Robata Ramen and Yakitori Bar will close Sunday.
The restaurant opened in 2014 on Overton Square in the former Paulette’s location. Robata was opened as a new concept by Memphis restaurateur Jimmy Ishii.
The closing was announced on Facebook Monday.
“We regret to inform you that our last day of business in Overton Square is Sunday, April 14th,” the post reads. “We would like to thank all of our customers that we have served over the years! Please come see us this week before our final day!”
Earthlings will cast their eyes towards the heavens Monday to witness the solar eclipse, and when they do, their eyeballs — about 150 million of them — will be protected with glasses made in Bartlett.
American Paper Optics (APO) has been working for this moment for years. In the company’s 26-year history, it has produced around 3 billion pairs of 3D glasses. With those and other products (like the eclipse glasses), APO is the largest producer of 3D products in the world. Along the way, it has worked with some of the biggest brands in the country, including Disney, Marvel, Nintendo, Target, and St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.
APO has produced around 75 million pairs of eclipse glasses for Monday’s event. Jason Lewin, the company’s Chief Marketing Officer, said the company learned a lot from the 2017 eclipse, for which it made about 45 million pairs of glasses. That event was a “trial by fire,” he said and the company used that event as a blueprint to prepare for Monday’s eclipse.
“I saw that Indianapolis was in this path of totality,” Lewin said. “So, I reached out to them. I said, ‘You have this amazing racetrack there. What about having a watch party?’ They kind of laughed at me.”
That watch party is now expected to draw about 130,000 people to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The event will feature race cars decked out in eclipse wraps and officials (and astronauts) from the the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Tickets are $20 for adults.
Eclipse fever was rising. So, back in Bartlett, the company needed to build capacity. It powered its sales platform with Shopify to handle volume. It’s also leveraged its proximity to the FedEx hub for faster shipping, helping to fuel sales closer to the event.
The ramp-up also meant hiring more people. Lewin said the company had around 35 full time employees in 2017. That figure is now closer to 85, in order to crank out nearly 500,000 pairs of glasses each day.
Eclipse-related gains abound for companies in and around the path of totality. The event will spur about $1.6 billion in direct consumer spending, according to The Perryman Group, a Texas-based economic analysis firm.
If this eclipse feels like a bigger deal than the last one, it is. The Perryman Group said more than 30 million reside in the path of totality, from Eagle Pass, Texas, to Houlton, Maine. And that’s the secret sauce.
”From small towns to large population centers, the numbers of visitors are projected to be unusually large,” reads a brief from the company. “These travelers will spend money locally for accommodations, meals, gasoline, and retail items. The result will be a substantial economic stimulus.”
For AOP, the eclipse has meant a higher profile. Company officials have been seen on major television networks on shows like Made In America with David Muir, CBS Saturday Morning, and more. AOP will also be featured in a 2025 documentary called “Totality.”
The company made friends along the way, too, like NASA and Bill Nye. Lewin said his favorite partnership has been with St. Jude. The company donated half the sales of certain products to the hospital and had a patient design a special set of glasses for them.
For Lewin, being a part of this event has a deeper meaning beyond any sales figures. “We’re kind of living in a time where things are a bit separated,” he said. “So, this is kind of one of those bipartisan moments where it’s like, all right, we get to do this thing all together, work for the same thing. It’s not two groups against each other. Everybody is kind of like kumbaya for the moment, where we get to see this one thing all together.”
A House Republican wants to ban lab-grown meat in Tennessee because its effects on humans, she said, were unknown and state citizens shouldn’t be used as “guinea pigs,” and, heck, Florida did it.
Rep. Susan Lynn (R-Mt. Juliet) explained her bill to the House Agriculture & Natural Resources Subcommittee on Tuesday. It would have outlawed cultivated meat for human consumption at the business level, meaning no manufacturing, selling, and more.
Cultivated meat — sometimes called cultured meat or lab-grown meat — is real animal meat but is produced by cultivating animal cells directly, cutting out the need to raise animals, according to the Good Food Institute. The meat is in different products by Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods, which are made with plant ingredients. The U.S. Department of Agriculture approved cultivated meat for sale in the U.S. in June.
The news was welcome for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA). The group said it funded some of the first research for cultivated meat and, beginning in 2008, offered a $1 million prize for the first lab to use produce commercially viable cultivated meat.
The news was also welcome to Berkeley-California-based Upside Foods, the world’s first cultivated meat company. When it was founded in 2015, the company was called Memphis Meats, a tip of the hat to the city’s barbecue culture. When the feds green-lit its meat products, the company was ready to go and already valued at over $1 billion.
“This approval will fundamentally change how meat makes it to our table,” said Dr. Uma Valeti, CEO and founder of Upside Foods. “It’s a giant step forward towards a more sustainable future — one that preserves choice and life.“
“It’s a giant step forward towards a more sustainable future — one that preserves choice and life.“
Dr. Uma Valeti, CEO and founder of Upside Foods
However, two Tennessee state lawmakers urged caution on the products, suggesting an outright ban on making and selling it in the state. They said they didn’t know how the products would affect bodies and did not want Tennesseans to be “used as Guinea pigs.”
