No. 297: How Early Voting's Going

Good morning, everyone.

Thanks to all who came out to Bar Hours last night. We never know who's going to show up (no RSVP function), so it's always a pleasant surprise when people do show up. These are interesting times we live in, to put it mildly, and it's more important than ever that the people willing to endure the slings and arrows by refusing to goose-step to our present government's fiddle get together in person.

You can achieve a simulacrum of this by interacting with people online as many of the younger folks—me included—do. But that is no replacement for getting together in person which energizes and encourages you on a whole different level.

We'll see y'all in a month!

Onward.

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Also, be sure to check out our podcast. New episodes every Monday. Available wherever you get your podcasts.

Thanks for reading.

WEEKEND PLAYLIST

✦ EARLY VOTING TURNOUT IN TENNESSEE

Early voting is underway across Tennessee for the August General and Primary election. Today we’ll take a look at the early voting turnout so far, go over Charter Amendment No. 1 that’s up for vote in Davidson County, and throw in some quick reminders.

REPUBLICAN AND DEMOCRAT EARLY VOTING TURNOUT

The Secretary of State has reported voter turnout for Republicans and Democrats across Tennessee for the first five days of early voting. Davidson County’s August ballot is record-breaking in length (it is the longest in Davidson history and absentee mail-in ballots require extra stamps because of the weight) and the early voting turnout in Davidson is also setting records.

1,134 Republican ballots have been cast in Davidson county as of Wednesday. That is a 54% increase in Republican early turnout compared to the 736 Republicans who cast their votes in the first five days for 2018 early voting. Democrats in Davidson are also coming out early in droves with 2,466 votes cast; a 19% increase from 2018. Overall, There is a decrease in Republican early voting turnout across the state of 18.89% compared to 2018, and a 26.68% decrease among Democrats.

ON THE BALLOT: CHARTER AMENDMENT NO. 1

There are four charter amendments up for vote on the Davidson county ballot. Arguably, the most important one is Charter Amendment No. 1.

This amendment makes it much more difficult for the Metro Charter to be amended by petition. If citizens want to file an amendment that makes changes to the Metro Charter, it will require signatures from 10% of those registered to vote in Davidson county within 90 days. The current requirements are that a petition must be signed by 10% of the number of voters who cast ballots in the previous general election. This means that, if ratified, the number of signatures required would be much higher than before. An example of when citizens exercised this right was when 14k people signed a petition against the 34% property tax increase. This new amendment would make it very difficult to get enough signatures to petition anything passed by Metro council.

When asked why the council supported a Charter Amendment (which makes the democratic process more difficult for citizens) Council Member Bob Mendes said that the legal battles due to the current Charter Amendment is just costing Metro too much in litigation fees.

GET OUT AND VOTE

• Early voting continues through Saturday, July 30.
• Election day is Thursday, August 4.
• To find your early voting polling location/other info visit GoVoteTN.

HEADLINES

• Study: One in Five New Tennesseans from California (Star) “Our 2022 data shows that California is the largest contributor to Tennessee’s population increase,” according to a MoveBuddha study. “Nearly a quarter (22.14%) of all search queries for moves into Tennessee are from the Golden State.”
• CDC Pushing Return To Masks For 7 Middle Tennessee Counties (TCN) They list twenty-three counties in Tennessee as “high” risk. The majority of these counties are found in West and Middle Tennessee, but a few East Tennessee counties made their list as well
• Montgomery County 80 bus drivers short, days before school starts (Channel 5) CMCSS currently has 80 bus driver vacancies. For perspective, that's out of 330 drivers total. That means nearly a quarter of their available drivers are unfilled.

POLITICS

• Rutherford County School Board Member Issues Statement Supporting Charter Schools (TCN) Whether you believe we do, or do not, the fact of the matter is that our Governor & legislature have made it clear that they do, and most parents have made it clear they want more “school choice” for their children.
• TennCare makes changes in response to federal requests (Post) TennCare has responded to requests from the federal government to make changes to its policies and budgeting strategy.

