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Sign up for Chalkbeat Tennessee’s free newsletter to keep up with statewide education policy and Memphis-Shelby County Schools.Former Memphis-Shelby County school board chair Billy Orgel will chair the new Memphis schools oversight board as it prepares to take over most major decisions from the locally elected school board. The oversight board met for the first time at the state Capitol in Nashville on Thursday to elect officers and form standing committees. The board’s work officially begins on July 1, marking a new era in Tennessee public education where political appointees will control budgets, leadership, and broad academic controls in certain underperforming school districts. Orgel said Thursday the new oversight board can demand change from the school system, which “will have to answer to us.”“We answer to the students of this community and our responsibility to them,” Orgel, who served on the MSCS board between 2011 and 2022, said.Memphis, the state’s largest school district, will now operate under two governing bodies, the new oversight board and the existing, elected school board. But the oversight board has the authority to essentially overrule the elected board on most major decisions, in addition to exerting control over the superintendent’s contract and other staffing decisions. Though the first meeting was largely procedural, Orgel signaled the board may consider accelerating school closures in the district, noting underenrolled schools are limited at what they can offer their students. Current Superintendent Roderick Richmond has spearheaded an ongoing plan to close 15 schools by 2028.“That’ll be up to us to decide if that’s quick enough,” Orgel said. Richmond’s plan is a more conservative approach to underenrollment and languishing facilities issues than some district leaders, including new oversight board member Dorsey Hopson, have recommended. Hopson, who served as superintendent of the district while Orgel was on the school board, recommended the district close almost 30 schools. That plan was never implemented after Hopson left the district. Two recent state takeovers in Texas, which Tennessee proponents have often said they want to use as models for MSCS, led to early school closures. The new board will soon have a comprehensive plan to make needed changes in the district, according to Tennessee Comptroller Jason Mumpower. The Tennessee-funded external audit of district finances and governance is nearly finished, Mumpower said Thursday, and he expects the full 700-page audit to be released in the coming weeks. Mumpower and Republican lawmakers released interim findings this spring from the ongoing audit, in part to accelerate the pending state legislation that established the new oversight board. The audit, which was only 25% complete when the interim results were released in April, found more than $1.1 million in contract and payroll transactions that auditors say are “consistent with waste or abuse.” Another $1.7 million in transactions violated district policies but did not rise to the level of waste or abuse, according to the comptroller’s office.That total is less than 1% of the Memphis district’s operating budget over the three-year period the audit covered.A lingering question for the new oversight board is whether it is considered a state board or a local board, which will affect certain rules around meetings. State officials did not have an answer at Thursday’s meeting, though it mirrored a state board meeting in a Tennessee Capitol conference room. Supporters of the new board, including Lee and other Republican lawmakers, have argued the new board represents local intervention into the state’s largest school system. All but one of the new board members are longtime Memphis residents, and at least four members have teaching or administrative experience within the school system. The oversight board members can be removed from the board at any time, for any reason, by the governor and two legislative speakers. The governor and lieutenant governor are both leaving office next year.The board committed to holding future meetings in Memphis, making them more accessible to MSCS families. It is eyeing July 7 as the next meeting date, though the board has several large administrative tasks to tackle to become fully operational. The board has the authority to hold its meetings in the MSCS district office building. Nisha Powers, who was named the board secretary, questioned if it was “appropriate” to begin meetings on district property, a nod at potential tensions between the new board and an elected school board that has vowed to sue over the takeover. Still, the new oversight board was applauded on Thursday by several community groups including parent advocacy organization Memphis Lift .“Y’all are going to have to get rid of some folks, point blank,” Memphis Lift Executive Director Sarah Carpenter said. “Y’all need to know the community is going to cover y’all.”The new oversight board members are:Chair Billy Orgel, a local developer and former Memphis-Shelby County school board member.Vice-Chair Shanea McKinney of Cigna, who is a member of the University of Tennessee’s board of trustees.Secretary Nisha Powers, who leads a Memphis civil engineering firm and has served on the Tennessee board of regents.Dorsey Hopson, a former district superintendent.Dedrick Brittenum Jr., a Memphis lawyer and former councilman.Beverly Robertson, a marketing executive and former president and CEO of the Greater Memphis Chamber of Commerce.Tyrone Burroughs, a Memphis CEO who sits on the Tennessee Lottery Commission and the Youth Villages board of directors.David Mansouri, the sole board member who is not a Shelby County resident. Mansouri is the Nashville-based leader of one of Tennessee’s most influential education advocacy organizations.Karen Vogelsang, a former Memphis teacher and 2014 Tennessee Teacher of the Year who now runs a literacy nonprofit.Melissa Brown is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Tennessee. Contact Melissa at mbrown@chalkbeat.org.

