of McNair highlights on the video boards at the stadium.

Fans will be able to sign a book that will eventually be presented to the McNair family, and also make a donation to the Steve McNair Foundation at the ticket office. Titans owner Bud Adams thought a tribute would be a nice way to honor McNair, who played from 1995-2005 with the Titans.

“It is going to be a great way for fans to honor a great player who had so many fond memories in that venue,’’ sad Don MacLachlan, EVP of Administration and Facilities. “Fans can rehash memories of Steve. It’s something Mr. Adams wanted to do to give back after all his great memories of Steve.’’

Admission and parking will be free. Fans can park in Lot C at LP Field.

Public memorial for McNair to be held

2009-07-06T12:52:00.000-07:00

Associated Press - July 6, 2009 10:45 AM ET

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - A public memorial for former NFL quarterback Steve McNair is scheduled for Thursday in Nashville.
A viewing at Lewis and Wright Funeral Home will be from 8 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Thursday. Then a viewing will be held from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. at Mount Zion Baptist Church.
A funeral service will be held Saturday in Mississippi but final arrangements had not been finalized Monday.

McNair was found shot to death inside a Nashville condo on Saturday. A 20-year-old woman police said he had been dating was also found dead.

Instead of flowers, fans are asked to make a donation to the Steve McNair Foundation.

Stimulus offers new hope, job skills

2009-07-06T02:17:00.000-07:00

Federal money funds training for high-demand jobs
By Bonna Johnson • THE TENNESSEAN • July 6, 2009

TRACKING THE STIMULUS: New Training for Jobless
In four years, Mark Hicks has lost four jobs in Tennessee's hard-hit manufacturing field. The first company moved overseas, and then Peterbilt Motors Co. transferred operations to Texas.

Another employer, which made seats for Nissan, terminated temporary workers when sales slowed, and he lost his last job in October, just two months after getting hired, in a round of layoffs.

"I've felt like the unluckiest person around," said Hicks, who worked in quality control in what he sees as a fading industry.

The 42-year-old Hendersonville man is hoping to improve his fortunes with a midlife career change.

In January, he completed a computer tech course and is studying to get certification, which could help him land a job as an information technology professional or a PC technician.
The $2,000 course fee was covered by the state through a job-training program for so-called dislocated workers — people who are on unemployment benefits or facing layoffs.

Such programs across the country are getting a big boost through federal stimulus funds just as unemployment in Tennessee soars into double digits and the national jobless rate inches closer to 10 percent.

In Tennessee, some $29 million in stimulus funds will go to train 10,000 workers over the next 2½ years in high-demand fields such as health care and clean energy, as well as truck driving, welding and scores of other occupations. The state is getting an additional $11 million in stimulus money to train unemployed and underemployed adults.

"You have to go with the way the economy is going, so you have to get into something you can make a living at and survive on," said Hicks, who's had one job or another in manufacturing since getting a two-year degree in machine shop technology after high school.

The stimulus funds will double how much the state typically spends each year to put dislocated workers on paths to new careers, said Susan Cowden, administrator of employment and work force development at the Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development.

Since April, when funds became available, nearly 1,000 Tennesseans have started training. About $778,000 in stimulus funds have been spent for dislocated workers. State officials expect another spike in enrollment in August when fall classes start.

Although a respectable 91 percent of workers who finished training programs in 2007 found jobs, the state failed to meet other federal thresholds, resulting in the loss of some federal funds last year, Cowden said.

With 2,500 General Motors workers at the Spring Hill plant facing layoffs in November, the state is applying for an additional $2 million in emergency grants and will create a mini-career center near the plant to help GM workers make the transition into training, she said.
Those funds, which could come from the stimulus package, will also help train workers at suppliers for GM, including Penske, Premier and Johnson Controls.

Workers upgrade skills
With jobless rates soaring, training programs can be lifelines for those who have lost their jobs, said Carl Van Horn, professor of public policy and director of the John J. Heldrich Center for Workforce Development at Rutgers University in New Jersey.

"The older the worker is, the more he or she needs to either change careers entirely or upgrade skills they have within their current occupation, and both require training," Van Horn said.
Hicks is optimistic the computer skills he's learning could help him launch a new career, but he's not entirely sure the training program alone will work.

"They like seeing your degree and certification, but they also want experience," Hicks said. "If you can't get into a company where you can get experience, but they want experience, it's kind of a Catch-22."

And, even if he never lands a job in the IT field, like working for Best Buy's Geek Squad, the degree and certification are "always a good thing to have on your resume," he noted.
In the meantime, he's been attending networking events and seminars on job hunting through the Nashville Career Advancement Center and Brentwood-based Career Transition Support Group.

