...you can now get pop-up notifications in some states if you were close to someone who later tested positive for Covid-19. The alerts come via state health department apps that use Bluetooth technology to detect when you (or more precisely, your phone) has been in close contact with an infected person's phone.

At least 15 states are taking part in this Covid-19 exposure notification system.
They include Alabama, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Michigan, Minnesota, Maryland, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Wyoming and the nation's capital, Washington, DC.

Your phone can send you an alert if you were near someone who has coronavirus

Tennessee's Down syndrome abortion ban can be enforced, appeals court rules

On the AFL-CIO’s website, they said, “The real purpose of right to work laws is to tilt the balance toward big corporations and further rig the system at the expense of working families. These laws make it harder for working people to form unions and collectively bargain for better wages, benefits and working conditions.”

The AFL-CIO also points out that federal laws have prohibited union membership from being a condition of employment since 1947, making RTW laws a redundancy

Digging into the history of "Right-to-Work" as Tennessee considers new amendment

"There are several advantages to this approach. First, under current regulation, enforcement of the Board of Health curfew is an issue of criminal law. The proposed ordinances would rely on civil -- rather than criminal -- penalties. Second, the proposed ordinance would more appropriately match the potential enforcement action ---revocation of a beer permit- against the beer permit holder, rather than citations against individuals," she said.

Failure to follow closure could cost Knoxville businesses their beer permit under proposed ordinances

Quarantine Quitchen: Knoxville

Across the country voters clapped for USPS workers, a turnaround for the postal system after it had faced widespread criticism for its handling of mail-in ballots.

USPS workers hailed as heroes after Joe Biden's win

A group of Stanford University economists who created a statistical model estimate that there have been at least 30,000 coronavirus infections and 700 deaths as a result of 18 campaign rallies President Trump held from June to September.

Stanford Study Seeks to Quantify Infections Stemming From Trump Rallies

The Effects of Large Group Meetings on the Spread of COVID-19: The Case of Trump Rallies

This story appears in the November issue of The Atlantic

The Election That Could Break America

Adding more bureaucracy seems like a questionable approach in general.

Doesn't the current health board already get input from the types of folks listed as comprising the new committee?

Taking an existing apolitical process and making it political. Are there proven instances in history where that has improved things?

Knox Co. Commission votes to form public health committee separate from Board of Health

If 95% of Americans wore masks in public, more than 100,000 lives could be saved from Covid-19 through February, a new modeling study suggests.

The study -- from the Covid-19 forecasting team at the University of Washington's Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation -- notes that, in September, only about 49% of US residents reported that they "always" wear a mask in public.

Wearing masks could save more than 100,000 US lives through February, new study suggests

I was surprised at the rent on these new apartments off Sevier Avenue. I thought it was a typo.

Though that area is evolving in a nice way

Foggy Bottom Flats

A Virginia woman could face up to six months in jail after being charged for intentionally feeding a black bear while on vacation in Gatlinburg, Tennessee.

A woman posted video of herself feeding a black bear. Now she could face up to 6 months in jail

When a Michigan 94-year-old didn't receive her absentee ballot, she took her civic duty to the next level.

Mildred Madison insisted that she had to vote early and in person instead, but to make that happen, her son had to drive her more than 600 miles round trip.

This 94-year-old traveled more than 300 miles each way just so she could vote

How is that even possible? Can anyone collect ballots?

Casting the unofficial boxes as "wrong no matter who is doing it," Padilla had explained to CNN's Chris Cuomo on "Prime Time" Monday evening that the operation doesn't have a "chain of custody, and we don't have the requirements or regulations for these fake drop boxes as you do for the official drop boxes."

California Republican Party says it will not comply with state's cease and desist order on ballot drop boxes

With a sharp rebuke to the court, a panel of the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Wednesday tossed the criminal convictions against three former Pilot executives including ex-president Mark Hazelwood.

Appeals court tosses convictions against former Pilot president, 2 others

Manchester Mayor Lonnie Norman died Monday morning “after a valiant fight against COVID-19,” the mayor’s office said.

Mayor of Tennessee city that hosts Bonnaroo dies of Covid-19 at 79

Top Contributors, federal election data for Donald Trump, 2020 cycle

I have been to "The Factory" in Franklin a few times for concerts. Seems a little different, but similar to Kern's facility.

After a pandemic delay, developers reshaping the historic Kern's Bakery site in South Knoxville have signed the first two tenants for its 75,000-square-foot food hall and plan to begin construction in January.

Kern's Bakery developer snags two local, artisan brands for planned food hall

Watched interesting video on Freedom University in Georgia. It works to provide higher education to immigrants refused entry to public colleges and universities in Georgia. Interesting story.

Underground University

An Underground College for Undocumented Immigrants

For those in areas predicted to experience high intensity migration, this will be a great opportunity to experience nocturnal migration by listening at night to vocal birds in flight, watching birds fly past the face of the bright disk of the Moon (see this or this, among others), or by observing tomorrow morning for new arrival and departures

An estimated 583 million birds will take flight tonight