John Partipilo News Today

Twenty-six GOP-led states are suing the Biden administration over changes to Title IX aiming to protect LGBTQ+ students from discrimination.

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee and Republican leaders — predicting passage of a private-school voucher bill in 2025 — will have to outflank conservative groups as well as opponents such as the Tennessee Education Association.

Citing a family emergency in Florida, third party presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. arrived four hours late for a Nashville campaign fundraising event on Wednesday. Kennedy’s “A Night of Comedy” featured comedians including former Saturday Night Live cast members Rob Schneider and Jim Breuer and Russell Brand. Nicole Shanahan, a veteran of the tech […] The post Independent presidential candidate Robert Kennedy, Jr. makes brief, late stop in Nashville appea...

Members of the Tennessee legislature introduced dozens of bills in the recent legislative session that involve various categories of firearm sale, use or control. Multiple bills were introduced that involve risk protection orders (sometimes termed “red flag” laws), firearm storage and firearm sales or use. Some bills, if enacted, would restrict firearm magazine capacity while […] The post Tennessee firearms legislation: should teachers answer a call to arms? appeared first o...

Conservation groups are challenging the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conversation over water withdrawals from the Duck River.

When Gov. Bill Lee announced the state had lured a General Motors lithium battery supplier to Spring Hill three years ago, it was his largest economic announcement to date: A $2.6 billion corporate investment; 1,300 new jobs; a major stepstone along Tennessee’s path to become an EV hub — helped along by a then-record $46,000 […] The post Water wars: groups challenge ‘unsustainable’ withdrawals from Duck River appeared first on Tennessee Lookout.

Tennessee’s economy continues to outpace the national average in gross domestic product growth, data released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis shows. Since 2017, Tennessee’s GDP in real dollars has grown at a 3% yearly average compared to the United States average of 2.2%. But, that growth is not equal, as 30 counties within Tennessee […] The post Tennessee’s 2023 GDP outpaces the national average, but growth remains concentrated appeared first on Tennessee Lookout.

More than 25 Tennesseee state House and Senate Republicans seats have more than one challenger in the primary this year, while about half-a-dozen of those have no incumbent running. These seats, which include several pro- and anti-school voucher Republicans, are the next frontier in the debate over whether state lawmakers should adopt a universal plan […] The post Tennessee’s school voucher debate turns to competitive Republican state House and Senate primaries appeared first on Te...

Each legislative session, we can count on state lawmakers to pass a host of unnecessary and sometimes harmful legislation — with beneficial measures thrown in for good measure. And in the process, we can also depend on legislators to entertain us, in a manner of speaking, with inadvertently humorous comments and ridiculous missteps. Thus, we […] The post Foolishness and faux pas: The 2024 Niceley Awards appeared first on Tennessee Lookout.

Environmental groups have filed suit against the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission over its approval of a pipeline that will wind through mostly poor and Black Middle Tennessee communities to supply methane gas to a new Tennessee Valley Authority power plant near Clarksville. The Sierra Club and Appalachian Voices are asking the United States Court of […] The post Environmental groups sue federal agency over Middle Tennessee pipeline approval appeared first on Tennessee Lookout.