“It’s simply just too soon and too dangerous to allow this process to move forward before we know what sort of effects cultivated meat may have on people,” Lynn said. “The first question is one of ethics. Is this semi-cloning? We have no idea really where this is going. What happens when you create lab grown meat?”
If that wasn’t enough to entice fellow Republicans, Lynn said the Florida legislature had already passed such a measure. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has not yet signed the bill but showed his support for the ban last month.
”You need meat, OK?” DeSantis said, saying some blame agriculture for global warming. “We’re going to have meat in Florida. We’re not going to do that fake meat. That doesn’t work.”
”You need meat, OK?
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis
Lynn said the federal government has a track record of approving “medications and treatments” but retracts them later, “due to horrible adverse circumstances.” She pointed to drugs like Prevacid, Nexium, and Prilosec, which all once faced recalls but are back on store shelves. She also said the government once said cigarettes were safe.
Rep. Bud Hulsey (R-Kingsport) agreed, pointing vaguely to the Nuremberg Code, which outlawed experimenting on humans without their consent, and to the “experimental shock” of Covid. But his approval of the bill seemed more plain.
“Some folks probably like to eat bugs with Bill Gates, but not me,” Hulsey said.
Lynn said she was not aware of any cultivated meat being sold anywhere in the state. Also, she had not discussed her bill with the Tennessee Department of Agriculture.
“Some folks probably like to eat bugs with Bill Gates, but not me.”
Tennessee state Rep. Bud Hulsey
Another bill up this year would have clarified that cultivated meat could not be labeled as meat, poultry, or such food products. It was heard by House members already, who decided to send the issue to “summer study.” That is, ultimately, where the bill to ban such products ended up. Lawmakers said they hoped to get expert opinion on the safety of cultivated meat.
Summer study is usually a kinder, softer death knell for legislation in the Capitol. But the House agriclture committee promised to give the issue of cultivated meat a serious review before the legislature meets again next year.
Tennessee Republicans cannot stand the federal government telling them what to do — especially when a Democrat’s in the White House — but they do love telling Tennessee’s biggest cities what to do.
Republicans cry “overreach,” in general, when the feds “impose” rules that “overrule the will of the people of Tennessee.” (All of those quoted words came from just one statement on abortion from Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti, who yells “overreach!” the loudest.) But they call it “preemption” when they do it to Memphis and Nashville — their favorite targets — leaving big-city locals to bemoan that same overreach.
When punching up at the federal government, Tennessee conservatives send angry letters to the president lamenting rules they have to follow to get big “seductive” tax dollars. But they don’t often win much in this process.
When they punch down at cities, the power struggle really comes down to rural conservatives exerting whatever influence they have to temper (squash) the sometimes “woke” ideas of urban progressives. They have a lot of power to do this, as state law does, usually, preempt local law.
So, Republicans do what they want in the Tennessee General Assembly and say, “See you in court,” because cities don’t typically give up their authority without a legal fist fight. (This happens so much state Democrats say Republicans pass lawsuits, not laws.)
But cities lose these fights often. Some of that is thanks to the powerful state AG’s office, who gets in the ring for state conservatives. That office has even more punching power with a brand-new $2.25 million, 10-member unit. It force-feeds conservative priorities in Tennessee cities and blocks D.C.’s liberal agenda.
Here’s an example of this double-edged subversion: Skrmetti, the Republican AG, cried “overreach” when a 2022 USDA rule said LGTBQ kids had to have access to lunch at school. But when Memphis and Nashville tried to decriminalize cannabis in 2016, a state Republican said, “You just can’t have cities creating their own criminal code, willy-nilly.”
Same coin. Two sides. Yes, state law rules most times, but the premise of the argument is the same. State citizens and city locals know what’s best for them and pick their leaders accordingly. Then, an outsider who, maybe, doesn’t share their values, swoops in to make locals comply with theirs. It’s like, “Hi, you don’t know me but you’re doing it wrong and are going to do it my way.”
In this game, Memphis has been on the ropes at the legislature this year. State Republicans want to take away some of the power from the Shelby County district attorney. They want to remove a Memphis City Council decision on when Memphis Police Department (MPD) officers make traffic stops. They also wanted to dilute local control of the Memphis-Shelby County School (MSCS) board with members appointed by the governor. But they decided against it. Details on many of these and some from the past are below.
Meanwhile, some Republican lawmakers have looked up, wondering if they could really cut ties with the federal government. They took a serious, hard look at giving up $1 billion in federal education funding for state schools. They wanted to do it “the Tennessee way.” Left to guess what that meant, many concluded they hoped to eschew national discrimination protections for LGBTQ students.
This year, a state Republican hopes to establish state sovereignty. He wants to draw a clear line between state and fed powers and to install a committee to watch that line. It’s not a new idea, but it’s always had “don’t tread on me” vibes.
