Drew Holt has joined Neal & Harwell, PLC as an associate in the firm’s litigation group.

Holt earned his J.D. from Vanderbilt University Law School. During law school, he participated in Neal & Harwell’s Summer Associate Program and was a judicial intern for the United States District Court in Knoxville. He earned a B.A. in English language and literature and an M.A. in the humanities from the University of Chicago.

2. Feds foil white nationalist attack targeting Nashville - Friday, November 8, 2024

Federal agents arrested a Tennessee man earlier this week with ties to white nationalist groups who they say attempted to use what he believed to be an explosive-laden drone to destroy a Nashville energy facility.

3. DOJ names Midstate district election officer - Friday, November 1, 2024

Acting United States Attorney Thomas J. Jaworski for the Middle District of Tennessee announced that Criminal Chief Ben Schrader will lead the United States Attorney’s Office’s efforts in connection with the Justice Department’s nationwide Election Day Program for the upcoming general election.

4. Entrepreneur Center names NEXT winners - Friday, October 25, 2024

Nashville Entrepreneur Center has announced the 2024 NEXT Awards winners, spotlighting entrepreneurs reshaping industries and fueling Middle Tennessee’s growth.

Fourteen startup and high-growth business leaders took the stage recently, with individuals and businesses awarded at two stages of growth. Winners are:

5. Many schools are still closed weeks after Hurricane Helene. Teachers worry about long-term impact - Friday, October 11, 2024

Tens of thousands of students in the Southeast are dealing with school disruptions after Hurricane Helene wreaked havoc so severe — on homes, campuses and municipal power and water systems — that some districts have no idea when they will reopen.

6. Health care closer to home - Friday, October 11, 2024

Hanging Plexiglas barriers. Temporary walls to create isolation areas. Chairs 6 feet apart in waiting rooms. Parking lots redesignated as “call-and-wait” centers, not unlike those at an airport’s arrivals terminal.

7. Hospitals mostly rebound after Helene knocked out power and flooded areas - Friday, October 4, 2024

While hospitals and health care organizations in the Southeast largely stayed open and functioning during Hurricane Helene to provide essential care for their communities, they were not unscathed.

The massive system battered the region's health centers, causing blackouts, wind damage, supply issues and flooding — leading to a dramatic rescue of patients and workers at the Unicoi County Hospital in eastern Tennessee.

8. Hospitals mostly rebound after Helene knocked out power and flooded areas - Friday, September 27, 2024

While hospitals and health care organizations in the Southeast largely stayed open and functioning during Hurricane Helene to provide essential care for their communities, they were not unscathed.

The massive system battered the region's health centers, causing blackouts, wind damage, supply issues and flooding — leading to a dramatic rescue of patients and workers at the Unicoi County Hospital in eastern Tennessee.

9. Vanderbilt's Stassun included in 2024 MacArthur 'genius grant' fellows - Friday, September 27, 2024

The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation announced Tuesday its 2024 class of fellows, often known as recipients of the "genius grant."

Among the 22 fellows, who will each receive a grant of $800,000 over five years to spend however they want, is Keivan G. Stassun, 52, of Nashville, a science educator and astronomer at Vanderbilt University who has championed the recruitment of science students from diverse backgrounds, including neurodiverse students, in addition to his research on star evolution.

10. It's time to roll up sleeves for new COVID, flu shots - Friday, September 20, 2024

WASHINGTON (AP) — Fall means it's time for just about everybody to get up to date on their flu and COVID-19 vaccines – and a lot of older adults also need protection against another risky winter virus, RSV.

11. Yochem succeeds Blank as Partnership 2030 co-chair - Friday, August 30, 2024

Carol Yochem has been selected co-chair of Partnership 2030, serving alongside Mayor Freddie O’Connell. Yochem, central region president of First Horizon Bank, succeeds Lee Blank.

Partnership 2030, established in 1990, is Middle Tennessee’s largest public-private partnership that works to enhance Middle Tennessee’s economic vitality and quality of life through strategic investments in education, workforce development and infrastructure. With 250-plus corporate and community partners, the initiative drives economic inclusivity and regional collaboration across a 10-county economic market?.

12. Health care providers seek to expand ties with nursing educators - Friday, July 5, 2024

Hospitals and health systems are working just as hard to retain, train and keep top nursing talent. They say partnerships with colleges is one way they keep that pipeline open, as well as a focus on the ever-changing needs of the health care industry and the patients it serves. Here’s what that looks like for two Tennessee providers.

13. Nursing in crisis - Friday, July 5, 2024

There aren’t enough nurses. Anywhere. It’s not a new problem and it’s one that received heightened scrutiny during and since the COVID pandemic.

