Nashville airport to offer limited free wi-fi, charging stations

By G. Chambers Williams III • THE TENNESSEAN • September 29, 2010 Nashville International Airport said today that it plans to add limited free wireless Internet service and 14 complimentary charging stations for portable electronic devices in its terminals. The Metropolitan Nashville Airport Authority board approved the additions during its September meeting, modifying a 2004 concession agreement with CCG/Boingo. Travelers will be able to connect to the wireless system free for up to 20 minutes in the food courts, meter/greeter waiting areas and some restaurants, and members of the airport’s frequent-parker program will have 15 minutes of compemetary Wi-Fi access anywhere in the terminals, the airport said. For those who need longer periods of service, Boingo is available for $7.95 a day or $9.95 a month for unlimited access. The monthly subscription can be used at more than 30,000 wi-fi hotspots in North America, including those in many airports and hotels. At least two of the new charging stations will be in place by the end of the year, the airport said.

Mayor Karl Dean launches Nashville Impact for education, flood recovery

Michael Cass • THE TENNESSEAN • September 30, 2010 Mayor Karl Dean launched Nashville’s first comprehensive plan to get citizen volunteers involved in addressing the city’s pressing needs with an event at an elementary school today. The plan, titled Impact Nashville, outlines service initiatives related to education and environmental recovery from the May flood. The city received a two-year, $200,000 grant in January to develop the program, and Dean is one of 17 founding mayors of Cities of Service, an umbrella organization spearheaded by New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg.“What I did not realize (when Cities of Service started) was that volunteerism would become Nashville’s biggest asset and biggest source of community pride as we faced a historic natural disaster,” Dean said in a news release. We need to harness that spirit of volunteerism to tackle some of our city’s other great challenges, and that’s what this plan sets out to do.” Students and parents at Glendale Elementary helped construct a rain garden on the school property today to help absorb and divert water during future rainfalls. Impact Nashville also calls for recruiting reading tutors to work with students in Nashville’s most high-need schools in kindergarten through second grade. For more information, see www.nashville.gov/volunteer or www.impactnashville.net.

Fire investigation will likely will take several days

Hickory Woods Apartment building still unsafe for full inspection By Andy Humbles • THE TENNESSEAN • September 30, 2010 The Metro Fire Department says it will take several days before a complete investigation can done and conclusions drawn about Wednesday’s fire that destroyed a 24-unit building at Hickory Woods Apartments off Nolensville Pike. The building is not safe enough to do a complete investigation immediately, said District Fire Chief Charles Shannon of the Nashville Fire Department. The fire has displaced over 100 people, according to reports.

Mayor's First Day Festival gets students off on right foot

By Suzanne Normand Blackwood • THE TENNESSEAN • August 9, 2010 ville Mayor Karl Dean said he shakes more hands at the Mayor's First Day Festival than at any other time during the year. And there was a whole lot of hand shakin' going on Sunday at Bridgestone Arena as the festival celebrated its 11th year. The event was designed to kick off the school year with live entertainment and educational activities for children. More than 100 booths offered information for parents, and local businesses and community organizations sent kids home with bags stuffed full of free school supplies. "I got some magnets, a highlighter and some pencils … a notebook, a water bottle … some good stuff," said Jake Rosen, a fifth-grader at Abintra Montessori School. Ella Dunn, who brought her three great-nephews, found information on Boy Scouts and programs offered by the YMCA. Dunn said there also was a lot of information about various social programs, such as adult education and health care. Children's entertainers FunikiJam and Kevin Kidd entertained audiences, while mascots mingled with kids. Volunteers, many of them members of the Mayor's Youth Council, dashed about taking care of various tasks. Dean said he was pleased with the turnout, which despite the heat was comparable to last year's attendance of 20,000. "I think it's a great indication of the level of interest in public education," Dean said. "It shows (parents') commitment to making sure their kids get off to a great start."