The road from Memphis City Hall, to the State Capitol, to Congress and the White House is littered with complaints (usually court papers) about political subversion. All the hollering and legal fights along the way have to leave voters wondering, who’s got the power?
District Attorney Power Battle
A legal battle over who has the power to decide on some death penalty cases has been waged since Republicans passed a bill here last year.
That bill stripped local control of post-conviction proceedings from local district attorneys and gave it to Skrmetti, the state AG. In Memphis, the bill seemed largely aimed at Shelby County District Attorney Steve Mulroy, with some concerned he may be lenient for those facing the death penalty.
“This sudden move appears to be a response to the choices of voters in both Davidson County and Shelby County, who elected prosecutors to support more restorative and less punitive policies,” Tennesseans for Alternatives to the Death Penalty said at the time.
Larry McKay, who received two death sentences for the murders of two store clerks in Shelby County in 1981, requested a court review of previously unexamined evidence in his case. Despite the new law, McKay’s attorney sought to disqualify Skremtti’s office from reviewing the case because he was not elected.
His attorney argued the new law infringes on the responsibilities of local district attorneys. The big changes made in the legislation also violated the state constitution, the attorney said.
Mulroy agreed.
“The newly enacted statute is an unconstitutional effort to divest and diminish the authority granted to Tennessee’s district attorneys general by the Tennessee Constitution,” Mulroy said at the time. “The new statute violates the voting rights of such voters because it strips material discretion from district attorneys, who are elected by the qualified voters of the judicial district.”
But state attorneys did not agree.
“The General Assembly was entitled to take that statuary power away from the district attorneys and give it to the Attorney General in capital cases,” reads the court document. “They have done just that and their mandate must be followed.”
But in July Shelby County Judge Paula Skahan ruled the Republican legislation did violate the state constitution. New arguments on the case were heard by the Tennessee Criminal Court of Appeals earlier this month. No ruling was issued as of press time. However, an appeal of that ruling seems inevitable, likely pushing the case to the Tennessee Supreme Court.
Pretextual Stops
State Republicans are actively trying to undermine a unanimous decision of the Memphis City Council to stop police from pulling over motorists for minor things like a broken taillight, a loose bumper, and more.
This council move came three months after MPD officers beat and killed Tyre Nichols, who was stopped for a minor traffic infraction. The local law is called the Driving Equality Act in Honor of Tyre Nichols.
Council members said police time could be better spent, that the stops expose more people to the criminal justice system, and, as in the Nichols’ case, could be dangerous. The stops also disproportionately affect Black people, who make up about 64 percent of Memphis’ population but receive 74 percent of its traffic tickets, according to Decarcerate Memphis.
The council’s decision made national headlines. But it found no favor with Republican lawmakers.
Rep. John Gillespie (R-Bartlett) introduced a controversial bill this year that would end that practice and reestablish state control over local decisions on criminal justice.
“We’re simply saying a state law that’s been on the books for decades is what we’re going by here,” Gillespie told Tennessee Lookout earlier this month. “And if there are people that have problems with what state law is, then maybe they should change state law instead of enacting local ordinances that are in conflict with state law.”
He initially cooled on the matter, promising to pause his bill for further review after Nichols’ parents spoke at a press conference.
“I am just appalled by what Republicans are trying to do in this state,” Nichols’ father, Rodney Wells, said at the event.
Gillespie promised Nichols’ family he’d hold the bill but surprised many earlier this month when he brought it to the House floor for a vote, which it won. Some said Gillespie acted in bad faith. State Rep. Justin Pearson (D-Memphis) said he straight-up lied to Nichols’ family and subverted local power to boot.
“You, as a person who lives in Shelby County, seek to undo the will of the people of Memphis and Shelby County,” Pearson said on the House floor. “The Wells family spoke with him briefly; he told them this bill wouldn’t come up until probably next Thursday.”
The Senate approved the bill last Thursday. It now heads to Gov. Lee for signature.
MSCS School Board
State Republicans want to control schools here, too.
Rep. Mark White (R-Memphis), chair of the House Education Committee, filed a bill earlier this year that would add six governor-appointed members (read: more Republican influence) to the MSCS board. When he filed the legislation, he said he was unimpressed with the slate of those vying for the district’s superintendent job and concerned about students falling behind state standards on reading and math.
“I’m very concerned about the district’s direction, and I just can’t sit back any longer,” White told Chalkbeat Tennessee. “I think we’re at a critical juncture.”
However, MSCS board chair Althea Greene said at the time that White’s proposal was unnecessary.
“We may have had some challenges, but more interference from the General Assembly is not warranted at this time,” she said. “We have to stop experimenting with our children.”
Since then, the MSCS board chose Marie Feagins as the district’s superintendent and she got to work early, before her contract was supposed to start. Also, White paused his bill earlier this month to give board members a chance to submit an improvement plan. White said the plan should show how they’ll improve on literacy, truancy, graduation rates, teacher recruitment, underutilized school buildings, and a backlog of building maintenance needs, among other things, according to Chalkbeat.
