NASHVILLE, TN – Nations in Our Neighborhood is relaunching its passport program, where locals get a chance to sample plates at participating restaurants. For a limited time, guests can purchase a “passport” for $50.00 and receive a chef’s sampler plate at eight restaurants at their own leisure.
Get a chef’s surprise anytime Jan. 20– April 4at Culaccino., Anatolia, Bavarian Bierhaus, Biwarchi, Chateau West, Coco’s, McNamara’s Irish Pub, and Riddim ‘n Spice (recently on Food Network).
“The passport tour allows participants to experience our community’s diverse dining with a unique sampler at each location,” stated Nations in Our Neighborhood founder Renuka Christoph. “Whether a date night, girls night out, it’s a great way to get out, have fun and explore the culinary scene.”
A kick-off party will take place at Bavarian Bierhaus Thurs. Jan. 20, 6-8 pm where passports will be distributed.
If unable to attend, passports can be picked up Sat. Jan 22 – Sat. Feb. 5 at Savory Spice Shop at the Franklin location: 324 Main St, Franklin, TN 37064 A sample will be attached to each passport, courtesy of the Savory Spice Shop. Ticket sales will support United Way of Greater Nashville.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Local couple Steven and Whitney Sains are proud to announce the opening of Crown Love Beauty Supply in the spring of 2022. The Black-owned business will be a one-stop-shop for all hair and beauty supply needs. The location will specialize in the beautification of African Americans and will offer premium hair styling products, bundles, lashes, and exclusive accessories.
The Sains have always maintained an interest in entrepreneurship and ownership. Together the couple invests in real estate and have owned businesses with the goal of providing a positive example to their family. The decision to open a beauty supply store came to them naturally as they saw the lack of representation of African Americans in that industry.
Studies have shown that Black shoppers spend nearly $500 million on hair every year—nine times more than any other American community. Yet they own less than 1 percent of the market share. “We need black representation because there is a culture within the black community that needs to be catered to. We need representation that understands the time and effort that black women and men put into their looks. It’s like waking up on Sunday morning with the smell of a hot comb fresh off the stovetop and onto the hair. That is culture,” said co-owner Steven Sains. “It is not about color but about understanding what it means to be black, understanding the pride that comes with loving one’s beauty when we look in the mirror.”
The Sains also saw a need for those living in Antioch and South Nashville to have access to a beauty supply store that is owned and operated by members of the community.
“Antioch has always been my home. I was inspired to open a beauty supply store in Antioch because of a lack of representation in the industry. We have two major beauty supply stores in the 37013 zip code and do not see a dime donated back to the community. This is an industry carried by black women, and black women deserve to feel valued,” explained co-owner Whitney. “That is our intention, to create an environment of customer service where everyone feels welcome and valued. Antioch is where I would like to grow our business, Antioch is where I would like to donate back to the people that support our business.”
The family is also focused on providing a level of customer service Nashvillians are looking for when purchasing their beauty supplies. “This market has an expectation of service and quality we understand what is expected of us when we have customers in our store,” Steven said. “Patience, loving and warm attitude, being an urgent servant to our customers, and respecting each personal uniqueness is important to us.”
WASHINGTON – Today, Rep. Jim Cooper (TN-05) announced he secured funding for a new VA outpatient clinic in Nashville. President Biden’s Fiscal Year 2022 budget proposed a new state-of-the-art outpatient clinic to replace and expand care and services currently offered at the VA clinic located at Charlotte Avenue. Congressional funding and approval is needed for the clinic, which Cooper successfully included in the Build Back Better legislation.
Previously, antiquated GSA guidelines excluded locating the clinic anywhere north of I-40, excluding the North Nashville neighborhoods. For the past several months, Cooper worked with VA Secretary McDonough, in addition to White House, Office of Management and Budget, and General Services Administration staff, to expand the delineated area for the new VA clinic up to the Cumberland River. This ensures the North Nashville community—home to prominent universities such as Fisk, Tennessee State, and Meharry Medical—are able to compete for this major medical development project.
The package also includes funding for health coverage to people in states, like Tennessee, that refuse to cover their own. Cooper has been a champion of Medicaid expansion since the passage of the Affordable Care Act, and closing the Medicaid coverage gap in the Build Back Better package was one of his top priorities.