DEVELOPMENT

• New details emerge for downtown YMCA redevelopment set to include 60-story tower (NBJ)
• Berry Hill apartment complex sells for $14.15M (Post)
• Local investor sells property near downtown for $5.2M (Post)
• A first look at Woolworth Theatre's renovation of historical building (Tennessean)

➫ CHART OF THE DAY: SO, IT'S SETTLED

After a recent, groundbreaking review revealed that depression is not the result of "low serotonin levels" and instead arises from stressful life conditions, it begs the question of what antidepressants are doing to people.

⚔ MISSIVES ⚔

• 🚼 The House on Thursday passed a bill that would protect access to contraception on a federal level, as Democratic lawmakers say they fear the recent Supreme Court ruling ending the constitutional right to an abortion could endanger other protections.
• 🇷🇺 Russia and Ukraine agreed Friday to resume exports of millions of tons of Ukrainian grain via the Black Sea for the first time since the Russian invasion, a deal aimed at freeing up vital supplies amid fears of a global food crisis.
• 🤡 A 43-year-old man accused of attacking Representative Lee Zeldin (R., N.Y.) with a sharp object at a campaign stop in upstate New York on Thursday evening was charged with a felony and released from custody just hours after his arrest, police said.
• 🏛 The Supreme Court denied an emergency request from the Biden administration to reinstate its immigration enforcement guidelines after a lower court in Texas temporarily blocked them.
• 💸 The U.S. dollar is stronger than it has been in decades and the effects of its rapid rise are reverberating across the globe. The WSJ Dollar Index, which measures the greenback against a basket of 16 currencies, rose 8.7% through June to notch its best first half since 2010. It is up another 1.4% this month through Thursday.
• ⛽️ Shrinking flows of Russian natural gas to Europe have triggered a global race among U.S. allies to secure American gas exports, testing the country’s ability to meet fast-growing demand.

THINGS TO DO

View our full calendar here.

🍺 The Pamphleteer hosts Bar Hours on the third Thursday of every month (this Thursday) at Lucky's 3 Star Bar from 6-8 PM. The first ten guests get drinks on the company tab.

🎪 Check out our favorite driving distance festivals this summer.

👨🏻‍🌾 The Pamphleteer farmer's market guide.

⚔️ Knights in Armor at the Frist starting July 1st: European arms and armor from the renowned collection of the Museo Stibbert in Florence, Italy.

🎼 Listen to the Pamphleteer's Picks, our playlist of bands playing in Nashville each week.

TONIGHT

🎻 The Cowpokes @ Acme Feed & Seed, 12p, Free, Info

🍀 Live Irish Music @ McNamara’s Irish Pub, 6p, Free, Info

🎸 Kelly’s Heroes @ Robert’s Western World, 6:30p, Free, Info

🎺 The Music of Chicago @ 3rd & Lindsley, 7p, $20, Info

🥁  Eric Kalb Blackout Sessions @ Analog, 8:30p, $20, Info

🎻 The Lonesome River Band @ Station Inn, 9p, $20, Info

TOMORROW

🎙 Musicians Corner @ Centennial Park, 12p, Free, Info

🏎 Drag Race @ Music City Raceway, 3p, $12, Info

🎺 Jefferson Street Jazz and Blues Fest @ Fisk University, 5p, $20, Info

🎻 Cornelia Fort Pickin' Party @ Shelby Bottoms, 5:30p, $18, Info

🍀 Live Irish Music @ McNamara’s Irish Pub, 6p, Free, Info

🎸 Kelly’s Heroes @ Robert’s Western World, 6:30p, Free, Info

🎺 Big Band Dance Lessons @ Centennial park, 7:30p, Free, Info

🥁  Eric Kalb Blackout Sessions @ Analog, 8:30p, $20, Info

🎙 Ryan Scott & Megg Farell @ Dee's Lounge, Free, 10p, Info
+ The Pamphleteer recommends

SUNDAY

🎻 Bluegrass Brunch @ Von Elrod's, 10a, Info

🎺 Jazz on the Cumberland @ Riverfront Park, 5:30p, Free, Info

🎅🏽  Santa's Ice Cold Pickers @ Santa's Pub, 7p, Free, No Info‌‌

NEW THIS WEEK

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The Rise of the Post-Roe Abortion Trafficking Industry

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Today's newsletter is brought to you by Megan Podsiedlik (Nashville), Edward Landstreet (Local Noise), and Davis Hunt (everything else).