Opinion Piece by Chair Kate Craig Ballad Health is developing quite a reputation for bullying anyone who speaks out about their policies and practices as well as how the medical monopoly is negatively impacting the community’s access to healthcare. Last week, national news outlets ran stories on how Ballad Health was seeking federal charges against ... Read more
People come into our lives for a variety of reasons and seasons. In January of 2016 I returned home to Johnson City and over the next year I learned just how much Ralph Davis, President of the Washington County-Johnson City NAACP branch, had given to this community. The loss of his light will be deeply ... Read more
I like to fall asleep with the television on Nick at Nite. This morning I woke up to a commercial for Tennessee Connections Academy. Connections Academy runs online K-12 “public” schools in all 50 states. At least that’s how it was advertised. Here’s their website for Connections Academy. And here is the website for Tennessee ... Read more
Last week, Donald Trump “officially” kicked off his 2020 campaign for re-election in Orlando, Florida. The “original” announcement regarding his re-election campaign actually took place the day of his Inauguration, when he boldly announced he was going to run again in 2020 and would be accepting donations for that campaign. That was something that was ... Read more
Confronted with a Georgetown University report showing that “the uninsured rate for Tennessean women ages 18 to 44 is more than 12%, compared to less than 9% in many states with expanded Medicaid“, local Rep. Micah Van Huss made comments that left many of us with more questions than answers. Instead of addressing Medicaid expansion—which ... Read more
I’ve been reading up on Mr. Casada’s “escapades” since becoming the Tennessee House Speaker and I have to admit I am not surprised by them, but I am a bit amazed that our state government doesn’t have any official procedure, in place, to remove a legislator from office. I won’t rehash the majority of scandals ... Read more
On his Facebook profile, Glen Casada lists himself as an “unapologetic Republican.” Considering the explosion of scandals in the last week of the 2019 Tennessee Legislature and his continued excuses for inexcusable behavior, perhaps he should have simply gone with “unapologetic.” For those who haven’t had time to keep up—and there’s been a lot to ... Read more
“The Green City” Johnson City, The Green City. Those words used to adorn the top of the website for our beloved city. And why wouldn’t it be? Johnson City was the first city in Tennessee to have curbside recycling. As part of addressing the city’s flood mitigation, large swaths of land were returned to ... Read more
American democracy is dependent on free and equally accessible quality public education. Without that, the bedrock of what we hold dear would deteriorate. The founding principle of everyone is equal with equal opportunities, a principle we currently aspire to achieve, is only possible by fully funding public education. The first American public school opened in ... Read more
It’s no surprise that it’s only February 20, 2019 and yet the 2020 election is upon us. The 2016 election ended with heartbreak and calls to action, action that is now coming to fruition. So it should come as no surprise that we have Democratic candidates filling the field and vying for our votes. This ... Read more