“I am thrilled years-long efforts like getting more Tennesseans health insurance and bringing more equitable business opportunities to North Nashville were in this bill,” Rep. Jim Cooper said. “This is one of the most transformative pieces of legislation that will bring more opportunities to every American and help grow our economy.”
Nashville, TENN – On November 29, demolition will begin for the North Nashville Transit Center. It should have little to no impact on businesses, residents, motorists, and transit customers.
Work will be done between 7 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday-Saturday, and the only right-of-way implications will be trucks hauling debris from the site. No lane closures are anticipated. Demolition is expected to take approximately two months near 26th Avenue and Clarksville Pike.
WeGo Public Transit continues its commitment to better connecting people to their lives and communities by elevating the overall quality of customers and business patrons.
For updates regarding the center, please refer to the project webpage at WeGoTransit.com.
Nashville, TN – The American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (AAPI) presents the Fall Fundraising Gala in support of Free for Life International (FFLI), which stands against human trafficking and slavery in India. The event will take place at Embassy Suites Hotel in Cool Springs on Sat. Nov. 20 at 7 pm.
Tickets for the gala are $150 per person or $1,250 for a table of ten. Tennessee Rep. Jim Cooper will be the guest speaker for the evening. Guests will be served authentic Indian cuisine and entertained by Bollywood music and dance.
“As physicians, it is important to identify the victims of human trafficking and get them appropriate help,” said Dr.Sunil Kaza, event chairman. “We are human only when we choose to be humane.”
Vaccinations and mask usage are encouraged. All funds will be contributed to FFLI.
“Together as a community we have the power to prevent and fight human trafficking and also end slavery,” said Anuradha P. Mann, APPI Tennessee president. “Let’s do it.”
Hondurans will cast their vote for the Central American nation’s next president on Nov. 28. The election comes amid violence and socioeconomic conditions that rank as among the lowest in the Western Hemisphere, alongside Haiti.
For many, Honduras warrants the status of a failed state. Yet, there are those here who believe the coming elections offer the best — and perhaps last — chance for change.
“These elections are an opportunity to recover the democratic process and to confront the multiple crises impacting the country,” said Gustavo Irias, executive director of the Center for Democracy Studies (CESPAD), a nonprofit that advocates on behalf of Honduras’ marginalized communities. “This is a chance for Honduras to recover its sense as a nation.”
That sense of nationhood was shattered in 2009, when the Honduran military ousted former president Manuel Zelaya. Since then, Honduras has remained under the control of the National Party, currently led by President Juan Orlando Hernández, now finishing his second term under a cloud of suspicion, given his potential links to drug traffickers.
The candidates seeking to replace him include National Party favorite and current Tegucigalpa Mayor Nasry Asfura, or “Papi” as he is known, and the Libre Party’s Xiomara Castro, wife of ousted former president Zelaya. She has promised to curb the excesses of the free-market policies embraced by her opponent and is forging closer ties to China.
On Twitter, President Hernández said when his administration began, there was no social justice, and those most in need were not helped. He claims he created something comprehensive and sustainable and that Honduras is no longer neglected.
Cuando inicié mi Gobierno, NO existía la justicia social y NO se atendía a los que más necesitan, así que diseñamos algo integral y sostenible Vida Mejor.
Yet, violence, corruption and poverty are endemic here. As of 2019, 15 percent of Hondurans live on less than $2 per day, conditions likely worsened by COVID-19 and the impact of hurricanes Eta and Iota last year. Projections are more than half the country fell below the poverty line in 2020, according to the World Bank.
Such conditions are fueling an exodus of migrants from the country, with data from this year showing 168,546 separate reports of Hondurans detained by immigration officials in the United States and Mexico, according to a June report from the Migration Policy Institute. The report noted one-in-five Hondurans express a desire to leave the country, with reasons ranging from food insecurity to fear of assault and unemployment.
For some in the capital, the coming elections offer little hope for improvement.
“Nothing is going to change,” said Victor Manuel Mayorga, a public employee who says he has not been able to retire because the government stole the state’s pension funds. At 79, Mayorga is part of a tiny minority of senior citizens in a country where the median age is just 24. Many young people have died in the violence of the last four decades.
