Who Ate the Cat in the Hat?
🐈 Who is actually eating cats · Sweeping street vendors · This week in streaming · Much more!
Good afternoon, everyone.
Immigration has once again taken center stage in voters’ minds as we head into the first Presidential debate between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump tonight. The issue was reignited after footage of a Springfield, Ohio city council meeting surfaced online, wherein many residents expressed consternation with the presence of twenty-thousand non-English speaking Haitians and the effect it is having on city services.
Legacy media, for its part, has focused on debunking claims about whether or not a Haitian ate someone’s pet cat. To this end, stories addressing these rumors have proliferated. Rolling Stone ran one headlined ‘No, Migrants Are Not Eating People’s Cats in Ohio’ which clarified that the woman on the bodycam footage eating the cat was neither Haitian nor a resident of Springfield. Comforting.
Whatever the case, Vance posted something referencing the cat snacking and was roundly criticized by all the predictable parties. In a follow-up post, the vice presidential nominee has stated that his office had received numerous complaints of pet cats being abducted by Haitians in Springfield before reframing the conversation around the actual concerns.
“Do you know what's confirmed? That a child was murdered by a Haitian migrant who had no right to be here,” wrote Vance. “That local health services have been overwhelmed. That communicable diseases—like TB and HIV—have been on the rise. That local schools have struggled to keep up with newcomers who don't know English. That rents have risen so fast that many Springfield families can't afford to put a roof over their head.”
The fact-checking jubilee has drowned out the very legitimate concerns of residents as eager journalists have narrowly attempted to regain narrative control. But as other journalists step out from behind the keyboard and pour into the area, the harsh reality on the ground is coming into focus regardless.
Outside of a benefits office, journalist Tyler Oliveria talked to a veteran who explained that he’d been denied Medicaid while a long line of migrants were granted access to SNAP, Medicaid, and other free, taxpayer-funded entitlements. The security guard inside the center estimated that the ratio of Haitians to locals in line to receive benefits was 9:1. Oliveria’s profile contains numerous interviews with locals speaking about the sudden presence of 20,000 migrants in the small town of 60,000.
It should be noted that almost none of the legacy coverage of this situation has focused on the concerns of the actual residents, and instead, has used the opportunity to drone on about misinformation or, in the local Springfield media’s case, city leaders taking issue with the rhetoric residents have used airing their grievances.
In Sylacauga, Alabama, a councilwoman shut down the public comment period during which locals voiced nearly identical concerns to those in Springfield. Sylacauga—a town of 12,00t—has also been saddled by a rapid influx of Haitian migrants.
During Trump’s presidency, he lowered the refugee cap to 15,000. Upon taking office, Joe Biden’s administration raised it to 125,000. In the interim, Haiti collapsed and Kamala Harris proudly announced in a recent interview that the US government “extended Temporary Protected Status to over 100,000 Haitian Migrants.” Just for a sense of scale, according to the Refugee Processing Center, the state of Tennessee admitted 1,566 refugees for FY24.
Onward.
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💭 Never Forget Tomorrow morning, beginning at 7:45 a.m., Vice Mayor Henderson and members of the Metro Council Veterans Caucus will observe a moment of silence on the steps of the Historic Courthouse before walking down to the corner of Third Avenue and Symphony Place to attend the city’s 9/11 Remembrance Ceremony. Hosted by the Nashville Firefighters Union in conjunction with the Nashville Fire Department, the vice mayor will join Mayor O’Connell, Director Chief William Swann, and Union President Danny Yates in laying a wreath at the Fallen Firefighter Memorial. MEGAN PODSIEDLIK
🧹 Sweeping Street Vendors At yesterday’s Traffic and Parking meeting, Councilmember Kupin, Joseph Woodson, who lobbies for commercial real estate developers in Nashville, and Dirk Melton, the president of MarketStreet Enterprises—which was behind the original master plan for the Gulch—presented to the commission. In support of a new map drawn up by NDOT, all three advocated to extend the city’s “No Vending Zone,” restricting vendors from setting up shop along sidewalks in the Gulch.
