Rumble in the Chambers
✝️ Two years since Covenant · Rumble in the chambers · Finger snappers · Cherry Blossom festival · Much more!
Good afternoon, everyone.
It's been two years since the Covenant tragedy which continues to define and color politics at the state and city level. With that in mind, I reprinted my initial response to that sad day which I think still holds up.
Onward.
🖋️ Edited by Megan Podsiedlik.
📣 Rumble In The Chambers After presenting a gun control bill to end permitless carry in Tennessee during yesterday’s House Criminal Justice subcommittee, Sponsor Justin Pearson (D-Memphis) worked himself into a fit of rage that ended in an attempted physical altercation. After calling upon committee members to reflect upon their “too lackadaisical attitude and legislation” toward gun violence, Pearson got an unwelcome reply from a colleague.
"I don't think it's fair of you to lecture this committee on hard work. We've been here doing the hard work," said Representative Andrew Farmer (R-Sevierville), noting Pearson’s absence from the General Assembly as he’s been dealing with his brother’s suicide.
"Thank you for your comments. They incense me. They make me very, very angry," Pearson replied. The state rep. wasn’t bluffing. After the committee voted against his bill, Pearson made his way around the well to confront Farmer in his seat. The committee chair called for a recess as House members physically held Pearson back.
🫰 Finger Snapping SOBs Speaking of committee chamber conduct, Chair Todd Gardenhire (R-Chattanooga) took control over his hearing room as the Senate Judiciary Committee heard testimonies related to a bill that protects pesticide companies against certain lawsuits on Monday. Over the last few years, public attendees have adopted a few tactics to avoid ejection while protesting or supporting legislation. Along with holding up signs in silence, they’ve taken to snapping their fingers instead of clapping—much like you would observe at a poetry slam.
Gardenhire is fed up with the practice: “I'm extremely hard of hearing, I'm considered a handicapped person, and if you SOBs want to snap your fingers then get the hell out of this committee. It's disrupting me being able to hear the witness and anybody else. It's totally irresponsible, it's rude, and it's stupid. That's with three O's in the middle. Say it out loud, ‘Stooopid.’ No more snapping the fingers. We'll clear this room, Y'all got that?”
😗 Whistleblowing In The Whistleblower Case Last week, Metro’s Community Review Board sent the mayor’s office a letter of concern after learning that the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation raided the law firm hired to investigate whistleblower claims against the Metro Nashville Police Department. You may recall that a 61-page complaint was submitted by retired MNPD officer Garet Davidson accusing the department brass of misconduct last summer.
According to Fox17, the CRB asked Mayor O'Connell to shed light on the situation. “It does more than stink,” said member Alisha Haddock during Monday’s CRB meeting, who expressed disappointment in the administration for withholding information. “I don't even know what's worse than stinking as it pertains to being transparent and accountable to the people of Nashville, Davidson County."
On the floor, it was also revealed that the TBI seized documents from the law firm specifically related to the whistleblower case. O’Connell has since responded to the CRB’s letter: "I don't know what the nature of the investigation is. So, we're treating it as an independent investigation."
DEVELOPMENT-ish
- ✈️ American Airlines will connect BNA to Punta Cana (Post)
- Ritz-Carlton pursues Gulch location with local developers (NBJ)
- Hotel development company buys site near Geodis Park (Post)
- Sean Brock's new Sho Pizza Bar sets opening date in East Nashville (Tennessean)
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✹ COVENANT
It’s been difficult trying to navigate how to approach the murders at Covenant Presbyterian because I am close to the situation and the institution. Many of you are as well. For the privacy of everyone involved, I’ll just have to leave it there for now. The murder of Evelyn Dieckhaus, Hallie Scruggs, William Kinney, Katherine Koonce, Cynthia Peak, and Mike Hill was not just some abstract event delivered to me by the news.
Metro Nashville Police officers acted heroically in a time of great need and the school’s preparedness for such an incident prevented the deaths of many others. That Covenant had run, in advance, drills to prepare the students and teachers for this kind of thing says more than words can convey.
For most people, the massacre will remain a distant story, unconnected as they are to what is a small, intimate community. Learning of it through Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter, it will remain a distant event that happened in a distant place that slowly gets absorbed back into the never-ending news cycle which demands content and seems to thrive and depend on tragedies like this.
But for those of us who recognize the hallways on the security cam footage, know the victims and their families, and understand the Covenant community, all of this is harrowingly real which makes its rapid transformation into a political totem all the more unsettling.
✹ NASHVILLE CHERRY BLOSSOM FESTIVAL
From Nissan and Kawasaki to Marubeni-Itochu Steel, Nashville and its rise to “It City” status has coincided with a marked increase of Japanese companies with a presence in the Metro area. But such international relationships are not merely signs of the American South’s global reach. They are an opportunity to create shared traditions that preserve the past while looking forward to the future. And that’s exactly what the Nashville Cherry Blossom Festival aims to do.
Since 2009, the festival has brought the Japanese concept of Hanami to Middle Tennessee–ringing in the spring with blossom-watching parties and surrounding festivities that range from moments of quiet group introspection to community block parties. After a recent move to Nashville, the Japanese Consulate met with then mayor Karl Dean to enact a plan that would involve planting 1000 cherry blossom trees in green spaces over the next ten years, an initiative that also strengthened the ties between Nashville and its Japanese sister city, Kamakura. From its inception, the Cherry Blossom Festival instantly became a staple on Nashville’s spring calendar growing from 200 attendees to 50,000 in the intervening years.
Held at Public Square Park from 9:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m. on Saturday, April 12th, the event features martial arts demonstrations, dozens of musical performances, traditional Japanese drum groups, bonsai workshops, and cultural lectures ranging from discussions of Japanese tea to manga drawing sessions. A curated selection of Taste of Japan food trucks will also be on hand for those wanting to grab a bite in between the event’s Cosplay contest and Sumo wrestler suit sessions. “It's a great family friendly event. We’re all ages,” Ginger Byrn, Director of Programs & Membership Development for the Japan-America Society of Tennessee said. “There's something for everyone and, it's free admission.”
For Byrn, whose organization aims to promote friendly relations and cross-culture exchange between Tennessee and Japan, the festival is an ideal time to share the similarities between how two distinct cultures celebrate the beginning of spring. “The cherry blossom tree does have a spiritual significance to Japan, she said. “The fleeting beauty of it. The blossoms don’t last that long and then just fall. It’s a very special time.”
More information on the festival can be found on its website. Limited parking is available at the Metro Courthouse Garage and Lot E of Nissan Stadium.
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.
TONIGHT
🎻 John Williams and Rachmaninoff's Second Symphony @ Schermerhorn Symphony Center, 7:30p, $29+, Info
🥁 Mark Guiliana @ The Blue Room, 7p, $32.51, Info
🎸 Warren Zeiders @ The Pinnacle, 7p, $68+, Info
🎸 Jack Ruch and Adam Wakefield trio @ The Underdog, 8p, $10, Info
🪕 Tin Pan South Songwriters Festival @ Multiple Venues, $15+, 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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