Nashville loses video of 1,300 traffic stops

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Metro Nashville police say a computer software problem has blanked about 1,300 police dashboard camera videos. The loss puts prosecution of some DUI and aggressive driving cases in doubt. The president of the software provider, however, said the program worked correctly. The Tennessean quoted police officials who said the video erasures occurred when the department tried to install a flawed electronic update to its system in May. Police spokesman Don Aaron said the majority of the lost video was recorded traffic stops and the department believes electronic evidence of some DUI arrests no longer exist. "We are pretty incensed," said police spokesman Don Aaron. The prosecutor's office says the loss could hurt cases. "Once we identify each case that has an associated video that has been lost, it definitely hurts the prosecution of the case," said Assistant District Attorney Kyle Anderson, head of the prosecutor's Vehicle Crimes Unit. "It's always problematic going forward when there was a piece of evidence that existed and it no longer does." Reached at her office in Lenexa, Kan., on Friday, Laura Owen, President and Chief Operating Officer of ICOP Digital, Inc., said the company's product wasn't at fault. "ICOP's software performed exactly as it was designed to do, given the settings that were applied by the Nashville police department," she said. Owen said the erasure came not from hard drives in the police cars, but when the data was downloaded to digital servers for storage. The original loss was close to 1,600 files, but some of the data has been recovered, Owen said. The remaining files are not retrievable. That was possible because of a "safe delete" feature of the software that allows deleted files to be recovered, based on the maximum number of days the user selects, Owen said. The department has used the$100,000 system for more than a year. It was purchased in late 2008 and has been installed in six cars used by the DUI squad, four cars used by the aggressive driving unit and two cars assigned to the fatal crash team. ___ Copyright 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed

Metro Nashville patrolman accused of rape while on duty

Metro Nashville police beef up homeless patrols

Complaints bring more police to park By Nicole Young • THE TENNESSEAN • August 7, 2010 Downtown residents and business owners frustrated with the homeless hanging around Church Street Park complained to the mayor's office, prompting police to bring in officers from other parts of the city to help with patrols. The e-mails, many from people who expressed disgust at seeing the homeless sleeping on park benches, washing their clothes in public fountains and using street corners as toilets, prompted the mayor's office to ask for the extra patrols. "My assumption is that we are the benefactors of the closure of Tent City," said Bob Watson, a Nashville architect and five-year resident of The Cumberland downtown. "The situation has improved, but I'm concerned that time will go by and we'll be forgotten because we're not making any noise right now." Resident RJ Stillwell, also of The Cumberland, shares Watson's concern. "We need to be looking at a concerted effort between everyone to find solutions for the homeless, not just temporary fixes,'' said Stillwell, a seven-year Nashville resident. Before the May flood washed away the homeless encampment called Tent City, members of the Metro Key Alliance, an arm of the Metro Homelessness Commission which is working is to end homelessness, already had begun searching for a permanent housing solution. Until one emerges, Metro police say they will increase their presence along Church Street. All six of the city's precincts are sending teams downtown to help, Metro police spokeswoman Kristin Mumford said. There were more than enough downtown officers to handle the patrols, Central Precinct Commander Damian Huggins said, but officials decided to bring in additional units to show an increased presence. "The continuous shift change of officers rotating in and out can create an even greater appearance of officer presence, more so than the same number on fixed post spread out in any given area,'' Huggins said. The mayor's office asked for the extra patrols after the e-mails began to circulate in mid-July, spokeswoman Janel Lacy said. Many included comments from multiple residents and business owners. "Guests and visitors complain constantly about being harassed," Ed Mroz, general manager of the Sheraton Nashville Downtown, wrote in one e-mail. "I have been forced to hire staff to do nothing but prevent homeless people from entering the facility, using the restrooms, sleep in our fire escapes and interface with our out-of-town visitors." Mroz said the situation has improved, but it isn't resolved. "They are still here. I know they are working on it, and I'm very supportive of them, but we would like to see a solution sooner rather than later. "We have all of this investment in downtown, in trying to bring people to Nashville, but people won't feel comfortable here if they are always fighting the homeless. This will be a key component of making sure people return," Mroz said. On Friday afternoon, George Boone, 68, shared a shaded bench in Church Street Park with two other homeless men. Three police officers stood on the opposite street corner. "I've heard about the complaints that some of the residents here have and I agree with some of them,'' said Boone, who has lived on the streets of Nashville for 10 years. "Some people do stupid things down here that reflect on all of us. It's pretty bad when people can't sit out here on the benches and enjoy the park without getting begged for money. They can get pretty aggressive too when they don't get it.''

