Signs and Wonders
💫 Something in the air · 7th District Race · Assisting Abortion · Relocating Covenant · Much more!
Good afternoon, everyone.
Well, I could forgive you if you thought the end times were upon us. The baristas at the Green Hills Starbucks unionized last week and the city is handling the homeless encampment endearingly named Old Tent City with softer gloves than the crown jewels.
West of us, over in Dallas, golf ball-sized hail rained from the sky last night—and this was due in no part to tropical storm Helene which is falling into rank in the Gulf and set to dump its forces on Middle Tennessee over the next few days.
There are signs and wonders everywhere if you pay attention.
Like, for example, the existence of savvy labor organizers who lied to baristas and told them they could expect to make a good living serving breakfast drinks.
Last June, a group of employees at Germantown's Barista Parlor flirted with unionization after alleging "toxicity and favoritism" from management. This resulted in most of them getting fired, with others quitting in solidarity. The Germantown Barista Parlor closed for a spell but eventually opened back up. Three Brothers Coffee, the city's first unionized shop, wasn't so lucky as it permanently closed following an employee strike.
At the time Coffee Workers of the South United—yes, that's a real organization—posted a video covering the strike and a caption declaring, "STRIKING WITH YOUR FRIENDS IS V FUN TRY IT SOMETIME.” The Three Brothers' strikers even had a GoFundMe. On Twitter, the organizers pleaded with their followers to donate to the cause: “WE NEED CASH BEING ON STRIKE DOESNT PAY UNFORTUNATELY CONSIDER DONATING TO US SO I CAN FEED MY DOG.”
This whole thing—the aesthetics, the language, and the attitude—fills me with immense dread. I feel like I'm being smothered just sitting here at my desk. One sign outside the Three Brothers strike read, "The gentle laborer shall no longer suffer from the noxious greed of Mr. Krabs."
We're talking about the "noxious greed" of a guy who owns a f*cking coffee shop here, not a Rockefeller. And yes, that's a Spongebob Squarepants reference for those in the back.
I like coffee shops. I frequent them. I'm known to many across town. I even once worked at a coffee shop. I like to pay for my espresso. Sometimes I'll see a friend. It's a nice social ritual that punctuates the day. The presence of unionized labor in these breezy go-throughs dominates the spaces. I have a sixth sense for this kind of thing. I can smell the entitlement. And yet, here I go, off again for another espresso, praying that the union hasn't run its hypnosis on my local haunts and sucked the life out of them.
Onward.
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🗳️ 7th District Dragnet It’s campaign season, which means the muckraking is in full swing. In the 7th congressional district, incumbent Mark Green has been tackling affair allegations after filing for divorce from his wife of 35 years. His opponent, former mayor Megan Barry, has taken the opportunity to air out her own sordid past and has addressed her resignation and plea deal after stealing taxpayer dollars while in the throes of an extramarital affair with her bodyguard: “I own everything I did. I took responsibility,” she said in an interview with the Banner, where she highlighted her number one campaign issue: abortion rights.
As the “King of Hell”—an affectionate name given to Green by the Scene’s Betsy Phillips—faces scrutiny for his transgressions, Barry has received kudos for reconciling with her husband who makes an appearance in her first television ad released yesterday.
Meanwhile, the Banner’s Sarah Grace Taylor followed up on a six-year-old claim that Green was “less-than-honorably” discharged from the Army. “You are, I believe, the first journalist to actually ask for it,” he said of Taylor's request to see his discharge paperwork. While Green has declined to share his personal documents publicly throughout the years, he’s welcomed veterans to come review his DD-214 in person. “The document showed that the congressman had been honorably discharged,” reported the Banner, though they clarified that they cannot verify its authenticity.
When asked about his comments about VP candidate Tim Walz misstating his rank, Green said the media coverage has mischaracterized his stance on the subject. “I didn’t say that Tim Walz’s error about his own rank wasn’t a big deal,” he explained. “I said it wasn’t as big of a deal as someone who claims to have served who didn’t, for example.” MEGAN PODSIEDLIK
🚼 Assisting Abortion Last week, US District Judge Aleta Trauger temporarily blocked the enforcement of Tennessee’s Abortion Trafficking Law. The legislation, which went into effect July 1st, allows for civil suits to be brought against a person who aids a minor in carrying out an abortion. This includes helping an unemancipated minor obtain abortion-inducing drugs, which could bump up against the abortion pill and out-of-state travel operations practiced in the state.
“Tennessee, in other words, has chosen to outlaw certain communications in furtherance of abortions that are, in fact, entirely legal,” said Judge Trauger in her decision, which characterized the state’s use of the term “recruitment” as unconstitutionally infringing on protected speech.
Meanwhile, a Republican state senator from Knoxville hopes to add more medical exceptions to Tennessee’s abortion laws during next year’s General Assembly. According to the Banner, Senator Richard Briggs may propose a bill decriminalizing abortions in instances where an unborn baby has fatal conditions. An example he gave was an instance where a child developes in the womb without any lungs. MEGAN PODSIEDLIK
🏫 Relocating Covenant School Yesterday, Covenant Presbyterian and Covenant School released a joint statement explaining that the school will soon be looking for a new location. Though the move won’t happen for another three years, the tragedy of the Covenant School shooting still hangs heavy over the private Christian school a year and a half after the devastating events of March 27, 2023.
"Both the church and the school remain deeply committed to working together to ensure the school's future success,” the statement said. “We are excited about the future of both the church and the school, and we will continue in our present relationship as the school launches a capital campaign to support a new campus."
WE'RE NUMBER ONE!
DEVELOPMENT
- Edessa and Bad Idea made on the New York Times' 50 favorite restaurants list (NYT)
- Dallas-based cafe to open first Nashville location in 12South (NBJ)
- Antioch apartment complex sells for $86M (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
🎸 Pile @ Row One Stage, 7p, $19.50, Info
🎸 Tropical Fuck Storm @ The Blue Room, 7p, $25.88, Info
🎸 Brennan Wedl @ The East Room, 8p, $15, Info
🎸 Anne Wilson @ Ryman Auditorium, 7p, $109, Info
🪕 Bluegrass Night @ The American Legion Post 82, 7p, Free, Info
📰 Check out the full newsletter archive here.
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