There’s no quick fix because the problem is multifaceted beginning with the big experience gap between older, more-seasoned nurses retiring versus newly graduated nurses arriving to replace them.

14. MNPS, partners team for FAFSA aid - Friday, June 21, 2024

Metro Nashville Public Schools and a network of Nashville-based college access organizations will host FAFSA completion clinics at more than a dozen locations through July to help recent MNPS graduates and others maximize their financial aid options this summer.

15. New Nashville bars make Esquire list - Friday, June 7, 2024

Two upscale Nashville bars that opened in 2023 have made this year’s version of Esquire magazine’s “Best Bars in America” list.

Tiger Bar on Gallatin Pike in East Nashville and Four Walls, located within The Joseph hotel downtown, made it onto the annual list of unique bars around the United States.

16. Black Americans are underrepresented in residential care communities, AP/CNHI News analysis finds - Friday, May 24, 2024

Norma Upshaw was living alone south of Nashville when her doctor said she needed to start in-home dialysis.

Her closest family lived 40 miles away, and they'd already scrambled once when the independent senior living facility the 82-year-old had called home — a community of largely Black residents — had closed with 30 days' notice. Here they were searching, yet again, for an assisted living facility or maybe an affordable apartment that was closer.

17. US says cyberattacks against water supplies are rising, and utilities need to do more to stop them - Friday, May 17, 2024

WASHINGTON (AP) — Cyberattacks against water utilities across the country are becoming more frequent and more severe, the Environmental Protection Agency warned Monday as it issued an enforcement alert urging water systems to take immediate actions to protect the nation's drinking water.

18. O’Connell proposes $3.27B FY25 budget - Friday, May 10, 2024

Last week, Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell proposed a $3.27 billion budget that intends to build on campaign promises of “Nashville for Nashvillians” as Metro government’s revenues stabilize after four years of pandemic uncertainty.

19. Oracle’s Ellison says Nashville to be new headquarters - Friday, May 3, 2024

Oracle Corp.’s planned campus in Nashville will serve as the business software giant’s world headquarters, placing it in a city that’s a center for the U.S. health care industry, company chairperson Larry Ellison said.

20. Seeking engagement and purpose, corporate employees turn to workplace volunteering - Friday, April 26, 2024

NEW YORK (AP) — Michelle Barbin's job does not always fill her bucket. Yes, she likes her nine-to-five helping improve consumer experiences at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts. She emphasizes she wouldn't have spent nearly 19 years working for the health insurance provider otherwise.

21. Millennials, Gen Z return to their roots with homesteading - Friday, April 26, 2024

Millennials and Generation Z have made a noticeable shift back to basics in recent years. Learn how and why these younger groups increasingly turn toward homesteading and how they differ from previous generations of homesteaders.

22. Oprah Winfrey and Dwayne Johnson pledged $10M for Maui wildfire survivors; they gave much more - Friday, April 19, 2024

Lana Vierra misses the swing set at her Lahaina home, which was reduced to ashes in the wildfires that swept through her community last summer.

"Multiple generations went through there playing in my front yard," she said. "Just with the animals and the turtles and the deer and goats that we once had in that little tiny yard."

23. Belmont announces $58M Curb College gift - Friday, April 12, 2024

Belmont University has announced a $58 million lead gift from philanthropist and music industry icon Mike Curb and the Mike Curb Foundation to catalyze the expansion of its nationally renowned Mike Curb College of Entertainment and Music Business.

24. Charles Hawkins names 2 new shareholders - Friday, April 12, 2024

The Charles Hawkins Co., one of Nashville’s premier commercial real estate services companies, has selected first vice presidents Clancy Hoban and Jonathan Douillard as shareholders in the company.

25. Keep an eye on safety during solar eclipse - Friday, April 5, 2024

Millions of people will watch Monday as day turns into night during the 2024 total solar eclipse. It will be the last total solar eclipse visible from the contiguous United States until 2044, NASA reports.

26. Bass, Berry & Sims shifts leadership posts - Friday, March 29, 2024

Bass, Berry & Sims has appointed five attorneys across its offices in Nashville, Knoxville, Memphis and Washington, D.C. to serve in the following firm leadership roles:

• Michael R. Hess (Memphis) and Shelley R. Thomas (Nashville) have been elected to the firm’s executive committee, succeeding Richard F. Mattern and Lillian M. Blackshear.

27. Meanwhile, Sounds upgrade fan experience - Friday, March 29, 2024

The best minor league baseball stadium experience in the country just keeps getting better.