Bond lowered for Antioch woman in 'worst' case of animal cruelty

By Juanita Cousins • THE TENNESSEAN • August 3, 2010 function(){ A judge lowered bond for an Antioch woman accused of allowing her four children to live in horrid conditions among dog feces and corpses during her preliminary hearing Tuesday morning. Dorothy Kifer, 37, is charged with 18 counts of aggravated animal cruelty and one count of aggravated child neglect stemming from a July 15 visit Metro Police, Metro Animal Control, and the Departments of Children Services and Health made to her home which has now been condemned. Metro Police Detective Thomas Rollins testified that he found Kifer’s children - ages 18 months, 1, 4 and 6 – covered in feces, bug bites and wounds. Inside the Maxwell Road home with little furniture and no air conditioning, there were 15 dogs with their matted hair covered in feces and two dead dogs. It appeared the other dogs had been feeding on the corpses, Rollins said. Animal Control Officer Billy Biggs and Judge Leon Ruben both called it the “worst” case of animal cruelty they have witnessed in their careers that span nearly three decades. Ruben lowered Kifer’s bond from $420,000 to $210,000 after her husband testified he could not afford to post more than $2,000. Jesse Kifer told the court that he had no knowledge of the living conditions because he had been in Iraq on duty as a National Guardsman since February and returned to Fort Campbell the day his wife was arrested. Dorothy Kifer pleaded guilty last year in Dickson County to animal cruelty. Since 2004, the Department of Children Services has had seven cases with Kifers involving their children being kept around dogs, feces and urine, said assistant district attorney Allen Grant.

News From The Mayor

Nashville launches Smart911for emergency calls

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Nashville emergency officials are encouraging people to provide vital information that can be delivered quickly to first responders in the event of an emergency. The city announced Friday the launch of Smart911, which allows people to submit information such as medical conditions or disabilities through a secure web site that can be accessed during an emergency call. Emergency Communications Center Director Duane Phillips said they see a growing number of calls from mobile phones and this service would help them more efficiently process emergency calls. The web site is www.Smart911.com

Hickory Hollow Mall plans special community event Aug. 3

Night Out Against Crime events planned throughout Davidson County

July 30, 2010

Hickory Hollow Mall will host a community event 5-8:30 p.m. outside of the Macy's store on Tuesday, Aug. 3.

Held in association with the annual Night Out Against Crime, the Hickory Hollow event will feature music, face painting, a children’s play area, exhibits from local businesses, mounted police horses, a variety of food, and the Cane Ridge High School cheerleaders and dance team will perform.

Ben Freeland, owner of Freeland Chevrolet and the President of THHAP (The Hickory Hollow Action Partnership) who hosts the event, expects over 1,000 people to attend.

Night Out Against Crime events will be held throughout Davidson County.

The mall is located off I-24 East at Bell Rd Exit #59

Company with no past clients hired to audit Nashville police stats

Firm will review police stats for free

By Brian Haas • THE TENNESSEAN • July 31, 2010

Wanted: one public safety consultant firm to analyze and critique Metro police crime statistics policies.

No experience necessary.

In response to Mayor Karl Dean's request in May for an audit of police crime statistics, Metro auditors have hired a California-based company with no prior clients to help figure out if the department has been skewing local crime statistics.

The company, Elite Performance Auditing Consultants, has agreed to look at police policies and practices for free (aside from travel expenses) in return for a glowing letter of recommendation by Metro afterward. The city also hired a Vanderbilt University sociology professor for as much as $7,500 to analyze crime classification.

The arrangement allows the city to keep costs of the audit just under $10,000, but raises questions about how serious and thorough the inquiry will be.


"At face value it wouldn't seem like they're very serious about it," said Councilman Michael Craddock, who sits on the Public Safety Committee. "If that's all they're spending and they're hiring a company with no experience that's doing it free, well gee whiz."

