• The Metro Council passed an emergency budget to fill an estimated $41 million hole in the operating budget for the remainder of the fiscal year, with several council members taking exception as to how it was presented and the erroneous statement by mayor John Cooper last week that the city was in receivership. The city’s finance director said that new revenue through property and sales taxes must be explored.
• The decision by the mayor’s office to suddenly slash the Barnes Fund for affordable housing grants by $5 million has had unintended consequences with several Nashville non-profits. That was part of the passed emergency budget.
• Jamari Brown, the city’s economic development director brought on by former mayor David Briley in March, will be leaving at the end of the year. The mayor’s office has been shuffling priorities in light of the aforementioned budget crunch.
• An immigration task force says that the city’s agencies should be more transparent about their interaction with federal immigration authorities, with more consistent approaches in those dealings.
• Belmont University’s law school now says they will conduct a review of policies affecting female students who say they were unfairly treated while pregnant and attending classes. The student newspaper Belmont Vision first broke the story when they interviewed four women on the record about their experiences. ⚖️
• The fourth and final escaped teen from the Juvenile Detention Center has been captured, ending a week-long manhunt that resulted in numerous arrests of family members as well as two jail staff members for “recklessness.”
• A University of Tennessee study says that Nashville area’s population (including the ring counties) could increase by a more than a half million by 2040, up from the current 1.8 million that live in that area now. Davidson County itself is said to grow by about 99,000 people in that time-frame.
• One of our favorite issues of the Nashville Scene is the annual “Boner Awards,” honoring the most newsworthy (or notorious) mistakes made by public officials and entertainers in the last year.
• Nashville-owned Gibson Guitar’s foundation arm wants its $500,000 bedazzled Liberace piano back, but the dealer it sent it to for repairs says it is theirs now. ?
• An apartment blog lists Nashville as the city with the biggest changes in the last decade, a conclusion that’s not too farfetched for those of us who have lived here for longer than that.
• President Trump is said to be considering skipping the presidential debates next year, throwing some doubt on whether Belmont University will actually get to host its big event.
• The Tennessee Titans (8-6) lost a close but critical division game against the Houston Texans (9-5) 24-21, leaving the team on the outside looking in for the playoffs. The Titans host the New Orleans Saints (10-3) next Sunday.
• The Nashville Predators (14-12-5) lost on the road to the Buffalo Sabres (16-11-7) 4-3 on Saturday and 4-1 at home against the Dallas Stars (19-11-4) where a flat second period doomed them. The team are in New York to face the Rangers (16-12-4) tonight.
• A Nashville Public Library exhibit will highlight the march to women’s suffrage, added to the constitution after Tennessee’s legislature ratified by one vote.
• The Nashville Scene has its annual flow chart for helping you pick what to do on New Year’s Eve, if the answer isn’t “stay home in your pajamas.” ?
• The Scene also has a profile on a Nashville artist that paints pictures of historic buildings around town right before they are torn down.

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