As DeSoto County leaders have pursued what they hope will become an economic lifeline, they have accelerated reviews and embraced interpretations of county rules that help clear the way for a massive data center project whose environmental impacts remain largely unknown.  Internal emails obtained through a public records request by Suncoast Searchlight show county [...] The post DeSoto County fast-tracked data center project, now commissioners may hit pause appeared first on Suncoast Searchlight.

El Tribunal Oral en lo Penal dio un plazo de investigación de 100 días por este lamentable hecho sucedido el pasado lunes en la intersección de las calles Osorno con Paraguay. Este artículo Colectivero que atropelló y dio muerte a adulta mayor en Antofagasta quedó con arraigo nacional y retención de licencia de conducir fue publicado originalmente en El Diario de Antofagasta.

Завод может остановиться на несколько дней

One of the state’s largest labor organizations is holding off on making political endorsements

Randy Cordova Flores is spending time with his kids but worries for those still detained in the federal facility where he spent four months. The post Springdale man released from ICE detention center 4 months after traffic stop arrest appeared first on Pittsburgh's Public Source. PublicSource is a nonprofit news organization serving the Pittsburgh region. Visit www.publicsource.org to read more.

Mamadou Sarr remembers when an artisanal fisherman in Dakar only had to helm his wooden pirogue a single kilometer offshore to find a rich bounty of sardines and cuttlefish. For generations, Senegal’s near shore was the staging ground for a noble trade passed down from father to son.  Today, as a result of industrial overfishing […]

Fifty labor, religious and other progressive groups condemned the federal indictment of 15 anti-ICE protesters in a statement released on Thursday, accusing the Trump administration of weaponizing the Department of Justice in an effort to intimidate political opponents. “We’ve seen this playbook before: when self-serving politicians are losing, they lie, lash out and attempt political […]

A Belgian chef, a Persian wife, one big match.

You can’t dictate a solution to the worldwide plastic pollution crisis, according to Julio Cordano, the new chair of the United Nations Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC) for a global plastic treaty. He said consensus will be needed. Cordano was elected INC chair in February 2026. That appointment came after INC repeatedly failed to meet its […]

The Trump administration told states last week it will exercise more stringent financial oversight of waivers that states use to design pilot programs under Medicaid, the state-federal program for low-income people and those with disabilities. In letters sent to state Medicaid directors, the administration announced the changes to Section 1115 “demonstration waivers,” which states apply […]

A look at local road and infrastructure construction for summer 2026.

美國副總統萬斯（JD Vance）18日表示，美國海軍已依據美國與伊朗達成的停火協議，允許超過12艘船舶進入伊朗港口，並解除部分海上封鎖措施。隨着全球能源運輸要道霍爾木茲海峽恢復通行，超過1250萬桶石油已於17日晚間經由該航道運輸，創下今年2月底衝突爆發以來最高單日流量。

美国副总统万斯（JD Vance）18日表示，美国海军已依据美国与伊朗达成的停火协议，允许超过12艘船舶进入伊朗港口，并解除部分海上封锁措施。随着全球能源运输要道霍尔木兹海峡恢复通行，超过1250万桶石油已于17日晚间经由该航道运输，创下今年2月底冲突爆发以来最高单日流量。

The Supreme Court on June 18 narrowed the federal ban on gun possession by people who use illegal drugs, ruling that the government must show that their drug use poses a risk of dangerous behavior. In a unanimous 19-page decision, the court held that the federal law was unconstitutional when applied to an occasional marijuana […]

