Good morning, Nashville. Tennessee State Fairgrounds supporters have been working hard to pull together more than 15,700 signatures on a petition that aims to put the fairgrounds preservation issue to a vote on the August ballot. They delivered the signatures to the county courthouse yesterday afternoon, figuring they had more than enough support to force the referendum before voters. The Davidson County Election Commission has to verify each and every one of the signatures to make sure they’re from valid Davidson County voters, and that piece will be monitored by attorney George Barrett on behalf of the Neighbors for Progress group, which does not support the preservation.

• Where da ladies at? The City Paper points out that there are as many women on the Metro Council as their are men with facial hair–that is to say there are 9. Altogether, women make up 25% of the council despite making up over half of the overall population.
• New extension for unemployment? A bill that would extend unemployment benefits for up to 20 weeks is making some headway in the state legislature. The bill would set aside almost $60 million in federal funding to help out the 28,000 folks whose benefits ran out in April.
• Bits & pieces. True to his word, Mayor Dean welcomed 60 new hires into the Nashville Fire Department this week … Beloved-but-storm-damaged Toot’s restaurant reopened in the ‘boro for the first time since last month’s storms … Former Titan Eddie George is all set to be inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame … And in really important news, Jack Daniels is rolling out a new bottle design for their black label … A high-level TDOT official is resigning following an investigation into some alleged fraud.

Photo by Chris Wage.