Fans attending the Nashville Sounds’ home opening-series (April 2-7 versus the St. Paul Saints) will quickly note three significant upgrades to First Horizon Park, which – hard to believe – is beginning its 10th year of operations since opening April 17, 2015.

28. MTSU survey: Tennessee business leaders more optimistic - Friday, March 22, 2024

Heading into spring, Tennessee business leaders have a much more positive outlook about their industries, a sentiment trend that “has flipped” in the past year, the latest Tennessee Business Barometer by MTSU’s Jones College of Business finds.

29. MTSU survey finds economic worries - Friday, March 15, 2024

Tennessee consumers’ improved outlook last fall about their financial prospects dropped noticeably over the winter heading into the spring, though higher income earners are a bit more optimistic than others, the latest statewide survey by Middle Tennessee State University found.

30. Lieff Cabraser welcomes Dozier to Nashville office - Friday, March 15, 2024

National plaintiffs’ law firm Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, LLP, has hired Wesley J. Dozier for its Nashville office.

In addition to working on poisoned municipal water cases in Jackson, Mississippi, and Benton Harbor, Michigan, Dozier will also contribute to the firm’s copyright infringement lawsuits against OpenAI and Microsoft regarding alleged illegal use of artificial intelligence in the publishing industry on behalf of bestselling authors John Grisham, George R.R. Martin and Jodi Picoult, among many others.

31. Transcript of President Joe Biden's State of the Union address - Friday, March 8, 2024

WASHINGTON (AP) — A transcript of President Joe Biden's State of the Union address on March 7, 2024, as prepared for delivery and provided by the White House:

Good evening.

Mr. Speaker. Madam Vice President. Members of Congress. My Fellow Americans.

32. New law eliminates small biz tax requirement - Friday, March 8, 2024

More than 100,000 small businesses with annual gross sales of less than $100,000 within a county and/or city will no longer be required to file a return with the passage of the Tennessee Works Tax Act. This change applies to tax periods ending on or after Dec. 31, 2023.

33. Bloomberg tops the Chronicle of Philanthropy's list of America's biggest donors in 2023 - Friday, March 1, 2024

Michael Bloomberg, the former New York City mayor, gave the most to charitable causes last year, followed by Nike co-founder Phil Knight and his wife, Penny, and Michael Dell and his wife, Susan, according to the Chronicle of Philanthropy's exclusive list of the 50 Americans who donated the largest sums to nonprofits last year.

34. O’Connell wants transit plan on Nov. ballot - Friday, February 23, 2024

Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell has announced he will move forward with a process to place dedicated funding for transportation and infrastructure projects on the November ballot.

After getting the green light on both legal and financial aspects of the process, the administration is putting a referendum in front of the voters Nov. 5.

35. 'Soaring' over hills or 'playing' with puppies, study finds seniors enjoy virtual reality - Friday, February 16, 2024

POMPANO BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Retired Army Col. Farrell Patrick taught computer science at West Point during the 1970s and then at two private universities through the 1990s, so he isn't surprised by the progress technology has made over the decades.

36. Biden administration expands program to help rural towns plagued by sewage problems - Friday, February 9, 2024

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration announced Tuesday that it is expanding a program to help rural communities with serious sewage problems get technical help to plan improvements and apply for funding.

37. Lee to deliver State of the State Feb. 5 - Friday, January 26, 2024

Gov. Bill Lee will deliver his sixth State of the State address to the General Assembly and fellow Tennesseans Monday, Feb. 5 at 6 p.m. CST. The joint session will take place in the House Chamber of the Tennessee State Capitol.

38. Memphis residents are on day 4 of a boil water notice while ice hits Arkansas, Missouri - Friday, January 19, 2024

MEMPHIS (AP) — Memphis residents spent their fourth day boiling water for drinking, brushing their teeth and preparing food on Monday as repair crews worked to fix broken pipes in hopes of easing the stress caused by a week of sub-freezing temperatures, snow and ice in this southern city.

39. Lee, music leaders seek protections against AI - Friday, January 19, 2024

Gov. Bill Lee has unveiled new legislation designed to protect songwriters, performers and other music industry professionals against the potential dangers of artificial intelligence.

Lee made the announcement Jan. 10 while standing in the middle of Nashville’s famed RCA Studio A, a location where legends such as Dolly Parton, Willie Nelson and Charley Pride have all recorded. Packed inside were top music industry leaders, songwriters and lawmakers, all eager to praise the state’s rich musical history while also sounding the alarm about the threats AI poses.

