Panic buying leads to gas shortage following Colonial Pipeline cyberattack

Panic buying leads to gas shortage following Colonial Pipeline cyberattack

Drivers across Nashville are facing empty pumps and long lines, following the cyberattack-related shutdown of the Colonial Pipeline.  Local gas stations and federal agencies attribute the problem to panic buying rather than a shortage of gasoline. “Let me emphasize that much as there was no cause for say, hoarding toilet paper at the beginning of the pandemic, there should be no cause for hoarding gasoline,” said Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm during Tuesday’s White House press briefing. The Colonial Pipeline accounts for the transportation of about 45% of fuel the East Coast uses for driving and flying. The FBI confirmed May 10 that “Darkside ransomware” was responsible for the compromise of the Pipeline networks. The resulting gas outages hit all the way from Texas to the Mid-Atlantic states and then up to parts of the East Coast. Nashville and the rest of Tennessee are affected by the shortage. Interestingly, many gas stations in Nashville told customers they were down to just premium gasoline on Wednesday afternoon. By Thursday, at least one gas station in Brentwood, just south of Nashville, told customers that premium and mid-grade were gone, but regular had been restocked. CBS News has reported that Colonial Pipeline paid millions in ransom to the hackers whose cyberattack caused the shutdown.  Bloomberg News was reporting Thursday afternoon that the figure is $5 million, though CBS hasn’t reported that. Operations were restarted on the pipeline Wednesday, though it is expected to take up to a week to get things back to normal, according to national news reports. Gasoline costs rose considerably during the shutdown, but are expected to go back down...
Lady Bisons takes series against Mercer, Smith Stadium dedicated

Lady Bisons takes series against Mercer, Smith Stadium dedicated

The dedication of Smith Stadium had the Lipscomb softball team hitting their stride, winning three in a row this weekend against the Mercer Bears at Draper Diamond. The softball stadium was officially dedicated to Michael Smith and his son Derek Smith, who are owners of Rio Grande Fence Company. The Smiths are heavily active in the softball program, giving the university one of the best fields in the Atlantic Sun Conference, if not nationally. The field was dedicated to the Smiths after the 9-1 blowout win against Mercer on Saturday afternoon, and right before the 5-4 win that took eight innings to get it done. Their streak continued on Sunday when they hosted Mercer for the third and final game, and after trailing 1-0, they forced extra innings yet again and senior infielder Kelsey Cartwright drove in the winning run. “Well, yesterday, [Mercer’s pitcher] was jamming me a lot, so I was expecting more in, but the pitch before was out,” Cartwright said. “Thankfully, Paige [Neely] got on to even give me the opportunity, but they came back again with the outside, and I was able to luckily get a hit up the middle.” Neey, the junior infielder who scored the winning run, also contributed heavily on both sides of the ball all weekend for the team. She said both sides were needed in each win. “Their team definitely kept us motivated, Neely said. “They were scratching and clawing, and we just had a motivation to not let them win and that went from defense to offense.” The weekend sweep puts the Lady Bisons at 34-9 overall and 14-6...

Representative Jim Cooper joins discussion with this month’s Pizza and Politics

During a time of great political turmoil, those lucky enough to get the chance to hear from one of the representatives on Capitol Hill get a unique opportunity. On Wednesday night, Lipscomb students, faculty and members of the Nashville community got this distinct chance. Representative Jim Cooper (D-TN) visited Lipscomb for the university’s monthly Pizza and Politics event. Cooper addressed the burning issues facing our country while giving the students a message of urgency concerning their political activism. Dr. Lowry introduced the congressman, even jokingly saying that Rep. Cooper is only democrat he would vote for. Rep. Cooper took the stage and quickly began his opening statements directed at the students and other young people in the audience. Cooper urged the young in the audience to take an active role in politics, even if it meant only voting. Cooper believes that just being an informed voter is an important role for Americans. Cooper, who hosts the largest internship program on Capitol Hill,encouraged students to pursue being informed of the nation’s issues. He firmly believes that the state of the country reflects on the state of its citizens. “America is not going to be number one if you are not number one,” he said. A self-described centrist, Cooper calls for all Americans to become independent thinkers, not just trusting the opinions of such popular news outlets as Fox News and MSNBC. Cooper devoted the rest of his time to address such important issues such as the current state of congress – a system he believes to be broken, health care, and the current pattern of government spending. The audience, diverse...