Monthly Archives: December, 2011
Happy Hour: Hey Look, It’s Dark Outside
- The Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce released a report today saying that Mayor Karl Dean’s plan to redevelop the State Fairgrounds into a more corporate-friendly space could bring in 6,500 and $2.5 billion for us. [City Paper]
- There’s also a pretty hefty mixed-use development going in on Elliston at 23rd Avenue. We just hope it includes something awesome, like another froyo shop as we don’t have quite enough of those. [Nashville Post]
- Another week, another high school teacher busted by a student’s cell phone video. [WSMV]
- The federal government busted up an underaged sex trafficking ring run by Somali gang members based out of Minnesota. The ring allegedly had a heavy presence in South Nashville and 29 people were arrested. [Tennessean]
- Coach Fisher assures us that there is “no risk whatsoever” involved in acquiring Randy Moss (unless, of course, you are a widemouth bass.) [Tennessean]
- Our city is full of attractive people, according to Huffington Post. We would tend to agree. [Huffington Post]
Photo by Dan W. Brown.
The Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce released a report today saying that Mayor Karl Dean’s plan to redevelop the State Fairgrounds into a more corporate-friendly space could bring in 6,500 and $2.5 billion for us. [City Paper] There’s also a pretty hefty mixed-use development going in on Elliston at 23rd Avenue. We just hope it [...]
Bright & Early: The Garth Effect Edition
Good morning, Nashville. We’re running late this morning, so you know the drill:
- Garth Brooks sold out nine shows this weekend at the Bridgestone Arena. Nine shows! The good news is that all the proceeds go straight to the Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee for flood relief. [WKRN]
- And though we’re more than six months past the flood, lots of families are still struggling to pay for repairs. So thanks, Garth! [Tennessean]
- Vanderbilt grad student Jeff Ewers was arrested for possession of more than 600 images of kiddie porn, some of which he accidentally left on a memory card at Cafe Coco. [WTVF]
- Randy Moss is in the building! Well, he’s in *a* building, somewhere in Nashville. Right now. Oh, forget it–we just wanted an excuse to post this picture. [WTVF]
- Thanks to our state’s big fat meth problem, state lawmakers are considering a proposal that would require us to have a prescription for all over-the-counter cold medicine. [WTVF]
- A Metro police cruiser was hit twice last night while the officer was simply trying to clean up an accident on I-40. Thankfully, his injuries were pretty minor. [WKRN]
- There’s some amazing-sounding weather in the cards for us this week. [Nashville WX]
Photo by fallingwater123.
Good morning, Nashville. We’re running late this morning, so you know the drill: Garth Brooks sold out nine shows this weekend at the Bridgestone Arena. Nine shows! The good news is that all the proceeds go straight to the Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee for flood relief. [WKRN] And though we’re more than six months [...]
Bright & Early: Our Leaves Are On Fire Edition
Good morning, Nashville. The historic Tootsie’s Orchid Lounge is celebrating its 50th birthday this weekend! And despite News Channel 5′s best efforts to rain on everyone’s parade during this special week, they’ll be having a big ol’ blowout at the Ryman on Sunday night with Kris Kristofferson, Little Jimmy Dickens and Mel Tillis scheduled to take the stage. Tootsie’s (the one on Broadway, not the one in the airport) has been an integral gathering spot for country music fans and musicians alike over the last five decades.
- We don’t need no adult literacy. As of December 10th, all community education classes at the Cohn Adult Learning Center–including the adult literacy program–will be canceled because all the funding was cut. The five employees managing the largely volunteer-run program will be laid off.
- Is there anybody out there? Just east of here in Smithville, Tennessee, a man was nearly thunked by a small meteorite back in August. From outer space! He was just walking around with his girlfriend one day and they heard it whiz past their heads and land on the pavement about ten feet away. It is estimated to be about 4 billion years old.
- Bits & pieces. Holiday travel is expected to be the busiest it’s been in 10 years … Bill and Melinda Gates dropped by Metro Schools yesterday to check out some of the changes Governor Phil has made to Tennessee’s education system … TSU’s homecoming is tomorrow morning, which means all of these streets will be closing and those that aren’t closed will likely be gridlocked … 70,000 Tennesseans are scheduled to lose their unemployment benefits starting this month … Elliston and Church Street are looking much nicer now thanks to some American Recovery and Reinvestment Act money … Opponents of the plan to move the Fairgrounds expo center to Hickory Hollow pulled out a unique stop last night to block the vote.
Photo by hikenandhistory.
Good morning, Nashville. The historic Tootsie’s Orchid Lounge is celebrating its 50th birthday this weekend! And despite News Channel 5′s best efforts to rain on everyone’s parade during this special week, they’ll be having a big ol’ blowout at the Ryman on Sunday night with Kris Kristofferson, Little Jimmy Dickens and Mel Tillis scheduled to [...]