Sitting in the city’s central plaza talking soccer with friends, he notes the lack of education and health care, and accuses officials of all political stripes of abandoning the country. “I believe in democracy, but in Honduras it is broken. It’s been broken since the coup.”
The village of Bordo del Río flooded after the overflow of the Lancetilla river on Nov. 3, 2020 in Tela, Honduras. Hurricane Eta, like many other storms, left its mark. (Photo by Yoseph Amaya/Getty Images)
However, not everyone despairs.
César Nahún Aquino, 44, is an auto mechanic from the town of Yoritos, about 125 miles north of Tegucigalpa. The town made headlines two years ago when residents successfully banded together to eject a mining company that had attempted to set up operations in the region.
A member of the Tolupán indigenous community, he ran a transportation company in San Pedro Sula before the COVID-19 pandemic, which he says eviscerated his business. Now he is back in his hometown, a largely agricultural region known for coffee, avocados and cattle ranching.
“We’re asking for the basics, to get rid of corrupt elections, transparency and reactivate the local economy, so it benefits people in the community,” said Aquino, a supporter of local mayoral candidate Freddy Murio.
Murio is a formerly undocumented migrant who spent 12 years working construction in New York before returning to his hometown two years ago.
“We have to start with our municipality before we can begin to change the country,” Aquino said.
Back in the capital, officials acknowledge no single election will solve the challenges confronting Honduras. They say it is important to protect the integrity of the vote and secure the democratic process. Both are key to repairing the ongoing damage caused by the coup in 2009.
“The only opportunity for the country to build a democratic foundation is through the coming elections,” said Rixi Moncada, a lawyer and part of a three-person rotating chair with the newly created National Electoral Council, or CNE as it’s known by its Spanish acronym.
The CNE, responsible for delivering the final vote tally once the polls close, was created following widespread irregularities and violence that marked elections in 2017. Along with the National Registry of Persons and the Clean Politics Unit — tasked with monitoring campaign finance in a nation where drug money and politics are inextricably intertwined — these three institutions are responsible for ensuring election integrity.
Moncada, a former member of the Zelaya administration, admits it is no easy task.
“No one is prepared for the criminality,” she says, referring to the ongoing political violence she sees as an extension of the 2009 coup, including the recent murder of Nery Reyes, mayoral candidate and member of the opposition Libre Party, who was killed in October. No one has been arrested for the murder.
In her show, the Afro-Latina jokester of Dominican and Puerto Rican descent is tackling current issues that dominate the headlines and talking about getting back into dating, her upbringing and family life, and embracing her Caribbean heritage.
Her trademark comedy is turning her life’s pain into humorous material. Having been the subject of two kidnappings by family members during childhood, she learned that her personal tragedy is not off-limits.
Rodriguez’s HBO Max show concludes with a documentary of the Boston-born comedienne traveling to Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic to celebrate the two nations’ vibrant cultures. The TV special also gets serious with family matters and acknowledges new talent. Cameras capture her reunion with her estranged father and the jokester’s effort to support up-and-coming comedians.
Misogyny, racism, and other ills of contemporary society are targets of the comedienne, who also happens to be a regular commentator on the political YouTube show “The Young Turks.”
Kristian Mercado and Nadia Hallgren, two filmmakers who hail from distinctively different genres, directed “Aida Rodriguez: Fighting Words.” Mercado has helmed a handful of comedy TV specials like HBO Max’s “Phoebe Robinson: Sorry, Harriet Tubman,” while Hallgren directed “Becoming,” the Netflix documentary about former First Lady Michelle Obama. Rodriguez is the executive producer of her special, along with Michelle Caputo and Shannon Hartman for Art & Industry.
“Fighting Words” arrives two years after Rodriguez was featured on six episodes of“Tiffany Haddish Presents: They Ready.” Led by Primetime Emmy Award-winner Haddish, the Netflix series allowed Rodriguez to share the stage with the seasoned African-American comedic star and about a dozen up-and-coming standup talents.
