A.L. Lotts Elementary, Cedar Bluff Middle, Hardin Valley Academy all announced at least one confirmed COVID-19 case over the weekend.

Hardin Valley Academy’s principal sent an email announcing the school had confirmed COVID-19 “cases” Friday. Cedar Bluff Middle School and A.L. Lotts Elementary leaders both sent emails Sunday announcing a case.

District spokeswoman Carly Harrington confirmed all three emails were sent to all parents and staff of each school. 

This is at least the third email Hardin Valley Academy’s principal has sent about confirmed COVID-19 cases. There was an email on Aug. 24 that referred to a “case” and an email on Aug. 26 that referred to “cases.”

Since school started Aug...

The University of Tennessee at Knoxville has reported two additional COVID-19 clusters at sorority houses. 

The Delta Delta Delta and Alpha Delta Pi sororities are both now considered clusters by the university. The university defines a cluster as at least five positive COVID-19 cases or 20 close contacts stemming from the same event or location. In total, there have been four clusters identified.

The Delta Delta Delta and Alpha Delta Pi sorority houses are both located in sorority village at UT. 

Last week, the Zeta Tau Alpha house was identified as a cluster after two residents of the house tested positive for COVID-19...

If you’re a player trying to make a final impression in an NFL training camp, time is winding down, and it is REALLY winding down if you’re a member of the Houston Texans or Kansas City Chiefs. With those two teams slated to battle in the 2020 season opener for the NFL, they’ve been conducting their respective training camps with a schedule that is three days ahead of the rest of the league.

As a result, the Texans plan on trimming their roster from 80 players down to 53 (and eventually adding a 16 player practice squad) on Thursday afternoon, two days before the deadline for the rest of the league to do so. It’s been an odd training camp, to say the least, with COVID-19 test results the most important statistic in each camp...

“We had a date night”, my husband declared excitedly as we stepped away from the computer screen and began to defrock ourselves of the flashy formal wear we’d been asked to don. He wasn’t wrong.

Sure, we hadn’t left our house, might not have been wearing much from the waist down, and were drinking our own champagne, but somehow attending Strange Bird Immersive’s new interactive online show, The Strange Secret of Mr. Adrian Rook felt like a special occasion.

Was it theater? No, not really. But then Strange Bird has never produced straight ahead theatrical pieces. Was it an escape room game with a dash of the dramatic like their previous hit show, The Man From Beyond: Houdini Séance Escape? No, not that either. Probably way too difficult to take that type of genre online.

Ins...

I recently commended Tennessee athletic director Phillip Fulmer for voluntarily requesting a 15 percent salary reduction because of the financial challenges facing the university during the coronavirus pandemic.

Surprisingly, some of my astute readers weren’t impressed by Fulmer’s generosity.

Jerry wrote: “A true leader would cut his salary by 50%. Or even 75%, since the stadium is only going to be 25% full. Since becoming AD, I would say that Fulmer has spent money like a drunken sailor, but that would be an insult to both drunks and sailors.”

That’s rather harsh, but I will never discourage freedom of speech in this column.

Another reader was irked that Fulmer would take only a 15 percent pay cut when UT’...

On Sunday, the Astros postponed the final game of their three-game series against Oakland, but not for the reasons you may have thought. After an A’s player tested positive for COVID-19, teams called off the game as part of MLB protocols. You would be forgiven if you thought the cancellation was about something else or if you had forgotten about coronavirus altogether given the events of the previous week.

At the end of last week, NBA teams walked out of the playoffs following the death of Kenosha, Wisconsin man Jacob Blake at the hands of police. Reportedly, at least two NBA teams voted to end the season immediately.

Similarly, MLB players dramatically walked off fields around the league...

Three years ago, the Houston Press ran a profile on local rapper Bo Bundy and the wild night he experienced protecting his flooded home with an AK-47 during the wake of Hurricane Harvey. Today, the Northside Vato might just be thanking the man upstairs for sending Hurricane Laura the other way as he makes final preparations for the biggest move of his life.

Earlier this month, Bo Bundy (Jorge Frias) announced he had signed with L.A.-based Rancho Humilde and would be relocating to California to begin the next chapter of his career. The move came as a surprise to some who considered the burgeoning Latino rap star a key member of the city’s next generation of homegrown talent. We spoke to Bundy about his big break, future plans, corridos tumbados and why Houston can’t seem to hold onto its a...

Though social distancing is in effect with bars closed for in-house services and restaurants limited, the ever-strong Houston food community continues to truck on. This week, you can support local restaurants by carrying out or making reservations for dine-in service, try out Houston Restaurant Weeks before it comes to an end (on Labor Day), enjoy a Taco Tuesday collaboration and do Friday lunch.

Here’s a look at this week’s hottest culinary happenings:

All week long

Back to School Special at Tarka Indian Kitchen

From now until Thursday, September 10, Tarka Indian Kitchen, 721 West 19th, is running a Back to School special, offering 50-percent off a kid’s meal with a purchase of an adult entrée...

The nation’s nuclear power watchdog says a Tennessee Valley Authority executive’s retaliation against a safety whistleblower was so egregious he is banned from the industry for five years.

TVA Vice President Joseph Shea is barred from working for five years in any activities that require licensing by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the agency said in a news release. The agency said the penalty is warranted to protect the public.

Shea, the regulatory agency concluded, “played a significant role” in the 2018 firing of nuclear engineer Beth Wetzel after she repeatedly raised safety concerns about TVA’s nuclear power program.

The U.S...

Before the COVID-19 liability bill passed on Aug. 13, its proponents reassured the public and fellow legislators that the bill’s tougher requirements to file pandemic-related lawsuits against businesses wouldn’t completely block sick workers from financial help.

The law doesn’t affect workers’ compensation insurance, they said, leaving it as the only apparent avenue for workers who contract COVID-19 on the job to seek compensation.

But critics argue that workers’ compensation is a system fraught with barriers to employees and more equipped to process claims of injuries than illnesses like COVID-19, leaving workers unlikely to receive the money they need to stay afloat while recovering.

“I’m worried that we’ve...