• PSA: Y’all, we have got to do what we can to help #FlattenTheCurve in Nashville, as a study points out we will max out our hospital capacity in a best-case scenario.
• In a somber assessment, Nashville’s boom times have quickly ended with the city heading with the rest of the country into a recession.
• Of particular concern with the above is the city’s construction industry, as it has become difficult to meet deadlines for the major projects in Nashville.
• The Metro Council met Tuesday in a rather odd seating arrangement to space out all 40 council members and staff, but managed to approve a $180 million capital spending plan anyway.
• Police are keeping an eye on a “possible scam” about a truck belonging to a disgraced doctor driving around Nashville offering “free coronavirus testing,” so you should be too.
• Steve Smith has changed his tune on closing his downtown bars after releasing a defiant statement earlier this week saying he would ignore the health department. It was the expected outcome.
• The Davidson County Sheriff’s Office announced that it will not serve eviction notices during the pandemic, following similar actions in other cities around the country.
• It is a worst-case scenario for the local dining scene right now, with several scrambling to come up with ways to keep staff paid and the doors open. One operator of popular downtown locations has laid off 560 (!) staff members.
• East Nashville in particular is struggling, as many restaurants were badly damaged in the May 3 tornadoes.
• There is a crowdfunding campaign by some of the local independent music venues to try and help their staff ride out the current crisis.
• The Watkins College of Art saga took a weird turn this week with the spouse of a state commissioner allegedly pulling a gun on an individual attempting to serve notice of a lawsuit.
• A Brentwood musician has been serenading folks living in an assisted living facility nearby with a guitar. Yes, they seem to enjoy it.
• The Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival will be rescheduled for September 24-27 “out of an abundance of caution.” Most music festivals in the coming months have either been canceled or postponed.
• Tennessee State University will also be moving to online-only instruction this week for the remainder of the semester, following similar decisions by other public universities in the state.
• A story out of Chattanooga (the Colvin brothers and their hand sanitizer hoarding) is being used to make a point about price gouging and how the State’s Attorney General’s office will be investigating any accusation of a business trying to take advantage of the crisis.
• Nashville’s Corsair Distillery will be making some of their own hand sanitizer distilled from gin available to local restaurants.
• Mayor John Cooper would like to remind everyone how important it is that they fill out their decennial Census, which is important in making sure Nashville gets its fair share of state and federal dollars.
• It will be a bit harder to register a car in Davidson County after the county clerk’s office closed two main locations to avoid possible further contact with the virus. Online and kiosk registrations remain available.
• The Iroquois Steeplechase will also be postponed from May 9 to June 27 at Percy Warner Park.
• Demolition has begun at Fairgrounds Nashville to make way for an MLS Stadium, which we assume will still be built in spite of everything else going on right now.
• Some folks made a rather bad decision to leave the country last week and are stranded in Peru. Separately, at least one Nashvillian is in Guatemala.
• You can still fly domestically, and Nashville International Airport has been busy, but health officials are begging folks to cancel trips if at all possible.
• WPLN has a running post covering everything from how the virus has moved school education online and where meal drop-offs will be happening.
• If you need to take your mind off of all of this, Tennessee State Parks are open to hikers (as long as you keep a safe distance from each other and wash your hands).
• You can also check out some of the Nashville Scene’s pets.

Photo by Sleepless Aquarius. Want to see your photo featured here?