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Friday, July 31, 2020

COVID Prayers

A church group in Gallatin held a "park and pray" event ahead of the start of school with a special focus on the COVID-19 pandemic. Here's more:

This isn’t the first time members of the First Baptist Church in Gallatin have prayed for students, teachers and staff, but this time it’s different.

"We know that the virus is limited us and in the past we’ve gone into the schools and prayed in the highways and prayed for teachers and the doors," said Jeremiah Scott, youth pastor.

So instead, the church and the community parked and prayed in the parking lot of Gallatin High School. The church even used a radio transmitter to pray through the radio.

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Back to (Hybrid) School on Monday

Sumner County Schools will open doors to students on Monday, August 3rd. The return will be on a hybrid model that features students attending in-person two days a week and via online learning three days a week. After two weeks, students in grades K-5 will attend each day, while those in grades 6-12 will maintain the hybrid schedule until COVID-19 infection rates decrease significantly. It's possible the infection rate in Sumner County could rise, in which case all school for all students will be delivered online.

Here's more from NewsChannel5:

Sumner County Schools is taking a hybrid approach for the upcoming school year.

All students in the county will learn from home for three days and at school for two days for the first two weeks. If all goes according to plan, kids from pre-kindergarten to fifth grade will learn at school completely. Everyone else will remain in a hybrid schedule. However, the plan could always change depending on the COVID-19 case count.

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For more on news impacting Hendersonville and Sumner County, follow @HvilleNews

Got news? Email us: newshendersonville@gmail.com

Thursday, July 30, 2020

Bill Lee is Ready for Football

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee is ready for football. Lee signed an executive order this week allowing the start of contact sports, including football, to coincide with the start of school.

The return of high school sports also coincides with a significant jump in the number of cases of COVID-19 in children -- all BEFORE schools are back in session.

Sumner County is slated to begin school on a hybrid schedule on August 3rd.





For more on news impacting Hendersonville and Sumner County, follow @HvilleNews

Davis Named City Administrator

Hendersonville’s Board of Mayor and Aldermen voted Tuesday night to appoint Carmen Davis as City Administrator. Here’s more from the Hendersonville Standard:

A former county administrator who also spent a decade as a city planner in Detroit, Mich., has been picked to be Hendersonville’s first city administrator.
Carmen Davis, who served for nearly 10 years as the county administrator in Hinds County, Miss., until a new Board of Supervisors voted her out earlier this year, was appointed to the newly created position by a 9 to 4 vote on Tuesday.
The appointment by the city’s Board of Mayor and Aldermen via Zoom followed a nearly two-hour discussion about the problems the city is having with Waste Pro, the company responsible for trash pick-up.
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 https://www.hendersonvillestandard.com/news/davis-chosen-to-be-hendersonvilles-first-city-administrator/article_9f27c176-d1cf-11ea-82cd-e365c7875fe4.html

Tuesday, July 28, 2020

On Wearing Masks

A Hendersonville resident took to Letters to the Editor to urge everyone to wear a mask in public in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In spite of the mandate from the Sumner County mayor that we should wear a mask in public, some people are refusing to wear one.
During a recent trip to buy groceries, I observed a lot of people not wearing masks---or social distancing. Last week there was a protest in Gallatin against mask wearing, organized by J.T. Olsen, calling this pandemic fake.
What is wrong with these people? Don’t they know how serious this pandemic is? Don’t they believe that hundreds of people have died in Tennessee, and more are still dying? They say that this is a free country, and government does not have the right to tell them what to wear.
 More>

https://www.hendersonvillestandard.com/opinion/letters_to_editor/resident-wants-everyone-to-wear-a-mask/article_abdeff12-cbb0-11ea-8354-a717d3209ad5.html


Monday, July 27, 2020

COVID-19 and Your Trash

Trash pickup in Hendersonville has been... not great lately. According to the city’s provider, that’s because of COVID-19.
After receiving a record number of trash service complaints within the last couple of weeks, the city’s Public Works Committee held a special-called meeting on Monday to discuss the issue.
The coronavirus pandemic has affected nearly every aspect of life, including trash collection, Interim Public Works Director Marshall Boyd told committee members and several other aldermen who attended the meeting via Zoom.
“In the past couple of weeks, the number of complaints has reached levels we have never experienced and are never comfortable with,” said Boyd. He attributed the amount of complaints regarding missed trash pick-up to staffing issues with Waste Pro due to COVID-19.
 https://www.hendersonvillestandard.com/news/waste-pro-trash-delays-due-to-staffing-issues-related-to-covid-19/article_2d5e8640-ccd6-11ea-b6b8-1f4d20226628.html

Sunday, July 26, 2020

Will Back to School Mean More COVID?

