Director of strategic communications @MetroSchools. Former mayoral speechwriter, ex-reporter. Macon-born dad & husband. Sewanee/UGA. Opinions my own. Go, Dawgs!
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Articles by Michael Cass
Yahel Israel: A Personal Perspective
As I sit in a Tel Aviv café, wondering what I did to deserve the cruel irony of moving to Israel from Manchester, UK, just to sit and watch the rain pour down for the past 6 weeks, I’m reflecting on my experiences with Yahel Israel, an organization that provided me with a truly unique experience. After considering a couple of volunteer programs in Israel towards the end of 2022, at the last minute, I got turned onto Yahel Israel, in a moment that looking back seems a little bit like fate.
RSC Prize and Award talk: 2020 Sustainable Water Award: general discussion
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Hillsboro High School Senior Could Be Next U.S. Youth Poet Laureate — Metro Nashville Public Schools
A Hillsboro High School senior who could be the nation’s next youth poet laureate wowed a crowd of school superintendents Thursday in Nashville. Alora Young, one of four finalists this year for U.S. Youth Poet Laureate, performed a poem titled “All That I Know Now” for the Tennessee Organization of School Superintendents after MNPS’s own leader, Director of Schools Adrienne Battle, welcomed the audience and introduced her.
MNPS Could Return to All-Virtual Learning After Thanksgiving — Metro Nashville Public Schools
All Metro Schools students will likely return to virtual learning on November 30 if the city’s COVID-19 metrics don’t improve by Thanksgiving, Director of Schools Adrienne Battle told MNPS families and staff in an email Monday. Dr. Battle plans to make a final decision no later than Tuesday, November 24, the last day of school before the Thanksgiving break.
Civil rights advocate Catherine Burks-Brooks would not be moved
Originally published in The Tennessean on August 28, 2013, written by Michael Cass. BIRMINGHAM, Ala. As a child in Birmingham, a college student in Nashville and a Freedom Rider on the highways in between, Catherine Burks–Brooks refused to yield. She wouldn’t move out of the way when white people approached her on Birmingham sidewalks.
John Lewis got civil rights education in Nashville
Lewis says the student movement in Tennessee prepared him for the most trying events of the civil rights movement. WASHINGTON -- John Lewis sat in a security guard's small office behind President Abraham Lincoln's statue on Aug. 28, 1963, toning down a cry for freedom and equality under a towering symbol of the end of slavery. A century after Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation, Lewis had to rewrite the speech he was about to give at the March on Washington.
John Lewis and the civil rights movement in Nashville : 'Every scar and bruise was a badge of honor'
When President Barack Obama took the oath of office for the first time, he signed a commemorative envelope for Congressman John Lewis on which Obama wrote "Because of you, John." Lewis, who recently revealed his diagnosis with stage 4 pancreatic cancer, was part of a unique group of Nashville college students who set out to change the world. They succeeded because they had right on their side, and also because they had the courage it took to stay the course even when their lives were on the line.
Preservationists work to save Highlander Folk School
Rosa Parks trained at Highlander Folk School in Monteagle, Tenn., a few months before her refusal to give up her seat on a bus in Montgomery, Ala., launched a world-changing boycott. Gannett/The (Nashville) Tennessean The retreat in rural Tennessee was where civil rights activists such as Rosa Parks learned to confront oppression. MONTEAGLE, Tenn. -- Rosa Parks trained here a few months before she refused to give up her seat on an Alabama bus. We Shall Overcome became a civil rights anthem here.
Politico sees democracy stumble along in Afghanistan
A schedule change one day last month may have saved Dennis Alpert’s life in a country where violence still rages and democracy still stumbles along, despite the part he played in advancing it. Alpert, a Lebanon-based lobbyist who spent five years working in the White House for former Vice President Al Gore, spent most of August and September serving as an election observer in Afghanistan.
