Tennessee’s Opioid Abatement Council is making the first payments from opioid lawsuit settlements to counties totaling more than $31.4 million. The state began processing the direct payments from the Opioid Abatement Trust Fund to county governments last week.

In accordance with terms of the Distributor and Janssen/J&J settlement agreements negotiated by the Tennessee Attorney General, 35% of proceeds went directly to county governments so that local leaders could direct spending on programs to address the effects of opioids on their citizens and communities.

County leaders are able to select activities from a list approved by the Tennessee Opioid Abatement Council at its meeting in September 2022. Approved uses include a continuum of opioid use disorder treatment programs, medication assisted treatment, recovery supports and prevention measures.

The remaining 65% of settlement dollars will be distributed through a competitive grant application process to be established by the Opioid Abatement Council. The processes for applying for funding and scoring applications are on the agenda for the Council’s next meeting at the end of the month.

The first payments to come from the Opioid Abatement Trust fund mark a milestone in the state’s work to address the effects of the opioid crisis. Payments from these settlements, while not as large as this initial payment, will continue annually for 18 years.

Only one major market remains below $1K rent

The financial pain of shelling out sky-high rent is a reality for many, with median prices in some U.S. metro areas at nearly $3,000 a month. Yet, in certain metros among the country’s 50 largest markets, renters can still find relative affordability, according to the Realtor.com Monthly Rental Report released last week.

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, is the only metro among the 50 largest in the nation where renters can find a median-priced apartment for less than $1,000 a month. The report showed that Oklahoma City offered the lowest monthly rental price in January, at $982.

The report showed Nashville/Davidson County’s median rent at $1,672 in January, a 0.7% increase from January 2022.

The 10 metros with the lowest median January rent are Oklahoma City ($982), Louisville ($1,167), Birmingham ($1,178), Rochester ($1,235), Columbus, Ohio, ($1,242), Indianapolis ($1,266), Memphis ($1,274), St. Louis ($1,279), Cleveland ($1,290) and Kansas City ($1,298).

While the rents in these metros are the lowest among the 50 largest, for many of them, prices are increasing at a faster rate than in the rest of the country.

Many of these areas also have less rental availability than in past years, suggesting that affordable metros are increasing in popularity. For example, in the fourth quarter of 2022, the average rental vacancy rate across these least expensive markets was 7.6% – a significant drop from the 9.7% vacancy rate in the fourth quarter 2017. However, seven of the most-affordable areas still had greater vacancy rates than the country’s average, which was last tracked at 5.8% nationwide. Nashville’s rental vacancy rates for January tracked at 5.5%.

Bridgestone hails IndyCar sustainability

Bridgestone Americas announced major strides have been made during the offseason to incorporate more sustainable and bio-circular materials into the 2023 NTT IndyCar Series season, highlighting the advancement of three key initiatives that will make the upcoming season the most sustainable to date for America’s premier open-wheel racing series.

As the series’ exclusive tire supplier, Bridgestone will feature Firestone Firehawk race tires made with rubber derived from the guayule desert shrub as the alternate tire in all five street circuits of the 17-race season, a four-race bump from the season prior.

Additionally, the majority of race tires used this season will be manufactured at the energy-efficient Advanced Test Production Center, which has now received International Sustainability and Carbon Certification PLUS recognition for its transparency and traceability of sustainable raw materials. Finally, the company will utilize ISCC mass balance certified synthetic rubber1 made with recycled plastics in all its race tires for the 107th Running of the Indianapolis 500.

MNPD using Magnet solution for backlog

The Metro Nashville Police Department has expanded its use of Magnet Forensics, a developer of digital investigation solutions used by more than 4,000 enterprises and public safety agencies in over 100 countries, to keep its digital investigations running continuously without human intervention.

With Magnet Automate, a solution that uses automation to orchestrate the recovery and processing of digital evidence, the MNPD’s forensics unit eliminated a monthslong violent crimes case backlog in days.

Due to its success in violent crimes cases, the department is now deploying Magnet Automate within a second unit to investigate the fentanyl overdose epidemic.

During the past few years, digital evidence has played an increasingly pivotal role in police investigations. At the MNPD, the average case taken on by its violent crimes investigators involves the analysis of three devices recovered from victims, witnesses and suspects. Some cases, however, can involve more than 20 smartphones, computers and other electronics, the unit’s investigators said. This volume of devices – and the complexity of the evidence found on them – is overwhelming digital investigators and leading to significant delays in investigations.

