• Metro Nashville Public School administrators are renewing calls for the state legislature to pursue higher teacher pay and better classroom support, with board members saying that money already allocated for education could be used to accomplish that goal.
• The Oasis Center is launching a “rapid rehousing” initiative to reduce cases of homelessness among 18-24 year-olds, saying that stabilizing their living situation helps them find work and reduces the chance of experiencing homelessness again in the future.
• The upcoming budget cycle is likely to be contentious as John Cooper’s first as mayor, with many departments saying they will be forced to lay off staff if funding is not increased. Metro Animal Care & Control says they are in “crisis mode” in dealing with the city’s strays and dangerous animals. ?
• Mayor John Cooper and motorsports executives met with Governor Bill Lee Tuesday to pitch ideas for the Fairgrounds property that is projected to house both an MLS stadium and auto racing. The meeting didn’t net any announcements, but the mayor predicts both the MLS and NASCAR can coexist on the property.
• The US Army Corps of Engineers is monitoring rainfall levels as they regulate the water that flows through the series of locks and damns along the Cumberland River. Nashville experienced devastating floods 10 years ago this May. ?
• Homes near Robertson and Annex in West Nashville report a foul smell in the air, leading at least one homeowner to contemplate moving. Officials suspect a nearby quarry is to blame.
• Fairgrounds Nashville board members are calling on the mayor’s office to begin demolition for the MLS stadium, saying that the time to debate the project has passed. Echoing that position is the Nashville Chamber and various other companies.
• Former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg spoke for about 13 minutes in Nashville yesterday at Rocketown on the first day of early voting in the state.
• A worker suffered a medical emergency atop a 200 ft. cell phone tower in LaVergne Wednesday afternoon, prompting a rescue effort by several emergency departments.
• A man told police that a woman punched him at his 50th birthday party on Lower Broadway for wearing a hat styled after the president’s red “Make America Great Again” hats.
• A report finds that the Nashville Codes Administration department is stretched thin, without enough vehicles to get inspectors to their appointments and staff to keep up with the work load. ?
• Tennessee is known as the ‘Volunteer State,’ but it never had an official nickname until legislators proposed rectifying that this week.
• The Nashville Predators (26-22-7) dropped a 6-2 game to the Vancouver Canucks (31-21-5) to close out their four-game road trip with two wins and two losses. The team is back in action tonight at home against the New York Islanders (33-16-6) before back-to-back games Saturday and Sunday with the division leading St. Louis Blues (32-15-9).
• The Predators are 11 days from the trade deadline, and the star players on the roster are under the microscope (and sometimes, on the bench for longer than they’d like). Optimism is getting harder to come by for this year’s team, but we promise hockey players aren’t actually looking for other jobs.
• Vanderbilt University could be looking for a new football coach depending on whether head coach Derek Mason opts to pursue a job at the University of Colorado. The university recently parted ways with its athletic director.
• We already knew 2019 was a good one for tourism, but the Convention & Visitor’s Bureau now says that the year was also broke a record for direct spending with $26.6 million attributed to the New Year’s eve event downtown. More than 5,000 new hotel rooms will come online this year, with another 9,000 in the works. ?
• News Channel 5 has a rather short but informative video on the history of Fort Negley.
• We weren’t really prepared to see the old Yazoo Tap Room torn down, y’all. ?

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