Neighboring Wilson County has pushed back the start of their school year to August 17th due to concerns around COVID19. Meanwhile, Alcoa City Schools started school on Wednesday and announced a first positive COVID case by Friday.

Metro Nashville is starting school completely online while Williamson County is using remote learning for all but those students in grades K-2.

Sumner is slated to start school under a hybrid schedule and then move to on campus learning for students in grades K-5 by August 17th.

Here’s more:

http://tnedreport.com/2020/07/back-to-school-back-to-covid/

https://hendersonvillenews.blogspot.com/2020/07/teachers-in-face-shields.html

Friday, July 24, 2020

Hiring a City Administrator

Hendersonville’s Board of Mayor and Aldermen (BOMA) will take another step toward hiring a City Administrator next week, reports the Hendersonville Standard:

After meeting the final two candidates in person last week and interviewing them via Zoom this week, the Hendersonville Board of Mayor and Aldermen is expected to appoint the city’s first city administrator at a meeting on July 28.  
Carmen Davis, a former Hines County, Miss., county administrator and David Strahl, an interim village manager from Schiller Park, Ill., were interviewed for about an hour each on Tuesday. Gary Jaeckel, an advisor with the Municipal Technical Advisory Service (MTAS), who also sat on the steering committee that vetted the candidates, moderated the interviews.
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Thursday, July 23, 2020

Kids with COVID

NewsChannel5 reporter Phil Williams posted a spreadsheet with the COVID-19 case count in children ages 5-18. He breaks the data down by county. Sumner is number 6 in the state with 296 cases. This is with school out of session and less than two weeks before school is slated to start.

Here’s the info:


Bizarre Political Stunts

That’s how one reader describes Mayor Jamie Clary’s time in office in a recent letter to the Hendersonville Standard:

We appreciate you all, and it's beyond evident via the recent multiple 12-1 votes, you all have come together for the good of the people of Hendersonville. Just my personal opinion, but I believe it would be well worth Mayor Clary to consider resigning his position since he's more interested in conducting bizarre political stunts, blocking members of BOMA from his social media sites and making totally unrealistic demands on the very process he's to oversee.
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 https://www.hendersonvillestandard.com/opinion/letters_to_editor/resident-not-a-fan-mayor-s-leadership/article_c28d80fe-cbaf-11ea-9f5a-23a8174a50c7.html?fbclid=IwAR1kirTmAjx8K79cGEqJLc0h_qDjykZkr45EM2iwzfcOtEBsuWiKxuPl494#utm_campaign=blox&utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social


Wednesday, July 22, 2020

Scott Sprouse Talks Trash

Hendersonville Alderman Scott Sprouse (Ward 2) took to Facebook to talk about ongoing problems with the city’s trash vendor, Waste Pro. Here’s what he had to say:

Based upon the calls and texts I’ve received, trash pickup this week is worse than last week, especially routes on the Walton Ferry peninsula yesterday and more so for the route serving the area south of Luna Lane. Waste Pro starting running a rolling schedule this week, meaning they start each day by finishing the previous day’s routes before starting the routes scheduled for that day. That means they were supposed to finish the Walton Ferry peninsula routes today before moving on to other areas of town. Please message me directly if you do not receive service by the end of today. My email address is ssprouse@hvilletn.org. You may call or text me at 615-824-9327.
In May 2019, I cast the lone vote against selecting Waste Pro and changing to once a week service. My vote was based upon my experience gained over the years and my concerns that unfortunately have since been proven justified.
Please be assured city staff and officials are fully engaged with this issue. Waste Pro is expected to uphold their contractual obligations. If they don’t, the city has the ability to terminate the contract, but that is a process that requires time and documentation. As a practical matter, it also requires the city to make arrangements to have a new provider ready to assume the work.
The bottomline is the situation is unacceptable. I understand the anger. I share the frustration. I will not accept COVID-19 as an excuse. The pandemic did not cause the problems with our trash service, it only more fully revealed problems already there.
I have read people suggest bringing trash to aldermen’s homes. If I were in your shoes, I would think the same thing, but instead of putting that messy burden on my neighbors, please let me come to you. I’m ready to borrow my father’s pickup and make runs to the dump myself. Just let me know via the email address or cell number provided above.
I am sorry for the trouble. You deserve better.


