(The Center Square) – The Tennessee Senate will consider legislation that establishes a pilot program for an artificial intelligence weapons detection system.

One of the grant requirements is a loss of life on campus due to gun violence during the 2024-25 school year, which makes Metro Nashville Public Schools the only system eligible, said Sen. Todd Gardenhire, R- Chattanooga, the bill’s sponsor.

A 17-year-old student at Antioch High School killed one student before committing suicide with a gun in January. Another student was injured.

Metro Nashville Public Schools is implementing the Evolv weapons detection system in its schools.

“The system uses low-frequency radio waves and AI technology to scan individuals as they walk through,” the school system said on its website. “If an item is flagged, school staff will conduct a quick secondary check, making the process faster and less invasive than traditional metal detectors.”

The artificial intelligence system can differentiate between other metals such as cellphones and keys and weapons, the school system said.

Antioch High School began testing the technology just days after the shooting.

The Metropolitan Nashville Board of Public Education approved $1.25 million to place the system in all high schools.

The pilot program begins with the 2025-26 school year. The cost to the state for the start of the grant program is $17,000, but the amount of grant funding is unknown, according to the bill’s fiscal note.

The Senate Education Committee approved the bill unanimously on Wednesday. The full Senate will consider it on Monday.

A companion bill in the House of Representatives sponsored by Rep. Antonio Parkinson, D- Memphis, is assigned to the House Education Administration Subcommittee.

(The Center Square) − The State Bond Commission approved a series of tax measures and bond sales across Louisiana, greenlighting over $300 million in funding for schools, infrastructure and public services.

The total sale amount okayed by the commission on Thursday includes significant allocations for education and community improvements.

One of the largest approvals was for the St. Tammany Parish School Board, which secured up to $325 million in general obligation bonds for school construction and improvements. This will fund new school projects and upgrades to existing facilities as outlined in the district’s Capital Improvement Plan.

Another major education-related approval went to the East Baton Rouge Parish Central Community School Board, which received authorization for up to $35 million in bonds for similar school-related expenditures.

The Beauregard Parish School Board was granted $30 million in general obligation bonds to improve schools and other education-related facilities. Additionally, the St. Martin Parish School Board and the Rapides Parish School Board secured $30 million and $27 million, respectively, for school infrastructure and equipment.

Infrastructure projects also received significant funding. The City of Westlake in Calcasieu Parish secured a 1% sales tax for 10 years to finance fire department stations, sewerage facilities, and public parks, among other projects. In Ascension Parish, multiple infrastructure districts, including the Belle Maison Subdivision and Pelican Point Golf Community, were approved for 15-mill taxes levied in perpetuity to maintain roads, drainage, and bridges.

The Lafayette Public Trust Financing Authority was approved for up to $4.5 million in taxable revenue bonds for capital projects, including improvements to the Sans Souci Building, La Place Neighborhood Park, and the Buchanan Warehouse, which is set to become a cultural arts facility.

Public safety funding also saw significant approvals, including a half-percent sales tax in Calcasieu Parish to maintain law enforcement salary schedules and provide for future cost-of-living adjustments.

The Orleans Parish Law Enforcement District will also receive funding from a 2.46-mill tax for the next decade to support jail operations and the sheriff’s office.

Additionally, several hospitals and public health facilities secured long-term funding. The St. Tammany Parish Hospital Service District No. 2 will receive up to $51.5 million in bonds for projects focused on cancer care, emergency care, and women’s and infant health services.

(The Center Square) – More than 2,000 households remain in FEMA transitional housing as western North Carolina this weekend begins its 22nd week of recovery from Hurricane Helene.

Another 173 are licensed in the mobile housing units of the agency.

Money and volunteer help has poured in and has at the same time not been enough. Lawmakers on the federal and state levels continue to work on legislation to appropriate more. Interstate 40, a key commerce route between Asheville and Knoxville, Tenn., is scheduled to reopen to two-way traffic a week from Saturday.

In the update provided Thursday by the Office of Emergency Management, $385.7 million has been approved for individual assistance and $9.7 million for FEMA rental assistance funding. The update says 3,529 households are receiving rental assistance.

Disaster unemployment assistance disbursed to date is $21 million.

There have been 6,507 private roadway and bridge projects awarded; 4.4 million cubic yards of debris removed; and 231,813 cubic yards of waterway debris removed.

National Flood Insurance Program payments are $127.1 million.

The storm made landfall as a Category 4 hurricane in Dekle Beach, Fla., on Sept. 26. It dissipated over the mountains of the state and Tennessee, dropping more than 30 inches in some places and over 24 consistently across more.

The storm killed 106 in the state and is estimated to have caused $53 billion in damage.

Lawmakers in Raleigh have appropriated three installments totaling $1.1 billion and are working on the fourth. Early consideration is about $500 million.

Congress sent to the state about $9 billion of the $110 billion package it approved in December.