• The suspect in the fatal stabbing deaths of two men and the injury of one other outside a midtown bar Saturday night has been arrested, police say. He had previously been labeled a “person of interest” but now is likely to face charges for the murders.
• The city’s tourism agency gifted $3.6 million to help close a more than $42 million budget gap, saying that while not legally required to do so the move makes sense to continue supporting the city’s efforts to keep one of its economic drivers going. Critics have pointed to the booming tourism industry as antithetical of the city’s budge woes.
• A survey conducted by Vanderbilt University shows a growing distrust between Metro Public School students and their gentrifying neighborhoods.
• Former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg opened his state headquarters in Nashville this week for his presidential campaign, but was met with two separate groups of protesters pressing him on support for Medicare for All and the Green New Deal. Bloomberg met with Nashville Mayor John Cooper prior to the event.
• Amazon has purchased a 200,000 square foot building in South Nashville, leading to speculation that it could be used for a grocery store concept. The company owns Whole Foods.
• A blind homeless man was found beaten to death with a fire extinguisher Monday night at the WeGo bus terminal downtown, with the police arresting a 37 year-old suspect in the murder.
• The board of directors for Metro General Hospital say they were unaware of a company representing many of their providers suing their indigent patients and have vowed to stop the practice. The troubled hospital relies on additional funds from the city government to close its budget shortfalls.
• For those of you regularly on 440, TDOT has a construction update for you as they plan to finish up by June 2020. ?
• A series of state commissions must sign off on any plan to remove the controversial bust of Nathan Bedford Forrest from the state capitol as activists and some lawmakers insist the time has come to remove the former slave trader and Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan from a place of honor in the building.
• The Tennessee Titans (8-7) are in the driver’s seat for a wild card spot despite their 38-28 loss to the New Orleans Saints (12-3) on Sunday at Nissan Stadium, thanks to a loss by the Pittsburgh Steelers. They need to win their season finale against the Houston Texans (10-5) on the road to earn a playoff berth, or need a dizzying combination of things to go right without it.
• Titans running back Derrick Henry paid off about $10,000 worth of layaway purchases at an area Walmart before the holidays.
• The Nashville Predators (18-12-6) knocked off the Arizona Coyotes (21-14-4) Monday night at home (following a road trip where they earned 7 of 8 possible points) to get back into the playoff picture. The team will play a back-to-back home-and-home series starting in Nashville tomorrow night against the the Pittsburgh Penguins (21-11-4) before playing the Dallas Stars (20-14-4) in the NHL Winter Classic on New Year’s Day.
• Bar 308 in East Nashville will close after a New Year’s Eve party and re-open later as Camp, a bar themed after the country’s National Parks. ?
• Former music venue The Fontanel is undergoing a renovation to become an artistic resort, the owners say of the Whites Creek property.
• The homeless man in a viral video from the Nashville Rescue Mission died in 2018 and was once a backup singer for country singer Reba McEntire, the organization says.
• Not sure who needs to hear this, but Justin Beiber will play Nissan Stadium in July of 2020. ?
• More than 60 people fostered a dog or cat from MACC over the holiday as part of their effort to give the adoptable pets relief from the shelter.
• We’ll be taking Monday off, so this is the last News Rodeo of the year. Thanks for reading in 2019!

Photo by Sean Davis. Want to see your photo featured here?