Dean's office said the mayor has no say in the hiring or administration of audits. Metro Auditor Mark Swann is independent of the administration.

"Questions about the audit process are for Mr. Swann to answer, as his office is completely independent from the rest of Metro government," spokeswoman Janel Lacy said.

Swann defended hiring the California company on the cheap.

"They have connections to numerous police departments through the International Law Enforcement Auditors Association," he said. He added that the company's president has done two crime audits for the Los Angeles Police Department and has other law enforcement experience.

"I believe they will be an excellent resource for benchmarking reporting methodologies and general police culture concerns," Swann said.

Company officials could not be reached for comment Friday.

Dean ordered the audit after questions intensified about the veracity of the city's crime statistics. Swann said he expects it to be completed by this fall.

VU lecturer hired


Swann's office also is hiring MaryAltani Karpos, a senior lecturer in Vanderbilt's sociology department, who will be paid up to $7,500 for 30 hours of work. She's expected to be tasked with making sure Metro police have been properly classifying crimes.

Karpos is known in academic circles for her work examining the disparity between police rape statistics and the number of rapes reported by victims. Earlier this year, she conducted a study for the Tennessee Department of Correction on how often convicts re-offend after being released.

Karpos said that she was unable to comment on the audit, per the contract.

"She'll be looking at crime reports and saying, 'Does the crime description fit the reported crime?' " Swann said.

There have been questions about Metro's police statistics for years. At a 2009 police budget hearing, Councilman Jim Gotto told then-Police Chief Ronal Serpas that he thought an audit might be a good idea. Serpas at the time appeared angry and accused Gotto of calling police officers liars. The department says it welcomes the upcoming audit.


On Friday, Gotto said he's pleased city auditors are making progress. He said he is confident the audit will answer his questions and he isn't concerned about the California firm. Metro will pay the company up to $2,450 for travel expenses.

"When you say that they're former LAPD auditors, then I think we're probably fine," he said. "It sounds to me like they have the credentials to be able to do the work."

Elite Performance Auditing Consultants was formed in April 2009, according to California business records, but it told Metro it had never had any clients. The company comprises mostly former Los Angeles Police Department auditors, according to employee biographies. It bid to audit the police department in Las Cruces, N.M., earlier this year but didn't get the contract.

Craddock said he wouldn't have hired a company that had no previous clients if he were serious about a full audit.

"This is a very serious situation because the people in this city need to know the true picture of crime," Craddock said.

Half of Tennessee students fail tougher state tests

Tougher standards give TN honest look at where kids stand

By Jaime Sarrio • THE TENNESSEAN • July 31, 2010

About half of Tennessee's public school students failed to meet state academic standards this year, the result of a more rigorous curriculum, harder exams and tougher grading.

The dismal results didn't come as a surprise to state leaders, who for years have said that Tennessee schools are too easy and that the state does not accurately report academic performance.

But the new scores are a sobering look at just how far behind students in the Volunteer State trail. For example:

• Only a quarter of eighth-grade math students posted scores showing they're on track to graduate with the skills needed to do college-level work

• Fewer than half of fourth-grade test-takers read on grade level under last school year's higher standards.


• Under last year's Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program, only 9 percent of students in grades 3-8 would have failed math exams. As it stands, 67 percent failed, demonstrating weaknesses in the old system and increased expectations now.

The news came Friday as the Tennessee Board of Education decided which TCAP scores should be considered passing.

Last fall, public school students were introduced to a more rigorous curriculum. In the spring, a more difficult TCAP made its debut. Now, in the third and final phase, those test results are being graded. Individual school and student reports will be available in September and October.

As hard as the new scores are to swallow, state leaders say they are proof substantial changes are being made to the education system, and parents are getting their first honest look at how kids are performing.

"We're finally telling the truth about where we are and where our kids are," said Education Commissioner Tim Webb. "We just didn't know. Our teachers didn't know. But now they do. And so we will move forward."

State asks for time

Conversations about new standards started in 2006 when a magazine called Education Next gave Tennessee the "cream puff award" for having the worst standards in the nation. For years, 80 percent to 90 percent of students have been sailing through state exams with proficient or advanced scores, while bombing national tests like the ACT college entrance exam or the National Assessment of Educational Progress.

