From #WPLN: "Should algorithms set rent prices? An antitrust trial with national implications is underway in Nashville."

I maintain that this may be the most consequential lawsuit heard in #Nashville in a generation. Housing is THE issue in Nashville right now, and arguably, the country.

The lawsuit asks: Should it be legal for landlords to use an algorithm that creates an effective cartel, extracting the most money out of renters for a basic need?

https://wpln.org/post/should-algorithms-set-rent-prices-an-antitrust-trial-with-national-implications-is-underway-in-nashville/

If NPR ever figures out how to make it so sustaining members or donors don't have to hear the pledge drive campaigns, they will meet their fundraising goals *SO FAST*. I know I would up my membership!

For the record, I really appreciate NPR's reporting, and I specifically appreciate #WPLN having stepped up to cover more news and break stories in Nashville. If you aren't already a member, throw them a bone, they do good work for our city!

https://wpln.org/

"The #PutnamCounty #Sheriff's Office put out a press release after the event, blaming the #DragShow for bringing 'unwelcome guests' into #Cookeville."

They're gonna get people killed using language like that.

#Tennessee #Drag #DragQueens #UCPride #LGBT+ #NAACP #HixBrewery #ACAB

#Nazis #Weapons #Religion #WhiteNationalists #ProudBoys #Hate #TheseThingsSuck

https://wpln.org/post/neo-nazis-threatened-a-drag-show-at-a-cookeville-bar-now-the-bar-is-facing-eviction/
#NeoNazis threatened a drag show at a Cookeville bar. Now the bar is facing #eviction | #WPLN #News

#IAmDB

#EPA might tighten an air pollution rule. #Nashville would have to change. #WPLN

"In Nashville, the largest source is natural gas in homes and buildings, followed by cars and trucks."

Better transit doesn't just save time in traffic. It improves road safety, improves overall health and activity, and yes—air quality and respiratory health.

https://wpln.org/post/epa-might-tighten-an-air-pollution-rule-nashville-would-have-to-change/

From #WPLN:

"Rutherford County’s juvenile justice system has come under fire for locking up kids at rates that surpass every other county in Tennessee. And it doesn’t just detain its own kids. The detention center contracts with counties across the state and charges a daily rate."

Rutherford Co should not be growing its "business" of incarcerating minors. Housing kids far from their families is bad policy, and Rutherford Co's track record is not worthy of trust.

https://wpln.org/post/rutherford-countys-juvenile-detention-facility-is-under-increased-oversight-yet-still-expanding-its-reach/

Blake Farmer's reporting on the State of #Tennessee #TennCare fraud tactics was broadcast nationally this morning, and I honestly think it deserves the criticism.

Chad Holman, head of TennCare OIG admits that "it costs far more to run the TennCare fraud unit than the office will ever recoup from people on Medicaid, who are usually low-income to start with."

"The office has a budget of $6.4 million a year," but doesn't even recover $900k/year.

Cruelty and waste.
#WPLN
https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2023/02/13/1156145443/tennessee-medicaid-mix-up-felony

Blake Farmer of #WPLN:

"Tennessee is one of the most aggressive states in the nation toward Medicaid fraud among beneficiaries, though it has less and less to show for its efforts. The state posts the names and photos of people arrested for fraud. Some ... even wind up on a 'most wanted' list, as if they were dangerous and on the run. But increasingly, they’re being arrested for moving out of state — often within the same community — without canceling their benefits."

https://wpln.org/post/tenncare-uses-scare-tactics-and-aggressive-enforcement-to-root-out-fraud-with-millions-spent-the-agency-has-little-to-show-for-it/

This is huge. From #WPLN in #Nashville:

"There are about 100 emergency calls each week in Davidson County where an ambulance responds unnecessarily. These are typically mental health calls in which people wind up in an emergency room, when they could have been connected with a counselor instead.

Starting Feb. 13, mental health counselors will be the ones to respond to those 911 calls."

https://wpln.org/post/nashville-launches-first-non-police-response-program-for-mental-health-emergency-calls/

Well, that makes things interesting:

Nashville Mayor John Cooper announces he won’t seek re-election

https://wpln.org/post/nashville-mayor-john-cooper-announces-he-wont-seek-re-election/
#Nashville #WPLN

From.#WPLN's Chas Sisk: Rolling blackouts increase as some TVA power plants remain strained

"Aside from hourly blackouts, many thousands have been left in the cold for hours because of other failing grid infrastructure at the local level. NES is having problems with a substation in Hermitage. In East Nashville, a line along Crutcher Street continues to “burn down” because of excessive load."

https://wpln.org/post/winter-storm-sweeps-through-middle-tennessee-leaving-slick-roads-canceled-flights/

Listening to yesterday's #WPLN show #ThisIsNashville about Nashville's streetcar era, and how everyone used to get around the city by streetcar and later bus, rather than personal automobile.

We've lost a lot of what made our city function, and the result is wall-to-wall traffic.

It was also a highly segregated era, and in that respect, I wouldn't want to go back. But we should rebuild the transit network that we dismantled.

https://wpln.org/post/episodes/remembering-the-nashvilles-streetcar-era/
#Nashville #PublicTransit #Segregation

From #WPLN: 1,306 guns have been reported stolen from Nashville cars so far this year. The real number is likely higher.

"The numbers began to increase after 2013, when legislators passed a law that allowed gun owners to treat their cars like an extension of their home when it comes to carrying.

But law enforcement and gun control advocates alike warned that Tennessee’s 2021 permitless carry law would likely only make matters worse."

https://wpln.org/post/more-guns-have-been-stolen-from-cars-in-nashville-this-year-than-any-year-on-record/
#Nashville #Guns #Crime

"Despite public pressure for more renewables, TVA recommends turning its coal-fired Cumberland plant into a natural gas facility."

TVA is stuck in the past and does not want to change. I really appreciate the coverage WPLN and others have brought to bear on TVA as it continues to favor fossil fuels over renewables, even though it could cover all its future energy demand growth with wind and solar.

https://wpln.org/post/despite-public-pressure-for-more-renewables-tva-recommends-turning-its-coal-fired-cumberland-plant-into-a-natural-gas-facility/
#WPLN #Nashville #Clarksville #TVA #Tennessee #Solar

"TVA has the largest gas buildout planned this decade of any operating company in the U.S., and the utility has plans to replace less than a fifth of its existing coal and gas generation with clean energy," reports Caroline Eggers of #WPLN.

TVA could cover all of its anticipated demand with renewables. Instead, it is "currently planning 4,000 megawatts of natural gas, including a new gas plant west of Nashville."

Read the whole article!

https://wpln.org/post/greenwashing-delays-climate-action-and-yes-its-happening-in-tennessee/

#TVA #Nashville #GreenWashing