Teachers in Face Shields

Sumner County Schools announced changes to the district’s reopening plan last night.

The biggest change is that students in grades K-5 will participate in the hybrid model during a two week phase-in period. After that time, K-5 instruction will be delivered daily on school campuses. The schools will use enhanced cleaning procedures and teachers will wear face shields.

Here’s the presentation on returning to school:

https://www.sumnerschools.org/index.php/path-to-re-entry

Tuesday, July 21, 2020

ACE is the Place

ACE hardware is coming back to Hendersonville. The Hendersonville Standard has more:

“We should have already been open by now,” said Greg Yandell. “COVID-19 has definitely impacted not just our opening but also the amount of inventory we’ll have when we do open. It’s the same situation at other places right now. This has affected everyone’s inventory because so many plants are closed.”

 Yandell says the couple plans to open with as much stock as they can, and will continue to add to it as more becomes available. He was just notified last week, for example, that they won’t be able to get Toro lawn mowers until next spring.

 Despite the setbacks, the two are excited about bringing the Ace brand back to Hendersonville. The store was a staple in the community for years on the corner of Old Shackle Island Road and Main Street before moving to a strip mall just west of Sanders Ferry Road.

More>  https://www.hendersonvillestandard.com/news/local-restaurant-owners-hope-to-bring-same-sense-of-community-to-new-ace-hardware/article_81be7a68-c81e-11ea-849c-8b2972542b09.html

Monday, July 20, 2020

COVID Surging in Tennessee

TN has one of the highest jumps in new COVID cases over the last week.


Sumner School Board to Vote on Request to #CancelTNReady

The Sumner County School Board will vote tomorrow night (7/21) on a resolution calling on the state to waive testing and accountability requirements for the 2020-21 school year in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Here’s more:

http://tnedreport.com/?p=4831


Friday, July 17, 2020

The Power of Listening

However much half of this country hates the other half now, it’s only going to get worse leading up to November. I don’t look forward to it.
But I’m trying to approach this election cycle differently from how I’ve approached others.
Last summer, I had one of the most profound, transformational experiences of my life. I moved to a new place — Montana — and did my graduate research on a group of people with diverse political views ranging from liberal to conservative.
For once in my life, my own political views were totally irrelevant. I was only there to listen and learn so that I could understand how the world looks to each of the people I studied. I pushed my opinions out of my mind because they would only get in the way.
I conducted interviews in which I just listened and asked questions. I did not try to convince anyone of anything. It was so freeing. Here’s what I learned.
First of all, I liked the people I met and interviewed. I liked them a lot. Whether or not we agree about Trump, abortion, or anything else, we are all human. By just listening, I got to appreciate the good in each person I met.


Second, every single person has a story, and there’s always a reason for why people believe what they do. Even when someone is shouting something hateful or inaccurate, behind that may be fear for their job, health, safety, or kids.
Think about the issues you feel most strongly about, the things that make you turn purple with rage or shut down with fear. What is at the root of your feelings? Deep down, we all have the same needs.
What I’ve tried to do is separate what someone is advocating from the needs they’re trying to fill. I don’t agree with anti-vaxxers — I think they’re putting their 
kids, and others, in harm’s way. But I can at least understand they want to keep their children safe.
Third, I realized that I can learn something from everyone. What could I learn from an anti-vaxxer? Another sociologist, Jennifer Reich, asked that question. She found that we can learn something from them about the pressures placed on parents for their children’s success. (Although we should still all vaccinate our kids!)
Fourth, how much do you listen to someone who is insulting you, threatening you, or not listening to you? Probably very little. That’s human nature. Why would someone else listen to you if you do that to them? Yet that’s how we usually debate in this country.

