• A co-founder of homeless advocacy group Open Table Nashville is criticizing the Cooper administration for its choice of an unused county jail for emergency winter shelters, with some of the those staying this week saying they would rather take their chances with the cold. The city does not intend to change plans.
• Mayor John Cooper is taking a different approach to hiring at City Hall, leaving several positions created by past administrations unfilled and roles less static. The administration is opting against preparing an organization chart.
• A plan to convert the vacant Hickory Hollow Mall into a tech hub will not move forward after the prospective developer says they found numerous issues with the property.
• The WeGo service cuts in September have made the recent burst of cold weather particularly hard on bus riders, with long delays and overcrowded vehicles. ?
• A planned $10.7 million North Nashville transit center will be shelved after the city failed to win a BUILD grant from the federal government. This is the second of such projects to be denied in as many years.
• Cooking personality Guy Fieri is bringing his “Chicken Guy!” restaurant chain to Nashville, prompting some (but not all!) of your Nashvillest staff to wonder if we’ve truly jumped the hot chicken shark.
• It was a bad week for restaurants and breweries, with Mill Creek Brewing, Tenn Sixteen and Stay Golden East all announcing plans to close up shop. Hog Heaven near Centennial Park also announced they were closing at the end of the month.
• Former MNPD officer Andrew Delke’s lawyers and prosecutors presented their arguments Wednesday on whether the trial should be moved out of Davidson County. Delke is charged with killing Daniel Hambrick in 2018.
• A 2.5 acre green space near the Capitol View development has been named in honor of Frankie Pierce, an influential leader in the women’s suffrage movement in Tennessee.
• Police are looking for a male suspect shown on video setting an SUV on fire in front of an Antioch home.
• The operator of the Fairgrounds Speedway Nashville has lost its contract to operate the race track after not paying its rent and some of its contractors, including a fuel suplier. ?
• Justin Jones, a local activist that rose to prominence with his protests at the state capitol, has announced that he intends to enter the primary against US Rep. Jim Cooper (D) of Nashville.
• While student enrollment is down overall in Metro Nashville, schools in the southeastern part of the city are overcrowded, reflecting a population surge in the area.
• A McGavock High School teacher has been charged with animal cruelty following the death of an emu earlier this week, following a surprise inspection of living conditions. The same teacher was under investigation for the death of several alpacas at the school in March.
• A cement work crew plead their case Tuesday night to the Metro Nashville School Board for alleged wage theft on work they did at McMurray Middle School. They say they are owed $43,000.
• The Tennessee Titans broke ground on a 60,000 square foot expansion at its MetroCenter facility, nearly doubling its size.
• The Nashville Predators (9-6-3) lost 5-3 to the Vancouver Canucks (10-6-3) Tuesday night to close out their four-game road trip that netted them only three points in the standings. The team returns to Nashville to host the Chicago Blackhawks (6-7-4) on Saturday.
• The Predators are also looking to build a roster take a youth team to play against one from Dallas during the Winter Classic on January 1, with tryouts held December 1. ?
• Old photos of Nashville feature a frozen Cumberland River, a scene unlikely to happen again thanks to the dam construction projects up river many decades ago.
• City leaders were on hand for the ground breaking of the East Nashville Publix development, which will also include 14 town homes.
• An finally, the Nashville Zoo will open its “Zoolumination” event at the park this Friday, said to be the largest Chinese lantern festival in the country.

Photo by Tom Frundle. Want to see your photo featured here?