(The Center Square) – As Pennsylvanians grapple with rising electricity costs, the debate over how to keep power both reliable and affordable is intensifying in Harrisburg. A new Commonwealth Foundation report says ratepayers have paid more than $3.3 billion in costs tied to Pennsylvania’s alternative energy mandates and warns that parts of Gov. Josh Shapiro’s energy proposals could drive residential electricity bills higher. The report says despite the high and rising price tag, these green energy mandates fail to increase renewable generation or drive emissions reductions. Shapiro’s Lightning Plan, which he describes as an “all of the above” energy strategy, was announced in 2025 and includes six initiatives. The Commonwealth Foundation report focuses largely on the Pennsylvania Reliable Energy Sustainability Standard proposal, or PRESS, and the existing Alternative Energy Portfolio Standards Act, known as AEPS. The report’s analysis of AEPS says the law has cost ratepayers more than $3.3 billion, with annual costs quadrupling from 2020 to 2025, while delivering limited in-state renewable growth and little direct impact on emissions reductions. It also says the PRESS proposal would nearly triple the AEPS mandate and nearly double residential electricity bills. In the 2025-26 session, PRESS is House Bill 501 and Senate Bill 501 – both sponsored by Democratic lawmakers. The bills would update Pennsylvania’s 2004 Alternative Energy Portfolio Standards Act, which require electric utilities and suppliers to obtain a portion of electricity from qualifying alternative-energy sources. Utilities and electric suppliers comply by purchasing alternative energy credits, or pay a penalty if they fall short. Although the penalty itself cannot be passed directly to customers, the cost of buying the credits is reflected in the generation supply portion of electric bills. As proposed, PRESS would gradually expand the mandate from about 18% to 50% by 2035: 35% from an expanded Tier I category including solar, wind, small modular reactors, fusion, and other zero-emission resources; 10% from a redefined Tier II including large hydropower and battery storage and other qualifying resources; and 5% from a new Tier III including lower-emission natural gas and alternative fuels. The proposal also creates zero emission credits to support existing nuclear generation. The report says the Shapiro administration claims the Lightning Plan will save Pennsylvania ratepayers approximately $664 million by 2040. Those estimates are based on assumptions contradicted in the legislation. Analysis prepared by Always On Energy Research and commissioned by the Commonwealth Foundation projects that PRESS would impose $155 billion in additional ratepayer costs, approximately doubling residential electricity bills from $1,717 in 2023 to $3,471 in 2035. Other key findings in the report say that the mandate failed to produce a renewable generation buildout, with Pennsylvania’s share of electricity generation from renewables holding flat at approximately 4% between 2013 and 2024. The report also asserts that the mandate is not responsible for the state’s emissions reductions, citing Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection data showing a 38% decline in electricity-generation emissions from 1990 to 2021 and attributed to the shift from coal-fired to natural gas-fired generation. In a statement emailed to The Center Square, Elizabeth Stelle, vice president of policy for the Commonwealth Foundation said, “As consumers wonder why prices are skyrocketing, we have to look at the existing mandates and programs causing prices to rise.” Since 2007, Stelle said, Pennsylvania ratepayers have paid more than $3.3 billion in hidden energy taxes thanks to the AEPS. While families and businesses around the commonwealth struggle with rapidly rising electricity costs, she said, AEPS is forcing them to pay 60% to 85% above wholesale price for “so-called green energy.” “Pennsylvania does not need energy mandates – it needs affordable, reliable energy that comes only though competition in the marketplace,” Stelle said. "If lawmakers are truly concerned about rising energy costs, they would abandon these fruitless mandates." Pennsylvania’s energy future is becoming a defining issue in the governor’s race – Republican state Treasurer Stacy Garrity is challenging Shapiro's reelection bid – with the debate extending beyond affordability to questions of reliability. While alternative energy credits measure annual compliance, they do not guarantee that electricity will be available during peak demand or grid emergencies. Critics say if mandates push more intermittent or less dependable resources onto the grid without enough firm generation, storage, or demand response to back them up, ratepayers could face both higher compliance and reliability costs.

The decision allows paramedics to start treatment during 911 calls for the first time and link patients with ongoing support.

Bi ekinaldi antolatu ditu Iruñeko bestetarako: mobilizazioa uztailaren 3an, eta Etxera Eguna uztailaren 8an. «Konpondu gabeko ondorio asko» daude kudeatzeko.

Ekainaren 12an izan zuten baxorako matematika azterketa eta Seaskaren Bernat Etxepare lizeoko 80 bat ikaslek euskaraz erantzun zioten.