Happy Hour: Ars Gratia Artis
- A judge ruled that Fisk University can sell at least part of their $74 million art collection to a museum in Arkansas, so the collection will spend part of its time there and the other part in Fisk’s storage facility. The only catch is that they can only use $10 million of the $30 million sale to stabilize their finances; the rest has to go into the endowment. [WPLN]
- Nashville State Community College is getting so crowded that they’ve had to move several of their classes into trailers. They’ve apparently grown 25% in the past two years, probably due in part to the Great Recession. [WSMV]
- A huge congrats goes out to the CEO of the TVA who was recently awarded a 10% raise. [WZTV]
- Tennessee has banded together with 12 other states to ask the United States Supreme Court to uphold the controversial Arizona immigration law. [Tennessean]
- Welp, it snowed in the Smokies and there’s 3-7 more inches in the forecast for Friday. So far, our forecast here just looks cold. [WZTV]
- Rep. Jim Cooper, who beat out David Hall in the election earlier this week, is asking folks to send back his campaign signs. He’ll even pay you 25 cents, per sign. Does it count if we drive around town collecting them? [WSMV]
Photo by k. edge.
A judge ruled that Fisk University can sell at least part of their $74 million art collection to a museum in Arkansas, so the collection will spend part of its time there and the other part in Fisk’s storage facility. The only catch is that they can only use $10 million of the $30 million [...]
Bright & Early: All Things Go Edition
Good morning, Nashville. A few months ago, Nashville unveiled a brand new bike sharing program downtown in hopes of encouraging us to drive less and bike more since parking is pretty scarce these days, it’s getting kind of smoggy in here and we’re a little fat. But only three of the 30 bikes are being used each day on average and a quick trip through the article’s comment section reveals that the bicycles may often have flat tires and feature foot brakes, to which many cyclists are not accustomed. There are also some complaints about the process of checking out the bikes. So although it’s a neat idea, it sounds like we’ve got a long way to go.
- Not ready for this. We’re dragging our Snuggies out of storage and gearing up for temperatures in the 20s this weekend. THE TWENTIES. Seriously.
- Cheers! Let’s all raise a glass for our neighbors in Sparta, Tennessee who passed a new law allowing liquor by the drink this week by just 13 votes! But raise it later, as it is the morning time and we don’t encourage that sort of debauchery.
- Bits & pieces Frothy Monkey/Burger UP owners Mike and Miranda Pontes recently bought the Greenlight Market and Deli … Oh no, scandal at Tootsie’s! … Nissan will be installing 1,500 free car-charging stations around Middle Tennessee by 2012 … Metro Council members will vote tonight on the plan for the Hickory Hollow Mall.
Photo by Eva Maria.
Good morning, Nashville. A few months ago, Nashville unveiled a brand new bike sharing program downtown in hopes of encouraging us to drive less and bike more since parking is pretty scarce these days, it’s getting kind of smoggy in here and we’re a little fat. But only three of the 30 bikes are being [...]
Happy Hour: Full Moon Is Shining
- Randy Moss is a Titan now! And being the ill-informed football fans that we sometimes are, we’re not sure what this means, but it seems to be good news. Wikipedia tells us that he fake-mooned an entire stadium once, so there’s that. [City Paper]
- And another news item we can’t comprehend today is this bathroom bus that dropped by Nashville today, “to re-train America how to flush a toilet,” though we gather this has something to do with water conservation. [WKRN]
- In other Titans news, safety Donnie Nickey was fined $2,500 for accidentally hitting a referee during Sunday’s game. [WTVF]
- Governor-elect Bill Haslam made the trek to Nashville today to meet with Governor Phil and give a press conference and bid us all a hearty “Hello.” [WKRN]
- Tickets for the Garth Brooks flood benefit go on sale Saturday, and they are $25 which means $32.50 in Ticketmaster-speak. But hey, it’s for a good cause. [WTVF]
- Albert Tieche beat out both Eric Crafton and Buck Dozier in his bid to become Davidson County’s new election administrator. [City Paper]
Photo by Jason Nelms.
Randy Moss is a Titan now! And being the ill-informed football fans that we sometimes are, we’re not sure what this means, but it seems to be good news. Wikipedia tells us that he fake-mooned an entire stadium once, so there’s that. [City Paper] And another news item we can’t comprehend today is this bathroom [...]
NPR Goes To Grimey’s, Talks About… Taylor Swift?
NPR went to Grimey’s to talk about Taylor Swift, Kenny Chesney and Zac Brown Band. If that confuses you, you probably weren’t one of the four people who went to Grimey’s to purchase T-Sweezy’s new album Speak Now on release day.