The end result? In a few years, state officials say, Tennessee's scores will improve on local and national tests, and students won't need remedial college courses.


"It's something we all need to take a great deal of pride in, where we've moved during these last several years," said B. Fielding Rolston, chairman of the state Board of Education.

Ruth Stewart, parent of a rising sophomore at Hume-Fogg Magnet High, said she doesn't expect her son's scores to drop, but regardless she'll be OK with the results if they present a more accurate view of how he's doing on a national level.

"We do need to be compared with kids nationally," she said.

"If we think our kids are doing well and they're not nationally, I want to know that. These are the kids we're going to be competing with for college placement and jobs. My view is all information, if it's accurate, is good."


In the wake of the results, the state is waiting to see how it will respond to schools that end up not meeting state standards.

Under the federal No Child Left Behind law, the state must intervene when schools fail to meet testing benchmarks, which are calculated for students of subgroups like race and income level. The longer a school fails to meet the benchmarks, the more severe the intervention required.

But because so many schools are bound to fail this year under the new system, state officials are asking the federal government for time to make the transition into the new standards without having to take drastic interventions. Instead, they want to focus state resources on training teachers.

Commissioner Webb, who sent a letter to U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan asking for the reprieve, said preliminary conversations with federal officials have been positive.

"We've talked to them, and they materially agree with what we're saying, but we're waiting on final approval," Webb said. "I think we have some good promise."

New national standards

In another development, the board joined 32 other states in voting to adopt new national standards called the Common Core.

All total, 48 states have agreed to adopt the standards, which aren't federally mandated but are the closest thing that exists to a uniform national curriculum. That means all students in all the Common Core states will be learning the same things at the same time.

State leaders say the Common Core is an 85 percent match to the curriculum currently in place. The standards cover math and English language arts and must be integrated into schools within the next three years.

Students will be tested on the new material in 2014-15. Those exams also will tread new ground: They will be computerized.

Tougher standards concern some teachers

New standards aim to catch TN students up

By Chris Echegaray • THE TENNESSEAN • July 29, 2010

Mortimer Davenport wanted to give his 14-year-old son, Martez, every advantage. For a while, he hoped that would be private school instead of Nashville's Cane Ridge High, but it was just too expensive.

So he was heartened to learn that Tennessee was going to make lessons tougher for its public school children. Even before a statewide campaign told him so, Davenport knew it had to be done for success in college and beyond.

"What I want to know is why didn't Tennessee have these standards from the very beginning?" Davenport said. "… You want them to be ready. I don't mind these standards if students are taught well and made viable for college."

Gov. Phil Bredesen, who championed tougher curriculum and testing for Tennessee students, toured the state last week touting the new standards and warning parents of the result — much lower standardized test scores coming home in September. The state will roll out an ad campaign with the same message next month. But well before parents began taking note, principals and teachers were figuring out how to move students forward in a giant leap.

The state adopted the new standards in 2008 and introduced them for the 2009-10 school year. Spring testing marked educators' first chance to see how much of a gap in student knowledge they're facing.


Angela Wilburn, a 22-year veteran of Metro Nashville Public Schools, said she has heard fifth-grade teachers quietly wondering how to teach pre-algebra concepts to students who barely do arithmetic.

Wilburn, an eighth-grade math teacher at McMurray Middle in South Nashville, said she is methodical in her lessons, going a bit slower and partnering struggling students with stronger classmates. She expects math scores to nosedive on the new testing, but with strong instruction, students will bounce back, she said.

However, what's missing from the new standards is student accountability, she said. They can pass to the next grade no matter how they score on Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program tests.

"My biggest fear as an educator is that there are no repercussions for students who don't do well," Wilburn said. "We can't retain students. There needs to be some standard that ties student scoring to promotion."


Meanwhile, 35 percent of teacher evaluations will be tied to student performance on Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program and end-of-course tests.

Not a gradual shift
Teachers are prepared to use a tougher curriculum to move students ahead, said Erick Huth, president of the Metro Nashville Education Association, although the union would have liked a more gradual shift instead of everything implemented in one year.

