Char Daston

1 month ago | wpln.org | Char Daston

Lucy and her aunt, Leticia, sit across the table at Las Americas restaurant in South Nashville. The walls are painted a warm red and yellow, and nostalgic Mexican black-and-white movies play on the TV screen. Lucy’s family has been taking her here since she was a kid. “I’ve ordered the same thing ever since then!” she said, laughing. “I was shown the pupusas one time, never changed.”Pupusas are corn-flour flatbreads filled with meat and cheese.

1 month ago | wpln.org | Char Daston

Phyllis Hildreth will lead Nashville’s new Office of Youth Safety. Mayor Freddie O’Connell announced the office’s first director last week. Hildreth previously served as chief of staff at American Baptist College. She has also led the program in conflict management studies at Lipscomb University, served on Nashville’s Community Oversight Board, and worked in the Maryland Department of Juvenile Justice.

2 months ago | wpln.org | Char Daston

Nashville’s Office of Homeless Services plans to clear out Old Tent City. The encampment south of downtown near the Cumberland River and Interstate 24 has been a community for unhoused Nashvillians for over 40 years. It’s also the future site of Wharf Park. Six months ago, Metro demolished the largest structures in Old Tent City, including a two-story wooden dwelling built by a resident, citing safety concerns. But until now, the encampment was allowed to remain open.

2 months ago | wpln.org | Char Daston

The Tennessee Department of Correction says it’s in the process of giving tablet-style computers to every person in the state prison system. A spokesperson says the plan is for everyone to have tablets by summertime. At that point, the department will phase out physical mail, other than legal mail. Cards and letters from family and friends will be scanned to a digital format and emailed to people in prison to read on their tablets.

2 months ago | wpln.org | Char Daston

One Monday in February, an employee of the state’s Department of Human Services, which helps Tennesseans access benefits like Medicaid, got an unexpected meeting invitation in her inbox. In the meeting, a supervisor told the employee and her colleagues to expect visits from Immigration and Customs Enforcement. She says they were told to give ICE agents access to private back rooms without asking for a warrant, and to refrain from asking agents to show proof of their identities.