Mega Council Meeting

Good afternoon, everyone.

There's what can only be described as a Mega Metro Council meeting tonight. Megan's got some details on what to expect below and highlights another dumb resolution put up by the council calling for an end to violence between Israel and Palestine. I'm sure that'll go someway to resolving that ancient conflict.

In other news, News Channel 5 reported on a "new type of lawsuit" that seeks to hold The Parking Spot—one of those long-term, airport area parking facilities—responsible for an incident in which a police officer was shot by a gun stolen from a vehicle in their lot. The lawsuit claims they failed to secure vehicles parked in the lot adequately.

It's a variation on the effort by Rep. Caleb Hemmer (D-Nashville) to pass legislation holding gun owners responsible for improperly storing guns in their vehicles. So far this year, 541 guns, comprising 70 percent of all gun thefts, have been taken from vehicles. Last year at this same time, 602 guns had been stolen.

Since the last time I wrote about this, MNPD has added a breakdown by zip code allowing you to see where most of the guns are stolen from. In 2022, for example, most guns were stolen from vehicles in Edgehill/The Gulch area by a factor of two. Donelson, Germantown, Downtown, and Antioch were close behind.

And towards the bottom of this email, you'll find some streaming suggestions for the week if you're hiding from the heat inside like a coward. Embrace the sweat.

Onward.

🗣️ Negotiating With Protesters ``The Metropolitan County Council goes on record as supporting an end to violence between Israel and Palestine,” reads a resolution that will go to vote during tonight’s Metro Council meeting. “The Metropolitan Council further goes on record as supporting all of Nashville’s Palestinian, Israeli, Muslim, and Jewish residents and condemns antisemitic and Islamophobic rhetoric and attacks.”

Shoehorned into a docket that includes a final vote on the Metro budget and the introduction of both Mayor O’Connell’s transit referendum and the East Bank Development Authority, the resolution would codify the council’s stance on the current unrest in Gaza. Since October 7th, the body has been faced down by galleries full of pro-Palestinian atendees. After months of trying to corral protesters, who continued to find clever ways to circumvent the speaking rules during public comment periods, the council relented: Last month, they voted to remove Rule 28’s limitations and open up public discussions to every topic, regardless of its relevance to Metro’s docket. It just so happens that tonight will be the first regular meeting where the change is officially in effect. MEGAN PODSIEDLIK

⚖️ A Hearing for What? Yesterday, Star News Network CEO Michael Patrick Leahy and his attorney Daniel Horwitz expected to appear in chancery court to defend the right of his newspaper to publish leaked writings and documents related to the Covenant tragedy. Instead of deliberating over whether Leahy was in “contempt of court,” Judge I’Ashea Myles conducted what she called a “landscape hearing,” which left everyone confused. “Last week I was prepared to issue a 60-plus page ruling on the ins and outs of this particular case,” announced Myles. “I was ready to issue my ruling when I was informed that perhaps something had come about in this case.”

That something was the Star’s publication of the documents—which, according to Myles, may render her decision about whether the Covenant documents are subject to open records requests null and void. There’s no word on what will happen next but, until then, Leahy is a free man, and just about everyone seems to agree that the whole thing is a sham. DAVIS HUNT

📑 Title IX And The Social Change Agenda Yesterday, a federal judge pumped the brakes on the Biden administration’s “attempt to replace Title IX language with [a] social change agenda.” Those words topped a press release issued by the attorney general’s office following a court opinion to temporarily restrain the enactment of the changes in Tennessee, Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana, Virginia, and West Virginia pending a final ruling. “This is a big win for the Constitution and the people of Tennessee,” said AG Skrmetti in the statement.  “If the rule we stopped had been allowed to go into effect on August 1 as scheduled, Tennessee schools and universities would have to let boys into girls’ locker rooms and other private spaces.” 

As the Biden administration tries to “build on the legacy of Title IX,” by redefining “sex” to include “gender identity,” schools across the state have been preparing to address the change’s implications. Superintendent Jason Golden has confirmed that regardless of the suit’s status, Williamson County Schools will adhere to the new language— but not everyone will be happy with the district’s decision. 

Last month, a debate broke out at a Williamson County Board of Education meeting about the potential rule change. Braunwyn Windham-Burke, former cast member of The Real Housewives of Orange County and mother to a gender-nonconforming child, spoke in support of the change: “We can save children’s lives, we can keep our kids alive.”  According to News2, members of Moms for Liberty were also in attendance and raised objections to the new Title IX provisions. “There are a whole group of kids who are going to feel intimidated if they use the wrong pronouns,” said chapter member Carolyn Brown. “The other thing we need to look at is the big picture. The way these changes have occurred has not been constitutional.” MEGAN PODSIEDLIK

DEVELOPMENT

• Music Row building once owned by famed vocalist sells for $1.55M (Post)
• Stately west side apartment building sells for $2.75M (Post)
• Mixed-use Sylvan Park building sells for $2.47M (Post)

✹ THIS WEEK IN STREAMING (June 18th)

Miller’s Girl (Netflix) Martin Freeman is the hobbity washed-up writer teaching English at a rural Southern Gothic Tennessee high school. Jenna Ortega is his wunderkind smalltown protege who hungers for experience and idolizes Henry Miller. Of course, a movie mining this subject matter earned some scathing reviews and courted controversy. That’s because Tennessee native Jade Bartlett’s debut is the kind of drama that cuts through the sexual politics bromides with a gleeful PC abandon that makes it a worthy heir to David Mamet’s Oleanna.

Smiling Friends (Max/Hulu Premium) It’s been over two years since this surreal animated workplace sitcom about four employees of a company tasked to bring unbridled joy to its clients reminded Adult Swim audiences of the bawdy fun the semi-network had in its glory days, but season two is finally on tap. Pitch black, hilarious, and wildly surreal, it captures our toxic Clown World ennui like nothing else on TV.

Monkeyman (Peacock) Dev Patel shows he’s no longer the cherubic kid from Slumdog Millionaire as the titular hero who rises from the dregs of India’s underground fight clubs to take on the corrupt political syndicate responsible for his mother’s death. Backed by Jordan Peele as exec producer and quadruple threating as writer/director/star/producer, Patel proves himself a real-deal filmmaker more than ready for mainstream stardom. A movie that’s sure to remain one of 2024’s best and the best James Bond audition tape one could make.

THINGS TO DO

View our calendar for the week here and our weekly film rundown 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 and yearly festival guide.

TONIGHT

🎸 Baroness @ The Basement East, 8p, $38.02+, Info
+ heavy metal

🪕 The Tennessee Warblers @ Station Inn, 8p, $20, Info

🎸 Elliot Greer @ The Basement, 8:30p, Free, Info

🎸 Buck N Stuff @ Dee's Lounge, 7p, $5, Info
+ Buck Owens tribute band

🎺 Todd Day Wait @ The Underdog, 11:00p, Free, Info‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌
+ Honky Tonk Tuesday afterparty, down the street

🎸 Honky Tonk Tuesday @ American Legion Post 82, 8p, Free, Info‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌
+ two-step lessons @ 7p, The Cowpokes @ 8p