Good morning, Nashville. We did everything in our power to ward off that pesky swine flu, but it as of yesterday, it made its way into Tennessee with a vengeance. And by “vengeance” we mean there is one case so far in Williamson County and the kid appears to be doing fine. Consequently, though, the victim’s entire school–Harding Academy–will be closed for seven calendar days beginning today. But before everyone starts panicking, take a few minutes to read up on the swine flu. And in case you’re wondering, bacon is perfectly safe!

• OMGSCANDAL. News Channel 5 claims they’ve undercovered a massive ticket fixing scandal where some folks in Davidson County may be having traffic tickets thrown out because their attorneys have special hookups.
• Religious discrimination suit. Southern Hills Medical Center had to shell out $70,000 to settle a religious discrimination lawsuit involving a Muslim employee who wanted to take a pilgrimage to Mecca last year, saved up his vacation time, and then ended up losing his job instead. Southern Hills still denies they practiced any sort of discrimination.
• Bits & pieces. Today is the culmination of that District 18 runoff/showdown between LaLonde and Dodson, so if you live in that district, go vote or something … Country legend Vern Gosdin, who we’re a bit too young to remember, passed away this week at age 74 … We may soon have to pay tax that automatically adjusts based on gas prices ($4, anyone?) instead of the current per-gallon.

Photo by Brandon James.