The question about city politics I hear most often comes from people wanting to know why they can’t vote in city council primaries. Generally, it’s because they don’t live in …
Pandemic confusion 2.0: The plight of public employees
It’s tough to work in jobs that require meeting the public these days. Schools are struggling to staff up as full-time teachers, substitute teachers, custodians and bus drivers are exposed …
A new wind blowing in local politics
I’ve had to start this column over about four times because stuff just keeps happening with no regard for my deadline. Luckily for me, however, nothing I’ve seen has changed …
The Cavett Station Massacre: A new look at an old story
Betty Bean is under the weather this week, so we’re recycling a column written in 2013 about Dr. Charles H. Faulkner’s then-new book about the September 1793 Cavett Station Massacre. …
Dear John: It’s another August 18
Shadows are falling and I’m running out of breath. Keep me in your heart for a while. If I leave you it doesn’t mean I love you any less. Keep …
Football Vols to honor Black trailblazers with statues
Fourteen years ago, I wrote a story about Jackie Walker. It began like this:
October 16, 1971
Legion Field
Birmingham, Alabama
It was the third Saturday in October, and the Tennessee Volunteers came rolling …
Republicans will party, Democrats will postpone
If you’re planning to join a few hundred friends for dinner Aug. 20 and expecting to be inspired by a Rush Limbaugh wannabe whose most recent distinction is labeling gymnast …
Y’all need to hush about forgiving Nathan Bedford Forrest
When the state of Tennessee executes an inmate, it is frequently over the pleas of those who say the condemned man is no longer the same person as the teenager …