• Hamilton is coming to Tennessee Performing Arts Center next New Year’s Eve to kick off the 2020 theater season with a 20-day engagement. Most of us haven’t seen it (tickets and travel are expensive, yo), so pretend we made a pop culture reference here. ?
• Mayor David Briley announced Tuesday that his administration will seek $500 million in public funds and an additional $250 million from the private sector to build and support affordable housing in Nashville. The “Under One Roof 2029” initiative would create at least 10,000 housing units over the next decade.
• The city is also undergoing its annual budget hearings, where Metro departments put forward their requests for the next fiscal year. Included are upgrades for the tornado siren system.
• The saga that is the Metro Nashville Public Schools took a surprising turn this week, with the sudden resignation of school board member Will Pinkston and the director saying that he would not seek a contract extension at the end of this school year. There is a lot of finger pointing going on at the moment.
• Separately, the staff of the Tennessee State Board of Education has recommended the suspension of Dr. Shawn Joseph’s license for failing to properly report teacher misconduct cases. That wasn’t likely to help in contract negotiations.
• Next month’s NFL Draft could be the impetus for new scooter regulations downtown. Remember the time before scooters everywhere? ?
• The downtown pizzeria that stayed open until 4 a.m. has been booted from its spot on Church St where it had operated for the last 15 years. The building owner sold the property to make way for the massive Nashville Yards development.
• The proposed land swap for the Church Street Park with developer Tony Giarratana that would have allowed him to build a skyscraper on the lot has fallen apart, with the city now re-opening the project for outside proposals. The plan has been met with stiff opposition from activists and the nearby Hermitage Hotel.
• The Nashville Predators (43-28-6) clinched a spot in the playoffs with a 1-0 win over the Minnesota Wild (35-33-9) Monday night on the road. The Preds take on the Pittsburgh Penguins (42-24-11) tomorrow night on the road before hosting the Columbus Blue Jackets (42-30-4) on Saturday.
• Defenseman Dante Fabbro signed a three-year entry level contract with the Predators after finishing up his season with Boston College. Much better outcome than the whole Jimmy Vesey situation a few years ago.
• Mike Vrabel, head coach of the Tennessee Titans, will actually be the head coach of the video game version of the football team in Madden 20, new mustached-look and all. Well, if he submits the right paperwork. ?
• A man allegedly dropped his loaded handgun while drinking at a downtown bar, which was then turned in to the bar staff by another patron. He was arrested for possession of a firearm while drinking.
• Fans of documentary filmmaker Ken Burns will be delighted to hear that he is donating more than 100 interviews to the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. The interviews were among the source material for his latest film, Country Music.

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