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Welcome to the Weekend! Weather’s Gonna Be Dry, Politics as Embarrassing as Ever & Waymo’s Maybe Like Flock

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Welcome to the Weekend! Weather’s Gonna Be Dry, Politics as Embarrassing as Ever & Waymo’s Maybe Like Flock

Hold on to your wigs but it’s gonna be kinda dry this weekend! That’s right, meemaw, you can use less wig glue and… Okay, so maybe you shouldn’t use less wig glue. Anyway, no rain all weekend! Go do stuff outside! It’ll be a little humid but temperatures will only be around 90. [NashSevereWx]

Ever wondered how much the far-right is costing Tennessee taxpayers when they fearmonger? It’s at least $54 million. After several years of high taxes and battles to keep many hemp products legal in Tennessee, the state’s new law that more heavily regulates the sale and taxes of several THCA products has led to a loss of more than $50 million in tax revenue. [The Tennessean]

Sixty years ago Gene Roddenberry put Captain James T. Kirk and the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise on television and changed what science fiction was allowed to dream about. From 1966 to 1969 the original series ran. It got cancelled. And then it became one of the most enduring cultural forces in American popular entertainment, spawning films, spinoffs, conventions, and an argument about the future of humanity that never really stopped. [NVBL]

Sorry for the end of week panic attack but if we had to see this story, so do you. Imagine going in for what is supposed to be routine surgery and being left permanently paralyzed. That’s what several families are dealing with after procedures late last week at Ascension Saint Thomas Midtown here in Nashville. [News Channel 5]

Tennessee Republicans outside of Nashville have called for a state intervention into a city tax hike on lower Broadway’s honky-tonks, but Gov. Bill Lee doesn’t seem keen to turn the matter into another special session. House Speaker Cameron Sexton, R-Crossville, and Sen. Jack Johnson, R-Franklin, want lawmakers to return to the statehouse to address higher property taxes for Music City’s biggest tourist draws. [WPLN]

Have you seen this guy? Newly released body camera video is providing a closer look at one of the last known interactions with a Colorado man who disappeared after traveling to Nashville for a work conference. Conor Anderson, 31, arrived in Nashville Saturday and checked into the Millennium Maxwell House hotel around 4:28 p.m. Hours later, he was seen speaking with Metro police officers in East Nashville. [WKRN]

After serving five years as Vanderbilt’s provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs, C. Cybele Raver will be taking on a new role as president of the University of Michigan. The University of Michigan Board of Regents announced that her term will begin Dec. 1, when Raver will assume her title as the university’s 17th president. [Vanderbilt Hustler]

We know school’s just starting but we’re all excited to see what the Nashville SUNN reports on this semester. While we wait for things to get started, you should check out all of last semester’s work. [Nashville SUNN]

Bishop William Barber has announced a national voter mobilization tour. Nationally renowned civil rights leader and Repairers of the Breach President Bishop William J. Barber II announced a multi-state speaking tour in support of his 100 Days; 1,000 Marches to the Polls voter mobilization initiative organized by Repairers of the Breach and the Moral Monday Public Pulpit. [Tennessee Tribune]

Your writer doesn’t have kids and we can’t imagine how tough it is to find fun, safe things to take them to on the weekends. So be sure to check out Pecos Bill, Calamity Jane, John Henry and Johnny Appleseed at the Tall Tale Circus by Wishing Chair Productions. There are a couple different showtimes but it takes place at the main library. [NVPL]

Okay, fine, we’ll talk about this Cheekwood situation for a minute. Cheekwood is calling Thursday’s decision by Metro’s Board of Zoning Appeals a win, clearing the way for its controversial parking garage project to move forward, at least for now. After hours of arguments from both sides, the board determined Metro’s zoning administrator did not make a mistake when issuing a permit for the garage. [WZTV]

It’s not just Flock you need to think about when it comes to privacy, meemaw. Parked Waymo vehicles are recording Nashville neighborhoods, churches, businesses and parks every day without any public guidelines on how long footage is stored, and minimal details on how it is used. Since the company fully launched in Nashville in June, more than 50 white, driverless Jaguars with out-of-state plates and large, spinning sensors shaped like top hats on their roofs have been carting people around Nashville, saturating downtown hotspots like the riverfront, Lower Broadway and Music Row. [Nashville Banner]

Middle Tennessee is now home to the best high school in the country. New rankings from U.S. News and World Report show that Central Magnet High School in Rutherford County has been named No. 1 in the U.S. The ranking is based on state assessment performance and college-readiness. [WSMV]

We can’t be the only ones not on the magic weight loss injection — so hopefully others will be as excited about this as we are. Famous NYC Ukrainian restaurant Veselka has opened its doors in East Nashville! Go check it out ASAP. [Nashville Business Journal, Veselka & Instagram]

The Belcourt Is Celebrating Star Trek’s 60th Anniversary

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The Belcourt Is Celebrating Star Trek’s 60th Anniversary

Sixty years ago Gene Roddenberry put Captain James T. Kirk and the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise on television and changed what science fiction was allowed to dream about. From 1966 to 1969 the original series ran. It got cancelled. And then it became one of the most enduring cultural forces in American popular entertainment, spawning films, spinoffs, conventions, and an argument about the future of humanity that never really stopped.

The Belcourt Theatre at 2102 Belcourt Avenue is celebrating all of it the right way. Four original films. Four days. September 4th through 7th. Each film paired with a key thematically connected episode from the original television series, shown on the big screen for the first time.

