Good morning, Nashville. News Channel 5′s investigative team found that County Clerk John Arriola has been charging a $40 fee for his employees to perform weddings, and then pocketing the cash. Though the state allows employees to collect gratuities in this situation–and Arriola insists that the $40 charge is just that–NC5′s team found that it wasn’t necessarily marketed as such. It’s estimated that Arriola collected as much as $33,000 in wedding gratuities last year on top of his $115,000 salary and has now agreed to start donating all the proceeds to charity in addition to providing a written statement to the happy couples specifying that the fee is optional.
- Council meeting flare-up. After Metro Councilmen Jim Gotto and Phil Claiborne shot down his resolution honoring high schoolers who protested the Don’t Say Gay bill, district 5 councilman Jamie Hollin busted out some, er, colorful language on his two colleagues and then stormed out of the chambers. And then he went home and blogged about it.
- Still rebuilding. Lighthouse Christian School, which infamously floated down I-24 during the flood last year, has broken ground on Phase II of their rebuilding effort. Phase I involved ABC’s Extreme Makeover: Home Edition rolling into town and giving them quite the facelift, but unfortunately the space was only big enough to house their four-year olds.
- Bits & pieces. Those fountains at the Bicentennial Mall won’t be coming back on anytime soon … There’s a new farmer’s market in town, just for seniors … Surprise! Someone’s suing Kenny Britt … The Preds drafted another giant goalie (no, seriously, he’s 6’5″) to complete their trifecta of giant goalies. And also his name is Magnus … The fireworks vendor that allegedly cut and run with Gallatin’s money says they only received a partial deposit … The NFL lockout doesn’t show any signs of stopping … It’s going to be hot and humid today, as usual.
Photo by Eva Maria.
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