Public Safety Performance Art

“This is a professional setting, yet I want to scream,” said a gentleman during last night’s Metro Council public comment period speaking in support of the mayor’s four public safety bills. “I want to shout because my spirit is still full about the July incident,” he continued, referring to when a group of neo-Nazi protestors were recorded yelling racial slurs around children downtown.

Though he went on to “welcome all to Nashville, even the supremacists” in the spirit of open dialogue, he questioned the police response to the demonstrators. “Now, are we to believe there are no bad actors speckled within our police department?Council he asked the chamber. He attributed the PD’s shortcomings to inadequate training, and shared his sense of their entitled power in his community. “...Police carry in their tool belt an incredible item. A critical item: discretion. Such wide discretion that, figuratively, police could cite the gravy on a plate for bumping into the cornbread.”

A masked Davidson County resident then stepped forward in opposition to the public safety bill that would change the mask ordinance and prohibit people from wearing disguises in public places. “I am an immunocompromised member of the community,” she explained. “I am here… because health and religious exemptions are not enough when the enforcing arm of this ordinance is the police. These enhancements that BL2024-510 outlines, no matter their intent, will lead to more profiling and harm towards marginalized communities.”

As has been characteristic of discussion around the bills, the council didn’t have much to say during last night’s final reading of the legislative package. While Councilmember Clay Capp reiterated his hang-ups—“This bill purports to ban a range of expressive activity, legitimate expressive activity, and I don't like burdening free speech and expressive activity”—Councilmember Sean Parker said the quiet part out loud. “There's already a prohibition on face coverings and masks in the Metro code, and we're not really weighing the merits of that today,” he explained. “What this bill does is create firm exemptions for medical and religious [usage] of face coverings.”

A few weeks ago, Metro Fair Board Chair Jasper Hendricks called this out on Fox17’s Nashville In Focus after the council rubber stamped the bills on second reading. “They want to make people feel like they're doing something instead of actually doing something,” he said of what he categorized as performative legislation.

All four bills passed on final reading. Now enacted, the laws create protest buffer zones around public buildings and parking lots, clarify mask-wearing exemptions, prohibit the placement of signs over highways, and limit after-hour distribution of handbills on private property. MEGAN PODSIEDLIK

🌊 In The Wake of Helene Senators Marsha Blackburn and Bill Hagerty joined ten of their colleagues in sending a bipartisan letter urging Congress to pass a disaster relief package in support of Americans affected by Hurricane Helene.

“Although the true level of devastation is still unfolding, it is clear that Congress must act to meet the unmet needs in our states and address the scope and scale of destruction experienced by our constituents,” the senators wrote. “This may even require Congress to come back in October to ensure we have enough time to enact legislation before the end of this calendar year. Tens of millions of Americans were impacted by Hurricane Helene, and we look forward to working with you to provide relief to those impacted by this horrific storm.” 

Relatedly, the Tennessee Lookout published a fairly exhaustive look at the extent of the damage in East Tennessee this morning:

At least eight people are dead, according to the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency. Five days after disaster first struck, 46 people reported missing have still not been accounted for.

Water and sewage systems are in disrepair, requiring airlifts of drinking water to some isolated communities and boil advisories for people living in 17 water districts — some serving parts of Tennessee that lack electricity to power stovetops. As of Tuesday at 12:30 p.m., there were 5,000 reports of power outages statewide.

Area officials estimated that the Nolichucky River in Unicoi County flowed at a rate of 1.2 million gallons per second at the height of the storm, exceeding the flowrate of Niagara Falls.

🧠 Local “Genius” Keivan G. Stassun, an astrophysicist at Vanderbilt University, was recognized by the MacArthur Foundation for his work in promoting diversity in STEM. Stassun's efforts, including co-founding programs that support underrepresented groups and neurodiverse individuals in academia and employment. Stassun cofounded the Fisk-Vanderbilt Master’s-to-Ph.D. Bridge program and the Frist Center for Autism and Innovation. Like the other 22 so-called ‘Genius Grant’ winners, he will receive an $800,000 stipend to advance his work.

DEVELOPMENT

• Radish Kitchen expands to third location (NBJ)
• Status of hotel project eyed for downtown site unclear (Post)
• Images released for planned east side hotel (Post)
• Green Hills property sells for $13.05M (Post)

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

🎻 Sigur Rós with Wordless Music Orchestra @ Ryman Auditorium, 8p, $60.50, Info

🟩 Charli XCX @ Bridgestone Arena, 7:30p, $62+, Info

🎸 American Aquarium @ The Basement East, 8p, $32.87, Info

🎸 Drew Holcomb and Friends: In-The-Round @ The Bluebird Cafe, 9p, $25, Info

🎸 Sisters of the Moon: A Stevie Nicks Tribute with Radeckal Revolution @ 3rd and Lindsley, 7p, $20, Info

🪕 Bluegrass Night @ The American Legion Post 82, 7p, Free, Info

📰 Check out the full newsletter archive here.