When I stopped debating and started listening, I heard the people were insulting one another, needlessly provoking the other side. You can say “I disagree” without also saying “You’re stupid.” Both sides misunderstood and distrusted the other, and it’s no wonder why.
None of this is to excuse hatred, or to put the burden on people whose humanity is challenged to endure hate speech or abuse in the name of understanding. And it’s still important to challenge misinformation, especially in a pandemic. But lowering your own defensiveness and listening to others allows them to — eventually — do the same for you.

I know my revelation won’t change the toxicity of the debate leading up to this election — or through this horrible pandemic. But at least, in my own life, I’m no longer willing to put that kind of negativity out into the world. I won’t agree with everyone, but I will listen to them.


OtherWords columnist Jill Richardson is pursuing a PhD in sociology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. This op-ed was distributed by OtherWords.org.

Thursday, July 16, 2020

White House Report: Tennessee a Coronavirus “Red Zone”

An unpublished White House document indicates that public health experts consider 18 states (including Tennessee) as currently in a Coronavirus “red zone” according to a report from the Center for Public Integrity.

The report comes even as Gov. Bill Lee refuses to issue a statewide mask mandate and insists the state will remain open. Lee has also said he expects high school football this season.

Here’s more from the Center for Public Integrity:


A document prepared for the White House Coronavirus Task Force but not publicized suggests more than a dozen states should revert to more stringent protective measures, limiting social gatherings to 10 people or fewer, closing bars and gyms and asking residents to wear masks at all times.
The document, dated July 14 and obtained by the Center for Public Integrity, says 18 states are in the “red zone” for COVID-19 cases, meaning they had more than 100 new cases per 100,000 population last week. Eleven states are in the “red zone” for test positivity, meaning more than 10 percent of diagnostic test results came back positive.

 https://publicintegrity.org/health/coronavirus-and-inequality/exclusive-white-house-document-shows-18-states-in-coronavirus-red-zone-covid-19/





On the Importance of Contact Tracing

A note from the newsletter Pro-Public offered by In the Public Interest. 


Get this: Vietnam, a country of 97 million people, has reported zero deaths from only 372 cases of coronavirus.

Theories abound about how they pulled it off. But public health experts chalk it up to swift action by the Vietnamese government, including contact tracing, mass testing, lockdowns, and compulsory wearing of masks.

Here, masks have become a political landmine. And despite President Trump claiming, “We have the greatest testing program anywhere in the world,” some states with surging infections have testing shortages—like Arizona.

But what about contact tracing, the process of calling potentially exposed people and persuading them to quarantine?


“I don’t think we’re doing very well,” said Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, when asked in June about contact tracing nationwide. Most states haven’t even made public how fast or well they’re implementing the process, if at all.

Florida, the nation’s current No. 1 hotspot for the virus, is often failing to trace positive cases. This, despite the state spending over $27 million on a contract with Maximus, a company notorious for underbidding, understaffing, and performing poorly on government services contracts in multiple states.

Yet, there are bright spots elsewhere. California allocated 5 percent of staff across 90 state government departments to contact trace. North Carolina’s Wake County trained 110 librarians. In Massachusetts, counties have used state pandemic funds to hire more nurses.

There are three reasons why state and local governments should reassign public employees or hire new staff outright as the country—finally—ramps up contact tracing

One, outsourcing what should be a public job to for-profit companies like Maximus reduces transparencylimits democratic decision-makinglowers service quality, and increases inequality, all while rarely saving public dollars. Public control is particularly important when it comes to contact tracing, which involves personal health data.

Two, this is a chance to begin to reverse decades of cuts to public health budgets, which have made the worst public health crisis in a century even worse. Almost a quarter of the local public health workforce has been let go since 2008. Federal spending on nondefense discretionary programs like public health is now at a historic low.

The Trump administration, as expected, is headed in the wrong direction. On Tuesday, it stripped the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) of control over coronavirus data. State and local governments must do all they can to right the ship

And three, contact tracing is an opportunity to chip away at systemic racism. Since World War II, public sector employment has helped equalize American society by offering workers of color stable, well-paid employment. The median wage earned by Black employees is significantly higher in the public sector than in private industries.

Privatizing public work like contact tracing contributes to racial and gender income disparities. Workers at federal call centers operated by Maximus, for example, are predominately women and people of color paid poverty wages as low as $10.80 an hour with unaffordable health care.

