• A federal judge has stopped the enforcement of Tennessee’s new bathroom sign law that critics say targets transgendered people after local businesses sued the state on freedom of speech grounds. Nashville’s District Attorney had said he would not prosecute any business that did not post the signage.
• Amazon says that it will pay its Nashville employees to leave their cars at home ($175 per month) if they take public transit, ride share or ride their bikes. The company signed the lease on their space in April of this year following three years of construction.
• A group  protested outside of the Davidson County Courthouse Sunday, demanding criminal justice reform in the wake of a lenient plea deal granted to the officer who shot and killed Daniel Hambrick and other cases of police misconduct.
• Bellevue had a delayed ribbon cutting ceremony on its new fire station last week, postponed from last year because of the pandemic. The station has been in service since August 2020.
• Health officials say that many new COVID-19 cases can be traced back to the Southern Baptist Convention’s annual conference in mid-June. It was one of the first major event hosted after the lifting of most restrictions in the city.
• Now would be a good time to donate to a food pantry, as they are seeing about a 40 percent increase in demand.
• A team at Vanderbilt that is working with NASA on a concept for “air taxis” to ease gridlock.
• The Tennessee Supreme Court declined a petition by the Davidson County Election Commission to hear its appeal directly related to a lawsuit it lost to put several referendums on a special election. That election had been moved from July to September, but now is unlikely to be resolved anytime soon.
• With “road rage” cases on the rise, one group has organized classes focused on avoiding such confrontations before they turn violent.
• A local graduate and track and field star at Texas A&M is on her way to the Tokyo Olympics to represent her home country of Trinidad and Tobago. Organizers announced earlier this month that no fans will be in attendance at this year’s games, delayed from 2020.
• Nashville SC (4-1-7) picked up a 2-2- draw against Atlanta United (2-3-7) Thursday night. The team hosts Chicago Fire (3-7-2) this Saturday.
• Vanderbilt Men’s Basketball got a bit of a boost with standout player Scotty Pippen, Jr. withdrawing from the NBA draft and opting to stay at Vandy for the coming season.
• While all of your Nashvillest staff already knew this, some folks may be wondering why we have a giant replica of the Parthenon in the middle of town.
• A columnist in the Nashville Scene has penned a defense of Nashville’s much-maligned bachelorette parties, arguing that some people hate fun.
• And finally, BABY PORCUPINES!

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