• The Metro Council added two new members and reappointed a third to Nashville’s Community Oversight Board that handles cases of alleged police misconduct. In its first year of board rotation, six people qualified for the open slots compared to 150 when the board was created.
• A Metro Council member has proposed a bill that would prevent a non-owner-occupied short-term rental from operating within 100 feet of a school, church, daycare, or park.
• Nashville will challenge the state’s private school voucher program in court, which allows money for public schools to instead be diverted into effectively coupons off the cost of tuition for private schools. Only Nashville and Memphis residents were eligible for the vouchers.
• A student-teacher has been dismissed after giving a classroom assignment entitled “Let’s Make A Slave” to a group of fourth graders at Waverly-Belmont Elementary. Metro Schools has apologized for the incident.
• A State Senator has proposed a law aimed at so-called “porch pirates” to increase the fines and jail time for repeat offenders. The new classification would call for up to 12 years in prison and a $5,000 fine.
• The Fraternal Order of Police, the union representing the city’s officers, is again raising the alarm about an officer shortage, citing below market salaries for most positions on the force.
• WPLN has a roundup of the current status of the MLS Stadium development at Fairgrounds Nashville which was thrown into doubt after a series of letters last week between the mayor and the team’s owner and exasperated advocates of the Community Benefit Agreement for the project. In a separate move, a judge has ruled that the lawsuit to block the stadium’s construction will go to trial in May or June.
• A judge has found probable cause to send an animal cruelty case involving a former Metro Schools teacher to a grand jury, and raised the question of whether the principal and other administrators are partly to blame.
• A group of large businesses are calling on the state legislature to stop targeting the LGBT community after a string of bills have raised fears of consumer backlash against the state.
• The conservative think-tank Beacon Center has filed a lawsuit against the city for requiring developers to build or replace sidewalks if they want their building permits approved. The group says that it is unfair to make citizens build infrastructure.
• The Nashville Predators (25-20-7) knocked off the Winnipeg Jets (26-23-5) 2-1 in overtime Tuesday night to start their four-game Western Canada road trip. It continues tonight against the Calgary Flames (27-21-6) and Saturday against the Edmonton Oilers (28-19-6).
• Vanderbilt University has named former student athlete Candice Storey Lee as its interim Athletic Director following the resignation of Malcom Turner on Tuesday. She is the first female AD for the school and the first African American woman to head an SEC program.
• The Hermitage Hotel has been named the best hotel in Tennessee by U.S. News and World Report.
• Congressman Jim Cooper has boosted his fundraising efforts after drawing two challengers in the Democratic primary. Voting in that primary is set for August 6.
• If you need your 90s nostalgia fix, the Goo Goo Dolls will play Ascend Amphitheater in August.

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