The training program is helping Bill McIntire, 54, stay in the computer-programming field and upgrade his skills.

"I have basic skills for programming," he said. "But more companies are using server and Web-based applications." He started training last week and hopes to get three certifications by early next year.

Tennessee's job-training program placed 2,173 workers in jobs of the 2,388 who exited the program in 2007, a 91 percent employment rate, better than the national average of 72.5 percent.

The state also outpaced the national average in the percentage of workers who are still in their jobs after six months, at 92.8 percent, compared with 87.2 percent nationally.
"We feel so good about these levels," Cowden said. "We have really targeted training programs to areas that lend themselves to high placement."

At the same time, though, the program fell short of federal targets in retention and earnings as higher goals were set each year the state did well. Shortcomings in the Memphis area and some rural areas in West and East Tennessee lowered overall performance, Cowden said.
The worsening labor market is expected to make it harder for those in training to find high-paying jobs once they exit the program, and state officials have requested lower performance goals, Cowden said.

Stimulus has critics
In the Nashville area, a maximum of $4,000 can be spent on training per worker, said Paul Haynes, executive director of the Nashville Career Advancement Center. There are some exceptions, including the amount available to those in nursing programs and dental hygienists, he said. Workers who need bus passes, child care and uniforms can also request financial help through stimulus funds.

Scores of state schools, community colleges and private campuses offer approved job training. Some stimulus funds will create new training classes, including $1 million at Walters State Community College for a clean energy curriculum and $200,000 at Austin Peay State University to train technicians for jobs at Hemlock Semiconductor Corp., a company that recently broke ground on a $1.2 billion plant in Clarksville, Tenn. An additional $4 million will go to state schools to increase the number of classes available to workers.

This point is a source of criticism to some.

The trainers are the ones really benefiting," said Nate Benefield, director for policy research at the conservative Commonwealth Foundation, a frequent critic of the stimulus. "It's not clear whether workers are benefiting."

Benefield also noted that training programs end up helping only a small number of the unemployed. "These are feel-good programs, visible things, but it doesn't do much for the statewide or national economy."

But Van Horn, the public policy professor, countered that training programs have the power to transform people's lives.

He says there is no real evidence that trainers, not workers, are the ones who really benefit. "The fact is that the administrative costs for training programs are quite low," Van Horn said.
"It's important to have realistic expectations," the professor said. "The older you get and the more experienced you are in the work force, the less likely it is that you can get a job that pays as much as you had when you were laid off. But, hopefully, it will be a stable job, and it's better than not having a job at all."

Steve McNair Found Shot To Death

2009-07-04T14:01:00.000-07:00

My Thoughts and Prayers go out to Steve McNair and his family
over this terrible time.

Vivian Wilhoite
District 29 Council Woman

Posted: July 4, 2009 03:07 PM CDT
Channel 5 News

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Former Titans quarterback Steve McNair has been killed. Police said McNair suffered a fatal gunshot wound to the head in downtown Nashville.

The incident happened near 2nd South & Lea Avenue. A female victim was also found dead.

According to Don Aaron with the Metro Nashville Police Department, no suspects have been taken into custody. Several people were being taken to police headquarters for questioning.

Metro may force new employees to live in Nashville

2009-07-04T03:18:00.000-07:00

By Michael Cass • THE TENNESSEAN • July 4, 2009

A proposal to require new Metro employees to live in Davidson County is drawing fire, with critics saying it would shrink the city's recruiting pool, create confusion and take away simple freedoms.

"I just don't think it's right that Metro employees should be bound to the land like Russian serfs," Councilman Randy Foster said at a recent meeting.
Councilman Eric Crafton is sponsoring the proposal, which would affect workers hired after the bill's passage. Those who live in other counties now would have 90 days after their start date to move here. Current employees would not be forced to relocate.

Crafton said working for the city is a privilege, especially when one in 10 adults is unemployed.

"In my opinion, it's best that residents who live here and have strong ties here be given the jobs if they become available," he said in an interview Wednesday. "We have the talent pool and educated base to fill all these jobs."

Metro required all employees to live in the county until 1994, when the council repealed the rule and required state residency only. Almost 3,300 of roughly 11,000 employees now live outside Davidson County, not counting teachers and other school district workers, according to an analysis prepared by the council's attorney.
The attorney, Jon Cooper, said there's nothing illegal about such a requirement as long as it applies to all new employees equally. But several council members said the change would be counterproductive, and Memphis has struggled with a similar 4-year-old policy, according to a recent story in The Commercial Appeal.

