• Tennessee turned 223 on June 1! Remember to check your tristars for proper orientation. ?
• The mayor’s office is “hitting the pause button” on the controversial plan to turn over management of the city’s metered parking to a private company after hearing feedback from citizens and council members. The deal would net the city more than $30 million in initial revenue, but see an increase in rates and more aggressive enforcement.
• A disabled veteran’s service dog was severely injured by a person riding a scooter on the sidewalk, who then allegedly fled the scene. The animal will need hip replacement surgery.
• Metro’s cash bail system is again under the microscope, with a new court order creating a roadblock for a fund that bails out non-violent defendants who otherwise would be unable to make bail. Bail bond companies are opposed to the preferential treatment of the fund.
• The Davidson County Election Commission will be holding six demonstration sessions for its new print and scan voting machines, with the first this evening in Hermitage.
• We’ll go with the headline here: Downtown musicians frustrated with taxis cabs in loading zones. ?
• We are more than a little confused about this McDonald’s UK thing where they are serving “The Nashville Chicken” this month, which we suppose is a slightly spicier than normal chicken sandwich, rather than actual hot chicken.
• The National Trust for Historic Preservation has named Nashville’s Music Row neighborhood among its 11 most-endangered places. Preservationists say that the destruction of repurposed houses into apartment buildings is eliminating what’s left of the hit-making area.
• The frolicking naked statues on Music Row will soon be surrounded by fountains if a private fundraising effort secures the estimated $20 million to complete the project. The renamed “Boudleaux and Felice Bryant Fountains of Musica” honor Nashville’s first professional songwriters.
• There’s an election in August for mayor, but as the Nashville Scene says, you may not have noticed yet. The vice mayor and all 40 council seats are on the ballot as well.
• The Downtown Antique Mall off 8th Avenue South closed on Friday, a move vendors says is another sign of the trouble small businesses face downtown. One vendor says he is going to “places that aren’t tearing everything down and throwing their culture away.”
• The USGS detected a small earthquake near Manchester, Tennessee southeast of Nashville and home to Bonnaroo later this month.
• Nissan Stadium hosted the Tennessee Tiny Living Festival, a showcase for so-called “tiny homes” that can be built inexpensively if your property is zoned for it. We hope you really like your roommate, if you have one.
• Root Nashville, a non-profit that aims to plant 500,000 trees in Nashville by 2050, announced that they have planted 5,000 towards its goal and is asking for volunteers. The story, uh, mentions the handful that were removed for the NFL Draft. ?

Photo by Randal Cooper. Want to see your photo featured here?