Bright & Early: All Is Fair Edition

Good morning, Nashville. The Tennessee State Fair and Fairgrounds have been in constant limbo for the past year or so with Mayor Dean proposing to shut it down by the first of July, then extending the closing date to the end of the year with various groups fighting to keep it around as a 104-year old Tennessee tradition. This year, the fair has changed hands for one last hurrah and kicks off this Friday, September 10th through September 19th. Most believe this will be the for-real last time we see the Tennessee State Fair. As for the Fairgrounds, folks are still trying to convince the city keep it open for other events, like the Saturday flea market, while they decide what they’re going to do with the space. There’s also a chance that an old Dillard’s inside the Hickory Hollow Mall could be converted to an expo center to play host to those events.

Don’t let the bedbugs bite. Bedbugs have become such a problem in Nashville (and the rest of the country!) that Metro will be pulling together dozens of bug experts for a September 22nd symposium in hopes of finding some sort of solution that works for our city. As one exterminator told WKRN, “They’re everywhere. You can’t get away from them, it’s almost an epidemic.” Awesome.
Hitting the road. A new round of stimulus funding specifically targeted at roadway and rail improvement could send as much as $1 billion our way for sprucing up our road systems. TDOT assures us that they’ve got plenty of projects in mind for that money already.
Bits & pieces. The Opry Mills Nike store will become the Cool Springs Nike store for the time being until their flood-damaged home reopens … It’s going to be a cloudy, rainy day thanks to that tropical system Texas is sending our way … North Nashville experienced some power outages early this morning when a van lost control and crashed into a utility pole on Dickerson Road.

Photo by flyba.

Nashvillest