While it’s the newest move in state “overreach” into schools here, it’s hardly the first. State Republicans once seized dozens of schools in Memphis and Nashville as laboratories for what they called “Achievement School Districts.” After more than a decade, these schools only angered locals, showed abysmal student performance, and now seem to be on their way out.
Cannabis
For six weeks back in 2016, Memphis City Council members debated a move that would have decriminalized possession of small amounts of cannabis in the city.
Hundreds were (and are) arrested each year on simple possession charges, and most of those arrested were (and are) Black. Council members didn’t want cannabis legalization; they wanted to steer folks away from the criminal justice system. They hoped to keep them out of jail and avoid a criminal record, which could hurt their chances at housing, employment, and more.
The city council — even though some had reservations about it — said yes to this. So did the Nashville Metropolitan Council. State Republicans said no.
Upon their return to the Capitol in 2017, they got to work ensuring their control over local decisions on the matter. A bill to strip this control easily won support in the legislature and was signed by then-Gov. Bill Haslam, who said he acted on the will of state lawmakers.
“You just can’t have cities creating their own criminal code, willy-nilly,” Rep. William Lamberth (R-Cottontown), the bill’s House sponsor, told The Tennessean at the time.
Then-Tennessee Attorney General Herbert Slatery issued an opinion that said, basically, cities can’t make laws that preempt state law. With that, Memphis resumed regular enforcement of cannabis laws.
Ranked Choice Voting
In two elections — 2008 and 2018 — Memphians chose how they wanted to pick their politicians, but they never got a chance to use it. State Republicans said no.
Ranked Choice Voting (RCV) would have allowed voters here to rank candidates on a ballot, doing away with the need for run-off elections that always see lower voter turnout. It was new and different but voters here “decided, over and over again, to give it a try,” reads a Commercial Appeal op-ed from 2022 by Mark Luttrell, former Shelby County mayor, and Erika Sugarmon, now a Shelby County commissioner.
However, state Republicans then-Sen. Brian Kelsey (R-Germantown) and Rep. Nathan Vaughan (R-Collierville) filed a bill to upend the voters’ decision for good with a bill to end RCV in Tennessee. Kelsey said it was about voter clarity. Opponents said it was about more.
“If the bill passes, it will disrespect Memphis voters, make a mockery of local control,” Luttrell and Sugarmon said in the op-ed.
In the end, the state won. The bill passed and RCV was banned, with added support and sponsorship of Memphis Democrats Rep. Joe Towns Jr. and the late Rep. Barbara Cooper.
State Sovereignty
“So, you hoe in your little garden and stay out of our garden,” said Rep. Bud Hulsey (R-Kingsport).
He was explaining to the House Public Service Committee last year how the country’s founders designed the separation of powers between the state and the federal governments, how it was supposed to work, anyway.
But federal government agencies — not elected officials — issue rules pushed on to “we, the people,” he said. They tear families apart. They split marriages. They end lifelong friendships, he said. They bring bankruptcy and suicide. He gave no more details than that. But he was sick of it and said the bill he brought would fix it.
When some Republicans here aren’t busy in committee or court, rending control from local governments, they like to think about state sovereignty. They want to defend Tennessee from the feds, especially when a Democrat is in the White House. They want to know what the exact rules are and to tell D.C. “don’t tread on me.”
Since at least 1995, bills like these have been filed here and there in the state legislature. There’s a new one pending now. In them, “sovereignty” sometimes sounds like a preamble to “secession.”
Hulsey’s bill didn’t go that far. He really wanted to set out a way to nullify D.C. rules he didn’t like. Lee’s office was against it, though. Senate Republicans were, too. The idea failed to even get a review in the Republican-packed Senate State and Local Government Committee. Conservatives worried “nullification” could also nullify big federal tax dollars.
That 1995 bill demanded, “The federal government, as our agent, to cease and desist, effective immediately, mandates that are beyond the scope of its constitutionally delegated powers.” Another Republican sovereignty bill later would have voided the powers of any representative of the United Nations once they entered the state.
One in 2014 (that was signed by the governor) simply expressed the state’s sovereignty to set educational standards. A 2016 bill said the feds “seduce” states to go along with their new rules with federal funds they treat as grants, not as tax funds for the state. Another in 2013 would have formed a committee to see what financial and legal troubles could be in store for Tennessee if it scaled back or quit the “state’s participation in the various federal programs.”
Ten years later, this idea is back. The “Tennessee State Sovereignty Act of 2024” would form a 10-person committee to watch and see if any federal rule violates the Tennessee State Constitution. If it does, “it is the duty of both the residents of this state and the General Assembly to resist.”
Now, if that don’t say “don’t tread on me” …
In the Senate, the bill was deferred until near the end of session (usually meaning they’ll get to it if they can). A House review of the idea was slated for this week, after press time.
Education Funding
Sovereignty bills rarely go anywhere but in talking points for reelection campaigns.
