Happy Friday, Nashville! It’s August 28th. New in Nashville’s neighborhoods today: a new park cafe, restaurant scores in the 60s and 70s, and possible public restrooms downtown.
⚡ Top stories
Weather: ☀️ High: 91, Low: 68. Sunshine this weekend.
This isn’t a formal proposal, but I’m following it for you: when I attended a meeting focused on homelessness in Nashville this week, Metro Council member Jacob Kupin pitched the idea of essentially a triage center for homeless people. One place where they could connect with agencies and groups that can help with everything from getting an ID to housing — similar to the Hospitality Hub in Memphis. He talked about using the former Old Tent City homeless camp property just south of Downtown Nashville and the adjacent former School of the Blind. He said he’s talked to the Metropolitan Development and Housing Agency, along with Metro’s parks department. “Neither have thrown me out of their office,” Kupin said. Sounds like one of the Metro committees that responds to homelessness could decide whether to look into this idea at a meeting next month.
Alleged illegal daycare: after Tennessee’s Department of Children’s Services said it found 17 mostly preschool-aged children in an unlicensed daycare at a home on Strasser Drive in South Nashville, a Metro judge ordered the daycare’s closure. According to a study released earlier this year, Nashville’s licensed child care centers have enough capacity for “just over half of local working families with young children.” Also challenging for families, the study says: “A single parent earning the Davidson County median household income of $51,792 would need to spend 80% of their annual income to cover child care for one infant at the estimated true cost of high-quality care.”
Closing a “loophole”: a new state law requires sheriffs across Tennessee to sign agreements with ICE to, at minimum, help with immigration enforcement at their jails by serving immigration warrants on inmates in the country illegally. Davidson County’s sheriff has said the law doesn’t apply to his agency, essentially because his agency isn’t law enforcement. House Speaker Cameron Sexton told Fox 17, “I think one of our priorities next year is to make sure that the Metro law enforcement officers, the entities in itself, will be registered as 287(g) and take that loophole out.” The sheriff has previously said his agency already cooperates with ICE.
🏠 What’s new in Nashville’s neighborhoods
North Nashville
Rebuilding after truck hits a home: nearly five months ago, an allegedly intoxicated man crashed a Cybertruck into a home at 1400 14th Avenue North and narrowly missed a woman sleeping on a couch, according to WSMV. A building permit has been filed to fix the damage. The cost: more than $100,000.
Downtown (and nearby)
Adding public restrooms: as Nashville’s Downtown Partnership studies the potential for public restrooms in Downtown Nashville, including possible locations, you can give your feedback at a pop-up event tomorrow. It’s at Riverfront Park from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
Croquet Cafe opens tomorrow at Centennial Park. Visit Music City calls it the “first permanent on-site dining destination and nonprofit restaurant brings locally inspired Southern picnic fare.”
Demolition planned: a section of a long strip of mostly bars on Demonbreun Street is set to be demolished. A permit application says 1532 Demonbreun Street will be taken down to the foundation. I’ll let you know when I find out what’s planned for the property.
Donelson
73 health score: a restaurant inspector gave SweetMilk at 329 Donelson Pike a 73 in its latest inspection. Among the inspector’s concerns: “Observed employee remove used gloves and rub body with hands and immediately put on clean gloves without washing hands in between” and “Observed employee use knife to cut open box used to store unwashed produce and then used the same knife to cut limes.” You can read the full inspection here.
Antioch
The latest sweep in a codes audit of Antioch: 17 properties on Wednesday — mostly for junk, broken-down vehicles, and high grass. Owners on Holder Drive, Alison Court, and Runabout Drive have or will receive notices to clean up their properties. I reported earlier this month on what’s behind the audit.
Tomorrow at 9 a.m.: Bulk item drop-off at Compton’s Foodland. More info here.
Whites Creek
63 health score: Don Julio Mexican Grill at 5432 Clarksville Highway received a 63 in its latest restaurant inspection. The inspector noted food storage and temperature issues. You can read the full inspection here.
East Nashville
Tomorrow at 10 a.m.: Adopt-a-Street cleanup for Wilburn Street. More info here.
📰 A few final headlines…
“Sitting duck”: that’s a trucking industry term for what killed a man on I-24, according to a new lawsuit filed in Nashville. His family alleges a trucker left their broken-down semi with no trailer attached in a 70-mile-per-hour travel lane on a dark stretch of I-24 near Old Hickory Boulevard at the Rutherford County line, and he hit it and died. The trucker “did not place a single warning device before walking away” from their truck, the lawsuit alleges. The lawsuit asks the trucking company and driver for $9 million in damages. You can read the full lawsuit here.
Starbucks Workers United, which lists a location in Green Hills among its unionized stores, called for a boycott of Starbucks. Among other things, the group wants a starting pay of $17 per hour and a minimum of “three workers on the floor — always.”
A man who was released from prison and then forced to return because of a federal appeals court ruling is getting out again. Tennessee Governor Bill Lee granted a commutation to Thomas Clardy. Clardy was convicted of a murder in Madison. He’s always maintained his innocence. He’ll be released on parole.
Metro’s school board sat in silence again as a former teacher of the year asked “What will you do to retain qualified teachers and fix the root causes that are driving us away” at this week’s board meeting. Samira Hardcastle got national attention earlier this month when she publicly told the board she resigned after being asked to change a student’s failing grade. A district spokesperson has told media outlets the dispute was about allowing a student to turn in an art project. She also claimed student discipline statistics are skewed because teachers are “banned” from reporting behavioral issues to keep students in the classroom. “I’ve had responses nationwide, yet the people right in front of us say nothing,” Hardcastle said this week. The board typically doesn’t respond to public comments during meetings.
Public vs. private: Metro Nashville Public Schools receives about 40% less state funding per student than private school families receive for each taxpayer-funded school voucher, according to newly released state data. Each school voucher is worth $7,530. Metro receives $4,495 in state funding per student.
Free trees: the deadline is Monday to order up to three free large native trees for your yard courtesy of the Root Nashville campaign. More info here.
🧠 Today’s puzzle: Who said it?
Test your memory of yesterday’s newsletter. Match each quote to one of these options: Heidi Campbell, Marsha Blackburn, Todd Warner, Charlane Oliver
“I will definitely introduce legislation to rename the BNA airport Dolly Parton International Airport!”
“An attempt to silence any senator who dares to speak up for their constituents.”
“The impact of data centers is all local. So the decision should be, too.”
🍔 MAP: click here for restaurant inspections across Nashville
Correction, feedback, question? Just reply to this email or email me directly at ryan@nash.news. I’ll be back in your inbox on Monday. -Ryan