This is not a casual tribute. This is the real thing.

Before the films even start, the Belcourt is kicking things off Saturday August 29th with a seminar called Dilithium Sparks and Recursive Arcs at 10AM. A full hour following the narrative path of human storytelling from 1960s television through the late 70s and early 80s big screen era. Free your Saturday morning and learn something.

Then September begins.

Friday September 4th opens with Star Trek: The Motion Picture paired with the original series episode The Changeling. Admiral Kirk boards the sleekly updated Enterprise and reunites the crew to stop an immense destructive alien construct before it reaches Earth. Robert Wise directed it. The human adventure was just beginning. Screenings at 2PM and 8:15PM.

Saturday September 5th brings the one everyone has been waiting for. Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan paired with Space Seed, the original series episode that introduced Khan in the first place. Ricardo Montalban. William Shatner. The greatest villain showdown in the history of the franchise and one of the most emotionally devastating endings in science fiction cinema. If someone in your life has never seen Wrath of Khan on a big screen, September 5th is the correction. 2:30PM and 8:15PM.

Sunday September 6th is Star Trek III: The Search for Spock paired with Amok Time. Khan is defeated and the Genesis planet exists but Spock is dead and McCoy is losing his mind and Sarek shows up with information that changes everything. 2:30PM and 8:15PM.

Monday September 7th closes the run with Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home paired with The City on the Edge of Forever, which is widely considered the greatest episode the original series ever produced. The crew time travels to 1986 San Francisco to save mankind. They encounter punk rock, pizza, and exact-change buses. It is funny and warm and completely earned after the weight of the three films that came before it. 2:30PM and 8:15PM.

The full series pass is $40. Belcourt members pay $30. Individual tickets are available at the door.

Star Trek has always been about what humanity could be if it chose to be better. The Belcourt is giving Nashville the chance to sit in a dark room together and remember why that vision mattered enough to survive cancellation and become a sixty year conversation.

Get the tickets at belcourt.org/events/startrek60.

Live long and prosper, Nashville. You have earned this weekend.

Buchanan Arts Center Is What North Nashville Built for Itself — And What the Rest of the City Should Know About

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Buchanan Arts Center Is What North Nashville Built for Itself — And What the Rest of the City Should Know About

There is a building at 1409 Buchanan Street in North Nashville that is doing something quietly extraordinary, and if you have not heard about it yet, that is not a reflection of what it deserves. It is just a reflection of how good things sometimes work. They build something real, they serve the people around them, and they trust that the word will eventually travel.

Consider this the word traveling.

Buchanan Arts Center is a community art space rooted in a simple and radical idea: creativity should belong to everyone, not just the people who can afford to access it. Every class taken, every membership purchased, every donation made feeds a model that keeps art alive and accessible for North Nashville neighbors who would otherwise go without it.

And here is the thing about creativity that gets lost in an era of generated images and AI-produced content. It has to come from humans. Real ones. Hands in clay. Paint on fingers. A neighbor teaching a neighbor something they learned by actually doing it, in a room full of people who showed up because they wanted to make something with their own two hands. That is what Buchanan Arts Center protects. That is what makes it worth talking about.

What They Offer

The class catalog at Buchanan Arts Center is the kind of list that makes people realize they have been waiting for exactly this without knowing it.

Ceramics. The kind of class where people discover that working with their hands is the most meditative thing they have done all year and immediately sign up for the next session.

Painting. Across mediums and skill levels, for beginners who have not touched a brush since elementary school and for people who have been painting quietly for years and finally want a community around it.

Fabric and Textiles. The slower crafts that are having a very deserved moment right now. The kind of work that produces something useful and beautiful at the same time.

Printmaking. One of the oldest forms of making images that exists, still vital, still surprising, still capable of producing work that stops people in their tracks.

New Media Art. Because Buchanan Arts Center is not precious about what art is. They understand that the tools change and the human impulse behind them does not.

Members save on every class. And every class a member takes helps fund free access for someone in the community who needs it. The model is elegant. It works.

The Programs That Make It More Than a Studio

Classes are the beginning. The programs are what turn Buchanan Arts Center into something a neighborhood actually depends on.

The free after-school and summer art education programs reach over 120 North Nashville students every year. These are kids getting real art instruction, not as a luxury, not as an elective that gets cut when budgets tighten, but as a consistent presence in their lives because someone decided it mattered enough to fund it.

The financial aid program is as simple as it gets. Anyone who wants to take a class and cannot afford it fills out an application. To date, over 100 scholarships have been awarded to neighbors who asked. No elaborate qualification process. Just an acknowledgment that the barrier should not be money.

The Emerging Artist Fellowship supports local artists with something they almost never get: institutional support at the beginning of their careers, when it would actually change the trajectory of things.

And then there is the Buchanan Arts Neighborhood Garden, growing produce, herbs, and flowers on site, because a community arts center that understands its neighborhood understands that nourishment takes more than one form.

How to Get Involved

Take a class. The calendar is at buchananartscenter.org and there is something on it for every skill level and interest.

Become a member. Members save on classes and keep the access model funded for everyone else.

Donate. The donate button is on the site and every dollar goes toward scholarships, after-school programs, and keeping the garden growing.

Volunteer. The get-involved page has options for people who want to show up with their time rather than their wallet.

Buchanan Arts Center is supported by Metro Arts, The 37208 Fund, the Tennessee Arts Commission, and others who recognized what this place is doing and decided to stand behind it. Nashville Buy Local is proud to add our voice to that list.