However, last year high-ranking Republicans took state sovereignty a step beyond rattling a saber. They announced a bold plan to have a serious look at if and how Tennessee could cut ties with the feds and their $1 billion in education funding. If it did, Tennessee would have been the first state in history to decline such funds.
“We as a state can lead the nation once again in telling the federal government that they can keep their money and we’ll just do things the Tennessee way,” House Speaker Rep. Cameron Sexton said at an event in February last year.
He didn’t outline what the “Tennessee way” entailed, though he complained about testing mandates and strings attached to funding. Many said the big federal string Republicans wanted to cut was the one attached to Title IX mandates. Title IX prohibits discrimination based on sex in education programs and activities that get federal money. The Biden administration has promised an update to these that could strengthen protections for LGTBQ students.
Tennessee has passed more anti-LGBTQ laws than any other state, according to the Human Rights Campaign. The week of March 4th alone, 18 such bills were before state lawmakers and targeted diversity, equity, and inclusion programs; made it easier to ban books; and attempted to legalize discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity.
State Republicans have passed bills to mandate transgender students only play on sports teams that match their gender at birth. They have mandated which bathrooms trans people have to use (a decision struck down by a federal judge). They’ve allowed teachers to go unpunished if they refuse to use pronouns that students identify with. They’ve wanted certain books with LGBTQ themes banned at school. They’ve wanted LGBTQ, especially gender identity, issues banned from discussion in sex-ed classes. This list goes on and on.
However, the precise motive for looking into cutting those federal education dollars was never stated. Some said it was always good to review the relationship between nation and state. In the end, Republicans spent a lot of time and money to research the idea but set it aside. They took the federal money and the strings attached anyway. But taking it so seriously was maybe that “don’t tread on me snake” just shaking its rattle.
“Deep in my Soul”
Separation of powers is a doubled-edge sword. It’s that cartoon drawing of a big fish eating a small fish that is getting eaten by the even bigger fish. It’s a “layer cake” form of federalism.
Call it what you will, but it’s clear locals want to make their own decisions. For Hulsey, the Republican talking about who tends whose garden, the idea runs deep.
“I stood up on that House floor over there a few weeks ago and we raised our hand, and we swore to 7 million people in this state, we swore not that we would rake in all the federal money we could get,” Hulsey told committee members. “We swore that we would always defend the inalienable rights of Tennessee people by defending and upholding the Constitution of the United States and the constitution of the state of Tennessee.
“We should not be for sale. I want to tell you that deep in my soul, I have a conviction that is deep-seated. I believe that if state legislatures in this country do not stand up and hold the federal government to obey the Constitution of the United States, we could very easily lose this republic.”
Climate problems are starting to find solutions, from solar panels at the Memphis Zoo to state officials readying for potential millions of federal dollars to reduce air pollution.
Memphis:
Zoo officials announced last week it would soon install solar panels on building rooftops, thanks to a $676,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Energy. Memphis Mayor Paul Young said the panels will be the first-ever solar panels installed on any building owned by the city of Memphis.
The grant will also expand community outreach at the zoo and clean energy education programs. A portion of the grant will fund a waste characterization study and regional solid waste master plan for Memphis and Shelby County. Those programs will be run by city and county officials.
These programs further the Memphis Area Climate Action Plan. That plan aims to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emission levels here by 71 percent by 2050. The latest figures from 2020 show the plan is mostly on track. It met GHG reduction targets in the transportation and waste sectors, but missed the mark on energy.
Tennessee:
State officials are working to deliver part of Tennessee’s emissions-reduction plan to the feds by March. That’s the deadline for government agencies to get in line for $5 billion in federal grants to develop and implement “ambitious” plans for reducing GHGs, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The funds come from the Inflation Reduction Act.
Tennessee’s plan is called the Tennessee Volunteer Emission Reduction Strategy (TVERS). It is truly a “volunteer” program.
”While other states have imposed mandates to reduce emissions, we hope to reach established goals through voluntary measures that may differ throughout the state,” reads the TVERS website.
TVERS will be the state’s first-ever climate plan. Memphis has one, as noted above. So does Nashville, Knoxville, and Chattanooga.
Late last year, the state took public opinion on taking action on climate change. The vast majority (75 percent) said they were motivated to act out of concern for the environment and future generations. The biggest challenge for them to act, though, was the high cost of efficient or sustainable alternatives.
To be eligible to get the federal funds, states had to identify low-income communities. State officials found that 54 percent of its census tracts were considered to be low-income/disadvantaged communities (LIDACs) by federal standards. Those applying for the funds must show their projects will bring significant benefits to these communities.
Tennessee Valley
Last month, a new study from the University of Tennessee (UT) found that carbon emissions throughout the Tennessee Valley fell 30 percent since 2005, a decrease of abut 78 million tonnes. The report said half of the decrease was attributable to a 50 percent reduction in emissions from Tennessee Valley Authority’s electricity generation. Another large chunk of the decrease (39 percent) came from agriculture, thanks to the adoption of no-till farming.
