• Nashville has been awarded Major League Soccer’s lone 2019 expansion franchise bid, with the locally owned team set to begin play at Nissan Stadium before moving to a proposed soccer-specific venue at the current Tennessee State Fairgrounds. Local business and community leaders attended an event yesterday at the Country Music Hall of Fame to formally announce the plans.
• A judge dismissed the lawsuit brought by the group “Save our Fairgrounds” that is opposed to the stadium plans, saying that the plaintiffs are not (yet) able to prove damages. Metro council is to review any demolition work on the property.
• Our neighbors to the east in Memphis pulled off a carefully orchestrated — and rather clever — maneuver to remove confederate monuments from their city parks by selling those parks for $1,000 each to a private non-profit that immediately began the process of removing the statues. The statues will be stored at an undisclosed location for security reasons.
• Downtown honky-tonks are banding together to oppose new design guidelines in what they say is government overreach. The Metropolitan Historic Zoning Commission is set to adopt guidelines relating to exterior lighting, rooftop additions, signage and vacant lots.
• The massive $5.4 billion transit plan cleared its first hurdle Tuesday night as it was introduced to the metro council for consideration. The measure creates a referendum vote on May 1.
• Along with other business Tuesday, the Metro Council approved a measure to rename a stretch of road in Madison from Cheron Road to Creative Way. The road is home to Nossi College of Art.
• In a continuing rough month for MNPS, the school system is now under fire for throwing a holiday party for central office staff and not inviting teachers. The door prizes included cash and televisions.
• Nashville is creating the city’s first land trust in an effort to stem gentrification in certain neighborhoods. It works by the trust purchasing the property and acting as landlords.
• The Nashville Predators (21-8-4) saw their seven-game point streak snapped at home with a 6-4 loss at home to the Winnipeg Jets (20-10-5) on Tuesday. They take on the Carolina Hurricanes (14-12-7) tonight at Bridgestone Arena before flying to Dallas to take on the Stars (18-14-3) on Saturday.
• Here’s a story about the mayor’s bracelets, for some reason. We’re going to go with “slow news day.”
• You might recall from the 2010 Nashville Flood that there were rumors of escaped piranhas from Opry Mills. Well, WPLN has (again) investigated that claim and says the urban legend lacks teeth.
• The Justice A.A. Birch Building, home of the city’s courts, was briefly locked down yesterday while HAZMAT crews inspected a letter containing a suspicious substance.
• NYC-based Shake Shack officially announced its Green Hills location opening in the middle of next year, ending several months of speculation. The rumors had originally put it at the Fifth+Broadway development downtown.
• PSA: Airport construction may mean you need to budget some additional time before your flight home for the holidays.

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