So we know that somewhere out there, people are paying for country records. Turns out they’re even doing so in Nashville. Davis says that at Grimey’s, a decade-old indie-focused store just around the corner from Music Row near downtown Nashville, he’s seen an uptick in customer interest for mainstream country releases.
“I sold a grand total of one of that last Taylor Swift CD,” Davis says, speaking of Fearless, the best-selling album of 2009. He says that in its first day on sale last week, Grimey’s customers picked up four copies of Speak Now.
Check out the full article at the link below.
NPR: At A Nashville Record Store, Mainstream Country Fights For Shelf Space
Photo by kelstew.
NPR went to Grimey’s to talk about Taylor Swift, Kenny Chesney and Zac Brown Band. If that confuses you, you probably weren’t one of the four people who went to Grimey’s to purchase T-Sweezy’s new album Speak Now on release day. So we know that somewhere out there, people are paying for country records. Turns out they’re [...]
Bright & Early: Governor Phil To Governor Bill Edition
Good morning, Nashville. The barrage of robocalls and campaign commercials is finally over, Election Day went off (mostly) without a hitch, and our new governor-elect is Bill Haslam, who raked in nearly double the votes that his Democratic opponent did. Weirdly enough, this guy came in third while Crazy Man James checked in near the bottom. Meanwhile Republicans gained enough ground in the state House of Representatives to take control, meaning that they now control both chambers and the governor’s seat for the first time since the Civil War.
- Some other notable races. State Rep. Diane Black won in the 6th, US Rep. Marsha Blackburn rallied past Greg Rabidoux in District 7, US Rep Jim Cooper beat David Hall in District 5, and Scott DesJarlais ousted Lincoln Davis in the 4th.
- Bust out the orange hats. And lastly, the constitutional amendment guaranteeing our right to hunt and fish passed. Not that we couldn’t hunt and fish before! This is just supposed to ensure that the government won’t be able to revoke it without a very long and complicated process.
- Bits & pieces. You know, it had really been too long since we saw a truck wedged beneath an overpass … Some folks are pretty outraged by a Facebook picture posted by State Rep. Teri Lynn Weaver featuring her posing with a person in blackface and the caption “Aunt Jemima, you is so sweet.” … Who knew Williamson County had so many dang mayors? … The Preds feel like they really struck gold with rookie goalie Anders Lindback … Harding Place is getting some new sidewalks soon … The weatherpeople are calling for a chance of SLEET/SNOW/SPRINKLES on Friday.
Photo by Hell Dorado.
Good morning, Nashville. The barrage of robocalls and campaign commercials is finally over, Election Day went off (mostly) without a hitch, and our new governor-elect is Bill Haslam, who raked in nearly double the votes that his Democratic opponent did. Weirdly enough, this guy came in third while Crazy Man James checked in near the [...]
Happy Hour: Counting With Both Hands
- Get your live election results here when the polls start closing around 8pm/7pm CST. [Tennessean]
- An MTSU professor drove his water-powered car from Bristol to Memphis yesterday. The vehicle runs on tap water and solar power and can go 400 miles before refueling. [WSMV]
- Aspiring teachers will soon have to have videos of their classrooms recorded and evaluated before receiving their teaching license in Tennessee. [WSMV]
- Gaylord is in talks with the Army Corps of Engineers about possibly building their own levee that would ideally protect the entire Opryland area from a 500-year flood. They’ve also increased their insurance coverage to $150 million. [Tennessean]
- There’s quite a graffiti problem blossoming in West Nashville on the sound barriers near the I-40 and Briley interchange. The barriers are made from a special absorbent concrete that apparently also absorbs spraypaint and makes it really difficult/impossible/expensive to remove. [WSMV]
Photo by fallingwater123.
Get your live election results here when the polls start closing around 8pm/7pm CST. [Tennessean] An MTSU professor drove his water-powered car from Bristol to Memphis yesterday. The vehicle runs on tap water and solar power and can go 400 miles before refueling. [WSMV] Aspiring teachers will soon have to have videos of their classrooms [...]
Basil Marceaux Sings “America The Beautiful” [Goobernatorial]
Basil Marceaux – America the Beautiful by nashvillest
In honor of Election Day here in Tennessee, we want to lighten things up a bit by sharing this rousing rendition of “America The Beautiful” by gubernatorial write-in candidate Basil Marceaux. Enjoy (and seriously, go vote!) [Basil Marceaux Music via Wonkette]
Basil Marceaux – America the Beautiful by nashvillest In honor of Election Day here in Tennessee, we want to lighten things up a bit by sharing this rousing rendition of “America The Beautiful” by gubernatorial write-in candidate Basil Marceaux. Enjoy (and seriously, go vote!) [Basil Marceaux Music via Wonkette]
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