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COURTESY JASON KUFFER | B.B. KING BLUES CLUB & GRILL
In the early morning hours on Dec. 25, 2020, restaurateur Tommy Peters received a call.
Peters operates B.B. King's Blues Clubs across the South. The call was about the Nashville club.
"It was the building manager calling. I was thinking that it was a fire or something, and she said, 'We've got bombed,'" Peters recalled.
"Thank goodness, nobody was hurt other than the guy who did it, because it was a very powerful bomb. I mean, [B.B. King's is] at 152 Second Ave., and it was 166 where it hit. It destroyed every building."
Peters said that the FBI kept them out of the building until Jan. 5. Windows and doors were blown out in the front of the building, and there was four feet of water from a busted water pipe. It's unclear if the building has structural damage.
It was another blow during a tough year.
And while there were reports that the Nashville location of B.B. King's wasn't going to reopen, Peters is not ready to give up on Nashville.
"We've been there 17 years, and Nashville is booming," he said.
But, he allowed, it's been tough — and not just in Nashville.
Peters said that while clubs and restaurants on Broadway Street continue to be active, it hasn't been the case nearby on Second Avenue.
It was also decided not to open B.B. King's on Beale Street or Lafayette's Music Room on New Year's Eve. Peters didn't see the point.
"With the new restrictions with 25% capacity, having to close at 10 o'clock, there's no way to do live music and make money and be able to pay everything," he said.
It costs more money to be open than it does to stay shut down.
Both Lafayette's and B.B. King's have been closed since Dec. 27.
He's hoping for a second round of Paycheck Protection Program funds, and he knows that his businesses will come back. But, he's worried about his employees who don't have much to fall back on.
"It's the worst I've seen," Peters said. "But, you know, I'm still blessed to have health and a sense of humor. And I believe in God. I think we'll be okay. It's a tough thing on a whole lot of people."
The Federal
Communications Commission voted to set up a $3.2 billion program to distribute
federal connectivity subsidies to families hard hit by the coronavirus
pandemic, narrowly meeting by hours a congressionally imposed deadline to
establish the program.
A
Massachusetts tribe seeking to build a casino on Martha's Vineyard will have to
follow local permitting rules despite federal tribal gaming laws, the First
Circuit said Thursday, finding the tribe waived the preemption issue by not
raising it the last time it was before the panel.
BEMA International members
Register: https://disastersummit.givesmart.com/
Disaster Preparedness Summit How COVID-19 Has Prepared Us for the Next
Disaster
There is no doubt that we have all been affected by this
global pandemic and have had to make major adjustments to the way we
live our lives.
Businesses and organizations of all sizes have had
to completely change the way they conduct business – some employees were sent home, some have been overextended to help keep essential businesses up and running, and unfortunately, many businesses have been forced to shut their doors altogether.
At our 3rd Annual Disaster Preparedness Summit, you will
hear from: ·
Red
Cross leadership on how the pandemic has forced the
organization to change how they deliver the mission ·
Industry
leaders from major national and global companies, who
will share how they have adjusted operations ·
Local
leaders of higher education, government, and other
industries and the lessons they have learned · Special guests with proven experience in leading through both natural and manmade disasters Please review the two available Track Options. You'll be asked to make your selection before completing registration. Track 1 - Adapting Business During a Crisis During this track, industry leaders will address how they continued to operate their organizations and businesses in the midst of the pandemic, while keeping their employees safe, informed and aware of the changing landscape that COVID-19 created. There are two sessions, Changing Business Model and Workforce Adaptation. Attendees who choose this track will hear about the steps business leaders took to acclimate their business model and what they learned to apply to their operations for future disasters. Track 2 - Tactical Crisis Management COVID-19 has and continues to apply an enormous amount of pressure to our health services like we have never seen before. Many everyday citizens have been left to worry about their own health and how to personally deal with a crisis like this. During this session, you will hear from hospital representatives and local leaders from Offices of Emergency Management on lessons learned from operating during a long-term crisis, and how they will implement what they have learned for future disasters. Attendees will also hear from first responders on their takeaways from the pandemic. There are two sessions, Operations and First Responder Advice for Citizens. List of Speakers, Sponsors, Guest, and Special Cameos use the
following link: Disaster
Preparedness Summit | National Capital Region | Red Cross |
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Community\Civil Society
Imperative. The impacts of climate
change are increasing the frequency and intensity of disasters. Individuals, families, and communites must
take a proactive approach and behaviors to save lives, their communites, their culture and heritage.
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