North Nashville built something real here. The rest of the city owes it a visit.

buchananartscenter.org
1409 Buchanan Street, Nashville TN 37208

Diabolical Heat Round-Up: A Bunch of Stories That Prove Middle Tennessee News Is Written in Alternate Reality

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Diabolical Heat Round-Up: A Bunch of Stories That Prove Middle Tennessee News Is Written in Alternate Reality

We’re like Maya Rudolph playing Beyonce in that Hot Ones sketch asking her assistant to put six ice cubes under her wig right now. No ma’am, we are not okay with any of this sticky heat. If you thought yesterday was hot, it can always get worse – and it will. Our temperature and dew point will remain steady through Monday. That’s all there is to say about it. We’ll be over here fanning ourselves. [NashSevereWx & YouTube]

Maybe, just maybe, something has gone horribly wrong with your society and morality if you’re charing homeless people with felonies for not having a place to live. Punishing people already suffering, regardless of the reason, makes you and your government terrible. Shameful. A controversial law making unauthorized camping on all public property a felony is once again in the spotlight after Nashville police made their first arrests under the law earlier this summer. [The Tennessean]

A Nashville coffee shop that soft opened less than 2 weeks ago is donating a portion of its sales to help families affected by a deadly earthquake in Colombia. Alma Viva Café owners Sarah Gallego and her brother moved from Colombia to Nashville five years ago. The Café is celebrating its grand opening this weekend and will donate 5% of all sales through Sunday to earthquake relief efforts in Colombia. The café is located at 130 19th Avenue North, Nashville, TN 37203. [News Channel 5]

All this to entertain some far-right incels who don’t know how to use a search engine. Power plants, an oil refinery and a chemical plant are among Tennessee’s top climate polluters. If Elon Musk’s sprawling xAI data center campus in Memphis were included in that lineup, it would rank second. What’s driving those emissions amounts to a private fossil fuel power plant to keep Musk’s artificial intelligence facilities running. [WPLN]

That this is a “top story” on WKRN should be embarrassing for the entire region. The reporter should be shamed (if you’re too young to know what shame is, google it, don’t ask your “AI”) for thinking this is anything but gross and amoral. Darrell Hines, a Tennessee inmate set to be executed this week, has selected his final meal. [WKRN]

260 pounds of confetti. Dozens of people dressed as ice cream store employees. 300 lights and lasers. If you guessed that these were the key pieces of the Tame Impala and Djo concert on Aug. 4, then you would be correct. Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena served as the halfway point for Tame Impala’s “Deadbeat Tour” this summer. [Vanderbilt Hustler]

“They’re Putting Kids’ Lives at Risk”: How Abuse in a Tennessee Businessman’s Juvenile Prisons Remained Under Wraps. The video clip lasted less than two minutes, but Tonya Webb remembers every second as heartbreaking. The grainy surveillance footage, dated June 29, 2024, showed a teenager in an anti-suicide smock being dragged violently by other teens across the floor at Middle Tennessee Juvenile Detention Center. [ProPublica]

In the age of AI, is college worth it? As Tennessee rapidly expands AI and tech training programs, one student wonders whether a four-year degree is still worth the cost. Call us crazy but it’s probably time for someone well-informed to sit this kid down to explain that while college isn’t for everyone, “AI” as it exists is mostly hype. Not all hype but mostly. [Nashville SUNN]

The International Black Film Festival and the Nashville Symphony will present RESPECT in Concert on Tuesday, Sept. 22, at Schermerhorn Symphony Center. The event, which serves as a pre-festival program for the International Black Film Festival, will feature a screening of the film RESPECT accompanied by a live performance from the Nashville Symphony. [Tennessee Tribune]

The 2026 Wilson County-Tennessee State Fair is here, running from August 13th through the 22nd. Daily gate admission is $14 for adults, $5 for children 6-12 and anyone under 5 years of age is free. All fair attendees will be required to walk through metal detectors upon entry, and bags will be searched. Speaking of bags – there’s a clear bag policy. [WZTV & State Fair]

A forthcoming report from the Community Review Board says the Metro Nashville Police Department’s written use of force policies align with many best practices, but that a review of use of force incidents over the past two years show racial disparities and raise questions about training and transparency. CRB staff presented a draft version of the report during a meeting at the East Park Community Center on Monday night, detailing their findings and policy recommendations. [Nashville Banner]

As football season quickly approaches, the Tennessee Titans are gearing up to play their final season in the current Nissan Stadium. The franchise is also sharing updates about the progress of the new stadium. “Walking through the concourse, it’s starting to feel like a stadium,” the Titans said. “Walls and ceilings are going up on the concourse and press levels, and drywall is taking shape in some of the most important rooms in the building, including the event level end zones, field club, and home locker room.” [WSMV]

Melissa Joan Hart explains it all and is is weighing in on the Cheekwood situation. From her Instagram: If you like in Tennessee and have ever visited Cheekwood, you would know it’s a peaceful, beautiful place to wander the gardens with friends, tour the mansion with family, sip hot cocoa while checking out millions off Christmas lights, spend a quiet picnic all alone by the ponds, or walk your kids through the train garden. Some neighbors are trying to close it down. [Melissa Joan Hart & Save Cheekwood]

DC Blox, after ignorantly spending $23 million, is suing Metro Government alleging a ‘targeted attack.’ So let’s all roll our eyes together and play some tiny violins. The Atlanta-based firm behind the controversial data center development next to the Nashville Zoo is suing the city for its recently imposed data center moratorium. [Nashville Business Journal]

