The Holiday That Could

Good afternoon, everyone.

I didn’t realize that among Western nations, America is the only one that does not celebrate Easter as a public holiday. To that end, Missouri Senator Eric Schmitt has introduced legislation to inscribe Christianity's holiest day into the federal calendar. 

Most of Western Europe, New Zealand, and even Canada and parts of Africa honor the Christian holiday. Easter remains central to life in America (despite religious trends to the contrary) with 81 percent of celebrating. Additionally, as Schmitt puts it, “Easter falls on the longest unbroken work stretch of the calendar. (March and April are the only back-to-back months without a federal holiday).”

This morning, we’ve got an update on the death of former WSMV weatherman Aaron Solomon, an open question about why Nashville imports so many goods from China, and this week’s illegal offender of the week (not for the faint of heart.)

Onward.

🩸 Arrest For a Murder Plot With Links To Tragic Accident Angelia Solomon of Franklin, Tennessee, was arrested Friday and charged with coordinating a murder-for-hire plot targeting her ex-husband. The Franklin Police Department, with the help of the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, discovered and intervened to stop an alleged plan to kill Aaron Solomon. Angelia’s bond has been set for $500,000 at the Williamson County Jail.

You may recognize the Solomon name for a few different reasons. While Aaron Solomon used to be a WSMV4 morning news anchor, the former couple also experienced the tragic loss of their son, Grant Solomon, in 2020, which grabbed headlines given several alleged controversies surrounding the incident. 

According to the Williamson Scene (formerly Homepage), Grant Solomon died in an accident that involved his vehicle on July 20, 2020. While collecting his baseball equipment from the back of his truck, it began rolling backwards, pinning him underneath. Aaron, who was parked next to Grant’s truck, failed to notice the fatal event until it was too late.

The circumstances surrounding Grant’s death led to a public outcry, a petition to reopen the case, and a protest outside the Williamson County Circuit Courthouse on November 10, 2021. It’s also worth noting that during the Tennessee Supreme Court’s Attorney General appointment process in 2022, the only public question directed to a candidate vying for the position was about the Solomon accident. 

A Williamson County resident asked the then-candidate, now-AG Jonathan Skrmetti about a letter delivered to Governor Lee pleading for investigators to take a second look at the case. At the time, Skrmetti was serving as the governor’s general counsel, and the resident asked if he would facilitate a transparent investigation of the case if he became Attorney General.

Skrmetti acknowledged the investigation and the letter. He explained that the director of the DA’s Conference and another experienced Tennessee District Attorney both looked into the case, visited the crime scene, and reviewed the investigation. Confident that the police department had conducted a professional investigation, Skrmetti did not indicate a willingness to reopen the case.

⛈️ AI Weather Alert Translations On Pause According to Fox17, weather alerts translated by artificial intelligence into Spanish and Chinese and issued by the National Weather Service are now paused. Warnings will still be available in English, but the agency’s AI contract recently ended.

When the new technology was initially introduced two years ago, the NWS had already been providing “manual translations of weather forecasts and warnings in Spanish for the past 30 years.” The integration of AI was meant to help make the messaging “more accurate, efficient, and equitable,” as well as train the AI software regarding weather, water, and climate terminology.

🏗️ Incentivizing Development A bill encouraging local municipalities to adopt affordable and workforce housing incentives, as well as redevelopment incentives for brownfield sites, could relax public hearing rules regarding the economic impact plans adopted for certain projects. 

“House Bill 1306 is an administration bill that adds affordable and workforce development housing projects for eligible projects for our local governments through TIFs (Tax Increment Financing) or PILOT (Payment in Lieu of Tax) programs,” explained co-sponsor Ryan Williams (R-Cookeville) to the House Finance, Ways, and Means Committee last Tuesday. “It also expands scopes and incentives for brownfield redevelopment projects, and shores up the financial tools necessary for local governments to issue these payments in lieu of taxes.”Of course, some have raised questions about the development of brownfields, given that they are usually tracts of land that have been abandoned due to industrial pollution. House Minority Leader Karen Camper (D-Memphis) clarified that the bill does not mandate that local governments actually adopt any of these plans. The legislation will be heard during the House’s Floor session today and the Senate’s Floor Session tomorrow. 

QUESTION OF THE DAY

Why does Tennessee disproportionately import so many goods from China? At first blush, it seems due to its status as a central shipping and transit hub (Amazon, FedEx, etc.) Not entirely sure. If you have ideas, please sound off in the comments or reply to the email. (More Info)

DEVELOPMENT

• Bill Miller to close Patsy Cline Museum to make way for new 'immersive experience' (NBJ)
• Acadia Healthcare signs lease at new Cool Springs project (NBJ)
• D.C.-based law firm Holtzman Vogel expands to Nashville (Post)

✹ ILLEGAL OFFENDER OF THE WEEK

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

🪕 Kyle Tuttle Band @ Dee's Lounge, 6p, $10, Info

🎸 Timbo & Lonesome Country @ Jane's Hideaway, 8p, Info
+ modern take on classic country, bluegrass & hillbilly Jazz

🪕 Val Storey, Carl Jackson, Larry Cordle & New Monday @ Station Inn, 8p, $20, Info

💀 Grateful Monday @ Acme Feed & Seed, 7p, Free, Info

🕺 Motown Monday @ The 5 Spot, 9p, $5, Info

📰 Check out the full newsletter archive here.