40. Baker Donelson hires legislative adviser - Friday, January 19, 2024

The law firm of Baker Donelson has added former Tennessee Senate senior legislative adviser Jacob D. Baggett as a public policy adviser in the firm’s Nashville office.

Baggett assists companies, organizations and associations in navigating legislative and regulatory matters in Tennessee. He serves clients in industries such as manufacturing, health care, transportation, automotive, energy, real estate and financial services, as well as educational institutions, local governments and economic development districts.

41. Judges blocks law letting state pick 6 to sports board - Friday, December 29, 2023

A panel of judges has blocked a new Tennessee law that would reconfigure the group overseeing professional sports facilities in Nashville by letting state leaders pick six of its 13 board members.

The three judges agreed the law targeting the Nashville Sports Authority likely violates home rule protections in the state constitution by singling out Nashville and failing to require approval by local voters or two-thirds of the metro council. The temporary injunction blocks the law while the lawsuit by the city proceeds through court. The law would have taken effect Jan. 1.

42. Bradley Adds Breen, Drinkwater in Nashville - Friday, December 29, 2023

Elta Breen and Woods Drinkwater have joined Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP as senior attorneys in the Nashville office.

Breen is a member of the firm’s health care practice group and previously worked for multiple Tennessee state agencies.

43. The year of social media soul-searching: Twitter dies, X and Threads are born and AI gets personal - Friday, December 22, 2023

We lost Twitter and got X. We tried out Bluesky and Mastodon (well, some of us did). We fretted about AI bots and teen mental health. We cocooned in private chats and scrolled endlessly as we did in years past. For social media users, 2023 was a year of beginnings and endings, with some soul-searching in between.

44. Figel sets retirement from Conflict Resolution Center - Friday, December 15, 2023

The Nashville Conflict Resolution Center has announced a transition plan as longtime executive director Sara Figal plans to retire in mid-2024.

Under Figel’s eight-year leadership, NCRC has created a remote mediation program that now serves the courts and communities in 15 counties. Each year, these mediation services help more than 1,000 residents resolve disputes so they can stabilize their co-parenting, housing and employment situations without the cost and stress of litigation.

45. Safe Surrender event scheduled this weekend - Friday, December 8, 2023

Men and women in Davidson County wanted on warrants for nonviolent crimes, including failure to appear in court, will be given a special opportunity toward a second chance during Nashville Safe Surrender 2023.

46. New Titans stadium to keep Nissan name - Friday, November 24, 2023

Much will change on Nashville’s East Bank over the next few years, but one thing will remain the same.

The Tennessee Titans and Nissan North America have reached an agreement on a 20-year, exclusive naming-rights partnership that brands the new Titans home venue as ‘Nissan Stadium.’

47. Stites & Harbison adds to real estate, banking - Friday, November 24, 2023

Haley Duncan has joined Stites & Harbison in Nashville as a member of its real estate and banking service group.

Before joining Stites & Harbison, Duncan participated in the firm’s summer associate program in 2022, was a judicial intern for Hon. Judge Irv Maze of the Kentucky Court of Appeals in the summer of 2021 and was a legal research intern for MothersEsquire in 2023.

48. Bass, Berry & Sims adds 3 in Nashville - Friday, November 17, 2023

Three attorneys have joined Bass, Berry & Sims in Nashville, Jennifer McLellan as counsel along with associates William Abramson and Justin Hay.

McLellan advises clients on complex and strategic business transactions, with an emphasis on cross-border and domestic mergers, acquisitions and dispositions. She represents public and private companies in a number of industries, including the health care, technology and financial services industries.

49. CFMT offers new child care program grant - Friday, November 3, 2023

ChildcareTennessee, a Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee statewide initiative, in partnership with the Tennessee Department of Human Services, is offering a new grant to enhance safety and security in licensed child care programs across Tennessee.

50. Deadly explosion off Nigeria points to threat posed by aging oil ships around the world - Friday, October 27, 2023

OKITIPUPA, Nigeria (AP) — It was the dead of night when the ship caught fire, Patrick Aganyebi remembers, but the flames made it seem as bright as day.

The explosion that night woke him and knocked him to the floor. He tucked his phone and his ID card in his pockets, strapped on a life jacket and made his way to the upper deck. As the flames barreled toward him, he prepared to jump nearly 100 feet (30 meters) into the sea.

51. New life for long-neglected Hickory Hollow area - Friday, October 27, 2023

Nathan Brown lowers his aerial work platform to ground level and puts aside his paint brush. A broad smile creases the Nashville-based muralist’s face as he reminisces about growing up in Antioch in the early 1990s.

