Memphis teenagers have been leading Tennessee’s surge in recent COVID-19 vaccinations. The Commercial Appeal reports, the 15-to-19 age group in the Memphis region showed the greatest growth of any age group across the state’s eight regions from late July through last week. That’s according to a new study by researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center … Read more
Don Everly, one-half of the pioneering rock ‘n’ roll Everly Brothers, has died. He was 84. An attorney and family spokesperson said Everly died Saturday at his home in Nashville, Tennessee. His brother, Phil Everly, died in January 2014. In the late 1950s and 1960s, the duo molded rock ‘n’ roll with their high, yearning … Read more
Tennessee hospitals are warning that the intensive care units are full in nearly every hospital in the state’s major metropolitan areas. In a Thursday statement, they pleaded with Tennesseans to get vaccinated and wear masks while not going so far as to criticize Gov. Bill Lee’s executive order allowing parents to opt their children out … Read more
The nation’s largest public utility plans to switch out 1,200 of its vehicles for electric ones by 2030. Tennessee Valley Authority officials announced the plan during a board meeting Wednesday. They say the changeout will include reducing the fleet’s 600 light-duty vehicles to 400 electric versions and initially changing out 800 medium-duty vehicles, representing half … Read more
The health department in Tennessee’s most populous county has reinstituted a face mask requirement for indoor public places such as restaurants and other businesses. The move comes Wednesday as a surge in COVID-19 cases has strained hospital resources and raised concern about schoolchildren. The health department in Shelby County, which includes Memphis, said the mask … Read more
Mississippi health officials say almost 1,000 hospital beds that could be used to treat patients during the latest surge of coronavirus in the state are unstaffed because of a shortage of healthcare workers. That’s while Mississippi is facing a record number of people hospitalized with the virus — 1,633 on Tuesday, according to the state … Read more
On normal days, the garage is where people park while visiting Mississippi’s only children’s hospital, a building next door decorated with a logo of a rainbow and sun. Now air-conditioned tents with beds, monitors and oxygen fill the garage’s bottom floor. By Wednesday, coronavirus patients will begin being treated in Mississippi’s second field hospital opened … Read more
A federal judge has declined to dismiss a lawsuit brought by environmental groups against the Tennessee Valley Authority. The Commercial Appeal reports the ruling by U.S. District Judge Thomas Parker means the case will proceed. The environmental groups argue the auto-renewing, 20-year contracts TVA has offered power companies violate the law governing the federal government-owned … Read more
Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves will start searching for someone new to lead the state’s economic development agency. The governor’s office announced Friday that John Rounsaville of Madison will step down as Mississippi Development Authority director on Aug. 31. Reeves, a Republican, named Rounsaville interim director of MDA in May 2020, then nominated him as director … Read more
Most of Mississippi’s soybean crop is looking good, and so are prices — but some areas are still replanting acres that were flooded in June, Mississippi State University Extension Service experts say. Soybean specialist Trent Irby said 82% of the crop appears in good or excellent shape. Most of the state’s soybean crop was planted … Read more