Republican, Democrat or something else, here’s something you should watch. You are being misled about renewable energy technology. Turn it on in the background if need be. We promise it’s interesting and worth your time. [YouTube]

Your Weekly Dose of Nonsense: Marsha’s Protecting Epstein While Flushing Millions Down the Drain on Bad Political Ads

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Your Weekly Dose of Nonsense: Marsha’s Protecting Epstein While Flushing Millions Down the Drain on Bad Political Ads

Welcome to the Dog Days of summer, where it’s constantly hot, humid and the storms are scattered. Heat, humidity and chances of scattered storms continue. It’ll be gross-sticky this afternoon. Storms could arrive at night. Rinse and repeat for Saturday. Then it’ll be in the low 90s on Sunday. [NashSevereWx]

Amid the nation’s growing healthcare affordability crisis, the federal government has warned more than 500 hospitals across the country for failing to comply with hospital price transparency requirements, including 9 hospitals in the Nashville area. The federal government argues that the lack of transparency is fueling high healthcare prices in the U.S., and if the requirements are not met, hospitals could be subject to penalties as high as $2 million annually. [The Tennesseean]

Well, well, well, Tennessee is finally average at something. U.S. News has ranked Tennessee as the most average state in the country, giving the Volunteer State the 25th position. The TL;DR: 40th for Crime & Corrections, 31st for Education, 39th for Health Care, 34th for Natural Environment, 13th for Economy, 5th for Fiscal Stability, 17th for Infrastructure, 22nd for Opportunity. [U.S. News]

Of course drones are great tools for emergencies but playing fast and loose with privacy should be a no-go zone. Metro Council approved on first reading Tuesday, August 4, a bill creating stricter rules for surveillance technology, including drones. The ordinance would require council approval and a public hearing for routine or long-term drone operations. It would also limit emergency drone deployments to 30 consecutive days without additional council approval. [News Channel 5]

Marsha Marsha Marsha is out here spending millions on television ads that no one on earth wants to see. Marsha Blackburn raised more than $1.2 million since the beginning of July while spending more than $4.5 million during the past month. More than $4.3 million of that spending went toward television and media. John Rose outspent Blackburn during the same period, reporting nearly $5 million in expenditures, including roughly $3.9 million on television and digital advertising. [WKRN]

This is what happens when you allow the far-left to become as unhinged as the far-right. Bell Bird Books appears to have caved to antisemitism and is seemingly revealing that its operators are fine with it because actions speak louder than words. You’ll want to go read what Alyssa Rosenheck has to say about the ordeal and maybe ignore the apologists at the paper who suggest antisemitism is but a political disagreement… knowing fully well they’d lose their marbles if someone suggested any other form of racism is a mere political disagreement. Pro-tip: if you do or say antisemitic things, you’re an antisemite. Left or right, doesn’t matter. [Alyssa Rosenheck]

If you missed it last night, here’s a replay of the WPLN election night liveblog. Marsha Marsha Marsha won because of witchcraft, we hear. Allegedly. She also allegedly has Mitch McConnell’s spirit trapped in a jar. And Andy Ogles got the boot. [WPLN]

Vanderbilt will require SAT or ACT scores from first-year and transfer applicants seeking fall 2029 admission and beyond, ending its 8-year test-optional policy. The announcement reverses the test-optional policy first implemented for new applicants in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The policy was later extended for those applying in 2025, 2026 and 2027. [Vanderbilt Hustler]

Just when you thought it couldn’t get worse for Marsha Marsha Marsha. Senator Ron Wyden revealed that Marsha Marsha Marsha Blackburn “declined to support Wyden’s effort to subpoena Epstein bank records … refused to cooperate with his investigation into financing Epstein’s sex trafficking.” Of course, she blamed Democrats. [Press Release]

WeGo Public Transit and Choose How You Move are expanding the list of programs that qualify for Journey Pass, Nashville’s largest-ever fare-free transit program, opening free rides to more eligible Davidson County residents. Journey Pass is now accepting twice as many eligibility documents at WeGo’s weekly registration events. The new documents come from the following programs: Housing Choice Voucher Program (HCVP); Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP); Tennessee Assistance for Needy Families (TANF); TennCare Medicaid; and Women, Infants & Children (WIC) Program. [Tennessee Tribune]

From foodie to tootie… Christina Hart has spent the past several months introducing thousands of people to locally owned businesses across Middle Tennessee. Then, seemingly overnight, everything stopped after Hart contracted Cyclospora, a parasite responsible for a nationwide outbreak that has sickened thousands of people across the United States. [WZTV]

Two years after signing a huge lease in a Music Row office building, TikTok has closed the office and laid off all of its Nashville staff. This move is part of more than 250 layoffs for the controversial company. [Billboard]

Middle Tennessee weather can be unpredictable — and dangerous. When things get iffy, a trio of “suburban dads” keeps the information flowing. But once the watches turn to warnings, they really get serious: That’s when they start livestreaming on YouTube, tracking storms in real time and letting their audience know when to shelter and when it’s safe to carry on. [Nashville Banner]

Maybe it’s time to get them the flock out of here. The Greenbrier Police Department is addressing questions about its use of Flock Safety cameras, saying the license plate readers are an investigative tool — not speed cameras, red-light cameras, facial-recognition systems or ticket-generating devices. [WSMV]

