It Always Feels Like...
Good afternoon, everyone. Is council playing fast & loose with their own rules regarding surveillance technology?... New $6.6 billion project with South Korea lands near Nashville... Blackburn says CVS is driving up health care costs... And much more!
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MOU regarding downtown surveillance technology leads to questions over council protocol
From Megan Podsiedlik
Tomorrow night, the council is set to vote on a resolution that could set up a memorandum of understanding between Metro and the Nashville Downtown Partnership that outlines how a $15 million state safety grant will be used in Nashville. The MOU includes the use of surveillance technology and has attracted opposition. Some even question whether the council are fully adhering to their own protocols.
Around this time last year, the council narrowly rejected a resolution that would have integrated FUSUS, which dealt with similar surveillance technology. During deliberation over the legislation, the council held a public hearing. Local blogger Mike Lacy is asking why this resolution isn’t getting the same treatment.
“Council held a formal public hearing for FUSUS (software platform, similar to LeoSight) in November 2024 before the December 3 vote,” wrote Lacy. “That’s the precedent.” Many others feel the same.
“Whether these Council Members haven’t taken time to understand what’s actually happening or are deliberately helping the administration reduce their own oversight power, the result is the same: they’re throwing themselves needlessly into a mess of the Mayor’s making,” Lacy continued, before outlining seven issues with the resolution.
HEADLINES
- 🇰🇷 Senator Bill Hagerty goes out of his way to applaud Korea Zinc’s decision to build a $6 billion critical minerals refinery in Tennessee: Major investment strengthens America’s economic and national security, creates high-paying jobs, and demonstrates Tennessee’s unmatched business environment. (Hagerty’s office)
- 🇨🇳 More on Korea Zinc: Record-smashing $6.6B project lands near Nashville—Korea Zinc and the Trump administration announced a record-setting project in Tennessee, in which the two will spend $6.6 billion to undercut China's economic power. (NBJ)
- 💊 Blackburn presses CVS on driving up health care costs and forcing taxpayers to fund fraud (Letter from Blackburn)
QUOTE OF THE DAY
F-ALL THE VOTERS👎 BUT... FAMILY FOR LIFE — Diego Pavia
DEVELOPMENT
- Two Ten Jack eyed for West side (Scene)
- Barbara’s Home Cookin’ to close after nearly 30 years (WSMV)
- Music Row building sells for $5.95M (Post)
- Midtown project developer lands $208.4M loan (Post)
THINGS TO DO
View our calendar for the week 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
🎷 Preservation Hall Jazz Band: Creole Christmas @ Schermerhorn Symphony Center, 7:30p, $60+, Info
🪕 An Evening with Lucinda Williams and Her Band @ The Basement East, 8p, $58.93, Info
🪕 Bluegrass Monday w/ Brenna Macmillan, Mair & Maddie Denton @ Dee's Lounge, 6p, $10, Info
🪕 Val Storey, Carl Jackson, Larry Cordle & New Monday @ Station Inn, 8p, $20, Info
💀 Grateful Monday @ Acme Feed & Seed, 7p, Free, Info
🕺 Motown Monday @ The 5 Spot, 9p, $5, Info
📰 Check out the full newsletter archive here.
Today's newsletter is brought to you by Megan Podsiedlik and Camelia Brennan.