Monthly Archives: December, 2011
Bright & Early: Déjà Vu Edition
Good morning, Nashville. As you may have noticed, it’s been raining. Quite a bit. This morning, the National Weather Service issued a flood warning for the Cumberland River. The river is currently at 30 feet and rising, and is expected to crest at near-flood levels, around 40 feet, by midnight before receding in the early hours on Friday. In the meantime, Putnam County seems to have been hit the hardest, though Wilson, Sumner and other surrounding counties saw some significant damage from floodwaters as well.
- Not so shiny. Another casualty of last night’s rain is the Music City Star track between Lebanon and Mt. Juliet. Parts of the track were washed out by floodwaters, and commuters en route were picked up by MTA busses instead.
- Zoom zoom zoom. Looks like the Nashville Superspeedway will host two doubleheaders next year in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series and NASCAR Nationwide Series. This is a big deal for the Superspeedway, as it’s the first time for the track to host more than one doubleheader in a season.
- Bits & pieces. If you see something that looks like a tornado around North First Street, it’s probably just birds … We wish we had iPads in kindergarten … If you missed Conan’s not-so-secret appearance at Third Man Records this summer, grab the 7″ vinyl instead … Nashville needs a “vibrant urban forest” downtown.
Photo by Chuck Bryant.
Good morning, Nashville. As you may have noticed, it’s been raining. Quite a bit. This morning, the National Weather Service issued a flood warning for the Cumberland River. The river is currently at 30 feet and rising, and is expected to crest at near-flood levels, around 40 feet, by midnight before receding in the early [...]
Happy Hour: Too Drenched To Care
- We’re getting some rain, and actually there’s a whole lot of it. The flash flood watch we mentioned this morning was upgraded to a warning and now extends to 1:15 AM. As a precaution, Metro has partially activated emergency services. [WPLN & Tennessean]
- Just east of here, Cookeville and surrounding areas are seeing even more rain than we are and some pretty nasty flooding to go along with it. Schools are closing, trains are derailing, etc. [WKRN]
- Even the Wilson County Fair shut things down for the night. They’re just not having a great year. [WSMV]
- And you may have heard that today marked the 90th anniversary of the vote to ratify the 19th Amendment, which gave women the right to vote. What you may not know is that Tennessee played a pretty major role. [WPLN]
- Meanwhile, State Rep. Glen Casada is “dressing down” his 19-year old son for streaking through a Franklin subdivision. [Tennessean]
- We also learned today that Davidson County is very litter-y. [City Paper]
Photo by ryan2013.
We’re getting some rain, and actually there’s a whole lot of it. The flash flood watch we mentioned this morning was upgraded to a warning and now extends to 1:15 AM. As a precaution, Metro has partially activated emergency services. [WPLN & Tennessean] Just east of here, Cookeville and surrounding areas are seeing even more [...]
Bright & Early: Recovery Continues Edition
Good morning, Nashville. It’s official: The Metro Council approved a bill that will divert part of the city’s hotel taxes to help the Grand Ole Opry House get back on its feet after sustaining $20 million in flood damages. At last night’s meeting, the council also canned their idea for reimbursing car washes and nurseries who had to shut down for the month of May due to water restrictions because, well, it would’ve been expensive. There’s also a chance that we could score some federal grants for those businesses somewhere down the line.
- Lots and lots of rain. Some overnight flooding and landslides closed schools in Macon and Smith counties this morning. Though the weather doesn’t seem too worrisome at this point, we are still in a flash flood watch until 10pm with 2-4 inches of rain expected, so be cautious as you’re out and about today.
- What now? Folks in Perry County are getting increasingly nervous as their stimulus funding expiration date inches closer and closer. The money was used last year to to create nearly 400 jobs in order to ease the sky-high unemployment rate, but since the money runs out in September, many of the jobs could disappear.
- Bits & pieces. Tennessee lottery scholarships won’t be seeing any major cuts this time around … Vanderbilt and Metro Parks are teaming up with the help of a new grant to curb obesity in preschoolers … Jeff Yarbro filed an official petition for an expedited recount yesterday in the continuing saga of District 21 … St. Cecilia Academy is celebrating its sesquicentennial anniversary (that would be their 150th) this week.
Photo by jsdavis82.
Good morning, Nashville. It’s official: The Metro Council approved a bill that will divert part of the city’s hotel taxes to help the Grand Ole Opry House get back on its feet after sustaining $20 million in flood damages. At last night’s meeting, the council also canned their idea for reimbursing car washes and nurseries [...]