Newcomer Bob Ries tries to beat veteran Rep. Jim Cooper
Bob Ries grew up a Democrat and even campaigned for Robert F. Kennedy in the 1960s. He says he's still "a philosophical Democrat." But Ries and the modern-day Democratic Party don't see eye to eye anymore, and now he's a Republican who's trying to beat U.S. Rep. Jim Cooper, one of just two Democrats in Tennessee's congressional delegation.
Lamar Alexander kicks off TV campaign with direct ad
U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander's first TV ad of the general election campaign is debuting Friday, and its message isn't surprising: He would help change the country's direction and "fix our broken system," while Democrat Gordon Ball would be "just one more vote for Barack Obama's agenda." Those lines have become familiar in recent weeks. What's surprising about the ad is its visual style.
Lenda Sherrell starts TV campaign with "trust" ad
Lenda Sherrell, the Democratic nominee in Tennessee's Fourth Congressional District, goes after Republican U.S. Rep. Scott DesJarlais without naming him in her first TV commercial.
Bill Freeman to lead TN Democratic Party chair process
More than 30 members of the Tennessee Democratic Party's executive committee have asked prominent Democratic donor Bill Freeman to put together a committee to vet candidates for the party chairmanship ahead of the January election. Freeman, who said Monday that he’s leaning toward running for mayor of Nashville in 2015, accepted the offer in an email to state Democratic Party executive committee members Tuesday.
Gordon Ball puts $1 million into his Senate campaign
A link has been posted to your Facebook feed. Democratic U.S. Senate nominee Gordon Ball is putting $1 million of his own money into his campaign, a spokeswoman confirmed today. The seven-figure check, which was deposited today and will go into Ball’s third-quarter fund-raising report, could help inspire other Democrats to contribute to his campaign to unseat second-term Republican Sen. Lamar Alexander.
Confusion continues over unusual grand jury move
Michael Cass, mcass@tennessean.com Published 5:16 p.m. CT Sept. 30, 2014 Funk (Photo: Steven S. Harman / The Tennessean)Buy Photo The foreman of the Davidson County grand jury that recommended criminal charges against House Speaker Beth Harwell and Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey said District Attorney Glenn Funk’s office told the panel it couldn’t bring any charges. But the prosecutor who worked with the grand jury said that wasn’t the case.
Former justice Koch touts judicial selection amendment
Returning to contested, partisan elections of the state’s appellate judges would undermine confidence in the courts by making people “think justice can be bought,” former Tennessee Supreme Court Justice Bill Koch said Monday. Koch, now dean of the Nashville School of Law, said the state’s voters should support a constitutional amendment that would put the existing method for selecting such judges into the Tennessee constitution.
Science uncovers story of slaves at Nashville Zoo
NASHVILLE -- They were relatively young people of African descent, worn down by years of hard labor. Six of them had arthritis. One man walked with a limp, and a woman endured fractured vertebrae in her lower spine. A young, probably heavyset man had a damaged hip — and maybe sickle cell anemia, too. They were almost certainly slaves on the old Grassmere farm, a large tract of land in South Nashville that's now used for a different purpose: the home of the Nashville Zoo.
Gordon Ball’s website plagiarized other politicians
A link has been posted to your Facebook feed. Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Gordon Ball’s website plagiarized language from at least four Democratic senators, Buzzfeed reported today. The website lifted passages from “a vast array of politicians including West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin, Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown, North Carolina Sen. Kay Hagan and Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren,” Buzzfeed’s story says.
Eleven Joe Carr supporters now back Lamar Alexander
A link has been posted to your Facebook feed. Eleven state representatives who supported Rep. Joe Carr in the Republican U.S. Senate primary last month are now backing Sen. Lamar Alexander in the general election, Alexander's campaign said today.
Lamar Alexander seeks one more term, maybe his last
A little girl had a simple but important question for U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander: "Why did you want to be a senator?" "I wanted to be a senator because if you're in the United States Senate, you can work on things that are important to people," Alexander told the youngster and about 100 other children one day last week at the Boys & Girls Clubs of Middle Tennessee's Andrew Jackson Club in North Nashville.