“This was always a project in Nashville for Nashvillians,” Melton said to the commission. “And what we’re seeing now is…a critical breaking point, where the types of things that are happening with street vending in the neighborhood are starting to push people out.”
Melton cited residents and commercial tenants not renewing their leases due to vendors occupying neighborhood sidewalks before Kupin explained how enforcement has become a challenge due to unpermitted street vendors. “In this situation, NDOT has to approach this individual and find out if they have a permit or not,” he said. “And if they don’t have a permit, they ask them to leave. So it puts an extra burden on NDOT staff.”
Back in January, the "No Vending Zone" was expanded, adding restrictions to an additional fifteen city blocks downtown. Now, the commission will weigh in on a new map which includes the Gulch. Members will vote next month after permitted sidewalk vendors are properly notified about the potential change by mail. MEGAN PODSIEDLIK
🎰 For The Kids The numbers are in: August sports betting was up $100 million compared to last year. Because the state taxes 1.85 percent on bets wagered, $6.3 million was collected from the $344.4 million in bets placed last month. Eighty percent of that goes toward the Lottery for Education Program, which funds scholarships and afterschool programs across Tennessee. The remaining cut goes toward the state’s General Fund (15 percent) and gambling disorder and addiction programs (5 percent). Since Tennessee launched legal sports betting in 2020, nearly $13.9 billion has been wagered, resulting in almost $246 million in tax revenue. MEGAN PODSIEDLIK
DEVELOPMENT
- Discover Airlines may bring Germany nonstop to BNA (NBJ)
- Henrietta Red chef opening a restaurant in Sewanee (NBJ)
- Small east side commercial building sells for $1.1M (Post)
- Charlotte Avenue religious property sells for $3.35M (Post)
- Local nonprofit to pay $7M for airport-area property (Post)
✹ THIS WEEK IN STREAMING (September 10th)
Ghostlight (AMC+) There were a lot of ways a movie about a construction worker who finds purpose acting in a community theater production of Romeo and Juliet could have gone wrong. Yet, this Illinois-shot indie masterfully sidesteps showy melodrama and arthouse tweeness on the way to becoming one of the most affecting crowdpleasers in recent memory. Working primarily with theater actors, director Kelly O’Sullivan strives for a sense of universality and truth most Sundance films abandoned decades ago. There’s a simple reason it still has a 100% Rotten Tomatoes score eight months after its premiere: it’s just that good.
Community (Peacock) Before Rick and Morty, Dan Harmon braved the worlds of the broadcast sitcom with this playful meta sitcom about a lawyer (Joel McHale) who has to return to community college when he’s disbarred for falsifying his credentials and accidentally starts a study group of misfits. With pre-star turns for Donald Glover and Alison Brie as well as a meaty role for a late-career Chevy Chase that almost makes up for the actor’s legendary douchebaggery, it’s as relevant and funny as it ever was 15 years on.
Natural Born Killers (Netflix) This fall is sure to bring an avalanche of oral histories detailing the making of Oliver Stone’s infamous satire about the media’s obsession with violence to commemorate its 30th anniversary. But all the rehashing of Stone’s infamous feud with Quentin Tarantino and the public outcry over the NC-17 film’s misanthropic violence continue to obscure the fact that it is one of the most prescient and visionary works ever released by a Hollywood studio.
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
🪕 Rebecca Frazier @ Station Inn, 8p, $20, Info
🎸 Sour Widows @ DRKMTTR, 8p, $12, Info
🎸 Honky Tonk Tuesday @ Eastside Bowl, 8p, $10, Info
+ two-step lessons @ 7p, The Cowpokes @ 8p
🎺 Todd Day Wait @ The Underdog, 11:30p, Free, Info
📰 Check out the full newsletter archive here.
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