skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Tuesday, March 19, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

SD public defense duties shift from counties to state; SCOTUS appears skeptical of restricting government communications with social media companies; Trump lawyers say he can't make bond; new scholarships aim to connect class of 2024 to high-demand jobs.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

The SCOTUS weighs government influence on social media, and who groups like the NRA can do business with. Biden signs an executive order to advance women's health research and the White House tells Israel it's responsible for the Gaza humanitarian crisis.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Midwest regenerative farmers are rethinking chicken production, Medicare Advantage is squeezing the finances of rural hospitals and California's extreme swing from floods to drought has some thinking it's time to turn rural farm parcels into floodplains.

Moving Ahead: Nashville Votes for Large Transit Measure

play audio
Play

Monday, April 23, 2018   

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — There's a lot riding on the May primary in Nashville. That's when residents will vote on a transit referendum that would increase four taxes in order to pay for a $5 billion transportation plan.

The plan proposes five light rail lines and four rapid bus lines and will be complete by 2032. On average, it will cost Nashvillians between $5 and $10 a month, but Kelly Brockman with Transit for Nashville said that's a small price to pay for the benefits.

"It's giving an opportunity to create a long-lasting transportation plan that will not only enhance walkability and safety but improve access to jobs and accommodate our growth,” Brockman said. “Nashville has just grown tremendously over the past few years, with almost 100 people moving here per day."

An increase in the sales, business, hotel-occupancy and rental-car taxes is made possible by a measure in the IMPROVE Act, passed last year. Opponents say the additional taxes create a burden on taxpayers, and some say the current plan doesn't serve the outlying parts of the county.

Nashville's primary is May 1.

If passed, the city would immediately increase its bus fleet by 50 percent and add additional service hours. The plan has the support of mayors of neighboring suburbs.

Brockman said hopes are high for an approval from voters.

"If it doesn't happen, this will not be on a ballot for another five to six years,” she said. “It took us five years to get to where we are, and it would take us backwards as a city if people don't vote for transit on May 1."

Early voting ends on Thursday. According to the Tennessee Public Transportation Association, there are 25 public transit agencies in the state that provided nearly 35 million trips in 2012, the most recent year for which data is available.


get more stories like this via email

more stories
Iowa families can apply for up to $7,600 a year for private school costs. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

An ethics committee in the Republican-led Iowa House has dismissed a complaint filed by a group of community activists against a state lawmaker for hi…


play sound

Each spring, hundreds of thousands of California high school seniors have to figure out if they can afford to go to college in the fall - and two new …

Health and Wellness

play sound

A health care workforce shortage in New Hampshire is leaving Alzheimer's patients and their families with few options for treatment. Patients facing …


South Dakota ranks 49th in the country for its contribution to indigent legal defense costs, according to a 2023 report from the Indigent Legal Services Task Force. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

South Dakota is creating an Office of Indigent Legal Services after House Bill 1057 passed the Legislature with nearly unanimous support this month…

Environment

play sound

A Knoxville-based environmental group is voicing concerns over what it sees as an increasing financial strain imposed on taxpayers by nuclear weapons …

Environment

play sound

A bipartisan law set to take effect this summer prohibits foreign adversaries from buying Hoosier farmland. The signature of Gov. Eric Holcomb was …

Social Issues

play sound

Today, people across Arizona are voting in the Presidential Preference Election, a chance for registered Democrats and Republicans to choose their …

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021