Happy Hour: Down To The Wire
- Belmont isn’t the only one expanding–Lipscomb is in the market for a new building to house their College of Education. Specifically, they’re looking to purchase the old Walter Stokes School building on Belmont Blvd. [City Paper]
- Congrats to Vandy for being ranked as the 17th best university in the country by US News & World Report. UT came in at #104 overall and Belmont was ranked the 5th best school in the southeast. [City Paper]
- Hillwood High School parents say that the school is falling apart! So much so that they’re actually afraid for their kids’ health and safety. [WSMV]
- Tennessee is getting a fancy new system that promises to make “searching for your next library book a little like browsing on Amazon or Netflix.” Count us in! [WPLN]
- Aside from being hellishly hot and humid, this weather is also ideal for fleas. Awesome. [WKRN]
- Thanks to a $30 million grant, the DMV could get a little less painful. [WSMV]
Photo by niseag03.
Belmont isn’t the only one expanding–Lipscomb is in the market for a new building to house their College of Education. Specifically, they’re looking to purchase the old Walter Stokes School building on Belmont Blvd. [City Paper] Congrats to Vandy for being ranked as the 17th best university in the country by US News & World [...]
Bright & Early: View From The Top Edition
Good morning, Nashville. A few months back, we learned that Tennessee was one of two states receiving $500 million as part of a huge education grant called Race to the Top. The Metro Education Committee met yesterday to figure out how to use Metro’s $30.3 million slice, which can’t be used toward the operational budget. So far, the plan is to fund more teacher and principal evaluations to help retain good faculty and to beef up technology programs.
- Dreaming the dream. Unsurprisingly, Nashville is at the bottom of the heap in the petition to bring the World Cup to the States. But since everyone seems to think this is because no one in Nashville knows the petition exists, here you go. Now go vote!
- What does this big red “X” button do again? The Metro Council might hold a hearing about the 1,300 dashboard-cam police videos that were accidentally deleted. The videos, deleted by a contractor, contained important evidence in many DUI arrests and other incidents.
- Bits & pieces. Goodlettsville-based Dollar General is testing out some beer and wine sales in other markets … The City of Lakewood voted to contest the results of an election which would have made them a part of Metro Nashville… Today continues to be a little cooler, but storm chances are picking up … Wilson County Fair attendance was down 96,000 people from last year’s opening weekend, for which they are blaming the heat … Rutherford County election officials are in some hot water after accidentally closing the polls for a day during early voting … A car rear-ended an MTA bus this morning in West Nashville … Hooray for the Smyrna Bowling Alley, which is reopening
Photo by jagosaurus.
Good morning, Nashville. A few months back, we learned that Tennessee was one of two states receiving $500 million as part of a huge education grant called Race to the Top. The Metro Education Committee met yesterday to figure out how to use Metro’s $30.3 million slice, which can’t be used toward the operational budget. [...]
Happy Hour: It’s All A Blur
- Students at Thurgood Marshall Middle, Andrew Jackson Elementary and AZ Kelley Elementary had a very hot first full day back after some pop-up storms took out their A/C overnight. [WKRN]
- The Davidson County Election Commission found another voting machine that hadn’t been tallied and now Douglas Henry only leads Jeff Yarbro by 11 votes. As for how the machine went uncounted, election administrator Ray Barrett told the City Paper, “It happens every election. We put out close to 600 voting machines. [Poll workers] have been there 14 hours. Sometimes they just misread one of them.” Seriously? [City Paper]
- Belmont has some grand plans for 15th Avenue South which include stoplights, turn lanes and even a roundabout. Predictably, the neighbors aren’t thrilled. [Tennessean]
- We know of at least a few of you who will be excited to hear that the Donelson Target will be opening bigger and better this Thursday for the first time since the flood. [Tennessean]
- Nashville Shores will be staying open ten extra days this year, through August 29th, which seems appropriate as it is generally blazingly hot in Tennessee well into October. [Tennessean]
- Police in White House are trying to get to the bottom of an incident this morning involving some bombs that went off in front of a police station. They believe the bombs might have been targeting State Trooper Vincent Turocy who found similar bombs in front of his house a month ago. [WTVF]
Photo by cbanck.
Students at Thurgood Marshall Middle, Andrew Jackson Elementary and AZ Kelley Elementary had a very hot first full day back after some pop-up storms took out their A/C overnight. [WKRN] The Davidson County Election Commission found another voting machine that hadn’t been tallied and now Douglas Henry only leads Jeff Yarbro by 11 votes. As [...]
Bright & Early: They’re Back Edition
Good morning, Nashville. That magical time of the year we call Football Season is upon us and the Titans kicked it off less-than-awesomely in Seattle on Saturday with a 20-18 loss. But! Chris Johnson seems to be picking up right where he left off last season and VY™ wasn’t looking too shabby either. Next time we see them, they’ll be taking on the Arizona Cardinals at LP Field and hopefully someone has fixed that sinkhole!
- Be nice. It’s orientation time for most of the area colleges for the next week or two, which means we have a whole new crop of Nashvillians to woo with our wonderful city. So if you find a bunch of lost-looking freshmen clogging up the line at your favorite coffee shop, cut ‘em some slack. Welcome to Nashville, kids.