52. 'Addictive' social media feeds that keep children online targeted by New York lawmakers - Friday, October 13, 2023

New York would restrict the way online platforms like Instagram and YouTube can collect and share children's personal information and let parents keep their kids from being bombarded by "addictive" feeds from accounts they don't follow, under legislation proposed Wednesday.

53. O’Connell mandates Civilian Review Board - Friday, October 13, 2023

Responding to a new state law that abolishes community oversight boards, new Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell mandated that Metro reconstitute the current board as a civilian review board.

The existing community oversight board engaged independent counsel and elected not to file suit against the state. Metro Legal Director Wally Dietz agreed with that decision, stating, “When the legislature passed the new law requiring all police oversight boards to comply with new restrictions and requirements, we advised the COB leadership that Metro would not file a lawsuit challenging the law because we did not have legal claim we could file in good faith.

54. Spyridon selected for Nashville Business HOF - Friday, October 13, 2023

Butch Spyridon has been named the 2023 JA Nashville Business Hall of Fame laureate by Junior Achievement of Middle Tennessee. This distinguished annual event recognizes Nashville’s outstanding contributors to business and philanthropy.

55. Rhett, Wilson, Lynyrd Skynyrd to headline New Year’s Eve - Friday, October 6, 2023

The live show for Jack Daniel’s New Year’s Eve Live: Nashville’s Big Bash at Bicentennial Capitol Mall State Park will feature Grammy Award-nominated Thomas Rhett, reigning CMA and ACM Female Vocalist of the Year Lainey Wilson and Rock & Roll Hall of Famers Lynyrd Skynyrd as headliners.

56. Husch Blackwell adds to real estate practice - Friday, October 6, 2023

Brandi Maiorino has joined Husch Blackwell as a partner in its real estate, development & construction industry group. Maiorino is based in the firm’s virtual link office and is resident in Nashville. She is part of the firm’s growing presence in the Nashville area and is the firm’s 10th attorney based in the area.

57. O’Connell inauguration celebration Saturday - Friday, September 29, 2023

New Metro Nashville/Davidson County Mayor Freddie O’Connell took his oath of office Monday morning in a private ceremony at the Metro Courthouse.

A public event titled Nashville Coming Together, a daylong celebration including a Celebration of City Services, transit treks, food trucks and live musical entertainment, will take place Saturday.

58. Bass, Berry & Sims adds five attorneys in Nashville - Friday, September 29, 2023

Bass, Berry & Sims has hired five new attorneys in Nashville: Laci Alsup (real estate), Theresa A. Androff (senior litigation) and associates Kristen Bokhan, R. Ethan Ward and Hunter K. Yoches.

59. Walk of Fame sets Oct. 4 induction date - Friday, September 15, 2023

The Music City Walk of Fame has announced four new inductees: three-time Grammy Award-winner Darius Rucker; Don McLean of “American Pie” fame; rock ’n’ roll guitarist Duane Eddy; and former record-label executive Joe Galante, the Nashville Convention & Visitors Corp announced.

60. Iraq water crisis could have regional consequences, UN human rights chief warns - Friday, August 4, 2023

BAGHDAD (AP) — The United Nations' human rights chief on Wednesday warned that Iraq's water crisis could affect other countries in the region.

Severe water shortages in Iraq because of climate change and government mismanagement have destroyed wheat and fruit harvests, and killed off fish and livestock. Humanitarian organizations have warned for years that drought and mismanagement could deprive millions of people of water from the Euphrates and Tigris Rivers, which also run through neighboring war-torn Syria.

61. US employers add a still-solid 187,000 jobs in July; unemployment dips to 3.5% - Friday, August 4, 2023

WASHINGTON (AP) — The job market has cooled over the summer. But it's still strong enough to defy predictions that higher interest rates would tip the United States into recession.

U.S. employers added 187,000 jobs last month, fewer than expected. But the unemployment rate dipped to 3.5% in a sign that the job market remains resilient.

62. McGlinchey adds 2 litigation attorneys - Friday, July 14, 2023

McGlinchey Stafford has added Will Wojcik as a member and Cole Hodge as associate in its Nashville office. Both will serve the firm’s litigation practice.

Wojcik’s practice spans litigation in the context of construction defect, real estate, contract and zoning disputes, as well as advice and counsel on corporate, transactional, governance and tax matters. He most recently practiced with Kay Griffin, PLLC.

63. Lifepoint Health names Eastern Division president - Friday, June 16, 2023

Lifepoint Health has appointed Elmer Polite to the role of president, Eastern Division. He will provide operational oversight for Lifepoint’s acute care hospitals in Michigan, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Virginia. He previously served as chief financial officer of the Eastern Division.

