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Melissa Brown Profile picture
Melissa Brown
@itsmelissabrown
@ChalkbeatTN bureau chief | formerly @Tennessean state politics | Bama native | Email tips + dog pictures to mbrown@chalkbeat.org
2 subscribers
Jul 23, 2024 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
A Southern Baptist policy leader applauded Biden for choosing not to seek reelection, calling it a "rare" and "selfless" act to walk away from power. A day later, he was removed from his position. tennessean.com/story/news/rel… This is the latest development in an ongoing internal tug-of-war in the Southern Baptist Convention between mainstream conservatives and a further right-leaning faction. But it's also a window into the current political landscape.
Mar 30, 2023 • 17 tweets • 4 min read
People are flooding into the Tennessee Capitol this morning as lawmakers head to a.m. floor sessions. The crowd calls for "gun control now" I'm currently in the press room for a minute monitoring the Senate feed, which just started -- You can hear the crowd singing in the hallway beyond the chamber through the audio as Lt. Gov. McNally begins to address the Senate. @KDFiscus is on scene with the crowd.
Mar 27, 2023 • 5 tweets • 2 min read
Two Nashville lawmakers spent the morning with Covenant School families, a heartrending wait for parents to learn if their kid was one of the school
shooting victims.

Hours later, at the state Capitol, tempers and emotions flared:

tennessean.com/story/news/pol… Image "You need to hear it: The sound of the mother when she was told that she would never see her child again. I've never heard a sound like that," Rep. Bo Mitchell, D-Nashville said. "It's indescribable."

tennessean.com/story/news/pol…
Mar 27, 2023 • 5 tweets • 2 min read
Nashville police say a school shooting suspect is dead after an active shooter emergency at a private Green Hills pre-6 grade school. Fire officials have reported "multiple" patients so far tennessean.com/story/news/202… via @Tennessean Breaking news situations are chaotic, and I always urge folks to be mindful of what they amplify on social media.

@rachelannwegner is on scene for the @Tennessean, and we'll keep you updated as we're able to verify accurate information.
Aug 23, 2022 • 5 tweets • 2 min read
Glen Casada, Cade Cothren indicted on federal corruption charges tennessean.com/story/news/loc… via @Tennessean Reading through the indictment, all of the charges are directly related to Phoenix Solutions, the firm that brought down Rep. Robin Smith last spring.
Aug 22, 2022 • 6 tweets • 2 min read
Tennesse's total abortion ban will begin Thursday. It contains no exceptions.

Not in cases of rape. Not in cases of child sexual abuse. Not to save the life of the mother.

tennessean.com/story/news/pol… Many Republicans contend the law's intent was to shield doctors who perform abortions for the life of a pregnant patient or to prevent debilitating injury.

But the law doesn't contain that exception. It provides a defense doctors can use *after* they're charged with a felony.
Jun 27, 2022 • 5 tweets • 2 min read
Monday update: Tennessee abortion providers have agreed a lawsuit over the state's 2020 heartbeat abortion law is now moot. They've asked 6th Circuit to dismiss the case and kick it back down to TN's Middle District, where the injunction would be vacated tennessean.com/story/news/202… For now, abortion remains legal in Tennessee, though it appears major providers have stopped taking new appointments. Abortion providers have motioned lower court to dismiss the case *without* prejudice, which the state appears poised to oppose.
Apr 1, 2021 • 12 tweets • 4 min read
The Alabama parole board voted to void Jerry Lett's parole today, triggering a warrant for his arrest.

Lett was in full compliance with his 2020 parole, a rare parole grant under this board, but the state said they erred in giving him a hearing. montgomeryadvertiser.com/story/news/cri… Lett is expected to turn himself in tomorrow, his 53rd birthday. His attorney today asked for a 90-day transition period to allow him to organize his medical appointments/issues, which include scheduled surgeries. The board chair denied the request.
Mar 31, 2021 • 6 tweets • 3 min read
Tomorrow, the Alabama parole board will hold a revocation hearing for Jerry Lett.

By all accounts, he was an ideal parole candidate when released last fall. With an exemplary prison record, he was granted a rare parole.

montgomeryadvertiser.com/in-depth/news/… But in December, Lett's parole officer called with shocking news: The board had erred in following a notification requirement, newly enacted in 2019, that effectively nullified his parole hearing. His parole could be revoked through no fault of his own. montgomeryadvertiser.com/in-depth/news/…
Mar 2, 2021 • 7 tweets • 3 min read
Black business owners must overcome obstacles to have a chance at building wealth abcn.ws/3uGwHGi This is a great piece/Nightline spot that features Josephine Bolling. Josephine is the daughter of Elmore Bolling, an Alabama lynching victim. I spoke to the surviving Bolling siblings in 2018. The prevailing rumor at the time of Elmore's murder was that it was over a woman, but Josephine is a remarkable family historian and uncovered Bolling was targeted for his economic success. montgomeryadvertiser.com/story/news/201…
Mar 1, 2021 • 6 tweets • 2 min read
The grind and hustle myths need to die.
Feb 4, 2021 • 5 tweets • 2 min read
Two years ago, Domineque Ray's petition to have his imam in the Alabama execution chamber when he died sparked some outcry and unusually public bickering in the nation's highest court.