The Tennessee Valley region, which covers parts of seven southeastern states, emits about 200 million tonnes of carbon each year, about 3 percent of the nation’s total. Of that, the state said in 2019 it emitted about 112 million tonnes. The Memphis-area emitted about 17 million tonnes.
In Tennessee and the Tennessee Valley, transportation emitted the most GHGs. The UT report said electrifying light-duty vehicles was the single largest carbon reduction opportunity for the Valley. In Memphis, the top carbon emitter came from the energy sector.
Turns out, U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen (D-Memphis) and former President Donald Trump agree on something: they both want all records related to the assassination of former President John F. Kennedy released to the public.
It’s surprising the two could agree on anything at all. Cohen has been one of Trump’s most vocal critics.
On Friday, Cohen sent a letter to President Joe Biden, asking him to release the few, remaining documents related to the Kennedy assassination. He said Americans are distrustful of the federal government. Some of that, he said, can be traced back to the perceived cover-up of JFK’s murder in Dallas.
“The governmental secrecy and recent delay in the release of the documents only perpetuates this type of thinking,” Cohen wrote. “If the papers demonstrate different circumstances or additional actors were involved, so be it. If the documents support the Warren Commission’s findings or further support the work of the House Select Committee on Assassinations, so be it.
If they implicate or embarrass the CIA, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), or any other governmental agency, the public has a right to know.
Rep. Steve Cohen
“If they implicate or embarrass the CIA, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), or any other governmental agency, the public has a right to know. After 60 years, it is time to quash the conspiracy theories and demonstrate the federal government’s accountability to the people.”
“When I return to the White House, I will declassify and unseal all JFK assassination related documents,” he wrote on Truth Social in July last year. “It’s been 60 years, time for the American people to know the truth!”
It’s been 60 years, time for the American people to know the truth!
Former President Donald Trump
But Trump is partly to blame for the delay in the documents’ release. In 2017, he released some of the papers, but not all of them. He said at the time that agencies told him that the papers “should continue to be redacted because of national security, law enforcement, and foreign affairs concerns.” He had “no choice,” he said, as he didn’t want to “harm the nation’s security.”
In 1992, Congress mandated the documents to be released in 2021. But Biden delayed that release in October. He said the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) needed more time to examine the documents as the pandemic had slowed its work.
The 1992 law gives presidents power to delay the release, Biden said, if “postponement remains necessary to protect against an identifiable harm to the military defense, intelligence operations, law enforcement, or the conduct of foreign relations that is of such gravity that it outweighs the public interest in disclosure.”
The Mary Ferrell Foundation, a group devoted to “unredacting history,” sued NARA last year over the delay. That lawsuit questions, in part, whether Biden even had authority to postpone release of Congressional records. Parts of the suit got the green light from a federal judge in January.
Every Tennessee student would have to get gun safety training at school under new Republican legislation, but some Democrats think the law accepts gun violence at school as a “new normal.”
The Tennessee Schools Against Violence in Education (SAVE) Act already mandates school safety planning strategies. It covers fire emergencies, severe weather events, prohibits weapons, and more. The law also mandates school districts to have procedures in place to respond to the report of a firearm on campus.
A new bill would add gun safety curriculum to the SAVE Act and parents could not opt their child out of the training.
With the new law, three state agencies — the Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland Security, the Tennessee Department of Education, and the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency — would determine the most appropriate age to begin gun training for kids in school. But classes could start as early as pre-K and continue all the way through high school. Local school districts would then decide how to implement gun safety instruction into their students’ schedules.
The bill would teach students about the safe storage of guns, school safety relating to guns, how to avoid injury if the student finds a gun, to never touch a found gun, and to immediately notify an adult of the location of a found gun. This instruction should be be “viewpoint neutral on political topics, such as gun rights, gun violence, and the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution.” The training should also not include the use or presence of live ammunition, live fire, or live guns.
School districts would decide who teaches the gun safety courses. Those courses “are certainly not about how to handle a firearm or proper techniques or anything like that,” said the bill’s sponsor, Rep. Chris Todd (R-Madison County). “This is literally going to be more on the lines of ‘if you see a gun, [tell] an adult.’”
Todd said he sees gun training at school as just an extension of safety training already happening at schools within the SAVE. Act. He said members of gun clubs across the state, including the Alpha Gun Team of Memphis, stand behind the bill, too.
”We see this proposed legislation as a critical step in averting firearm related accidents while fostering greater awareness and responsibility among gun owners,” Todd said in a Tuesday hearing.
Rep. Gloria Johnson (D-Knoxville), a retired school teacher, said schools have long drilled students to react to acts of nature, like fires and tornadoes. Gun have been around for a ling time, too, she said.
“But we haven’t had our classes shot up,” she said. “This isn’t something we should just accept as the new normal. We can stop this. And this [bill] isn’t going to do it.”
Johnson said mandating students to take the gun safety course could trigger some students who had a history of gun violence in their family and would leave them at school alone without a parent to ensure they are okay.
Todd said students cannot now opt out of fire safety training, even if they’ve been in a fire or lost their home in a fire. Students still need to learn fire safety, he said.