These folks thought locals would fall for their shenanigans of trying to stick a massive data center right beside protected and endangered wildlife? The Nashville Zoo has declined an offer that included a significant downsizing of plans and around 13 acres of free land from the developer planning a data center project next door. Here’s a breakdown of the olive branch DC Blox extended, and what they wanted from the zoo in return. [Nashville Business Journal]

The West Point engineer who built Tennessee football. That catch your attention? Go to this event on Saturday. Robert Neyland was not your typical college football coach. A graduate of West Point and veteran of both world wars, Neyland often played a dual role as both an army officer and football coach, shifting seamlessly between the two professions. [Visit Music City & Tennessee State Museum]

Sticky Weather, Dark Money and More Unhinged Tennessee Politics Are On the Menu This Weekend

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Sticky Weather, Dark Money and More Unhinged Tennessee Politics Are On the Menu This Weekend

Today’s weather is going to give you the chance to get out and do something. It all starts off nice and our high temperature this afternoon is going to be in the 80s and low 90s. Isolated showers could develop this evening and after midnight the rain chances increase. Showers, thunderstorms and warmer temperatures will be here for Saturday. That low-pressure system means a potentially stormy weekend, with some severe weather chances, but probably just gross stickiness and inconveniences. NashSevereWx

Spoiler alert: it was never an “American success story” and was always smoke and mirrors hype. What a shocking twist. But we’re not allowed to have discussions like this, apparently, and can’t call out inappropriate shenanigans if the people responsible for them are popular due to lots of advertising. [The Tennessean]

Bow a fiddle, pluck a banjo, and strum a ukulele! Handing a bunch of screaming kids some banjos and ukuleles sounds like a magical, not-at-all-panic-attack-filled time. So you’ll probably want to go to this. The Musical Instrument Petting Zoo offers budding musicians a chance to try new and familiar instruments. Instructors will offer guidance as you try your hand at all the instruments at the zoo. All ages. Taylor Swift Education Center. Included with Museum admission. Free to Museum members. [Visit Music City]

Outside a jujitsu gym in an industrial park near Nashville’s Armory Drive, NewsChannel 5 Investigates had kept watch on the comings and goings of one of the more visible figures in a far-right movement that’s raising concerns among those who monitor extremist activity. That man, with his trademark handlebar mustache, identified himself in a video posted online as a fighter who goes by the name “Sporty.” His real name is Tristan Rettke, and he works as a licensed EMT for a Nashville-area ambulance service. [Phil Williams]

Put down your beverages because we’ve got something that’s gonna cause you to crack up. Marsha Marsha Marsha Blackburn threatened legal action against a dark money group for running an attack ad against her using artificial intelligence. Can you believe that? Someone else used dark money while we all know that she’s the only person who gets to do that. In a recent ad, the American Exceptionalism Institute PAC calls Blackburn “the queen pharma mama” in an AI-generated spoof of a pharmaceutical ad. The ad shows businessmen exchanging briefcases of money while a jingle sings, “Our pain-killing pills wouldn’t sell, so we paid Sen. Marsha Blackburn to pass our bill.” [WPLN]

More Tennesseans are casting their ballots early ahead of the Aug. 6 primary, with statewide turnout significantly outpacing the last midterm election. According to data from the Tennessee Secretary of State’s Office, nearly 322,000 Tennesseans had voted early as of July 24, which is a more than 42% increase compared to the same point in the 2022 primary election. [WKRN]

Get ready to save $8 on school supplies! It’s almost time for Tennessee’s annual sales tax holiday for back-to-school essentials. This year, the sales tax holiday begins at 12:01 a.m. Friday, July 31 and ends at 11:59 p.m. Sunday, August 2. During the holiday weekend, clothing and school supplies priced at $100 or less may be purchased tax-free. Computers priced at $1,500 or less may also be purchased without paying state or local sales tax. [Tennessee Tribune]

We like to keep our eye on lesser known up-n-comers here in town and it’s time to hype Logan Crosby again. He’s got a new release called Did I Stutter? and you should probably give it a listen on your preferred streaming service. Or check out the accompanying music video he released yesterday. Do it before everyone else pretends they liked him first. [YouTube]

Drivers traveling through Nashville may notice a billboard encouraging people who are questioning the Make America Great Again movement to learn more about an organization called Leaving MAGA. The billboard, located along Interstate 40 near Exit 213, displays the message, “Having Doubts? You Are Not Alone,” and directs people to the Leaving MAGA website. [FOX17]

Andy Ogles is confident he can win reelection in a 5th Congressional District that looks little like the one he won in 2022 and 2024. That’s either because he believes a majority of voters in the district are white nationalist bigots or because they actually are white nationalist bigots who hate our beloved country. [Nashville Banner]

This state elects some of the most cartoonishly ignorant people on the planet. A Tennessee state representative running for governor said he would work to ban mosques and what he described as “pagan religions” — including Islam, Buddhism and Hinduism — if elected, arguing the First Amendment does not prevent states from doing so. When pressed on the First Amendment — which reads, in part, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion” — Fritts argued the amendment’s opening word limits its scope to the federal government, not the states. [WSMV]

Turns out the Metro Gubmint-State Gubmint relationship is in a perilous place. Who knew? Former Metro Law Director Wally Dietz retired this month after five years leading Nashville’s stable of government attorneys. The role gave Dietz, 71, a vantage point into the fraught state-Metro relationship — a view that by the end, began to take a personal toll. [Nashville Business Journal]