The imam today sued Alabama over the issue.
montgomeryadvertiser.com/story/news/202… via @mgmadvertiser Alabama had for years allowed a prison chaplain, a mainline Christian Protestant, into the execution chamber with 2 prison staff. Ray, a Muslim, asked Holman prison to allow Imam Maisonet in instead. The Holman warden declined to allow it, citing security concerns.
Jan 8, 2021 • 7 tweets • 3 min read
New: Alabama man Lonnie Coffman was arrested in D.C. on Wednesday with 11 Molotov cocktails, constructed of materials amounting to "homemade napalm." montgomeryadvertiser.com/story/news/cri… Charging affidavit is IN and there are some wild details here.

Apparently Coffman was not on the scene when his truck was discovered. It was only found bc cop, responding to pipe bomb threat at DNC/RNC, spotted a handgun in the front scene.
montgomeryadvertiser.com/story/news/cri…
Oct 2, 2020 • 15 tweets • 5 min read
In 2018, the Montgomery Police Department sent a K-9 dog into a west Montgomery home.

The dog attacked Joseph Pettaway, lacerating his femoral artery. He would bleed to death soon after, alone in a hospital as his family searched for him. (1/x)

montgomeryadvertiser.com/story/news/202… Now, his family is fighting the city of Montgomery in federal court. A subpoena uncovered video footage from the incident, taken by the handler's body cam. The city says the footage is confidential.

The family says the video should be public. (2/x)
montgomeryadvertiser.com/story/news/202…
Sep 21, 2020 • 5 tweets • 2 min read
An important investigation from @ailsachang @noahgcr, who reviewed 200+ autopsies of executed individuals and found the majority showed signed of pulmonary edema at death.
npr.org/2020/09/21/793… "The findings come at a time when death penalty states are already facing scrutiny over drug shortages, untrained execution personnel and a series of high-profile botched executions."
Sep 21, 2020 • 6 tweets • 2 min read
Rev. Robert Graetz, an Alabama minister who helped organize the Montgomery Bus Boycott, has died montgomeryadvertiser.com/story/news/pol… via @MGMAdvertiser @lyman_brian Rev. Graetz attempted, unsuccessfully, to recruit other local white clergy to join in support of the boycott. He was unsuccessful, and Montgomery's white community shunned the Graetz family. In addition to his ministerial work, Graetz drove carpools and raised funds.
Aug 27, 2020 • 4 tweets • 2 min read
Despite repeated calls from Alabama clinical experts, @nytimes hasn't amended a data set and accompanying story that lumps UAB Hospital COVID cases in with the general UAB college population, making it appear that UAB has the worse college outbreak in the country. There's an asterisk/the article cautions against comparing colleges, but the data set presents itself as a ranking list with UAB at the top. Sometimes accuracy can't just be about the raw #s. You have to consider if it's presented in a way that might easily be misinterpreted.
Aug 26, 2020 • 5 tweets • 2 min read
FYI for those following Alabama college re-openings: Data shared by @nytimes today that suggests UAB has the worst outbreak appears to be really misleading. There’s a small footnote, but a UA system official tells me the UAB 972 # includes health care workers at the hospital system (the largest/most complex in Alabama) since the beginning of the pandemic.

UAB the college reported 6 cases last week. nytimes.com/interactive/20…
Aug 23, 2020 • 8 tweets • 3 min read
University of Alabama President says there has been an “unacceptable rise” in COVID cases on campus. The problem is the public has no framework or data to understand what “unacceptable” might mean. Image Stuart Bell says the “margin for error is shrinking.” Again, no framework to contextualize that, despite repeated requests from faculty, staff, students, parents and journalists.
Aug 21, 2020 • 6 tweets • 2 min read
Minutes after University of Alabama students received new COVID-19 restrictions in dorms/Greek houses, UA faculty/staff were reminded that they're not allowed to shift their classroom instruction w/o permission. montgomeryadvertiser.com/story/news/202… I asked UA yesterday for the number of quarantine beds currently in use, if any. All I was told was that more than 90% were available. (Of ~450 beds, that could mean a few dozen people are already quarantined, or 1.) I also pressed UA why it hasn't yet released case #s
Aug 12, 2020 • 16 tweets • 5 min read
A lot of focus right now on college football: Will they or won't they play?

But behind the scenes, college faculty and staff are grappling with discomfort and dread as they're required to return to campus in states with sustained COVID spread (1/x) montgomeryadvertiser.com/story/news/202… The University of Alabama (& UA system) is piloting an ambitious plan to pre-test everyone before they return to campus, track symptoms and conduct randomized testing throughout the semester.

But no one outside of administration knows the data UA is collecting. (2/x)