Viewpoint: Atlanta Braves deserve an All-Star apology after the city was given the 2025 game amid a voting dispute.
2021 conveniently forgotten.
Atlanta Braves fans have undoubtedly seen that the team will host the 2025 All-Star Game, according to Major League Baseball. But the apology that ought to have accompanied the choice was absent.
As you may remember, the Braves were granted the 2021 series, but Commissioner Rob Manfred pulled it out from under them three months prior to the game when the Georgia legislature passed election rules that tightened and loosened various practices. Enraged parties predicted that it would significantly curtail the freedom to vote. Instead, the number of votes cast in the state exceeded all previous records.
Major League Baseball did not include any information on the events of 2021 in their official press release when Atlanta was granted the 2025 game earlier this month. Manfred and Braves officials chose to focus exclusively on the good. Many other media sources disregarded the remainder of the story as well.
All the commissioner could say when certain members of the media naturally questioned him about 2021 was, “I made the decision in 2021 to move the event, and I understand, believe me, that people had then and probably still have different views as to the merits of that decision. “Yes, those same laws still apply, which is what made Manfred decide to change the game.
ESAs for all?
If, as some state legislators are speculating, Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee decides to take his Education Savings Account program statewide the following year, the devil will be in the details.
The governor’s initial 2019 proposal, which limited the availability of savings accounts public funds used to send eligible students to private schools that accept them to Shelby County, Memphis, and Davidson County, Nashville, narrowly passed. However, the plan was expanded this year to include Hamilton County after it was ultimately put into action in 2022 following the state Supreme Court’s permission.
According to state representative Bryan Richey, a Republican from Maryville, the new proposal would first impact children from households making up to 200% of the federal poverty line before gradually expanding over the following ten years to include all pupils.
Representative Mark White, a Republican from Memphis, told the Tennessee Lookout that he was willing to support Lee’s legislation. He didn’t know if the law would give anything different from what it does now.
“I understand that Governor Lee wants parental choice to be available throughout the state, so when we reconvene, we will discuss that.” Many claim that it diverts funding from public schools. I don’t think so. I think that competition fosters creativity when people have options.
Democrats, who are virtually unanimously opposed to comparable school choice schemes, will have limited influence because Republicans hold supermajorities in both the Senate and the House. However, given that Republicans barely managed to pass the bill four years ago, there will definitely be some concerns raised by extending the program to 95 counties.
Hamilton at risk
Hamilton County is the fourth most vulnerable county in the state to human trafficking, according to a recent state report titled “Engage Together.”
With a Vulnerable Population Index score of 96.8% the lowest among Davidson, Shelby, and Madison (Jackson) counties it is at danger of human trafficking. According to the research, the state’s highest concentration of high-risk counties is found in the 25 counties that make up the East Tennessee region (upper east Tennessee is a separate region).
In fact, four counties that border Hamilton County (Bradley, 95.8%, Sequatchie, 89.5%, Rhea, 84.2%, and Bledsoe, 65.3%) are among the 11 out of the 25 counties with a risk greater than 60%.
According to the report, youth vulnerabilities which include the prevalence of youth who are homeless, involved in the criminal justice system, or who are chronically absent as well as minors with disabilities are the region’s biggest risk factors. These are followed by demographic vulnerabilities, which include population density and the prevalence of risk factors that have been identified within that population, such as people who are foreign-born but not citizens, single-parent households, and people with disabilities.
Additionally, it mentions that 76% of the 41 programs that combat human trafficking in the area are nonprofit organizations.
Safe biking is no accident.
Give credit to bike lanes, milder weather, improved road conditions, or whatever else you may have, but Tennessee is the sixth safest state for riding, according to a recent survey conducted by Ohio personal injury attorney John Fitch using data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
The Volunteer State’s 42 fatalities between 2017 and 2021 appear far worse than, instance, one each in South Dakota, Wyoming, Vermont, and Nebraska because all four of those states South Dakota, Wyoming, Vermont, and Nebraska are predominately rural. However, its high ranking can be attributed to the ratio of bike fatalities to all traffic fatalities (42 out of 3,930, or 1.07%).
Florida is the worst state on the road, with 8.5% of its 9,472 road deaths being bicycle-related. Next in terms of death toll, New York and Hawaii were listed.