Weekend Before the Fall
🚗 Take it out on the road · Metro's mistakes · Legislating against hate · Film rundown · Much more!
I was going to write something making fun of Axios' newsletter making fun of their guide on how to escape election stress, but maybe they have a point. There's a lot riding on this election and having some anxiety about it is natural if you track these things.
They did quote a funny statistic though, citing a study that showed more than one-third of the family therapists surveyed claimed election-related stress was "more severe" than other types of anxiety. I waffle between this being the fault of a media that has ginned up hysteria about the potential of another Super Mega Fascist Trump Presidency and the simple fact that divisions have become so clearly defined as to enter into private life where, in the previous couple of decades, they may have been more subdued.
As I type this, I'm headed to Missouri to fish for the weekend. So, in the spirit of taking a load off for one of the last Fall weekends, we re-present our day driving guide. Fall in Middle Tennessee is one of the best times of year for a scenic drive through our state’s beautiful countryside. Each of these routes can be done as an easy weekend day trip from Nashville.
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💸 Taxpayers Paying For Metro’s Mistakes It’s time to cough up a bit more cash for Metro’s unconstitutional sidewalk debacle. Next week, the council will be meeting on Thursday instead of Tuesday (due to the election) and is set to dish out another $36,472.51 in sidewalk reimbursements. Back in 2017, then-council member—now vice mayor—Angie Henderson sponsored a bill granting Metro the ability to withhold building permits, effectively allowing the government to coerce owners into building sidewalks for the city. A little over a year ago, the policy was deemed unconstitutional. To date, Metro has racked up legal fees and reimbursement payouts totaling $784,000 and some change.
🤬 Legislating Against Hate Speaking of next week’s council meeting, we’ll also be revisiting Councilmember Jeff Preptit’s bill to track affiliations between MNPD officers and “hate groups and paramilitary gangs,” which was originally introduced in July. The legislation was filed in reaction to neo-Nazis marching downtown, and it explicitly prohibited “posts, ‘likes,’ jokes, memes, retweets, and other statements that advocate racism, violence, misogyny, homophobia, or other kinds of hate or discrimination.”
Now on second reading, the Brookmeade council member has rewritten the bill, walking back the language that targeted the police department and potentially infringed on First Amendment rights. The new bill would instead monitor the “criminal participation and related actions” of all Metro employees, leaving out the surveillance of online jokes.
🗳️ Early Voting Round Up The final day of early voting pulled in the highest single-day numbers so far, but it wasn’t enough to catch up with Nashville’s early, in-person totals from 2020. Here are the final numbers for Davidson County:
- In-person Early Voting Total 2024: 209,393
- In-person Early Voting Total 2020: 220,983
- Total Registered Voters 2024: 530,168
- Total Registered Voters 2020: 480,894
- Percentage of Registered Voters Who Early Voted In-person 2024: 39.50%
- Percentage of Registered Voters Who Early Voted In-person 2020: 45.95%
DEVELOPMENT
- Paris-based Christian Louboutin to make Nashville debut (NBJ)
- New 12-story hotel eyed near East Bank (NBJ)
- Nashville Yards residential tower units now for sale (Post)
- Work starts in East Nashville on mixed-use building (Post)
- River North site eyed for hotel building to see demolition (Post)
✹ WEEKLY FILM RUNDOWN: November 1-7
The latest releases and special screenings hitting Music City this week. For a complete list of upcoming releases, check out our 2024 Film Guide.
Here (Dir. Robert Zemeckis; Starring Tom Hanks and Robin Wright) The director and stars of Forrest Gump reunite for a centuries-spanning story of one family’s land shot from the same stable camera angle. Reviews have been less than kind. Now playing in theaters.
The Carpenter (Dir. Garrett Batty; Starring Daz Crawford) It’s like The Karate Kid but if Jesus were Mr. Miyagi and Ancient Galilee had MMA. And it looks awesome. Now playing in theaters.
Anora (Dir. Sean Baker; Starring Mikey Madison) America’s foremost chronicler of the regional working poor won Cannes with this rom-dram about Brooklyn stripper who impulsively marries the son of a Russian mobster. Now playing at AMC Thoroughbred 20 and in 35mm at the Belcourt
The Searchers (Dir. John Ford; Starring John Wayne and Natalie Wood) The classic western about a tracker looking for his kidnapped nieces in the land of the Comanches is what 4K was made for. Playing Saturday and Wednesday at The Belcourt.
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
🎸 First Fridays @ The Underdog, 7p, $10, Info
🎸 Richard Bennett Band @ Station Inn, 8p, $25, Info
🎙 Cyndi Lauper @ Bridgestone Arena, 8p, $33+, Info
🎵 Strictly 80s Dance Party @ The 5 Spot, 9p, $5, Info
🪕 The Cowpokes @ Acme Feed & Seed, 12p, Free, Info
🍀 Live Irish Music @ McNamara’s Irish Pub, 6p, Free, Info
🎸 Kelley’s Heroes @ Robert’s Western World, 6:30p, Free, Info
📰 Check out the full newsletter archive here.
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