Author: Micaela Watts

Courtesy of Comunidades Unidas en Una Voz

A pro-immigration protest will proceed legally Wednesday evening after the event’s organizers worked with city officials to iron out a permitting issue Tuesday.

Two groups, Leadership from Refugee Empowerment Program (LREP) and Comunidades Unidas en Una Voz (CUUV), joined separate efforts planned for Wednesday evening to protest executive orders on immigration and refugees signed recently by President Donald Trump.

The event’s organizers never formally applied for a permit to march, the city’s chief legal officer Bruce McMullen said Tuesday morning. Some organizers on Facebook said the city denied the permit because it wasn’t applied for 14 days in advance. The organizers and the city worked together Tuesday to ensure the march was legal.

“We received written notice this afternoon from organizers of a planned march for Wednesday that they claim the exception to the city ordinance governing permit requirements,” said McMullen in a statement late Tuesday. “The city has determined that this event meets the exception for spontaneous events, therefore it is lawful.”

The protestors are scheduled to meet at 5 p.m. at Clayborn Temple. The group will then walk down Pontotoc to Mulberry to end at the National Civil Rights Museum.

Ron Garrison, CEO of MATA, was arrested Wednesday for allegedly soliciting a prostitute.

Memphis Area Transit Authority CEO Ron Garrison resigned yesterday following his arrest for allegedly patronizing a prostitute.

Garrison’s initial resignation statement cited “personal health problems”, but by Thursday news of his arrest had broke.

Garrison’s arrest was one out of 42 — 38 men and four women — resulting from a three day human trafficking sting carried out by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation. TBI reported that 475 men contacted undercover agents during the sting. Two female juvenile trafficking victims were rescued as a result of the sting. Garrison’s solicitation did not involve a juvenile.

MATA issued a statement after news of Garrion’s arrest broke.

“As it relates to today’s announcement from the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation regarding former MATA CEO Ron Garrison, this is no way diminishes the contributions of Mr. Garrison during his tenure over his last few years.”

Garrison has served as MATA’s CEO since 2014.

The Memphis Flyer is seeking comment from both Garrison and MATA. This story will be updated with additional information.

Micaela Watts

Anti-abortion proposals are nothing new in the Tennessee legislature. The past three years alone have seen considerable efforts to criminalize abortion, as well as ample public pushback.

Two anti-abortion proposals will be considered by Tennessee lawmakers in this year’s legislative session.

Reviving her controversial bill that she ultimately scrapped last year, Rep. Terri Lynn Weaver filed a bill that would ban abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy, though most abortions in Tennessee are performed well before the 20 week mark, according to multiple organizations that track abortion statistics, including the National Abortion Rights Action League.

Rep. James Van Huss has filed an equally controversial anti-abortion bill, one that would ban abortions if a fetal heartbeat is detected and would require fetal heartbeat testing prior to the procedure.

As of press time, neither bill has been assigned to committee or has picked up a co-sponsor.

CHOICE’s executive director, Rebecca Terrell isn’t remotely surprised at this year’s crop of anti-abortion proposals.

“However individuals might feel about abortion at different points in the pregnancy, a women’s health — not politics — should drive this very important medical decision,” said Terrell, who added that Tennessee has a “very anti-woman legislature”.

The theme of non-medical professionals trying to wield influence on a complicated medical procedure such as abortion is a recurring one in Tennessee. Neither Rep. Weaver nor Rep. Van Huss hold any certifications in obstetrics and gynecology. In fact, the Tennessee General Assembly website lists Rep. Weaver as a “singer, songwriter, and small business owner” and Rep. Van Huss as a web programmer.

If you want to track the bills, you may do so here for the “Heartbeat” Bill, HB108, and here for the 20-week abortion ban bill, HB101.

A proposal winding its way through the Tennessee legislature has been flagged as a discriminatory bill by the Tennessee Equality Project, the statewide LGBTQ advocacy organization.

If passed SB30/HB33 would require that the terms “mother”, “father”, “husband”, and “wife” be given their “natural and ordinary meaning without forced or subtle construction that would limit or extend the meaning of the language, and are based on the biological distinctions between and man and a woman”.

For Rep. John Ragan, who sponsors the bill along with Sen. Janice Rowling, the bill’s purpose is straightforward; establish a uniform definition among these familial terms for the sake of consistency across multiple sections of the Tennessee state code.

“It’s routine for the legislature to review court cases and take court decisions and put them into a code for ease of reference when they affect multiple sections of the code,” said Ragan, adding that there were nine different sections of the state code covering everything from civil procedure to inheritance law where these terms were used.

“This is just an area that looks like it needs to have definitions put into the section of code that has definitions in it,” Ragan said.

When asked about addressing the concerns of LGBTQ Tennesseans concerned that the bill could infringe upon their constitutional right to marriage as guaranteed by the ruling in the landmark 2015 Supreme Court decision, Ragan noted that “The Supreme Court doesn’t grant rights. The Declaration of Independence says our rights come from our creator.”

Chris Sanders with TEP isn’t buying any of it.

“That’s a clue to what he’s talking about,” said Sanders. “He doesn’t have anything to say to us, because this bill is trying to erase us. And you don’t have to talk to people who aren’t there.”

