News Briefly
Top cop
The selection of a new police chief is beginning to kick up dust. Seven candidates are in the running and a panel of citizens must prune the list even further before the mayor makes his final choice. Deb Faulkner, the acting chief who is one of those in the running, took some heat this week from minority groups when she declined invitations to speak publicly about minority advancement in her department. Changing her mind, she later addressed the issue in a Tuesday evening meeting.
Another new Fisk president
The Fisk University Board of Trustees has named Charles R. Fuget to be interim president of the troubled institution. Fuget has experience running a historically black school in North Carolina, which, like Fisk, also faced financial difficulties. Former Fisk president Carolynn Reid-Wallace recently announced she was resigning her post, after which some said she encountered excessive interference from several board members in performing her duties.
Looking into TennCare’s crystal ball
If you want to know whether TennCare—the state’s health care program for the poor and indigent—can make it, you’ll hear an answer Thursday and Friday. When Phil Bredesen became governor, he hired the pricey consulting firm of McKinsey & Co. to determine the program’s survivability. The report, which cost over $2.5 million and was funded by some big Tennessee health care companies, is finally complete. Last week Bredesen administration officials disclosed that over 8,000 Tennesseans are being added to TennCare every month. From a cost perspective, it’s mind-boggling.
It’s flu season
Local television news is on the story. Every evening, our favorite broadcasters fill local emergency rooms to report on what is said to be one of the worst flu seasons in recent memory. While local health care providers are saying they have enough flu vaccine to last them in the short-term, the prognosis is less clear over the long haul.