64. A plan for Nashville’s meteoric growth - Friday, May 26, 2023

The executive director of Nashville’s Department of Planning, Arkansas native Lucy Kempf, has a genesis story that took her out of The Wonder State, to Charlotte, North Carolina, then to the nation’s capital, Washington D.C., and eventually landing her in one of the most high-profile development booms in the country, Music City.

65. How consumers could be pinched by a US government default - Friday, May 12, 2023

WASHINGTON (AP) — All the hand-wringing in Washington over raising the debt limit can seem far removed from the lives of everyday Americans, but they could end up facing huge consequences.

Millions of people in the U.S. rely on benefits that could go unpaid and services that could be disrupted, or halted altogether, if the government can't pay its bills for an extended period.

66. Barnes & Thornburg expands to Nashville - Friday, May 12, 2023

Barnes & Thornburg LLP is opening a new office in Nashville that will be anchored by the arrival of five partners: capital markets partners Jay H. Knight and Taylor K. Wirth, health care partners J.D. Thomas and Elisa Harris, and white-collar litigation partner Joy Boyd Longnecker.

67. Three-month grocery tax holiday in state tax act - Friday, May 5, 2023

The Tennessee General Assembly approved more than $400 million in tax cuts for Tennessee families and businesses through the Tennessee Works Tax Act, marking one of the largest tax cuts in Tennessee history and supporting future economic growth.

68. Bahou, Bernard join Bradley’s IP practice  - Friday, May 5, 2023

A.J. Bahou and Blake Bernard have joined Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP as partners in its intellectual property practice group.

Bahou, who previously was with Holland & Knight LLP and Waller, is a registered patent attorney, trial lawyer, mediator and arbitrator with more than 20 years of experience in the areas of electrical and computer engineering technologies, including artificial intelligence, virtual reality, medical devices, blockchain, computer hardware, software and internet security systems.

69. Loneliness poses risks as deadly as smoking: surgeon general - Friday, April 28, 2023

WASHINGTON (AP) — Widespread loneliness in the U.S. poses health risks as deadly as smoking a dozen cigarettes daily, costing the health industry billions of dollars annually, the U.S. surgeon general said Tuesday in declaring the latest public health epidemic.

70. First responders struggle with memories of Covenant - Friday, April 21, 2023

Metro police officers spend countless hours – years, even – training for a day they hope will never come. One like the March 27 mass shooting at Covenant School in Green Hills, where three children and three adults were killed, adding Nashville to a growing list of cities and schools that have suffered similar tragedies.

71. California may end travel ban to states with anti-LGBTQ laws - Friday, March 31, 2023

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — When North Carolina in 2016 banned transgender people from using the bathroom of their gender identity in public buildings, California retaliated by banning state-funded travel to that state and any other state with laws it deemed discriminatory against LGBTQ people.

72. Metro releases potential redistricting maps - Friday, March 31, 2023

Nashville’s Planning Department has released two maps of potential new representation maps, a process brought about by new state law that could slice the size of the Metro Council in half.

The department used the same methods and principles that drove a 2021 redistricting process and generated the current 40-member (35 districts and five at-large members) map to create the two new initial maps, based on the state law that caps the council’s size at 20 members.

73. Burr & Forman adds 2 attorneys in Nashville - Friday, March 24, 2023

The Nashville office of Burr & Forman LLP has hired Summer J. Melton and Katherine “Kiki” R. Rogers.

Melton joins the construction & project development practice group as an associate. Her practice focuses on civil litigation, complex construction litigation and labor and employment law. She is a graduate of Belmont College of Law, where she coaches two undergraduate mock trial teams and teaches inaugural undergraduate trial advocacy classes.

74. EPA 'neighbor' rule cuts downwind pollution by power plants - Friday, March 10, 2023

WASHINGTON (AP) — A new "good neighbor" rule issued by the Environmental Protection Agency will restrict smokestack emissions from power plants and other industrial sources that burden downwind areas with smog-causing pollution they can't control. Nearly two dozen states will have to cut harmful industrial emissions of nitrogen oxide and other pollutants to improve air quality for millions of people living in downwind communities.

75. Tarwater confirmed for TN Supreme Court - Friday, March 17, 2023

Lawmakers last week confirmed Dwight Tarwater to serve on the state’s highest court starting this summer.

Tarwater will replace outgoing Justice Sharon Lee upon her retirement Aug. 31. Justice Lee announced in November that she would retire from the Tennessee Supreme Court after serving on the bench since 2008, when she was appointed by former Democratic Gov. Phil Bredesen.