Making a living out of making people laugh wasn’t in Rodriguez’s career plans. She pursued a degree in English and law at Florida State University but dropped out after becoming pregnant. She married a Florida State Seminoles player but divorced him before moving to Los Angeles in the early 2000s. Rodriguez then turned to filmmaking, acting in minor roles and standup comedy.
Her first film credit is as second unit director in the 2006 indie horror flick “VooDoo Curse: The Giddeh.” The following year, she got a small role in the “Black Woman’s Guide to Finding a Good Man” video, the first of her many comedy projects. At the same time, she started to delve into penning and producing humor and drama and traveling the comedy club circuit.
After several years of wearing multiple creative hats, Rodriguez joined the eighth season of NBC’s “Last Comic Standing,” placing seventh among ten finalists. Later, she was cast in Fusion’s TV movie “All Def Digital’s Roast of America,” which she co-wrote.
Now, in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic, Rodriguez gets ready to do what she may do best, turning her wounds into jokes.
“[I] took this trip with some amazing people during a very complicated time. [I’m] looking forward to sharing it with you,” posted Rodriguez on social media, along with a poster promoting her Max Original show.
Rare photos recently revealed by the National Library of Israel show country musician Johnny Cash during his visit to Israel in 1971, giving a black-and-white sneak peek at the glamorous reception he received.
Cash was in Israel with his wife, June Carter Cash, to film their movie “Gospel Road: A Story of Jesus.” The film was narrated by Cash and includes scenes of him singing from the top of Mount Arbel. Other Israeli landmarks in the film include the Sea of Galilee and the Jordan River, but despite their prominence, the film did not end up becoming a box-office hit.
Cash’s 1971 visit to Israel was the third one of five for the star. A devout Christian, he had previously visited the country in 1966 on a private religious pilgrimage, and then again with his wife in 1968. That trip inspired a Christian-themed concept album called “The Holy Land.”
Johnny Cash receives a gift from an unidentified person at a reception in Jerusalem. (IPPA staff from the Dan Hadani Archive, Pritzker Family National Photography Collection at the National Library of Israel, Jerusalem)
On the 1971 trip, the Cashes were treated to a lavish reception in Jerusalem, where the newly discovered photos were taken, revealing a bygone-era replete with fancy dinnerware, waiters in black tie, and floral wallpaper.
The photos were discovered by accident when the National Library’s social media manager sifted through images from the library’s Dan Hadani Archive in search of pictures of Israeli pop star Tzvika Pik.
Pik, it turns out, attended the reception held in Cash’s honor, and the episode was saved from obscurity.
American music star Johnny Cash at a reception in his honor in Jerusalem, 1971. (IPPA staff from the Dan Hadani Archive, Pritzker Family National Photography Collection at the National Library of Israel, Jerusalem)
Cash, widely regarded as one of the most respected musical artists, was born into a family of Arkansas sharecroppers in the middle of the Great Depression, according to his official website.
“That hardscrabble life instilled in him a reverence for family, the earth, God and truth that informed his incredible life and vision over a half-century career. After a stint in the United States Air Force, where he distinguished himself as a radio intercept operator, and less-successful efforts as an automobile factory worker and door-to-door home goods salesman, Johnny broke onto the music scene in 1955 on Memphis’ fabled Sun Records. It was here, at the ‘birthplace of rock and roll,’ where the world was introduced to his singular voice and compelling songwriting, through such eternal classics as ‘I Walk the Line, ’Big River’ and ‘Folsom Prison Blues.’”
He is also well known for performing concerts in prisons, including his famous first one at San Quentin Prison in California in 1958.
Leaders of religious communities in Israel gathered at the president’s residence in Jerusalem recently to issue an interfaith call for people to get vaccinated against COVID-19.
President Isaac Herzog was joined by Israel’s chief rabbis, the Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem, the Latin Patriarch, the president of the Muslim Shari’a Court of Appeals, the Druze community leader and the secretary-general of the Baháʼí movement in Israel, as well as the health minister and the government’s COVID coordinator.
“The sanctity of life is a supreme value for religions and the saving of the life of any human being — all created in the image of God — is the greatest religious obligation of all,” the religious leaders declared.