If #BlackLivesMatter—as many governors and mayors across the country have proclaimed in recent weeks—then contact tracing should be treated as what it is: a public good.

To catch up to other countries like Vietnam, the U.S. needs to get contact tracing right—and that means doing it with public workers

Tuesday, July 14, 2020

The Plan for Schools

Tonight, the Sumner County School Board heard and discussed the district’s plan for reopening schools in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. It’s a tiered plan based on current infection rates. As of now, the recommendation is that schools reopen on a hybrid basis. This means students with last names from A-K would attend school on Monday and Thursday. Those with last names from L-Z would attend on Tuesday and Friday. The other days would be via online platforms.

Here’s the full plan:

https://www.sumnerschools.org/index.php/path-to-re-entry?fbclid=IwAR2XKNd4JT21eSqc1Nxtr3WisyJJ6RWNXgBW8XgPAjh_tsQpuaISt-SCa-Q


School Board to Present Re-Opening Plan

The Sumner County School Board tonight will hear a plan for re-opening schools amid the COVID19  pandemic. District leaders are expected to answer questions from parents and teachers submitted to them by local public school advocacy group Strong Schools.

The meeting begins at 6PM and can be viewed online via this link:



https://go.boarddocs.com/tn/scstn/Board.nsf/Public#tab-meetings

Surge

Cases of COVID-19 are surging in middle Tennessee, including the highest single day increase in Nashville since the pandemic began. Here’s more from NewsChannel5:

Metro health officials reported 771 new cases Tuesday, marking the highest single-day increase since the pandemic began. The previous record high was set just last week.

 https://www.newschannel5.com/news/nashville-mayor-john-cooper-metro-health-officials-to-give-covid-19-update-july-14



Wednesday, July 8, 2020

Lee Calls for Removal of Bust of Klan Leader from Capitol

Gov. Bill Lee today called on the Tennessee Capitol Commission to remove the bust of KKK leader Nathan Bedford Forrest from the State Capitol and place it in the state museum.

WPLN has more:

Gov. Bill Lee said on Wednesday afternoon that the bust of Nathan Bedford Forrest in the state Capitol should be moved to the Tennessee State Museum.
“Forrest represents pain and suffering and brutal crimes committed against African Americans,” Lee told reporters. “That pain is very real for many Tennesseans.”
The governor’s remarks come a day before the State Capitol Commission is to meet to vote on whether the monument should be removed from the building.
Forrest was a Confederate general and believed to be the first Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan. His bust was dedicated in 1978 and was championed by then-state Sen. Douglas Henry, D-Nashville.
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 For more on news impacting Hendersonville and Sumner County, follow @HvilleNews


Tuesday, July 7, 2020

Sumner's Mask Mandate

Sumner County Executive Anthony Holt has issued a mandate requiring the wearing of masks in public in response to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. NewsChannel5 has more:

Sumner County Mayor Anthony Holt issued an executive order requiring residents to wear face masks while in public.

The county-wide order will take effect on Tuesday, July 7.

"We are currently experiencing a public health emergency we need everyone's help to slow the rising trend of this deadly virus," Mayor Holt said.

Tennessee Governor Bill Lee issued an executive order granting county mayors the authority to issue local requirements.

"Pandemic fatigue is real...but now is the time to take proactive measures to focus on the health of our family friends and neighbors," Holt added.

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For more on news impacting Hendersonville and Sumner County, follow @HvilleNews

Monday, July 6, 2020

A Mask Mandate

While Sumner County continues to be a COVID-19 hotspot, other counties in the area (like Wilson) and now Williamson, are mandating masks. Here's more from WKRN on the mask mandate set by the Williamson County Mayor:

Williamson County mayor Rogers Anderson explained requiring masks wasn’t a rushed decision.
“Over the weekend we were having conversations with all of our city mayors and our attorneys, city managers, and all the city people you try to get on board,” said Anderson.
Together, they decided COVID-19 is a problem too big for one person to tackle. Everyone in the county must do their part. The mandatory mask order, announced Monday, is similar to the one issued by Mayor John Cooper in Davidson County.
“We know the mask doesn’t stop the virus, it contains it,” Anderson said, “If you’ve got it, and you’re asymptomatic at least you’re not spreading it.”
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For more on news impacting Hendersonville and Sumner County, follow @HvilleNews