76. State unemployment holds steady at 3.5% - Friday, March 10, 2023

Tennessee started 2023 with continued low unemployment, according to the latest data released by the Department of Labor and Workforce Development. The rate for January 2023 came in at 3.5%, the fourth consecutive month the state’s jobless number remained at that level.

77. Communities await first US limits on 'forever chemicals' - Friday, March 3, 2023

The Environmental Protection Agency is expected to propose restrictions on harmful "forever chemicals" in drinking water after finding they are dangerous in amounts so small as to be undetectable. But experts say removing them will cost billions, a burden that will fall hardest on small communities with few resources.

78. Ozburn named CEO of TriStar Centennial - Friday, March 3, 2023

TriStar Centennial Medical Center has selected Tom Ozburn, DSc., FACHE, CMPE, as chief executive officer of the 741-bed multi-campus system of care.

Ozburn brings 25 years of executive health care leadership to this new role. Since 2017, he has served as president and chief executive officer of Parkridge Health System, part of the HCA Healthcare TriStar Division.

79. Diversified Trust promotes 3, including new principal - Friday, February 24, 2023

Diversified Trust, an independent comprehensive wealth management firm, has elevated four to new positions.

Jeff Carson has been promoted from senior vice president to principal. In his role as principal and senior fiduciary officer, Carson is responsible for the oversight and administration of the firm’s fiduciary services and also leads the planning team in Nashville.

80. Helping to launch the next big success - Friday, February 17, 2023

Lenses can cause both distortion and focus. If you look at the world of entrepreneurship primarily through a pop culture lens, the distortion might get overlooked, what with the lights and the chairs and the nicknames and the potential for life-changing money offered by a so-called shark. But the distortion is most assuredly there.

81. Gov. Lee’s proposed budget: Roads, parks, tax breaks - Friday, February 10, 2023

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee this week unveiled a $55.6 billion state budget proposal stocked with cash for roads, state parks, tax cuts for businesses, state employee pay boosts and more.

The plan put forth by Lee also fuels a number of areas to benefit health coverage for low-income women and children, in addition to anti-abortion crisis pregnancy centers, as he and fellow Republicans sort through scrutiny over one of the country’s strictest abortion bans.

82. Biden to focus on vets, cancer patients, others in speech - Friday, February 3, 2023

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden will outline some new steps Tuesday to go after illegal drugs, help veterans and cancer patients, and provide more access to mental health care.

It will be a somewhat new version of steps Biden outlined in these four areas during last year's State of the Union address. He called it a "unity agenda," saying the issues are ones that lawmakers and the public could unite around regardless of political affiliation.

83. Roads, parks, tax breaks: A look at Tenn. Gov. Lee's budget - Friday, February 3, 2023

NASHVILLE (AP) — Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee on Monday unveiled a $55.6 billion state budget proposal stocked with cash for roads, state parks, tax cuts for businesses, state employee pay boosts and more.

84. Bass, Berry & Sims elevates 5 attorneys - Friday, February 3, 2023

Bass, Berry & Sims has appointed five attorneys across its offices in Memphis, Nashville and Washington, D.C. to serve in the following leadership roles:

• Paul G. Jennings (Nashville) and Michael C. Gibson (Washington, D.C.) have been elected to the firm’s executive committee.

85. Lee sworn in for second term - Friday, January 27, 2023

Gov. Bill Lee kicked off his second term, promising to focus over the next four years on improving aging transportation systems, advocating for better conservation efforts and protecting the state’s most vulnerable children.

86. Spyridon to retire from Nashville Convention & Visitors Corp - Friday, January 20, 2023

Longtime leader of the Nashville Convention & Visitors Corp Butch Spyridon will retire from the organization June 30, after 32 years as its top executive. Deana Ivey, who currently holds the title of president, will be promoted to president and CEO July 1.

87. Indonesia lifts all COVID curbs, shifts to endemic approach - Friday, December 30, 2022

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Almost three years after officials announced the first confirmed case of COVID-19 in Indonesia, the country's leader said Friday they are lifting all coronavirus-related restrictions nationwide.

88. Sarajevo's agony echoes as Ukraine braces for a dark winter - Friday, December 30, 2022

SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina (AP) — Vildana Mutevelic huddled in her apartment with her two young children and elderly cousins. They had no heat, electricity or running water as artillery shells tore the roof off their building and almost took their lives.

89. Bass, Berry & Sims adds Reid as member - Friday, December 23, 2022

Scott W. Reid has joined Bass, Berry & Sims as a member and will split time between the firm’s Nashville and Knoxville offices.