The Nashville Sounds face the Charlotte Knights at First Horizon Park for an exciting night of Triple-A baseball in the heart of downtown Nashville. Watch the Sounds take the field as they look to deliver big hits and strong pitching in front of the home crowd. Tonight’s Faith & Family Night, Saturday’s Bluey Night and Sunday is Stand Up to Cancer Night. [Visit Music City]

Everything is Fine Except For Terrifying Alien Worms, the Economy & Marsha Blackburn’s New Wave of Criming On the Taxpayers’ Dime

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Everything is Fine Except For Terrifying Alien Worms, the Economy & Marsha Blackburn’s New Wave of Criming On the Taxpayers’ Dime

Okay, here’s what you really want to know about the weather: It’s going to be fantastic out there today. Tonight and into Saturday we may experience some scattered shower and storm shenanigans and the humidity is gonna return. Take advantage of the outdoors while you can! [NashSevereWx]

Tennessee business owners feel more optimistic about the economy’s near future than economists can explain. While new business filings just hit a 10-year high, the job market itself has grown stagnant, according to economist and Middle Tennessee State University professor Ben Jansen. Plus, at least 5,117 Tennesseans have been laid off since the start of 2026, according to the Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development. [The Tennesseean]

Seems like this might be kind of important to pay attention to. Recordings from inside Marsha Marsha Marsha Blackburn’s U.S. Senate office suggest there was pressure to break the law. The TL;DR: Marsha Marsha Marsha was using her government staff for her personal political campaign, they knew about it and openly discussed it. It’s so bad that media can’t air the recordings due to fears of retribution and job loss. [Phil Williams]

Anyone who has watched an episode of “9-1-1: Nashville” could be forgiven for thinking the city is constantly beset by tornadoes that turn outdoor concerts into scenes of carnage and blow scooter-riding tourists onto the tops of water towers. That may be a TV exaggeration, but tornadoes and other dangerous storms do hit the city regularly. When they do, many people here turn to Nashville Severe Weather. [WPLN]

During a June 2026 demonstration documented by InvestigateTV, a Condor camera mounted on a public trail pivoted, followed, and zoomed on a passing reporter in real time. Standing nearby, a Flock Safety representative was asked directly: “You’re saying Flock does not track people, correct?” The answer was no — even as the screen showed otherwise. [Gadget Review]

No, we’re not talking about Andy Ogles or Marsha Marsha Marsha this time. An invasive and toxic worm is rearing its ugly head across Tennessee. The hammerhead worm is native to Southeast Asia. Over time, they have become more prevalent in our state, especially during hot/humid months and after rainstorms. [WKRN]

Centennial Park Conservancy announced Croquet Cafe is expected to open in late August, transforming the park’s historic 1963 Croquet Clubhouse into a nonprofit restaurant. The cafe will serve locally inspired Southern picnic bites and marks the park’s first on-site dining destination. [WZTV]

Davidson County students are celebrating continued growth in test scores across subject areas since the pandemic. Still, significant disparities persist for historically underserved students. The Tennessee Department of Education recently released preliminary results of the Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program (TCAP) for the 2025-26 school year. [Nashville Banner]

Seriously, we’re out here naming highways after reactionary podcast hosts with zero ties to Tennessee? The guy was from Chicago and had barely ever set foot in the state. Embarrassing. Signs designating part of Vietnam Veterans Boulevard (State Route 386) as the Charlie Kirk Memorial Highway are being moved after Vietnam veterans voiced concerns about the signs’ placement along the roadway. [WSMV]

Amid the Nashville Zoo data center backlash, DC Blox is facing other battles. Data center developer DC Blox’s Nashville battle has pulled at many heartstrings and garnered national attention, but the firm is seeing similar scrutiny across the country. [Nashville Business Journal]

He’s never going to financially recover from this and he’s a little too close to Tennessee now, wouldn’t you say? Everybody protect the elephant sanctuary. Joseph “Joe Exotic” Maldonado, the star of the Netflix documentary series “Tiger King,” has been moved to a federal prison in Lexington. The information was announced on Maldonado’s official Facebook page on Friday informing fans they could direct letters to him to Lexington’s Federal Medical Center.[WKYT]

Do you want to live in a surveillance state where you have absolutely no freedom? No? Are you interested in following all the Flock news? You might enjoy this video. The main guy will probably get on your nerves, as he’s an intentionally uneducated clown, but the overall content is interesting. Especially if you have any interest in privacy or your constitutional rights as an American. [YouTube]

Need something to do with the entire family tomorrow? Step into a world of imagination and adventure at TPAC’s Family Day celebration, where the magic of Oz comes alive through music, magic, and make-believe. Attendees can expect a day filled with sensory-friendly activities, delicious snacks, and live performances inspired by the beloved characters of Oz, all included in the ticket price. [Visit Music City & TPAC]

Lettuce Pray: Your Guide to Scary Romaine, Breathalyzers and Marsha Marsha Marsha Blackburn Ghosting Everybody But Ethics Investigators

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Lettuce Pray: Your Guide to Scary Romaine, Breathalyzers and Marsha Marsha Marsha Blackburn Ghosting Everybody But Ethics Investigators

We continue our Wattery (water + lottery) chances today with some isolated showers/storms possible this afternoon and early evening. Essentially a repeat of the past couple days with some different placement of showers and storms. We have also reverted to our typical weather flow pattern by giving Crazy Ivan(s) the boot. [NashSevereWx]

