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🔒 Jail funding becomes flashpoint in the mayor’s CSP · China's black market drug trade threatens TN · Court tosses lawsuit challenging Tennessee school vouchers · Much more!
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Jail funding emerges as a flashpoint in the mayor’s Capital Spending Plan as overcrowding persists despite state inmate transfers.
From Megan Podsiedlik
On Tuesday, the Metro Council voted to defer a resolution authorizing Metro to issue up to $544.7 million in bonds to fund the mayor’s Capital Spending Plan (CSP) until November 5. While council members who supported the deferral largely cited the need for a closer review of the plan, the mayor’s proposed $35 million allocation for a new jail has emerged as a flashpoint.
“The 35 million dollars is a drop in the bucket towards the total estimated cost of $450 million dollars,” explained Kelly Chieng, a local activist who spoke on the CSP during public comment. “As we carelessly decide to spend nearly half a billion dollars on a new jail, we need to ask ourselves some questions,” she continued, citing data that 40 percent of people held in Davidson County jails over the past decade were there on nonviolent public order offenses and a rise in the number of homeless people held before trial since 2022.
During floor discussion, Councilmember Ginny Welsch moved to defer the plan for one meeting.
“There was some confusion whether it is just jail conditions or overcrowding, and I think we just need to have a few more details about that,” Welsch said of the $35 million jail allocation.
Over the past few years, the Davidson County Sheriff’s Office has repeatedly warned that Nashville’s jails are overcrowded. It has blamed the state for being slow to take custody of people sentenced to state prison, along with staffing shortages and aging facilities.
In July, Metro petitioned Davidson County Chancery Court to force Tennessee Department of Correction to take custody of 151 state inmates held past the 14-day pickup window set by state law. According to the O’Connell administration, having to hold onto state prisoners was costing Nashville taxpayers upward of $5 million a year. On July 24, Chancellor Anne Martin sided with Metro and ordered TDOC to take 149 of them within 10 days.
“The Davidson County Sheriff’s Office challenged the State of Tennessee in court a few months ago and, successfully, won the ruling,” Jon Adams, Director of Communications for the Davidson County Sheriff's Office, told us. “The state immediately removed approximately 150 inmates and has consistently taken custody of their inmates on a weekly basis. Currently, we have 24 state inmates in our custody as compared to 200 in August of 2025.”
Yet the jails are still overcrowded, meaning the overflow of state inmates was only part of the problem. According to Tennessee Department of Correction data from August, four out of six jail facilities in Davidson County were over capacity.
✹ OPINION: CHINA'S BLACK MARKET DRUG TRADE THREATENS TENNESSEE FAMILIES
Gray-market GLP-1 drugs made in unregulated Chinese labs are reaching Tennesseans through regulatory loopholes and social media ads.
From Nicole Smith
Across Tennessee, families are grappling with a modern public health and national security threat that is hiding in plain sight: foreign-sourced, gray-market pharmaceuticals. As demand has exploded for GLP-1 medications—such as Ozempic, Wegovy, and Zepbound—so has the eagerness of transnational criminal networks to profit off unsuspecting patients. This isn’t merely a health or pricing debate; it’s a law enforcement issue, a public health crisis, and a major national security concern.
What Tennesseans may not realize is where these unapproved injectables and illicit ingredients originate. The bulk of raw, untested active pharmaceutical ingredients flowing into the U.S. comes directly from unauthorized, untraceable labs in China. Chinese-sourced businesses have aggressively exploited regulatory loopholes to ship raw chemicals and counterfeit medications straight across our borders, bypassing essential Food and Drug Administration (FDA) safety standards.
That danger was made painfully clear in a joint state letter sent to Secretary of State Marco Rubio and the National Security Council. Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti joined a 20-state coalition of attorneys general to expose alarming regulatory loopholes in the FDA’s "Green List" program—a system intended to expedite imports for vetted foreign manufacturers.
