Reporter
Sam Stockard is a Nashville-based reporter with more than 30 years of journalism experience as a writer, editor and columnist covering the state Legislature and Tennessee politics for The Daily Memphian.
There are 1058 articles by Sam Stockard :
Gov. Bill Lee signed an executive order Sunday, March 22, calling for businesses across the state to use "alternative business models" beginning Monday. Like local orders already in place, it bans dine-in services at restaurants statewide.
Lee said he hopes to free up protective devices and ventilators for the response to the coronavirus. In addition, he said Tennessee colleges of applied technology are using 3-D equipment to print face shields.
In Memphis, hospitals are searching for new vendors, buying outside their purchasing organization lists.
With July early voting four months away, state Rep. London Lamar is questioning whether the Secretary of State’s Office is prepared to deal with a pandemic, saying universal absentee voting is needed to avoid risking people's lives.
As COVID-19 cases pass the 660 mark, Gov. Bill Lee is asking every school system in the state to stay closed until April 24, three weeks longer than expected, while hoping students can get some form of instruction by watching lessons on PBS.
As COVID-19 cases escalate, Gov. Bill Lee reminded Tennesseans Wednesday he is negotiating with the federal government for Medicaid funding to cover uninsured residents who contract the virus.
The problem is a state requirement that labs and other health care providers must report total testing and positive results to the state but only positive results to county health officials. The Daily Memphian found Baptist Memorial Health Care appears to be doing most of the testing in Shelby County. But some health providers refused to release numbers.
Gov. Bill Lee is seeking help from Vanderbilt University Medical Center on a “unique” model to project the COVID-19 spread in Tennessee that will enable the state to determine its effect on hospital capacity and personal protective equipment as well as the next hot spots.
Tennessee could sidestep a days-long lag time for COVID-19 through new testing equipment expected to be introduced during the coming week, enabling results to be shown in an hour or less.
The state Department of Labor and Workforce Development is training other state workers to handle the surge in unemployment claims, but lawmakers are asking for more help.
Nearly 60 nursing home residents and more than 30 staffers at a nursing home northeast of Nashville test positive for COVID-19.
Gov. Bill Lee's second year in office morphs into crisis mode, forcing him to make decisions on the fly, many of which he is reversing in a matter of days to cope with the COVID-19 pandemic.
The city could close parks if social distancing is not maintained.
The Tennessee Department of Health releases the latest numbers: 93 cases of coronavirus confirmed in Shelby County and 615 cases in Tennessee.
There are 784 confirmed coronavirus cases statewide, including three deaths and 53 hospitalizations.
The number of confirmed cases in Shelby County is up to 135; confirmed cases are up to 29 in DeSoto County.
Memphis area nursing, like others across the state, are doing what they can to protect the most vulnerable from COVID-19.
U.S. Reps. David Kustoff and Steve Cohen join Tennessee Congressional delegation in calling for more federal assistance to battle COVID-19.
As COVID-19 cases hit nearly 400 in Shelby County and reached into 77 of 95 counties, Gov. Bill Lee ordered all nonessential businesses to close Monday, March 30, and introduced a statewide “safer at home” measure.
State Reps. Antonio Parkinson and Jim Coley say Gov. Bill Lee needs to take more "decisive" action to stop the spread of COVID-19.
"There may come a time when we must reduce your city services due to city employees becoming infected with the virus,” Mayor Jim Strickland said in an email Thursday afternoon.