“I just think it’s part of life that we need to learn those skills,” Todd said.
Rep. Vincent Dixie (D-Nashville) argued for an opt-out from the program, saying some parents may not want their children “talking [about], touching, or introduced to guns at all,” especially for some who want to opt out for “religious reasons.”
“We should be able to have someone to opt out of this if they don’t choose this as appropriate for their child,” Dixie said. “I thought we believed in parents’ choice.”
Rep. Mark Cochran (R-Englewood) countered, saying that the “chances of a minor seeing a gun at some point is … that’s a reality of life, as [Todd] mentioned earlier.”
Rep. John Ragan (R-Oak Ridge) told committee members that many teachers are “former veterans who are trained hunters who go through hunter safety training” and could easily teach the courses. He said allowing students to opt out of other safety training courses “is ridiculous” and that a parent’s objection to gun training “is entirely misplaced.”
“It would be the equivalent, for example, of us saying to an Amish parent, because they prefer to ride in a horse and buggy, that their children shouldn’t be trained on how to cross the street with automobile traffic,” Ragan said. “Safety is safety. Opting out of it is ridiculous.”
Do you want keep buying cold beer from the store?
Do you want to bring your untrained support animal into restaurants?
Do you want a week in July to be a time of prayer and fasting in in Tennessee and seeks God’s hand of mercy healing on Tennessee?
Well, the Tennessee General Assembly has some good news and some bad news for you.
Hundreds of bills are filed each legislative session. Not all of them rise to the height of debate. Nor do all of them pertain to all Tennesseans. Remember when the ladder became the state tool? Oh, and hot slaw is on the way to becoming a state food.
Here are some bills now under consideration in Nashville are bold, specific, and sometimes just plain odd.
Speaking of specific, this bill allows adults to carry pepper spray, tasers, and “similar devices” (whatever those are) on college campuses. Oh, and those colleges can’t make rules against this, either.
“…it is not a criminal offense for an adult person to carry or possess pepper spray, a taser, or another similar device for purposes of self-defense when on property owned, operated, or in use by any college or university board of trustees, regents, or directors for the administration of any public or private educational institution…”
This one does have bearing in Memphis.
Protestors here like to close the Hernando DeSoto Bridge. If this bill is passed, the penalty goes up to a Class D felony. And anyone “who suffers loss or injury” from the road obstruction can sue those who do it.
This one’s already passed the full House (not the show).
It “prohibits emotional support animals that are not trained, or being trained, to perform tasks or work for a person with a disability from indoor areas of food service establishments.”
Just….here: ”Designates the period of July 1, 2024, through July 31, 2024, as a time of prayer and fasting in Tennessee and seeks God’s hand of mercy healing on Tennessee.”
You thought I was kidding.
Also here: “Urges the United States to withdraw from the United Nations.”
This one is so specific, it sounds personal.
The bill, ”authorizes a member of a homeowners’ association for a neighborhood in Williamson County with at least 300 single family residential homes and two or more gates restricting ingress and egress to the neighborhood to request a report from the board of directors for the homeowners’ association regarding criminal activity in the gated subdivision.”
So, just…like…keep on doing what we’re doing, I guess.
The bill “urges Congress to keep the power to declare war and for the National Guard to be protected from executive power.”
Maybe you thought I was kidding about the beer thing, too? Nope.
This bill “prohibits a beer permittee from selling at retail refrigerated or cold beer.”
It is now referred to a committee in the Senate. However, the bill lost several sponsors in the House last week, not a great signal for its passage. Phew.
New federal Medicaid dollars may help Tennessee ease gun violence with a “proactive approach” sponsored by two state Democrats who say inaction by Republicans has been “shameful” and that the party is “scared of the [National Rifle Association].”
State Sen. London Lamar (D-Memphis) and Rep. Justin Jones (D-Nashville) filed legislation that could flow Medicaid dollars here for community violence intervention programs proposed by Preisdent Joe Biden in 2021.
So far, seven states have received the funds, which require a match by states. The money is used to bolster existing programs that hope to stop gun violence well before someone picks up a firearm.
“For example, violence interruption programs deploy trusted messengers to work directly with individuals most likely to commit gun violence, intervene in conflicts, and connect people to social and economic services to reduce the likelihood of gun violence as an answer,” reads a statement from the White House. “Hospital-based violence interventions engage people who have been shot while they are still in the hospital, connecting them to services to decrease the likelihood that they commit gun violence or are victimized in the future. Programs like these have reduced homicides by as much as 60 percent in areas where they are implemented.”
The bill from Lamar and Jones would authorize Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee to request the federal funding and the state matching funds. Then, TennCare officials would be responsible for identifying existing programs or creating new ones to use the funds.
“This legislation represents an opportunity for us to try a more holistic approach to reducing gun violence — an approach that recognizes the effect issues, such as poverty, education and mental health, have on crime,” Jones said. “It is a vital step in expanding the funding and resources necessary to protect our communities.”
