Nashville songwriter Stephanie Lambring has been dropping single and video hints this year, into the subjects and sounds on her new album, Autonomy which is out today. Christianity, sexuality, domestic violence, body image, and suicide all sound like really heavy subjects but the stories are told from the perspective of someone coming to terms with their feelings on these issues. It’s a deeply personal and beautifully arranged album and the accompanying videos have really helped convey the messages and empathy in these songs. 

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (Mike Osborne)  --  Vanderbilt infectious disease expert Dr. William Schaffner delivered a blunt message this week to Nashvillians complaining about Metro’s mask mandate.

During the city’s weekly pandemic press update Thursday, Schaffner told residents “Wear your mask. Stop whining. Get with the program.”

Dr. Schaffner went on to compare the inconveniences required to defeat COVID-19 to the sacrifices required of American soldiers and civilians to win World War II.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (Mike Osborne)  --  Three mid-state counties are reinstating their mask mandates as Tennessee wrestles with a new surge in COVID-19 infections.

Williamson, Sumner and Wilson counties will again require masks beginning this weekend.

New virus case counts have doubled -- or more -- in all three counties in less than a month.

Williamson Mayor Rogers Anderson announced renewal of the mask mandate yesterday saying “we find ourselves at a crossroads, and the county “needed to take new action.”

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (Mike Osborne)  --  The Metro Nashville School Board will meet in a special session Friday afternoon.

The meeting agenda says the phase-in of in person learning -- currently underway -- will be discussed.

The meeting comes after Metro health officials on Thursday sounded the alarm concerning a troubling new citywide surge in COVID-19 cases.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (Mike Osborne)  --  Nashville’s battle with opioid addiction may have been pushed off the front page by the pandemic, but it hasn’t gone away.

In fact, it’s gotten worse.

The Metro Department of Health says that by the end of September the number of overdose deaths reported citywide had already surpassed the number of overdose fatalities in all of 2019.

Some 468 fatal overdoses were recorded in Nashville last year. With three months remaining, a total of 471 deaths have occurred so far this year.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (Mike Osborne)  --  The number of Tennesseans filing ongoing claims for unemployment benefits fell sharply this past week.

Continuing claims dropped to just under 78,000 applications for the week ending Saturday. That’s a decline of more than 13 percent from the week before.

The number of Tennesseans filing first time claims for jobless benefits also fell last week, but only slightly.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (Mike Osborne)  --  Middle Tennessee’s hospitals are worried about the recent surge in new cases of COVID-19.

Administrators at the St. Thomas, Tristar, Meharry, and Vanderbilt hospital groups issued a joint statement Tuesday urging mid-state residents to help keep “our hospitals from being overwhelmed and safeguard the reopening of our economy.”

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (Mike Osborne)  --  There’s been a small evolution in Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee’s thinking about mandatory face mask orders.

This past week the White House Coronavirus Task Force reportedly urged Lee to issue a statewide mask order. However, the governor has consistently resisted issuing any such mandate saying mask use should be a “personal choice.”

MURFRESSBORO, Tenn. (AP) — Middle Tennessee State University’s Center for Popular Music is hosting an online conversation on the life and legacy of Jimi Hendrix that will be available free to the public on Wednesday.

According to the school, the conversation features Department of Recording Industry professor Mike Alleyne. He is the author of “The Essential Hendrix: An A-Z Compendium.”

Also featured is Katie Rainge-Briggs who is a doctoral candidate in MTSU’s Public History Program and a curatorial resident at the National Museum of African American Music in Nashville.