Sanders points out that this isn’t Ragan’s first go around with introducing legislation packing potential consequences for LGBTQ Tennesseans. In fact Ragan, was the house sponsor of the hotly contested yet ultimately defeated “Don’t Say Gay” bill in 2013.

“He is not pro-equality,” said Sanders. “If we wanted to clean up the language in Tennessee law, we could work on a technical corrections bill that would work on definitions pertaining to parent and spouse.”

Sanders also asserts that he does not believe that legal codification is in Ragan’s area of expertise.

“That indicates that there is an agenda here,” said Sanders. “Clearly this is about our community, and clearly there can be a serious impact when you make laws with a shotgun like this.”

TEP has issued a call-to-action that urges concerned Tennesseans to contact their representatives and voice their opposition to SB30/HB33.

PPGMR’s development director, Amy Lewis, said that this is the first time in the free condom program’s history that funding has been potentially jeopardized.

This story will be updated as details emerge. The Memphis Flyer has reached out to Shelby County Commissioner Heidi Shafer for comment.

Update:

Commissioner Heidi Shafer, who during Monday’s commissioner’s meeting could be heard saying that she would be carefully monitoring the measure to approve $407,000 for HIV comments has not returned The Memphis Flyer’s request for clarification.

Commissioner Terry Roland has, to some degree, weighed in on the delay of vote with this Tweet, which has since been deleted from his account.

Google Maps

The Memphis and Shelby County Land Use Control Board voted against allowing a drug and alcohol treatment facility to open in the old Sheet Metals Worker building at 673 S. Cooper, close to Peabody Park.

JourneyPure, Inc. filed for a special use permit that would allow for a 32-bed facility for medical detoxification as well as outpatient treatment.

Advocating on behalf of JourneyPure, Inc., Gary Carr implored to think about the need of a treatment center in terms of numbers.

“It’s estimated that in Shelby County alone, more than 80,000 people need this service. That’s a lot of people that need a lot of help,” said Carr.

Neighborhood residents opposed to the treatment center reiterated two primary concerns; Houses in the surrounding blocks would lose value, and area safety would be negatively affected by those seeking treatment coming and going from the treatment center.

Others questioned the logic of locating a treatment center on the connecting street between two entertainment centers, Overton Square and Cooper-Young. One area resident wondered what adverse affects the sound of a passing pedal-bar loaded with tipsy and vocal patrons might have on someone seeking help for their drinking problem.

In the same meeting, the LUCB voted to approve the permit for The Ice House, the anticipated ping-pong bar that will be located at 2166 Central between the two drinking, er, entertainment districts of Overton Square and Cooper-Young and a block and a half south of the Sheet Metal Workers building.

The Tennessee Public Transportation Association, a statewide nonprofit focused on improving public transportation, delivered a petition with more than 1,000 signatures to Gov. Bill Haslam.

According to the TPTA, the petition signatures represent a growing number of Tennesseans calling for increased funding for public transit in metropolitan areas across the state and are hoping to see such measures introduced in the 2017 state legislative session.

“I met with Gov. Haslam’s staff today to urge him and the state legislature to take up this issue in the 2017 session and explore ways to increase the state’s role in improving public transportation for all Tennessee communities,” said TPTA Executive Director Jason Spain.

Along with the signatures, Spain delivered a letter sign by six partner organizations including AARP Tennessee, Tennessee Association of Human Resource Agencies, Tennessee Disability Coalition, Tennessee Public Health Association, Transit Alliance of Middle Tennessee and Walk Bike Tennessee.

The six organizations comprise the TPTA’s newest initiative, the Tennessee Transit Coalition. The coalition will works to raise awareness on a statewide level by uniting transit users and supporters for a stronger, collaborative voice in preparation of this year’s legislative session.

The University of Memphis has met all criteria established by the White House to qualify as a “Healthy Campus”. 

As 2016 drew to a close, the White House issued a challenge to universities: Reach out to students who do not have health insurance.

The U of M responded by forming a collaborative partnership with The Church Health Center and offering weekly in-person enrollment counseling for the Affordable Care Act Marketplace. Additionally, the university used every single means of media available to them — flyers, email, signage, social media — to advise their students to the proper resources for health insurance.

Health educator Linh Luu will represent the U of M at the White House on January 13 for Healthy Campus Challenge Day. First lady Michelle Obama will offer remarks at the event.

A group of Memphis volunteers are planning a peaceful demonstration downtown the day after president-elect Donald Trump is sworn into office.

Planners for The Memphis Women’s March, an extension of the national Women’s March on Washington, are anticipating hundreds to turn out for the demonstration in support of women’s rights and human’s rights.

According to the event’s co-organizer, Sondra Tucker, the march is being designed to be inclusive and family-friendly, with the aim of uniting different communities across Memphis.

“We have heard of so many people who want to be involved, and can’t make it to D.C.,” Tucker said. “This is a chance for people of all genders, races, and nationalities to join together from our local communities and show that Memphis has a strong part to play in the national conversation.”

Organizers of the march say that interest has spread primarily through word-of-mouth, as more than 1,100 people have shown interest in the event through the event’s Facebook page.

The mile-long route will start at the Shelby County Courthouse, 140 Adams Ave. at 10:00a.m. and will proceed to the National Civil Rights Museum. Participants are encouraged to bring signs, but organizers for the event ask that they be profanity-free and appropriate for children of all ages.