Councilman Rip Ryman, who has spent more than 20 years in and around Metro government, said the earlier rule was difficult to enforce. The Civil Service Commission typically granted waivers to employees who needed to live near sick relatives in other counties, and some people listed rental property they owned as their residence while actually living elsewhere.

"It encouraged people to flat-out lie about where they lived," Councilman Jim Hodge said.

Crafton said he was considering adding an amendment to his bill that would allow ownership of property in the county to fulfill the residency requirement. Family illnesses also could earn exemptions, he said.

Pros, cons weighedHodge, a Realtor, also raised questions about the financial impact the policy would have on new hires who would be forced to move into the county.

"The market to sell (a house) right now is tough," he said. "Some of these people, if they were forced to sell, they probably wouldn't be able to get their money out of the market. Suddenly you've got an employee you're putting in a financial vise."
But Crafton said no one is forced to take a job with Metro, and requiring residency doesn't impose any more of a financial hardship than requiring a college degree.

"It doesn't hurt anybody because they don't have to come here," he said.
Crafton said the policy would strengthen the Davidson County housing market and put more pressure on Metro to improve its school system. More employees living here should mean more students in the system, yielding more education funding from the state, he said.

But Councilman Greg Adkins said the opposite needs to happen. Once a strong advocate for forcing employees to live here and reaping the tax revenue they would generate, Adkins now believes it's up to government leaders to make Nashville and Davidson County more attractive places to live.

Adkins said he would fight Crafton's proposal "tooth and nail."
"Let's make it a more walkable and bikeable place," he said. "Let's make it a more green place. Those are the kinds of things we need to be looking at.

"I had it backwards," he said of his earlier stance. "You have to approach it from a philosophical level. The problem is deeper than just mandating that people live here."

But one of the city's employee unions believes otherwise. Doug Collier, president of the Service Employees International Union Local 205, said the union supports Crafton's idea.

A majority of its "low-wage" workers live in Davidson County.
"If I'm drawing my paycheck here, it's only plausible for me to be able to pay my taxes here," Collier said.

Hodge, however, said the city has no right to expect to get any of its money back after paying it to employees.

Crafton, who agreed to defer the bill indefinitely after council members raised numerous questions three weeks ago, said he might bring back a revised version in the next month.

America's Most Endangered Malls

2009-07-02T07:54:00.001-07:00

Photo taken by Phillip Riggins

U.S. News and World Report

Rick Newman

Hickory Hollow Mall
Occupancy rate: 82 percent. Sales per square foot: $187. Dillard’s is gone and two anchor slots are vacant at this Nashville, Tenn., mall. Other departed tenants include Linens ‘N Things and Steve & Barry’s, two of the biggest casualties of the recession.

'Wooded Rapist' to serve 32 years for first rape conviction

2009-07-01T16:07:00.000-07:00

By Kate Howard • THE TENNESSEAN • July 1, 2009

Robert Jason Burdick, the man police believe has broken into homes and set traps for unwitting victims to methodically attack over a dozen women, will serve 32 years behind bars for his first conviction.

Davidson County Criminal Court Judge Seth Norman sentenced Burdick to two consecutive 16-year prison sentences for the two counts of aggravated rape he was convicted of earlier this year. A 3-year sentence for aggravated burglary will be served concurrently.

"(The victim) is very satisfied that the system worked as it should have," said prosecutor Roger Moore. "She said this morning, she would (come forward and report the rape) all over again and she knows she did the right thing."

The victim testified during the trial that a masked man entered her home while she slept, and she was awakened by him standing over her. He forced the widow to disrobe, kissed her and then raped her before forcing her into the shower to wash off the evidence. But she stood away from the water until he left, and was able to preserve evidence for police that later linked Burdick to the scene.

Burdick faces 11 more counts in Nashville against at least nine victims. He also faces charges in Williamson and Wilson counties.The suspect became known as the "Wooded Rapist" after police noticed the pattern of a serial rapist who struck mostly in the Forest Hills and Brentwood areas on rainy nights, at homes near wooded areas. DNA evidence matched Burdick to the string of rapes.

TPAC ends sales through Ticketmaster

2009-07-01T11:20:00.000-07:00

It makes 'better business sense' to use own system, performing arts center says
By Harriet Vaughan • THE TENNESSEAN • July 1, 2009

After years of research and a plan to make its Web site easier to navigate, the Tennessee Performing Arts Center severed its relationship with ticket retailer Ticketmaster.

Beginning today, TPAC will use only its own box office, Davis-Kidd Booksellers, Web site and call-in number to sell tickets to future events.