The panic over diarrhea lettuce seems laughable and it’s generating a lot of attention but it’s a real problem. The cyclosporiasis outbreak underscores what happens when expertise is cut and data becomes less reliable. It’s the type of federal expertise that informs public health policy, the kind targeted and eliminated under the Trump Administration. [The Tennesseean]

Hope y’all are sitting down for this one because you’re gonna roll your eyes so hard and be so surprised. Marsha Marsha Marsha Blackburn’s office was the target of a confidential ethics investigation last year that focused on allegations involving the use of taxpayer dollars for her political campaigns. Disclosure of those never-revealed questions about how Blackburn ran her Senate office comes as the Brentwood Republican asks GOP voters for their nomination to put her in charge of the Tennessee governor’s office. [Phil Williams]

As early voting kicks off in Tennessee’s primary election, U.S. Sen. Marsha Marsha Marsha Blackburn is still considered the Republican frontrunner in the race for governor. She’s also still considered the biggest political coward of the year because she’s afraid to show up to debate her political opponents. [WPLN]

As Nashville’s citywide license plate reader program remains on hold, a growing national debate over Flock Safety cameras is reaching Middle Tennessee. The discussion intensified after the Los Angeles Police Department ended its contract with Flock Safety, citing concerns about how data could be shared. [WKRN]

If the Rand Farmers’ Market is one of your favorite campus events, but you wish it happened more often, then you need to check out the Vanderbilt Health farmers’ market. Every Thursday from May to October, Vanderbilt Health hosts a farmers’ market from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. CDT outside Langford Auditorium. Unlike a traditional market, there’s less fresh produce and more ready-to-eat food products. [Vanderbilt Hustler]

Hot Wheels Monster Trucks Live Glow-N-Fire is coming back to Nashville on Saturday and Sunday, July 18-19, 2026, at Bridgestone Arena. This family-friendly show is entertaining and exciting with Monster Truck favorites like Mega Wrex, Tiger Shark, HW 5-Alarm, Bone Shaker, Bigfoot, and Skelesaurus putting on a show to remember. [Nashville Guru]

The students are all on summer break but you can still go read their terrific journalism. In a courtroom in Winder, Georgia on March 3, 2026, Colin Gray, the father of an accused teen school shooter, was found guilty of second-degree murder and involuntary manslaughter. He had supplied his 14-year-old son, Colt Gray, with the gun Colt is accused of having used to kill two students. [Nashville SUNN]

In a letter sent to the Department of Justice, the NAACP called for an immediate investigation into the deaths of both Darius Chappell of Clarksville and Tyrin Johnson of Memphis. The Association is also calling for the immediate suspension of the Memphis Safe Task Force due to concerns of lack of training. [Tennessee Tribune]

FOX 17 Investigates is learning more about the type of roadside breathalyzers the Tennessee Highway Patrol is considering purchasing for troopers. The move comes after a series of investigations uncovered a troubling pattern across Tennessee: more than 2,500 people arrested for DUI since 2017, across all police departments, that later had blood tests show no alcohol or drugs in the driver’s system. [WZTV]

In Marsha Marsha Marsha Blackburn’s first two ads of the election, both of which have aired in the last two weeks, the Republican frontrunner for governor is painting a clear picture of her intent to drop the hammer on specific groups. The first ad, an anti-China spot littered with Asian tropes including the senior senator smashing fortune cookies, similarly promises to “crack down” on China. In the second, she’s targeting immigrants because that’s the kind of person she is. [Nashville Banner]

Look, we do not pay EMS workers nearly enough. A patient was arrested after allegedly stabbing a Nashville paramedic with a dirty needle and striking an officer. An arrest affidavit from the Metro Nashville Police Department states that Nashville Emergency Medical Services was transporting 33-year-old Jessica Woods to get treatment for what they called “excited delirium” when Woods began attacking the medic on board. [WSMV]

As demand for family-friendly spaces in Nashville increases, an over-6,000-square-foot children’s theater is heading to a popular neighborhood. This 15-year-old nonprofit organization plans a children’s theater in The Nations. [Nashville Business Journal]

There’s a party in Nashville and you’re invited! Come join the Shiner Family Reunion and learn the secrets behind their magical moonshine. Shiners features incredible cirque talent and hilarious adults-only comedy starring Chuck Wicks. The captivating 75-minute production is the first-of-its-kind resident stage show with mind-blowing performances. [Nashville Downtown Partnership]

More Drama and Sass Than a Low-Budget Campaign Ad: Your Weekend News Roundup

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More Drama and Sass Than a Low-Budget Campaign Ad: Your Weekend News Roundup

Rain, rain and more rain is the store all weekend. Along with some storms, maybe strong winds and all the other things we don’t like. The worst of it all seems to be flood potential, so stay safe, meemaw, and don’t get that wig wet after you get it set. [NashSevereWx]

Chris MacFarland was busy on July 1, adding three players in his first free agency day as Nashville Predators general manager. After adding forwards Ross Colton, Jack Drury, Nils Hoglander, and Adam Edstrom in June, MacFarland added center Mavrik Bourque, defenseman Ilya Lyubushkin and winger Alex Kerfoot when free agency opened. Speaking of free agency, we think the Preds need to do a better job of jumping on the Heated Rivalry bandwagon so we have something to be excited about. [The Tennesseean]

Metro Council passed a series of bills on second reading early Wednesday morning in favor of new zoning regulations and a temporary moratorium on data centers. More than 200 people spoke out against proposed data centers near the Nashville Zoo and Fisk University, urging council members to approve stricter regulations for future data centers in Nashville and Davidson County. [News Channel 5]