Bredesen said increasing standards was necessary for long-term gain of higher achievement on national tests, like the ACT college entrance exam, and he's asking all to stay the course.

Under Tennessee's new standards, students formerly considered "advanced" are likely to score barely proficient on last spring's Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program and end-of-course testing, the state education commissioner said last week.


Comparing Tennessee students' performance on state and national tests shows how far behind the state is. The Atlanta-based Southern Regional Education Board recently issued a report showing that 90 percent of Tennessee fourth-graders were considered proficient in reading using state tests in 2009, but only 28 percent scored at that level on a national test.

"The whole idea is to let teachers know where students' weaknesses are and guide instruction accordingly," said Alan Richard, spokesman for the regional board. "It doesn't do you much good to have 90 percent meeting the standard."

Julie Hopkins, principal of Buena Vista Elementary in North Nashville, said she is reviewing student performance from several school assessments that help her determine their strengths and weaknesses and how to teach to those. This year, a consultant will work with teachers one-on-one since there's a lot of varying instructions for the new standards.

School started in spring


Some educators are taking bold steps to be sure students can meet the new standards. Stewarts Creek Elementary in Rutherford County was approved for a pilot program that launched students into the next grade's curriculum right after spring TCAP tests.

Rachael Ged, a Stewarts Creek Elementary parent last year, was critical of the program. She said it was likely students would forget lessons over the summer, and said parents weren't properly notified of the plan. She is confident her children, A students who are both now at Stewarts Creek Middle School, performed well on spring testing. But others probably needed time to make the transition, Ged said.

"Those already behind need a chance to catch up," she said. "There has to be progression in some way. A lot of kids are below the line and won't be able to reach that bar that's just been raised."

Ged wants to be sure teachers get plenty of funding from Race To The Top, the $500 million federal grant awarded the state this year, in part as a reward for increasing standards.

In the end, students succeed because parents at home guide them, said Daniel Phibbs, whose son, Tanner, attends Mt. Juliet Elementary School.


Phibbs moved his family to Wilson County from Colorado after he learned the school district fared better in reading and writing than neighboring counties. Phibbs said he believes Tennessee will catch up with the rest of the nation.

"It boils down to parents, schools and teachers working in concert for the bigger picture goal ... smart, well-rounded, well-adjusted productive children," he said.

Nashville will launch center to target family violence

By Michael Cass • THE TENNESSEAN • July 29, 2010


 A Nashville will develop a center to coordinate services for victims of family violence, Mayor Karl Dean announced Wednesday.

The Nashville Family Connections Center will coordinate the work of multiple government and nonprofit agencies to try to reduce the number of children and youth exposed to family violence.

"By sharing information and working together, all of the agencies involved in addressing family violence will be able to provide more effective services," Dean said. "And we'll be able to reduce the cyclical pattern of family violence in our community."

The center was recommended by a 52-member task force that Dean appointed to develop strategies for ensuring the well-being of children and youth. The group's five working committees looked at health, safety, out-of-school time, education life cycle, and mobility and stability.

"With input from literally hundreds of young people and hundreds of adults, it puts in place 14 outcomes that all of us believe go toward helping a young person grow, thrive and become the kind of adult we all hope they can be," Metro Councilman Ronnie Steine, a co-chairman of the task force, said in an interview.

"Most of the things you will see in the report are commonsensical. But there is great power in finally writing them down with wide agreement that they're important to us."

Steine said he has started working with Dean's administration on a "children and youth budget," which will track what the city spends on children and youth. He called the idea "revolutionary to think about in terms of focusing resources."

The center will focus on family violence as a whole, including domestic violence, child abuse, delinquency prevention, intervention and family support services. It will include representatives from the police department, the district attorney's office, the Tennessee Department of Children's Services, Davidson County Juvenile Court, Metro Social Services and nonprofit advocacy organizations. The center probably will be housed in existing, vacant space. Its structure will be similar to that of the Metro Student Attendance Center, a partnership between Juvenile Court, the police department and the school system to address the issue of truancy. Metro officials will spend most of the next year planning before the center opens.

The task force's report is available at www.nashville.gov/mocy/index.asp