Is Big Pharma Loading The Gun?
💊 The role drugs play in school shootings · The TVA Nuclearizes · Pride comes before the fall · Tennessee's election security · Joyride Aficionado of the Day · Much more!
Good afternoon, everyone. What's to blame for school shooters... The TVA nuclearizes... Tennessee ranks high in election security... Today's joyride aficionado gets put behind bars... And much more!
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This July, a new Tennessee law went into effect that mandates testing for psychotropic and gender-altering drugs in assailants after mass shootings. Not only will the testing be mandated, but the University of Tennessee’s Health Science Center will analyze the results to study links between pharmaceuticals, mental health, and mass shooting incidents.
While some Tennessee Democrats argue the focus should be on guns, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced a federal study to investigate connections between prescription drugs and mass shootings, despite NIH findings claiming there isn’t a link.
State Senator Rusty Crowe (R-Johnson City) and Representative Mary Littleton (R-Dickson) sponsored the Tennessee bill. You may recall that Andrew Thibault, co-founder of the former nonprofit Parents Against Pharmaceutical Abuse, raised questions about the efficacy of Audrey Hale’s toxicology report released by the Davidson County Medical Examiner in the Senate Health and Welfare Committee in 2024.
Thibault not only presented extensive evidence that prescriptions have been linked to mass shootings, but also indicated that the medical examiner may have purposefully botched the request for Hale’s report. MEGAN PODSIEDLIK
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☢️ Power Plants, The Devil, & The TVA The Tennessee Valley Authority and ENTRA1 Energy have joined forces on an agreement to develop six new nuclear power plants. The sites will power up to 4.5 million homes or 60 new data centers in TVA’s seven-state region.
“TVA is leading the nation in pursuing new nuclear technologies, and no utility in the U.S. is working harder or faster than TVA.” said Don Moul, TVA President and CEO, in a press release. “This agreement with ENTRA1 Energy highlights the vital role public-private partnerships play in advancing next-generation nuclear technologies that are essential to providing energy security - reliable, abundant American energy - and creating jobs and investment across the nation.”
In other TVA news, country music star John Rich released a song called “The Devil and the TVA” last week. “This song recounts the battle between the Tennessee Valley Authority and the citizens of Cheatham County, Tennessee,” opens the music video. “The TVA has existed since 1933 and has rained down destruction on American landowners for over 90 years. This song is dedicated to all those who stood their ground.”
💸 New Money In D7 As Early Voting Approaches Over the weekend, the House Freedom Fund launched a digital and radio campaign in support of state Rep. Jody Barrett in the special election to fill the vacated Congressional seat in District 7.
According to State Affairs, the group has invested almost $150,000 in the endeavor. This a month after the School Freedom Fund released a digital ad targeting Barrett for past attacks on President Trump and his opposition to Tennessee’s Education Freedom Act.
Meanwhile, the Patriot Fund, a nonprofit focused on helping military veterans, is throwing cash at former General Services Commissioner and servicemember Matt Van Epps. Early voting for District 7 primaries will be open from September 17 to October 2. Check out the candidates here.
🏳️🌈 Pride Comes Before the Fall As promised, Nashville Pride began naming the companies that withdrew support for the annual festival. Cracker Barrel, Nissan, Dollar General, Jack Daniel’s, and VUMC all backed out of the 2025 Pride Festival, according to the organization as they continue their fundraiser to make up for the ensuing $250,000 funding gap. As of press time, they’ve raised just under $60,000 with 37 days remaining until the fundraiser concludes on October 11th, National Coming Out Day.
🗳️ Strong Election Security Tennessee tied for first with Arkansas in the Heritage Foundation’s annual election integrity scorecard. Tennessee has claimed the top spot in all four years the think tank has produced the scorecard, ranking high for its voter ID requirements, maintaining clean and accurate voter rolls, and secure verification procedures for absentee ballots.
DEVELOPMENT
- Dolly Parton hotel eyes agreement for park renovations, fire station (NBJ)
- Bearded Iris to shutter Sylvan Park taproom (NBJ)
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🚗 Joyride Aficionado of the Day MNPD nabbed a street racing mastermind who goes by @sunriseboyz_ceo on Instagram, where he promotes street takeovers and races across the Southeast. The way the police punish these guys is by nabbing them for "inciting riots" when they take over an intersection. Orellana likes to hang out the window of a car doing donuts, marketing his Sunrise Boyz brand with a sign that reads "Stay back or get smacked." You can get a Sunrise Boyz hoodie on his Shopify.
THINGS TO DO
View our calendar for the week here and for more recs, click here.
📅 Visit our On The Radar list to find upcoming events around Nashville.
🎧 On Spotify: Pamphleteer's Picks, a playlist of our favorite bands in town this week.
👨🏻🌾 Check out our Nashville farmer's market guide.
TONIGHT
🎸 Alejandro Escovedo @ The Blue Room, 7p, $52.01, Info
🪕 DownRiver Collective @ Station Inn, 9p, $20, Info
🪕 Caamp @ Ascend Amphitheater, 7p, $57+, Info
✨ Big Wild @ Marathon Music Works, 8p, $41.25, Info
🎸 Spacey Jane @ Brooklyn Bowl Nashville, 8p, $35.80, Info
🍀 Live Irish Music @ McNamara’s Irish Pub, 6p, Free, Info
🎸 Kelly’s Heroes @ Robert’s Western World, 6:30p, Free, Info
🎸 Open Mic @ Fox & Locke, 6:30p, Free, Info
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Today's newsletter is brought to you by Megan Podsiedlik, Camelia Brennan, and Davis Hunt.