The attorneys general detailed how a Chinese chemical supplier on the Green List, Harbin Jixianglong Biotech Co., purchased knock-off semaglutide from an unregistered Chinese facility, repackaged and relabeled the ingredients under its own brand name, falsified manufacturing dates, and shipped the unapproved chemicals into the U.S. supply chain. Audit records revealed that some Chinese chemical exporters exploiting these exact oversight gaps maintain direct links to networks supplying illicit fentanyl precursors.
🌾 Fall Festival at Brewington Farms RidgeRunner is hosting its first fall festival on Saturday, Nov. 7, from 10am to 4pm in Whitleyville, marking the ribbon-cutting for farm operations. Expect hay rides, a petting zoo, face painting, regional vendors, food and music, plus tours of the remaining lots in Brewington and Hawkesbury. It's free; RSVP to get the address and itinerary. (RSVP here)
HEADLINES
- ⚖️ Court tosses lawsuit challenging Tennessee school vouchers
A three-judge chancery court panel dismissed the lawsuit against Gov. Bill Lee’s statewide voucher program. The judges ruled that the state constitution’s Education Clause says nothing about private school funding, so the decision belongs to lawmakers. Nashville Chancellor Anne Martin dissented, and the pro-voucher Beacon Center said it expects the plaintiffs to appeal. The program has 35,000 slots at $7,500 per student. (TNJ) - 🍽️ String of locally owned Nashville restaurants announce closures Several local spots are closing: 51 North Taproom, Judge Bean’s BBQ in Brentwood, the General Jackson Showboat and Deacon’s New South downtown, whose last day is Saturday. A local food tour founder counts more than 30 locally owned restaurant closures in the area in 2026. She points to rising property taxes passed to tenants through triple-net leases, higher food costs, limited parking and falling tourist traffic. (WKRN)
- 🍖 Jack’s Bar-B-Que founder Jack Cawthon dies at 80
Jack Cawthon, who founded the Nashville barbecue institution on Broadway in 1976, died after a long battle with cancer. The restaurant called him a fixture who served the community for more than 50 years. Jack’s sold its Broadway location to Robert’s Western World last year, and funeral arrangements are still pending. (Fox 17)
✹ EARLY VOTING TRACKER
🗳️ Who's Voting Where Through Day 7 of 14: 577,423 early votes statewide, 65,977 in Davidson County. Our early voting tracker updates every morning with counts for all 95 counties, compared with the 2022 and 2018 midterms. Pick your county or look at the whole state to see where turnout stands (See the tracker)
DEVELOPMENT
- Martin’s Bar-B-Que marks 20 years with Dickson, Bowling Green expansion (NBJ)
- Nashville rolls out smart traffic signals at 592 intersections (Ledger)
- Spence Lane industrial property hits the market (Post)
✹ PAMPHLETEER TOOLS
Pamphleteer Tools Council Watch tells you who funds your councilmember and how they vote. The Property Tax Calculator tells you what that cost you.
THINGS TO DO
View our calendar for the week 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
🎸 The Smashing Pumpkins @ The Truth, 8p, $181, Info
🎸 Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit w/ Ben Nichols @ Ryman Auditorium, 8p, $76, Info
🎸 The Band Loula feat. Gary Nichols @ Station Inn, 8p, $30, Info
📺 The Residents @ The Caverns, 7p, $59.50, Info
🎸 The Red Clay Strays @ Bridgestone Arena, 6:30p, $80.73, Info
🥁 Live Jazz: Parker James, Paul DeFiglia & Anson Hohne @ Vinyl Tap, Free, Info
🎙️ Open Mic @ Fox and Locke, 6:30p, Free, Info
🎸 Kelley's Heroes @ Robert's Western World, 6:30p, Free, Info
📰 Check out the full newsletter archive here.
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Today's newsletter is brought to you by Davis Hunt, Megan Podsiedlik, and Camelia Brennan.