• PSA: Hurricane Ida’s remnants are likely to spawn some severe weather overnight and localized flooding, so keep your weather radio near.
• The surge in COVID cases has led to wait times as long as three hours for testing, prompting city leaders to look to ramp up capacity again.
• Several schools across the mid-state have closed because of staff and student infections, leading a few to return to virtual schooling that was used for much of 2020.
• Officials say Tennessee will eclipse this past winter’s surge in hospitalizations because of the virus this week and they aren’t certain when or where it will peak.
• Vanderbilt University Medical Center reported that as many as 12 pregnant women were in the ICU in recent weeks, a sharp uptick from only seeing one a month during prior months.
• Mid-state hospitals, including VUMC, are also relying on members of Tennessee Army National Guard to support staffing shortages. Hospital capacity is a factor of both the physical space for patients and the nurses and doctors available to care for them.
• Bridgestone Arena announced Saturday that the venue will require proof of a recent negative COVID-19 test in order to see this Friday’s show with Dave Chappelle and Joe Rogan, regardless  of vaccination status. Masks are also required.
• A Nashville couple are being hailed as heroes for saving 17 people in the Waverly floods, using their helicopter to rescue folks trapped on rooftops. The FAA does not condone private citizens attempting to make such rescues, citing the inherent danger.
• The Metro Nashville Police Department has released a public data dashboard detailing the department’s statistics on racial demographics, neighborhood crime rates, and other metrics.
• Tourism officials are joining city leaders in declaring that enough is enough on the growing “transportainment” industry, with a board recently denying more than 30 applications for new pedicabs and other vehicles. Only smaller vehicles can be regulated by the city, with others falling under the state’s jurisdiction.
• The historic Boyd House on the campus of Fisk University is facing a fundraising deadline for renovations to stave off demolition, having raised only a quarter of the $1.1 million needed. The property is named for the late Fisk trustee Henry Allen Boyd, who gave it to the university in 1938.
• The Tennessee Titans closed out the preseason with a 24-27 loss to the Chicago Bears Saturday night at Nissan Stadium, going 2-1 in the newly shortened ramp-up games. The team opens its regular season at home against the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday, September 12.
• The Titans placed quarterback Ryan Tannehill and others on the reserve/COVID-19 list, which kept him off the field in the preseason finale. The team says they have a 97 percent vaccination rate.
• In addition to pledging $50,000 to help rebuild their athletic facilities, the Tennessee Titans have offered Nissan Stadium for Waverly, Tennessee’s football team to use as their “home” field this season after flood waters ravaged their community.
• Nashville SC (8-2-11) picked up a 2-0 win over rival Atlanta United (6-7-9) on the road, their first win in that stadium. The team hosts New York City FC this Friday at Nissan Stadium.
• A 2005 Metro Parks rule could force an historic baseball field to be demolished at Warner Park in order to allow for a “Miracle Field” for special needs kids to be built. No more than six ball fields are allowed according to the rule.
• Metro Council member Jonathan Hall is facing ethics and campaign finance law investigations after a review finances showed incomplete accounting of where the money came from and how it was spent.  Hall admits that he is “terrible with my paperwork.”
• Three local distilleries won awards at two separate national competitions, with spirits from Corsair, Nearest Green, and Pennington Bend receiving recognition.
• A new Metro program aims to house as many as 700 of the city homeless population by offering landlords up to a $1,000 over the security deposit to participate.
• Residents at a Dickerson Pike mobile home park will be able to stay through the end of the year, with the new property owner offering to negotiate compensation for units that cannot be feasibly moved from the property. Workers Dignity Project organized the residents who were facing an uncertain future when the current owner told them to be out by the end of August.
• The 52nd Nashville Film Festival lineup is out, with showings scheduled all around the city in a break from its traditional format.
• And finally, the Nashville Business Journal has an interview with the couple that hopes to bring an amusement park to Middle Tennessee. They say that they are hoping to close on financing for the project soon.

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