The orange man is pushing to institutionalize homeless people and that may include veterans. Pedro Jauregui, with the organization U.S. Vets in Long Beach, Calif., once spent a whole year getting one homeless veteran to come in from the cold. “The first time I met him, I had to walk away ’cause he gave me some choice words, waved a one finger at me and said he was gonna kill me,” Jauregui said. [WPLN]

Surprise! The people who vote for folks like Andy Ogles and Marsha Marsha Marsha Blackburn are seeing scam losses increasing by more than 40% in a single year. New data shows scamming is not only on the rise in Tennessee, but is also becoming more advanced. A scamming report combined data from the FBI and Federal Trade Commission to analyze the state of scams across the country. [WKRN]

It’s always refreshing when we see young people eschewing the use of AI to write. There is something remarkable about holding a pen in your hand, etching the rough edges of thought into smooth strings of words. Through language, we act as creators of other worlds that reflect our own: molding characters, drawing places and telling stories that showcase our own pain, desires, anger, sadness and search for purpose. Provide an artificial intelligence chatbot with the same task, and you will merely receive a conglomerate of this character built upon the late nights and toils of hundreds of other writers. And something is still missing. [Vanderbilt Hustler]

Latino owned businesses in Nashville are increasingly shaping the city’s economy and cultural identity, with entrepreneurs operating restaurants, markets, retail shops and service-based businesses across Davidson County. Along Nolensville Pike, one of the city’s most established immigrant corridors, family-owned markets and restaurants reflect a wide range of Latin American regions, including Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Venezuela and Colombia. [Tennessee Tribune]

Can parents be held responsible for school shootings? Because they absolutely should be. A legal expert breaks down the growing push to prosecute families following a Georgia father’s conviction. [Nashville SUNN]

Nashville’s concert calendar is getting even busier this July. Analog at Hutton Hotel is serving up everything from Crescent City jazz to rising country stars, TEDx conversations and one high-stakes blues competition. Click the link for a list of upcoming shows in July. [WZTV]

These dorks have produced the funniest self-own campaign ad we’ve ever seen and you need to watch it ASAP. Imagine how absolutely brain-rotten you have to be to think this ad featuring a fake drag queen dunking on a high school basketball team is going to benefit Johnny Garrett? Are these folks in need of a court-appointed special guardian or something? We cannot stop laughing at their absurd homophobia, transphobia and gay panic. Ole Johnny should release his browser history for the public to review. [Nashville Banner]

Graffiti spray-painted on a silo at a mulch lot off South 5th Street in East Nashville has been up for more than a month, and city officials say it is the property owner’s responsibility to remove it. The tag includes a website URL linked to Patriot Front, a white supremacist hate group. People who know the property owner say he did not put the graffiti there and did not approve it. [WSMV]

Introducing the Gulch’s secret $1 billion development. Nashville Yards and Paseo South Gulch often get all the buzz as the city’s billion-dollar projects, but another firm has been quietly building a $1.2 billion downtown development of its own. [Nashville Business Journal]

The $1,200 Secret That’s Actually Free!

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The $1,200 Secret That’s Actually Free!

The first time I took a full practice SAT, I sat at our kitchen table on a Saturday morning with a timer, two pencils I didn’t need because the test is digital now, and a score at the end that made me want to close the laptop and never open it again. I took fourteen more practice tests after that one. I sat for the real thing multiple times. My score went up every time I put in the hours, and here is the part I want Nashville parents to know. I never paid for a class. Not once.

Some families do buy them. Princeton Review charges $1,200 for a class. Private tutors charge $100 an hour. Those kids are real, and they are sitting next to your kid. There is nothing wrong if your family can afford it, so don’t misconstrue my point. But here is the other true thing. The companies that make these tests give the important prep away for free. They just don’t advertise it very loudly.

Khan Academy Official SAT Practice is where I would tell any family to start. The College Board partnered with Khan Academy years ago to put official SAT practice online at no cost. The questions come from the same people who write the test. The site figures out what your kid is bad at and drills exactly that. This is where most of my fourteen practice tests came from.

Bluebook is the College Board’s free app that actually runs the digital SAT. Every kid who takes the SAT has to download it anyway. Almost nobody realizes there are six full-length official practice tests sitting inside it, free.

ACT.org has free official prep too, and this one matters more for you than it does for me. Tennessee juniors take the ACT as the state test. Kentucky just switched to the SAT. Your kid should not walk into their state-required ACT cold when the makers of the test hand out free practice on their own website.

The Nashville Public Library has the same Princeton Review, Kaplan, and Barron’s books that cost $30 each at the bookstore. SAT, ACT, AP, all of it. Free with a library card. The library card is also free. My library in Warren County works the same way, and I promise the books do not know whether you paid for them.

Khan Academy also has free AP exam prep, which is worth knowing because AP scores can turn into real college credit and real tuition money later.

I will be honest about the part that isn’t free. The hours. Nobody can donate those. I gave up a lot of Saturday mornings, and there were practice tests where my score went down and I had to decide whether to believe one bad morning or the trend. My advice to your kid is the advice I had to give myself: sometimes you take the test a few times. A bad score is information, not a verdict.

Standardized tests can feel like they were not built for families like mine. Maybe they weren’t. But the rigging has gaps, and the gaps are listed above. My whole website exists because I believe help should not be a secret, and this is the least secret secret I know.

Find the gaps. Use them. And tell a neighbor.

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