“I had a brain bleed. I was in a coma. I had a broken jaw, broken nose, crushed eye socket, crushed sinuses, collapsed lungs. They had to intubate me twice. I mean, his intent was to kill me.”

The Dept of Justice’s investigation of Trousdale Turner is now prompting some former staff to tell their stories, including a female guard so badly beaten by an inmate in 2020 that she’s never been able to work again.

“I was in a coma for eight days,” she told the Banner.

The former guard, whose identity we have protected, is just now talking about what happened to her. She was among the first wave of new guards at the prison when it opened in 2016. She’s undergone at least four surgeries and is worried about millions in medical bills, her declining credit and ultimately losing her home.

Update: After publication, District Attorney Jason Lawson from the 15th District told the Banner that Robert King Vaughn Jr. was quietly prosecuted for attacking the other woman in this case. He was sentenced to 60 years for aggravated rape and 60 years for attempted first-degree murder, to be served consecutively for a total sentence of 120 years.

The post Former CoreCivic Prison Guard Talks for First Time Since Horrific Beating at Trousdale-Turner appeared first on Nashville Banner.

It’s on the periphery of a busy Mt. Juliet shopping center, a place few people explore. But here’s a question. Even after 10 years or more, when pollution caused by construction is out of sight, should it ever be out of mind?

You don’t need to be a scientist to notice that something is going on at this site near The Paddocks shopping center in Mt. Juliet: The water is fuzzy and orange and it’s been the subject of litigation spanning more than a decade.

The developer says it’s done its best to clean up a small tributary that’s well hidden from view. However, an environmental group says walking away should not be an option.

The post What’s the Source of the Orange Water Flowing Behind a Mt. Juliet Shopping Center? appeared first on Nashville Banner.

Grocery shoppers are accustomed to checking expiration dates. But it’s hard to know whether food has been kept cold enough. A former Kroger employee tipped off the Banner that at the Madison location on Gallatin Pike this summer, malfunctioning coolers were causing food to be stored “out of temperature.” That included meat and seafood, and ice cream that was left to go liquid. Our source, who has been let go from the company, sent video and other inside information that indicated a pattern of potentially unsafe conditions and practices at the store.

Kroger declined to go on camera but said, “our team at the Madison location promptly addressed and identified the malfunctioning cooler and freezer immediately removed, potentially impacted products and repaired the equipment.”

The post Malfunctioning Refrigeration Units Raise Food Safety Concerns appeared first on Nashville Banner.

One woman in Middle Tennessee has been trying to understand how her brother, Joshua Mince-Dies, died after she paid money to other inmates to get him into drug treatment. She’s convinced the extortion money meant to facilitate his recovery instead bought the so-called “hot shot” of drugs that killed him.

The U.S. Department of Justice is now investigating Tennessee’s largest prison after years of complaints by inmates, their families, staff and activists. Those include allegations that inmate gangs essentially run Trousdale Turner Correctional Center. CoreCivic, which runs the prison, refused an interview but did respond to questions about drug treatment.

The post An Inmate Died at Trousdale Turner Correctional Center; His Family Wants Answers appeared first on Nashville Banner.

A sewage treatment facility in Kingston Springs, Tenn., empties into the Harpeth River every day. It’s legal to do this, but under the Clean Water Act, these wastewater discharges need to be within certain limits. During some periods, E. coli bacteria was more than 2,000 percent higher than the permitted amount. After years of trying to get the state to address the problem, a conservation group has given notice that they intend to sue.

The post Sewage From Kingston Springs Emptying Into the Harpeth River appeared first on Nashville Banner.

Editor’s note: This story is part of a series looking at the growth of Nashville as a party destination and the effects of alcohol. Watch the first video in the series here.

On any given night, the sheer number of people crowding the bars on Lower Broadway can lead to problems. From public intoxication to fistfights, Nashville’s downtown party culture has earned a reputation for being rowdy. One bouncer shares his view of the alcohol-fueled nightlife and the many challenges it can present for security staff.

The post Security on Lower Broadway Through a Bouncer’s Eyes appeared first on Nashville Banner.

Editor’s note: This story is part of a series looking at the growth of Nashville as a party destination and the effects of alcohol. Read part one here.

The airport is the gateway for millions of people arriving in Nashville every year. And it’s awash in alcohol — with breweries on every concourse, signage encouraging drinking and a regular number of arrests for public intoxication and disorderly conduct. How did it get this way? And do other airports try to get the party started as much as BNA?

The post Is Drinking Out of Control at BNA? appeared first on Nashville Banner.

Like many Americans, Sara Jane Moore watched television coverage of the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump with great interest. Unlike all but two other living Americans, she herself once attempted to assassinate a president. In 1975, she fired at then-President Gerald Ford with the intent to kill him. Now 94 years old, Moore lives in Tennessee. This interview was recorded just hours after the rally in Pennsylvania at which two people, including the gunman, were killed.

The post How Ford’s Would-Be Assassin Saw the Attempt on Donald Trump’s Life appeared first on Nashville Banner.

The bridge that spans the Duck River in Old Stone Fort State Park is a popular photo backdrop and a uniquely Tennessee landmark. It was built by the Nashville Bridge Company 118 years ago, and is possibly the last such bridge still in existence. The state plans to remove and replace the bridge, citing safety concerns and millions of dollars in potential repair costs. A local preservation group has hired an independent analyst and has gotten repair estimates that are a fraction of the state’s numbers. They hope the bridge can be kept in place.

Thanks to our partners at NewsChannel 5 for the Sky5 aerial photography.

The post The Fate of the Green Bridge appeared first on Nashville Banner.

As a city, we throw away a staggering 40 percent of food that could be composted. The landfill that takes thousands of pounds of Nashville trash every day has only five years left before it’s completely full. And Rutherford County has voted to keep outside trash out of the dump in coming years. The Banner’s Demetria Kalodimos examines a pilot program at Glendale Elementary to combat food waste that is feeding the needy and turning scraps into garden products.

The post Nashville Elementary School Program Turns Food Waste Into Compost appeared first on Nashville Banner.