VOL. 45 | NO. 29 | Friday, July 16, 2021
Health officials wait, worry as public brushes aside continuing risks
It’s been more than two months since the federal Centers for Disease Control relaxed its recommendations on masking for the fully vaccinated and since Metro Nashville lifted its own restrictions on masking and gathering. Since then, many have ditched the masks and resumed most, if not all, of their favorite pre-pandemic activities.
Tennessee officials have fired the state’s top vaccination official, who had been facing scrutiny from Republican state lawmakers over her department’s outreach efforts to vaccinate teenagers against COVID-19.
JOE ROGERS: MY TAKE
The notice on the community bulletin board was, unfortunately, not unusual: A missing cat, gone for two days from its home in a neighborhood near ours.
NEWSMAKERS
Marianne Wanamaker, associate professor of economics at the University of Tennessee, has been named executive director of the university’s Howard H. Baker Jr. Center for Public Policy. She replaces former executive director Matt Murray, who announced his retirement in March.
BRIEFS
Knox County School Board Superintendent Bob Thomas recently provided an update about the 2021-22 school year, outlining a return to normal operations after the pandemic.
MILLENNIAL MONEY
Last summer, like millions of Americans, I brought home a 7-pound ball of fluff. Over the past year, my mini-goldendoodle has turned into 23 pounds of pure joy. Close to one in five households have acquired a dog or cat since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, a recent survey from the ASPCA reports. That’s approximately 23 million American households.
BEHIND THE WHEEL
Does a little outdoor adventure sound enticing to you? It does to many Americans, as evidenced by crowded national parks and increased demand for trucks and SUVs. If you’re looking for a vehicle that can handle going off-road yet still be your inexpensive source for daily transportation, there are several options at your disposal.
PERSONAL FINANCE
You may not own cryptocurrency or nonfungible tokens. You may not have a big Instagram following or run an online business. But if you do almost anything online, you probably have digital assets — electronic records that you own, control or license. Failing to make arrangements for those assets while you’re alive could cause unnecessary costs, stress and heartache to those you leave behind.
CAREER CORNER
Countless news stories have popped up in the last few weeks about the Great Resignation. Millions of American workers are quitting their jobs.