President Isaac Herzog, left, greets Israel’s religious leaders during an interfaith call for COVID vaccination, at his residence in Jerusalem. (Koby Gideon/GPO)
“Together with prayers to the Almighty, we call on everyone to be vaccinated as soon as possible. The licensed vaccines that have been approved by the most important professional regulatory bodies in the world are highly effective and safe, proven by the notable number of over 3 billion vaccinated people worldwide, and have led to a drastic reduction of COVID-19 infections.”
They concluded by calling on everyone “to continue abiding by all the preventive measures demanded by science and medicine, in each place according to the situation.”
“Interfaith cooperation is hugely powerful,” Herzog said “I think that the fact that this fantastic call is coming out of the Holy Land truly sets an example and serves as a model.”
This week, Israel is poised to roll out a vaccination campaign for children ages 5 to 11.
A recent study, based on data from Israel, showed that a third (booster) dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine against COVID-19 is 93 percent effective in protecting individuals against severe COVID-19-related outcomes, compared with two doses received at least five months earlier.
“To our knowledge, the present study is the first to estimate the effectiveness of a third dose of an mRNA COVID-19 against severe outcomes with adjustment for various possible confounders, and within subgroups,” state the study authors from Clalit, Bar-Ilan University and Harvard University.
These subgroups include males, females, Arabs, Jews, ultra-Orthodox Jews and people with various preexisting conditions and body-mass indexes. Risks were found to be higher in males and in people 70 and older.
The authors say that despite good results of nationwide vaccination campaigns, many countries — including Israel — experienced a resurgence of COVID-19, dominated by the Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2. This is because the protective effect of Pfizer’s mRNA vaccine wanes over time and especially after six months.
With 63.55 percent of the population fully vaccinated, Israel has had an overall total of 1,336,882 coronavirus cases and 8,140 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University in Maryland. The recovery rate overall is reported as 99 percent.
Peeing on a stick will soon be as obsolete as the “rabbit test” thanks to SaliStick, a revolutionary saliva-based rapid pregnancy test kit.
The product has successfully completed clinical trials and thousands of analytical trials in Israel and is expected to receive the European Union’s CE Mark soon. Approval by the FDA could come next year.
SaliStick was developed by Jerusalem-based Salignostics based on its proprietary saliva-based hormone detection technology used in the company’s SaliCov rapid antigen saliva test kit to detect COVID-19, used widely in Europe and Africa.
SaliStick detects the pregnancy hormone β-hCG as early as the first day of a missed period.
“Saliva is the key to rapid diagnostics for a variety of medical reasons. Quintessentially it is the only noninvasive, easy, and hygienic means to detect hormones, viruses and even diseases,” said Guy Krief, Salignostics’ co-founder, deputy CEO and director of business development.
“We are delivering a product that completely removes the need for blood and urine samples when testing for pregnancy,” he said. “With SaliStick, we hope to empower women by making the discovery of pregnancy more dignified and inclusive.”
The company will display the new product at the Medica 2021 exhibition in Düsseldorf, Germany, this week.
Salignostics was founded in 2016 by Krief and four other PhDs: professor Aaron Palmon, former dean of Hebrew University’s dental school; Omer Deutsch; Yoav Neumann; and Raluca Cohen.
“Our vision is to transform the next generation of in-vitro diagnostics by developing easy, clean, safe, low-cost, accessible and reliable saliva-based products,” the company’s website says.
“Salistick is the first rapid saliva-based pregnancy test for a new and improved user-experience, accompanied by high accuracy for early pregnancy detection.”
Currently, there are two main types of pregnancy tests — urine tests and blood tests.
“Often, you’ll take a urine test at home with a home pregnancy test kit,” the Cleveland Clinic website states. “This type of test can be purchased over-the-counter (you don’t need a prescription from your healthcare provider) and is available in a variety of price ranges. Blood tests to check for pregnancy are done in your healthcare provider’s office. No matter what the reason [for a pregnancy test], if you ever have any questions about your test results, the best thing to do is reach out to your healthcare provider.
“A pregnancy can also be confirmed through an ultrasound. Later in a pregnancy, an ultrasound is actually used to not only look at your baby, but make sure the timeline of development matches the dates of your conception and missed period.
“If you think you could be pregnant, it’s a good idea to take a test and make sure,” the Cleveland Clinic says.
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