• Metro School teachers are calling in sick again today and organizing a demonstration downtown to protest what they say is the under-funding of the public school system in Nashville. ?
• Nashville’s WeGo public transit system may have to raise fares or decrease bus service because of a $8.7 million budget shortfall, despite overall ridership being up slightly. Officials attribute the gap to a decrease in state funding and reduced revenue fare revenue after offering free transfers.
• Downtown bar owner Steve Smith has put out a video targeting aggressive panhandling, saying it damage the city’s reputation and tourism. Homeless advocates decry the piece as cruel.
• A Frank Sinatra themed bar is planned for Printer’s Alley after the owner bought the building outright. Similar projects have been launched in Las Vegas. ?
• Immigrant advocates Conexión Américas has hired new executive director Juliana Ospina Cano as a successor to founder Renata Soto who will be stepping down in July.
• Georgia will not be coming for Tennessee’s water after the state’s governor vetoed the creation of a commission to negotiate correcting a perceived surveying error after Tennessee did not sign on (again).
• Police say a man’s passengers realized he was not their Uber driver after he was pulled over for drunk driving. Seriously, double check you’re getting in the right car.
• Tennessee will begin issuing new driver’s licenses starting in July that are compliant with the federal Real ID requirements, which will start being required for certain air travel in 2020. ?
• An East Nashville man is accused of renting out a house to tenants even though he didn’t own it. The property owner was rather surprised to find people living there.
• The federal policy that directs donated organs to those in greatest need rather than proximity to the donor has taken effect in spite of lawsuits from Vanderbilt University Medical Center and others. Critics of the policy say that donations will go to more populous regions with fewer donors per capita.

Photo by Dale Cruse. Want to see your photo featured here?