• An antiviral pill partially developed at a Vanderbilt University Medical Center lab may help treat COVID-19 at home if approved by the FDA. The pill doesn’t replace vaccines, but can reduce the need for hospitalization.
• The new high school in Bellevue will be named after Rev. James Lawson, a civil rights activist and organizer of the Nashville sit-ins credited with desegregating the city’s lunch counters. The school is expected to open in 2023 and replaces Hillwood Comprehensive High School that is slated for redevelopment.
• Tennessee’s graduation rate slid for the second straight year after seven years of increases prior to the pandemic’s start. Only 88.7 percent of high school students graduated on time last year, down from the 2019 high of 89.7 percent.
• Consumer groups say to beware of scams this holiday season, disguised as surveys or online shopping discounts aimed at stealing your information.
• Police say a woman punched a flight attendant and pulled the hair of another on a flight from Fort Lauderdale, Florida and had to be restrained with zip ties. Assault cases aboard airplanes have increased significantly during the pandemic.
• The Nashville Fair Board has a second vacancy following a stalemate over the appointment process of new board members, with some pressuring the Metro Council to intervene and increase the board’s diversity.
• If you planned to include Gaylord Opryland as part of your holiday lights tour, make sure you go during a weekday as the hotel’s policy prohibits non-paying guests from doing so on the weekend.
• A Goodwill of Middle Tennessee employee received a 1998 Toyota Camry as part of their Wheels to Work program after nearly two years of walking to work.
• News Channel 5 has an interview with Rev. Enoch Fuzz, a local pastor and community leader recently diagnosed with cancer but continuing to work to feed the city’s hungry.
• Nashville SC fell on penalty kicks to Philadelphia Union in the Eastern Conference semifinal game last night after battling to a 1-1 draw, ending their season. The team will resume play next February.
• In better news, the new soccer stadium at Fairgrounds Nashville will be ready for games by the end of April, meaning that Nashville SC will start the season on a long road trip before playing all 17 home games in their new digs. Construction of the purpose-built stadium is ahead of schedule and said to be on budget.
• The Tennessee Titans (8-4) lost their second game in a row with a depleted roster, this time to the New England Patriots (8-4) 36-13 in Foxborough. Next week is the team’s bye week before hosting the Jacksonville Jaguars (2-9) December 12.
• The Nashville Predators (11-9-1) beat the New Jersey Devils (9-6-4) 4-2 Friday at home before dropping a 6-2 to the Colorado Avalanche (11-6-1) Saturday on the road. The Preds host the Columbus Blue Jackets (12-7-0) tomorrow night.
• An AXIOS report says that NASCAR could be returning to the Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway, with an announcement on timing coming as soon this week.
• The family of a man killed in 2018 is still hoping for someone to come forward with information about who may have tossed a piece of concrete off the I-24 overpass near Nissan Stadium that struck his car’s windshield. Police say there have been no leads in the case despite a $10,000 reward.
• The Tennessee Library and State Archives hosted a Family History Day this Saturday, highlighting the services they offer to assist with genealogy research.
• About a dozen folks participated in a commemorative walk in the Whites Creek neighborhood honoring the victims of the Trail of Tears, an ethnic cleansing tragedy most closely associated with Andrew Jackson in the 1800s.
• Rock Bottom Brewery (formerly called Big River Grill) has closed on Lower Broadway after a 25-year run in Nashville as the last remaining microbrewery established before the city’s craft brewing scene blossomed. No word yet on a new tenant for the building.
• The Nashville Humane Association could use your support as they look to raise money to replace their mobile adoption van you’ve probably seen rolling around town for the last 15 years (that’s a really long time in van-years).

Photo by Sharon Mollerus. Want to see your photo featured here?