In its first week of use, Magnet Automate helped the MNPD’s violent crimes unit process evidence in 116 cases. This task would’ve normally required six months of work, the unit’s investigators said. The newfound efficiency has allowed the unit to accelerate its digital investigations and get evidence into the hands of detectives faster than it ever could.

Silicon Ranch expands First Solar partnership

Silicon Ranch, one of the nation’s largest independent power producers, has procured an additional 1.5 gigawatts of advanced American thin film solar modules from First Solar, Inc.

First Solar’s Series 6 Plus modules were designed and developed at the company’s research and development facilities in California and Ohio, and in the United States are manufactured in Ohio.

The deal expands upon the master supply agreement between the two pioneering solar businesses that includes a 4 GW transaction announced in April 2022 and, more recently, a 700 MW commitment announced in October 2022. Whereas the prior agreements will supply Silicon Ranch projects through 2025, this latest expansion will serve Silicon Ranch projects in 2026 and 2027.

The expanded partnership with First Solar enables Silicon Ranch to continue sourcing American solar technology from a reliable industry leader with manufacturing facilities across the country. First Solar recently announced plans to build its fourth American photovoltaic solar module manufacturing facility in Alabama, further bolstering the domestic solar supply chain in the southeastern United States, a region in which Silicon Ranch pioneered utility-scale solar development.

State earns workforce development recognition

The National Association of State Workforce Agencies honored the Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development with the prestigious Pinnacle Award for Workforce Development at its 2023 Winter Policy Forum in Washington, D.C.

The national organization honors one state each year which demonstrates excellence and innovation in the area of workforce development.

TDLWD received the award for Project R.E.A.P., which stands for reentry, employment, and adult education program. The goal of the statewide initiative is to curb recidivism through education and workforce development programs for those currently incarcerated in county jails and create a new pipeline of qualified workers for Tennessee employers.

Project R.E.A.P. puts specially designed tablets into Tennessee’s county jails that provide incarcerated individuals the opportunity to complete the required adult education coursework in preparation for the HiSET high school equivalency exam.

“Tennessee realizes the potential for justice-involved individuals to make a meaningful impact on our state’s workforce once they reenter our communities,” says TDLWD Commissioner Deniece Thomas. “The technology Project R.E.A.P. allows these individuals to have better access to adult education courses while incarcerated, which benefits not only them but ultimately every Tennessean.”

In addition to the adult education course offerings, participants can also use the tablets for career training, certification reentry preparation, resume building, job search support, mental health services and substance abuse wellness, as well as life skills, educational games and TED Talks.

TDLWD currently has 5,868 tablets in 77 county jail facilities in Tennessee. Project R.E.A.P. will eventually have nearly 7,600 tablets across the state.

State awards $5M for teacher apprenticeships

The Tennessee Department of Education and the Tennessee Grow Your Own Center announced over $5 million in subgrant funding has been awarded to five educator preparation providers (EPPs) to expand the Tennessee Teacher Apprenticeship programs to increase access and remove barriers to the educator profession, in alignment with the state’s Grow Your Own initiative.

To further the statewide scale and reach, these subgrants have been awarded to five teacher apprenticeship EPPs: Austin Peay State University, Lincoln Memorial University, Arete Memphis Public Montessori, Lipscomb University and the University of Memphis. The initial subgrant funding supports the program launch, candidate enrollment and institutional costs.

“Since the department launched the Grow Your Own initiative in 2020, we are thrilled to see higher education partners and school districts come together in innovative ways to help more aspiring teachers enter the profession,” says Commissioner Penny Schwinn. “Our collaboration and shared commitment to create high-quality teacher apprenticeship programs will increase the number of qualified educators across the state serving students in our classrooms.”

In partnership with the department and University of Tennessee System, the Tennessee Grow Your Own Center is leading innovative teacher apprenticeship programs for educator credentialing, ensuring districts and candidates statewide have access to varied programs and degrees – at no cost.

Tennessee has 9 total approved EPP apprenticeship institutions, offering registered teacher apprenticeships to 30+ districts and serving 200+ candidates.