Good morning, Nashville. Metro is looking at an ordinance that would throw some additional flood recovery money at Gaylord; the only catch is that it can only be used to fix the Grand Ole Opry House and not the Opryland Hotel. While the damage estimate for the hotel is about 10 times that of the Opry House, the new deal could generate more than a million dollars annually to help with recovery. Three years ago, Metro approved a 1% hike in the city’s hotel tax mostly to pay for the convention center, but part of it was designated to help out with an expansion at the Opryland Hotel. The new ordinance would redirect that money to instead fund the repairs.
- Sales tax holiday! Tennessee’s annual Sales Tax Holiday is all set for August 6-8 and it applies to clothing, school supplies and computers. And since Tennessee’s sales tax is hovering around 10% these days, that’s quite a bargain.
- Head to head. An Islamic group and a community college are vying for the purchase of an old theater in Antioch to convert into a mosque or satellite campus, respectively. We’ll let you guess which one has inspired a 1000-signature protest petition.
- Someone get this man a fan club. Here’s some more about that Columbia super hero we mentioned yesterday. Surprisingly, he sounds sort of sane.
- Bits & pieces. The health care industry may employ more Nashvillians than you think … Metro padlocked a South Nashville hotel this morning for housing a lot of drug use, prostitution and other charming things … Habitat for Humanity is helping flood victims repair and rebuild their damaged homes … Chris Johnson might actually show up to practice before we are all old and grey, if these negotiations go through.
Photo by sduck409.
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