"Especially with the dramatic increase in online ticket sales, it makes better business sense to sell tickets on our own system," said Brent Hyams, TPAC's executive vice president and general manager. "The new model supports direct relationships between TPAC and its customers, who will pay less handling fees and communicate directly with our staff during transactions."

The new system means reduced fees tacked on to the ticket price. Ticketmaster's per-order and print-at-home fees added an extra $6.35 to the ticket price. TPAC joins the ranks of other performing arts centers that sell their own tickets, including Schermerhorn Symphony Center.

TPAC once owned the Ticketmaster Nashville franchise but sold it in 1996. Hyams says their relationship was so close, one of the founding partners of Ticketmaster flew in to town to try to persuade TPAC to continue selling through them.

Ticketmaster 'saddened'
"While we're saddened to lose our longtime partner, we understand the competitive business we are in and that our venue clients have many choices," a statement issued by Ticketmaster said. "We wish TPAC nothing but continued success in the future with the arts-specific in-house software they have chosen."

TPAC's Web site is www.tpac.org and ticket line is 615-782-4040. Ticketmaster will continue to sell tickets for TPAC events that are already on sale, including the Broadway tour Wicked.

Metro Council may pick school board member

2009-07-01T11:16:00.000-07:00

July 1, 2009

The Metro Council may appoint the next District 9 school board member to replace Alan Coverstone on July 21, council attorney Jon Cooper said.

Cooper had said Monday that council rules require an election to happen at least four weeks after a board vacancy is formally announced to the council, which would have put the vote on Aug. 4. But he wrote in an e-mail Tuesday that he had researched the issue further and found a provision in state law requiring vacancies to be filled at the next regular meeting after the vacancy announcement. That announcement will be made at next week's meeting.

"I believe this state law provision would trump the procedure set forth in the Council Rules," Cooper wrote.

Nominations will be accepted through July 14. Coverstone's replacement will serve until the next Davidson County General Election in August 2010.

Coverstone, who was elected to the board in August 2009, resigned late last week to seek a position as Metro's executive director of charter and private schools. District 9 covers Bellevue and the Hillwood area.

May Town proposal yanked

2009-07-01T11:10:00.000-07:00

Metro Council approval appeared unlikely
By Michael Cass • THE TENNESSEAN • July 1, 2009

After a year of contentious debate, standing-room-only public hearings and expensive impact studies, one of the largest development proposals in Nashville history is heading toward the back burner — for now.

Metro Councilman Lonnell Matthews Jr. said Tuesday that he will move to defer the May Town Center rezoning plan indefinitely when the council meets next week. Matthews, the council sponsor, acted less than a week after the Metro Planning Commission rejected the idea.
The planning commission's disapproval meant that the potentially $4 billion project in rural Bells Bend would need votes from 27 of 40 council members.

Some council members admitted that seemed highly unlikely. Ten council members expressed their opposition at the commission meeting, and others have joined the chorus since then.
"It wouldn't do nothing for Goodlettsville," Councilman Rip Ryman said Tuesday, referring to the area he represents. "We need to be sure we're developing downtown."

The May family wants to build corporate headquarters, housing, retail and hotels on about 550 acres in Bells Bend while preserving an additional 900-plus acres it owns there, including 250 it has pledged to Tennessee State University.

Supporters say Nashville and Davidson County need the project to compete more effectively for jobs. Critics say it would ruin one of the last large, undeveloped areas of the city and generate intense traffic in parts of West Nashville across the Cumberland River from the bend.
Matthews will have until the end of this council term in August 2011 to put the rezoning bill back on the agenda, council attorney Jon Cooper said. But the planning commission's recommendation is good for just one year, meaning the Mays would have to go back through the full rezoning process if Matthews waited until after June 25, 2010.

All indefinitely deferred bills are withdrawn at the end of the council term.

Councilman Greg Adkins, who represents Crieve Hall, said the proposal isn't ready for council approval.

"I would vote against it," Adkins said. "It doesn't meet the sub-area (community) plan. … If they want to get it passed, they've got more work to do."

Man Injured After Confronting Would-Be Car Thieves

2009-06-30T07:47:00.000-07:00

Channel 5 News

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - A man living in the Percy Priest Lake area in the Lincoya Bay Apartments heard some commotion Monday night, which lead him to check on his car.
Once out in the parking lot, that man saw two guys trying to break into his car. The victim confronted the two men.

The confrontation left the victim with a cut on his arm, and he was also hit in the head with a stick.

Emergency officials transported the victim to Summit Medical Center.

Police said the two suspects got away.