Science uncovers story of slaves on zoo property - WKRN News 2
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - They were relatively young people of African descent, worn down by years of hard labor. Six of them had arthritis. One man walked with a limp, and a woman endured fractured vertebrae in her lower spine. A young, probably heavyset man had a damaged hip - and maybe sickle cell anemia, too. They were almost certainly slaves on the old Grassmere farm, a large tract of land in South Nashville that's now used for a different purpose: the home of the Nashville Zoo.
Science uncovers story of slaves on zoo property - WSMV Channel 4
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - They were relatively young people of African descent, worn down by years of hard labor. Six of them had arthritis. One man walked with a limp, and a woman endured fractured vertebrae in her lower spine. A young, probably heavyset man had a damaged hip - and maybe sickle cell anemia, too. They were almost certainly slaves on the old Grassmere farm, a large tract of land in South Nashville that's now used for a different purpose: the home of the Nashville Zoo.
Beth Harwell, Ron Ramsey should be indicted, grand jury says
mcass@tennessean.com Published 5:53 p.m. CT Sept. 26, 2014 | Updated 8:45 p.m. CT Sept. 26, 2014 Ron Ramsey(Photo: Alan Poizner / The Tennessean)Buy Photo A Davidson County grand jury recommended Friday that charges be brought against House Speaker Beth Harwell and Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey for ignoring state law on the makeup of a state board appointed to evaluate judges.
Doctors say U.S. ready if Ebola virus spreads here
NASHVILLE — The Ebola virus is as much of a threat as the Islamic State terrorists, but experts in Nashville know what to do if the disease spreading through three West African nations ever comes to the United States, U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander said after meeting with some of those experts Wednesday.
Doctors say U.S. ready if Ebola comes here
The Ebola virus is as much of a threat as the Islamic State terrorists, but experts in Nashville know what to do if the disease spreading through three West African nations ever comes to the United States, U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander said after meeting with some of those experts Wednesday.
Troy Brewer gets endorsement from NFIB
A link has been posted to your Facebook feed. Troy Brewer, the Republican nominee for the House District 50 seat this fall, announced today that he's been endorsed by the National Federation of Independent Business. "Troy Brewer understands the challenges facing our state's independent family businesses and is the clear choice in State House District 50," Jim Brown, NFIB's state director Tennessee, said in a Brewer campaign news release.
House candidate was GOP accountant when party was fined
A state House candidate from Nashville was the Tennessee Republican Party’s top accountant when the party was hit with a $30,000 fine by the Federal Election Commission for underreporting millions of dollars in receipts and expenses. Troy Brewer, a Republican challenging Democratic state Rep. Bo Mitchell in House District 50, became the state GOP’s controller in December 2004. That was seven months after a monthly campaign finance filing by the party failed to include $148,074 in expenses.
Push for wine in grocery stores not done yet
After years of pent-up frustration for all the people who want to buy their steak and their cabernet sauvignon in one place, the votes to let grocery stores sell wine might not be election night nail-biters. But even with few signs of vocal opposition, activists campaigning for passage in more than 75 cities and counties say they don't want anyone who supports the cause to get complacent or lose focus. "We just don't want people to think we're done," Kroger spokeswoman Melissa Eads said Friday.
Push for wine in grocery stores not done yet
After years of pent-up frustration for all the people who want to buy their steak and their cabernet sauvignon in one place, the votes to let grocery stores sell wine might not be election night nail-biters. But even with few signs of vocal opposition, activists campaigning for passage in more than 75 cities and counties say they don't want anyone who supports the cause to get complacent or lose focus. "We just don't want people to think we're done," Kroger spokeswoman Melissa Eads said Friday.
Confusing war plan leads to surprising votes, alliances
Last week’s U.S. House vote in favor of training and arming Syrian rebels to fight the Islamic State terrorists was a fascinating — and not unwelcome — slice of Bizarro Washington. Republicans Marsha Blackburn and Diane Black supported Democratic President Barack Obama’s plan. Democrat Jim Cooper opposed it. And House Speaker John Boehner and Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, usually at each other’s hyperpartisan throats, broke bread to back the president in a 273-to-156 vote.