- Pay as you throw. Metro will likely be passing a bill to start charging people who have too much trash to encourage better recycling practices. Under the new law, known as “pay as you throw,” residences that use more than one trash bin would be facing a fine.
- Bits & pieces. An affluent neighborhood off of Granny White is still in pretty bad shape from a flood-related landslide, three months later … Contributor vendors are still raking in the paper sales despite the heat … Opry Mills’ reopening date is still up in the air, though some stores may open long before others … The weather is going to be slightly less hellish today with the possibility of some cooler temperatures toward the end of the week thanks to a potential tropical storm … Memphis is all Elvis’d out today with mourners pouring in from all over to commemorate the 33rd anniversary of his death.
Good morning, Nashville. That magical time of the year we call Football Season is upon us and the Titans kicked it off less-than-awesomely in Seattle on Saturday with a 20-18 loss. But! Chris Johnson seems to be picking up right where he left off last season and VY™ wasn’t looking too shabby either. Next time [...]
Happy Hour: Ain’t No Party Like A Nashville Party
- Three kids from Florida–ages 11, 13 and 15– saved up some babysitting money and took off on a flight to Nashville by themselves because they wanted to go on vacation to Dollywood. We love us some Dollywood and everything but we feel like the real question here is, of all the places in the whole United States, why did they pick that one? [WKRN]
- In case you somehow missed it, the Nashville Farmer’s Market food court is back open for business as of today! And judging by the amount of people partyin’ there today, we’re hoping it’ll do better than ever. [Tennessean]
- The TVA is jacking up our electric bills again, for the seventh straight month. Surprise! [Tennessean]
- The Georgia O’Keefe-Fisk University saga continues and there seems to be no new developments, though it keeps churning out headlines. [WTVF]
Photo by niseag03.
Three kids from Florida–ages 11, 13 and 15– saved up some babysitting money and took off on a flight to Nashville by themselves because they wanted to go on vacation to Dollywood. We love us some Dollywood and everything but we feel like the real question here is, of all the places in the whole [...]
Bright & Early: Merrily We Roll Along
Good morning, Nashville. We’re in a bit of a hurry this morning, so here is your abbreviated Bright & Early:
- Metro’s free bike share program kicked off this morning with a bike ride from Shelby Park to the Music City Star station. The program includes thirty bikes, helmets and locks stored at pick-up locations in Shelby Park and the train station. [City Paper]
- More than 100 National Parks, including several in Tennessee, are free this weekend. Unfortunately you’ll still have to brave the one million-degree heat to enjoy them. [WSMV]
- However, it is supposed to be slightly cooler this weekend and into next week with a few of those infamous pop-up storms along the way. [Nashville WX]
- And who knew pop-up storms could be so disastrous? Between all the downed trees and power lines, West Nashville looked like a war zone last night. [WTVF]
- The Tennessean takes us on a quick tour of Metro’s biggest data breaches in the past few years. [Tennessean]
Photo by Roger M.
Good morning, Nashville. We’re in a bit of a hurry this morning, so here is your abbreviated Bright & Early: Metro’s free bike share program kicked off this morning with a bike ride from Shelby Park to the Music City Star station. The program includes thirty bikes, helmets and locks stored at pick-up locations in [...]
Happy Hour: Birds Flying High
- So that storm was a doozy, eh? Three big lightning strikes were enough to take down the city’s 911 dispatching system, or most of it, leaving operators to record calls by pen and paper. [WTVF]
- Organizers are now taking questions for Mike McWherter and Bill Haslam’s September 14th debate, so send ‘em some good ones (you know, like boxers or briefs, ideal date, favorite Nashville burger, etc.) [In Session]
- As for the District 21 Senate primary, Jeff Yarbro’s camp says that he will be formally requesting a recount. Last week, Yarbro lost to incumbent Douglas Henry by just 13 votes. [WPLN]
- Gaylord dropped $3 million on 13 acres of land that previously belonged to Two Rivers Baptist Church, and though they would have us believe that they have no idea what they want to actually do with it, we’re crossing our fingers for a little Opryland Part Deux action. [Tennessean]
- Speaking of Gaylord, the Opryland Hotel is about to start rehiring many of the 1,743 staff they laid off after the flood. They expect to be able to rehire about 80% of them. [Tennessean]
- It’s that time of year again! Preds single-game tickets go on sale this coming Saturday. [City Paper]
Photo by Jon Erickson.
So that storm was a doozy, eh? Three big lightning strikes were enough to take down the city’s 911 dispatching system, or most of it, leaving operators to record calls by pen and paper. [WTVF] Organizers are now taking questions for Mike McWherter and Bill Haslam’s September 14th debate, so send ‘em some good ones [...]
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