Both Lamar and Jones ripped Republicans for inaction on gun violence in Tennessee, pointing to few laws of substance passed on the issue in the wake of the Covenant School shooting last year.
Since Republicans ended the legislative session last April, there have been 1,096 shootings — more than three per day — in Tennessee said Lamar, quoting facts from Tennessee Under the Gun, a data project from the Tennessee Senate Democrats. Since then, there have been 11 mass shootings where four or more people were shot, not including the shooter. Since the last sessions ended, 417 adults and 47 children were killed by gun violence in Tennessee.
So far this year, there have been 114 shootings in Tennessee and one mass shooting, that of Courdarion Craft who killed one person and injured two others in a weekend crime spree here this past weekend.
However, Lamar said data hasn’t changed the minds of Republicans who, ultimately, have the power to change gun violence in Tennessee.
“There is nothing anybody can say to me that [can prove] Republicans have done what they’re supposed to do for the good of people,” Lamar said. “They are too scared of the NRA and gun lobbyists than they are of babies dying.”
“There is not another piece of data we can produce for them to change their minds. They actually know what the problem is. They’re making a conscious and deliberate decision not to do anything.”
Meanwhile, state Rep. Justin Pearson (D-Memphis) has introduced several bills to tamp gun violence in Tennessee. One bill would ban the manufacture of semi-automatic rifles in Tennessee. He also would ban the manufacture, transfer, or sale of magazine clips that hold more than 10 rounds of ammunition. He also wants to require anyone who has lost a gun to report the loss to state officials within 24 hours.
“If you rape a child in the state of Tennessee, you will die. Period.”
This is the hope of state House Majority Leader Rep. William Lamberth (R-Cottontown). If his legislation passes, adults over the age of 18 could face the death penalty if they rape a child under the age of 12, he told the House Criminal Justice Committee last week. He described his legislation before the Tennessee General Assembly as “the gravest type of bill we would possibly consider.”
“If [the legislation] saves even one child from going through that, because the fear of [the death penalty] gets into the head of some monster out there — that’s even thinking about this — then it’s worth saving that child,” Lamberth said. “I will tell you life in prison for these evil people is simply too good. They should not be able to live out their days with the rest of us, including their victim — paying for their food, and housing, and care, and medical as they age and everything else. If you rape a child, you should die.”
The bill moved quickly through the House committee system. It is now placed behind the budget for consideration by the full House. The Senate bill was only introduced in mid-January and awaits a review by the Senate Judiciary Committee, its first hearing by lawmakers in that house. Its sponsor there is Sen. Jack Johnson (R-Franklin), Senate Majority Leader.
So far, the only votes cast against the bill are from Democratic House members Rep. Ronnie Glynn (D-Clarksville), Rep. G.A. Hardaway (D-Memphis), Rep. Joe Towns Jr. (D-Memphis), and Rep. Gloria Johnson (D-Knoxville).
Johnson said the penalty of child rape in Tennessee is life in prison, a sentence that must be served fully. She argued this already holds the guilty accountable. She worried a death penalty sentence would have a “chilling effect” on victims reporting the crime.
“If a child was raped by an uncle, say,” Johnson said. “The uncle’s going to say, ‘Don’t tell because I’ll be killed, I’ll get the death penalty.’ Then, the mother of the child, who is the sister of the [alleged perpetrator], maybe won’t want to testify against her brother, if it means the death penalty.
“If the victims fear, it will create a chilling effect on reporting.”
Johnson also argued the move could further “re-victimize the victim.”
“Not only is [the child in the scenario] a victim, she will be victimized every day by the state that’s going to require her to carry that pregnancy [to term]. Then, they’re going to require her to show up for appeal after appeal.”
“It’s a heinous crime and I hate to think about it, but life in prison also takes care of the situation.”
Lamberth read an email from a young, female victim, asking committee members to support the legislation. It spoke the high hurdles for criminal charges and soft sentences for defendants accused of child rape. It described their sexual desires like “they were at an all-you-could-eat buffet with the appetite of a bear coming out of hibernation and only having access to a single plate.”
“The ones that actually get convicted should face real consequences,” the letter read. “Perhaps if that happened, there would be less people in our community forever changed.”
If the legislation passes, Lamberth vowed to fight for its implementation in court. A 2008 U.S. Supreme Court ruling said the death penalty is not proportional punishment for the crime of child rape. Lamberth countered this, however, noting that the court’s ruling came because “not enough states had this type of penalty on the books.”
“We’re seen other decisions by the Supreme Court overturned,” Lamberth said. “I believe this particular makeup of the court, it leans more towards state’s rights.”
Death penalty executions remain on hold in Tennessee, after a scathing report in December 2022 found numerous problems with the state’s execution protocols.
Two death penalty bills failed in the legislature last year. One would have added firing squads to the state’s options for executions. Another would have brought more transparency to the execution process.
One death penalty bill passed last year. It gave the Attorney General control over post-conviction proceedings in capital cases, rather than the local District Attorneys. That bill was ruled unconstitutional in July by Shelby County Criminal Court Judge Paula Skahan.