NRA gives Democratic nominee Gordon Ball an "F" rating
A link has been posted to your Facebook feed. The NRA has given Democratic U.S. Senate nominee Gordon Ball an "F" rating, setting off some strong words Friday between the campaigns of Ball and Sen. Lamar Alexander. Ball said he was never given a chance by the gun rights group. "The NRA never contacted me, never asked me to fill out a questionnaire, and this is obviously a hit piece," he said in a news release. "I'm a gun owner and strongly support the Second Amendment.
Science uncovers story of slaves on zoo property
They were relatively young people of African descent, worn down by years of hard labor. Six of them had arthritis. One man walked with a limp, and a woman endured fractured vertebrae in her lower spine. A young, probably heavyset man had a damaged hip — and maybe sickle cell anemia, too. They were almost certainly slaves on the old Grassmere farm, a large tract of land in South Nashville that’s now used for a different purpose: the home of the Nashville Zoo.
Kim Sasser Hayden to run Charles Robert Bone's campaign
Veteran Democratic political strategist Kim Sasser Hayden will manage Charles Robert Bone's campaign to be Nashville's next mayor, Bone announced today. Before joining MMA Creative, a Nashville-based marketing firm where she served as the national projects director, Hayden was executive director of Tennessee Conservation Voters and the Tennessee Democratic Party. She directed statewide field operations for former Gov.
Senate candidate forum won’t be a debate
U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander and Democratic challenger Gordon Ball will appear together, but it looks like they won't be matching wits in a classic, back-and-forth debate at the Tennessee Farm Bureau Federation's forum in Cookeville next month. “This will not be a debate format,” federation spokesman Lee Maddox wrote in an email today. “We will provide each candidate our questions and they will have a set time to respond.
Is it a debate? Alexander, Ball to appear together at Farm Bureau forum
U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander, who was noncommittal in recent weeks about debating Democratic challenger Gordon Ball, said Wednesday that he'll appear with his rival at a forum in Cookeville next month. "I have accepted an invitation from the Tennessee Farm Bureau for a candidate forum at Tennessee Tech University," Alexander said.
Jim Cooper breaks with Obama on aid to Syrian rebels
A link has been posted to your Facebook feed. U.S. Rep. Jim Cooper voted Wednesday against President Barack Obama's plan to train and arm Syrian rebels to take on Islamic State terrorists, saying it “could embroil America in another endless war.” Cooper, a Nashville Democrat, went against the Democratic president. But a bipartisan coalition of House members, including 159 Republicans and 114 Democrats, supported the legislation, which passed on a 273-to-156 vote.
Is it a debate? Alexander, Ball to appear together at farm bureau forum
U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander, who was noncommittal in recent weeks about debating Democratic challenger Gordon Ball, said today that he'll accept the Tennessee Farm Bureau Federation's invitation to appear with Ball at a forum in Cookeville next month. "I have accepted an invitation from the Tennessee Farm Bureau for a candidate forum at Tennessee Tech University in Cookeville," Alexander told The Tennessean.
Is it a debate? Alexander, Ball to appear together at farm bureau forum
A link has been posted to your Facebook feed. U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander, who was noncommittal in recent weeks about debating Democratic challenger Gordon Ball, said today that he'll accept the Tennessee Farm Bureau Federation's invitation to appear with Ball at a forum in Cookeville next month. "I have accepted an invitation from the Tennessee Farm Bureau for a candidate forum at Tennessee Tech University in Cookeville,” Alexander told The Tennessean.
Council members split on Gulch-SoBro pedestrian bridge
Mayor Karl Dean still has some work to do to get a pedestrian bridge built between the Gulch and SoBro. The $18 million bridge won’t happen if the Metro Council doesn’t sign off, and Dean’s administration doesn’t appear to have finished counting votes yet. A sampling of council members indicated that some have met or scheduled meetings with the mayor’s aides, but some haven’t heard a peep since Dean formally reintroduced the idea at a block party in the Gulch on Sept. 10.
