Tennessee

Development Synergy Pushing Buildings to Record Heights in Nashville
A development proposed for a site adjacent to the buzzy Nashville Yards will set a new record height for the city of Nashville.

Biden Administration Targets Five States that Ban School Mask Mandates
President Biden asked his education secretary to see what could be done about states that prohibit school districts from enacting CDC public health recommendations. Miguel Cardona responded by empowering his Office of Civil Rights to investigate.

Memphis Targets Adaptive Reuse of Historic School for Neighborhood Benefits
A plan to rehabilitate the vacant former location of Melrose High School in Memphis' Orange Mound neighborhood "recalls many other recent initiatives aimed at elevating and investing in Black urban history."

Now Nashville Plans to Tackle its Housing Affordability Challenges
A new report by the Metro Nashville Affordable Housing Task Force marshals local resources and advocates for coordination with the state and federal government to address the loss of affordable housing in Nashville.

Crack in Bridge Connecting Arkansas to Tennessee Comes With Consequences, Debate
Goods movement on the Mississippi River, as well as truck traffic on a key interstate, has ground to a halt after a crack was discovered last week in a bridge on Interstate 40 connecting to Memphis.

North Dakota's Mask Mandate Expires as Infections Plummet
North Dakota led the nation in COVID cases for months before Gov. Doug Burgum issued a mask mandate last November. Since then, active cases have dropped by 80 percent. The mandate was extended last month but was allowed to expire on Jan. 18.

Amazon and Other Tech Giants Make Billion-Dollar Commitments to Affordable Housing
Some of the world's biggest companies are investing in affordable housing, hoping to stymie the growing crisis their growth has contributed to.

Los Angeles Mayor Blames COVID Outbreak on Density
Appearing on a Sunday news show, Mayor Eric Garcetti noted that the Los Angeles metropolitan region is the nation's densest and one of two primary reasons why "we're seeing a person every six seconds contract COVID-19 here in Los Angeles County."

Cars, Covid, and California
Pultizer-winning science journalist and global health expert Laurie Garrett, an Angeleno, points to the Golden State's auto culture during an interview on MSNBC as one reason why the state is now the epicenter of the pandemic in the U.S.

California's Hospital Crisis: What Lies Ahead
As COVID infections and hospitalizations mount in California, ICU availability dropped to zero in Southern and Central California. Demand for hospital care is also outstripping supply in New Mexico.

Hospitals and Healthcare Workers Brace for Influx of COVID Patients
Coronavirus infections, while at record-high levels, have decreased during the past week, unlike hospitalizations, which are still surging. Public health experts expect it to get a lot worse due to the Thanksgiving holiday travel.

'Better Bus' Is Nashville's Latest Attempt at Transit Upgrades
The Better Bus plan is the latest effort at rethinking public transit in Nashville.

Georgia Mask Ban Reversed After White House Coronavirus Task Force Issues Critical Report
Shortly after a private White House report blasted Georgia's pandemic response, Gov. Brian Kemp issued an executive order allowing cities and counties to impose requirements on mask-wearing. The report was leaked to The Atlanta-Journal Constitution.

The Two Conflicting Sides of the Federal Approach to the Pandemic
While President Trump is publicly stating the virus "will soon disappear," his task force is releasing detailed, county-level data on how all 50 states are dealing with the coronavirus and making recommendations – but the reports are not public.

Pandemic's New Phase: Spreading to Rural and Urban Areas Alike
A top public health expert in the Trump administration warned that the U.S. is in a "new phase" of the pandemic, different from March and April when the coronavirus largely affected a few big cities. Now urban and rural areas alike are vulnerable.

Giant Mixed-Used Development Project in Nashville Levels With Coronavirus Impact
Is the density of a 6.2 acre mixed-use development too much for the coronavirus era? Fifth + Broadway developers weigh in on the future of the project.

Pilot Projects Launched to Test Coordinated Curb Use
Coord, a Sidewalk Labs spinoff, has selected the winners of the inaugural Digital Curb Challenge.

Interstate 94's Legacy of Racial Injustice in the Twin Cities
The symbolism behind highway protests brings demonstrators to occupy Interstate 94 between St. Paul and Minneapolis.

What's So Special About Oregon and Utah?
These two Western states did something that none of the 20 other states in the nation going the wrong way in the pandemic have yet to do: they paused their reopening plans due to rising coronavirus infections and hospitalizations.

States Take Steps to Reopen Regardless of White House Guideline Criteria
Governors of several states announced initial steps to reopen their economies even though their COVID-19 caseloads are not meeting the criteria that they show a decline for two weeks, according to White House reopening guidelines issued April 16.
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