Reid, who marks the 56th new attorney announced at the firm in 2022, focuses his practice on private equity, debt financing transactions and debt restructurings. He previously was a debt finance partner at Kirkland & Ellis LLP.

90. Is a college degree really the tool you need? - Friday, December 16, 2022

The Greatest Generation achieved its greatness with a high school diploma. The ambitious kids of the 1960s found their way up the economic ladder with a college education. Since then, a college degree has been the symbolic ideal of higher educational achievement.

91. Ukraine PM urges more military aid to counter Russia attacks - Friday, December 9, 2022

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine's prime minister is appealing for Patriot missile batteries and other hi-tech air defense systems to counter Russian attacks, as more Russian shelling was reported on Monday in the eastern regions of Ukraine where Moscow is trying to make battlefield gains.

92. Former state official joins Bass, Berry & Sims - Friday, November 25, 2022

Bass, Berry & Sims has added Betsy F. Knotts as counsel in Nashville, marking the 34th new attorney announced firmwide in 2022.

Knotts has extensive experience in government service. While director of the Tennessee Comptroller of the Treasury Division of Local Government Finance, she assisted local governments in all areas of municipal finance and drafted legislation on issues related to local government debt issuance.

93. Frost Todd Brown, California firm merge - Friday, November 18, 2022

National law firm Frost Brown Todd, with offices in Nashville, and California-based AlvaradoSmith are announcing their plan to merge.

The combination, the firms say, will add depth to FBT’s core practices and industry teams while expanding its geographic reach to key California legal markets.

94. Events - Friday, November 11, 2022

Tennessee Titans Informational Update. During this All Area Advisory Council (AAC) meeting, panelists Burke Nihill, president & CEO of the Tennessee Titans, Adolpho Birch, SVP & chief legal officer, and Johari Matthews, director of programs for the Tennessee Titans Foundation, will share the latest agreed-to terms for a new, enclosed stadium. This is a member’s only program and on-site registration will not be available. 9:30-10 a.m. networking, Tuesday, 10-11 a.m. program. Nissan Stadium, 1 Titans Way. Information

95. When destitute small towns mean dangerous tap water - Friday, November 4, 2022

KEYSTONE, W.Va. (AP) — Donna Dickerson's heart would sink every time she'd wake up, turn on the faucet in her mobile home and hear the pipes gurgling.

Sometimes it would happen on a day when her mother, who is 86 and has dementia, had a doctor's appointment and needed to bathe. Sometimes it would be on Thanksgiving or Christmas when family had come to stay.

96. Judge Watkins joins Neal & Harwell - Friday, October 21, 2022

Retired Judge Monte D. Watkins has joined Neal & Harwell, PLC, as of counsel.

Watkins was previously appointed to the court by former Governor Phil Bredesen in 2003 and served as judge for Division V of the Tennessee 20th Judicial District Criminal Court. Before his judicial appointment, Watkins practiced law for 19 years as a sole practitioner with an emphasis on criminal defense, probate law and real estate.

97. Nashville SC clinches third playoff berth - Friday, October 7, 2022

Nashville SC will advance to the MLS Cup Playoffs for the third consecutive season.

NSC finished its 2022 regular season home schedule Sunday with a 1-2 defeat to Houston Dynamo FC, but clinched the playoff spot earlier in the day when the Portland Timbers lost to LAFC 2-1.

98. Legal Aid Society promotes Oswald - Friday, September 23, 2022

Legal Aid Society of Middle Tennessee and the Cumberlands, Tennessee’s largest nonprofit law firm, has promoted Zac Oswald to senior deputy director of client services.

Oswald will continue to lead the firm’s housing practice group while taking on additional leadership responsibilities across the firm. Oswald had previously served as managing attorney of Legal Aid Society’s Gallatin office since 2018 and joined the firm as a staff attorney in 2014.

99. Climate change jeopardizes health care services, report says - Friday, September 16, 2022

WASHINGTON (AP) — Dr. Suzy Fitzgerald remembers looking out the windows as wildfire flames surrounded the hospital where she worked.

"We had fire in all three directions," Fitzgerald recalled. "I thought, 'Oh gosh, this is serious. We need to get these people out.'"

100. Harris, Katz join Bradley as partners - Friday, September 9, 2022

Nathan S. Harris and Benjamin Katz have joined Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP as partners in the Nashville office.

Harris is a member of Bradley’s Corporate & Securities Practice Group and works with clients throughout the entire business lifecycle. He assists with entity formation, provides guidance on commercial transactions and fundraising and advises buyers and sellers in connection with complex M&A transactions.