‘Nashville’ gets $1 million from Metro, double last year’s
Rayna and Deacon can start their third season of country music soap opera drama knowing Metro government is still helping pay the bills — and doubling down on its investment. The Metro Council voted unanimously and without debate Tuesday for a $1 million economic development grant to the local production of ABC’s “Nashville,” which starts its third year on the air next week.
Senate hopeful Gordon Ball pushes back at Tennessee GOP
Gordon Ball, the Democratic nominee for the U.S. Senate, responded today to the Tennessee Republican Party website and ad that describe him as a likely ally of President Barack Obama and a supporter of Obamacare. "Sen. Lamar Alexander has voted with President Barack Obama 62 percent of the time. I have voted with him 0 percent of the time," Ball said in a news release. "I have said consistently that Harry Reid, Mitch McConnell and Lamar Alexander should be replaced.
Nashville attorney Samar Ali helps Obama confront ISIS
Samar Ali, an attorney who has advised Gov. Bill Haslam on economic development issues and President Barack Obama's administration on fighting terrorists, is joining a Nashville law firm to practice international law and continue her private diplomatic work in the Middle East and elsewhere.
Mayor Karl Dean offers case for Gulch pedestrian bridge
Mayor Karl Dean gave a vigorous defense today of his plan for a new pedestrian bridge linking the Gulch and SoBro neighborhoods, saying it would lead to more private investment downtown. “It’s going to result in increased development and, I think, a larger and expanded tax base,” Dean told The Tennessean’s editorial board.
Tennessee GOP goes after Democratic nominee Gordon Ball
Facing a legitimate Democratic opponent in this fall's U.S. Senate race, the Tennessee Republican Party is swinging into action. The party today announced a new "Law and Order"-styled web advertisement and a website, ObamaBallAgenda.com, to criticize Democratic nominee Gordon Ball, a wealthy Knoxville attorney who last ran for office in 1978.
Walk of Fame Park will get $2.5 million makeover
Metro government is planning a $2.5 million makeover of Walk of Fame Park, which has become an important downtown civic space as the area south of Broadway has grown up around it in recent years. The city park, best known for its Music City Walk of Fame honoring Nashville musicians of all genres, sits across from the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum between Fourth and Fifth avenues.
Can Gordon Ball beat Lamar Alexander?
Gordon Ball caught the political bug when he was a young man, then flushed it out of his system for 36 years. Now he's got the fever again, in a big way. Ball, 65, is Tennessee's Democratic nominee for the U.S. Senate in the Nov. 4 general election. He's a big underdog as he takes on Sen. Lamar Alexander, the second-term Republican incumbent and former governor.
Gordon Ball gets “off the sidelines,” but can he win?
Gordon Ball caught the political bug when he was a young man, then flushed it out of his system for 36 years. Now he’s got the fever again, in a big way. Ball, 65, is Tennessee’s Democratic nominee for the U.S. Senate in the Nov. 4 general election. He’s a big underdog as he takes on Sen. Lamar Alexander, the second-term Republican incumbent and former governor.
'Teach-in' takes on death penalty, judicial system
Religious leaders, civil liberties advocates, philosophy students and other opponents of the death penalty and mass incarceration gathered Saturday for a "teach-in" to learn more about the issues and what they can do. The gathering at the Nashville Public Library offered a preview of Monday afternoon, when many of the same people plan to gather at the Capitol at noon for a rally against the state's execution plans.
Board to give Register deadline for stay-or-go decision
Metro school board members today said that they would ask Schools Director Jesse Register to decide in the next few weeks if he wants a contract extension or is ready to move on. Register’s contract is set to expire in June, and board members and others have wondered for months if he wants to continue in the role or give way to a new director, which would require a monthslong search to get the right person in place by next summer.
East Nashville parent leaders ask Register for input on choice plan
A group of East Nashville public school parent leaders has sent an open letter to Metro Schools Director Jesse Register to ask for broad community input in a plan that could lead to school closings in the area.
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