City Cast Nashville
🗞️ What Nashville’s Talking About – Debut Edition!
April 5, 2024
Hey y’all! It’s me, Whitney, executive producer of City Cast Nashville, coming straight into your overflowing inbox with another preview edition of Hey Nashville!
As we build our team, this will eventually grow into a daily newsletter full of news roundups, guides, explainers, life hacks, and so much more. (Have you sent in your essential rules for life in Nashville yet?) For now, please enjoy this list of five stories our town was talking about this week.
What's CITY Talking About?
👻 Nashville NASCAR: Not Dead Yet
The zombie racetrack is risen. (It is risen indeed!) Stephen Elliott takes a look at the resurgence of the conversation around using public funds to renovate the Fairgrounds Speedway — and the people preparing to push for a Metro Charter change that would guarantee at least a portion of the land could be used for affordable housing instead. [Nashville Banner]
🏟️ East Bank Labor Agreement Hailed
“Nashville’s Next Great Neighborhood” looks to be building on a solid foundation with local laborers as the groundbreaking gets underway: Stephen Elliott (again!) gets the scoop on a “refreshing” memorandum of understanding about wages, worker safety, and more between master developer The Fallon Company and the Local 386 chapter of the Laborers’ International Union of North America. [Nashville Banner]
⚽ Hany Mukhtar Finds Peace in Ramadan
A lovely piece from Charles Boehm in which the Nashville SC MVP discusses his Muslim faith and how the traditional practice of fasting during Ramadan fuels his performance on the pitch and beyond. Btw: In celebration of Eid, he’s hosting a youth soccer tournament with the Islamic Center of Nashville on April 13th! [MLS]
📘 Audit Finds Accounting Problems but No Fraud at TSU
The state used allegations of financial malfeasance to justify vacating the entire TSU board and replacing its members with appointees from Gov. Bill Lee. As Sam Stockard reports, a recent audit discovered “significant procedural difficulties” at the HBCU, but very little evidence of anything nefarious. As a reminder, according to the federal government, the state still owes TSU $2.1 billion. [Tennessee Lookout]
😋 Food & Drink Issue 2024: Food Fight
The Scene’s annual food and drink issue kicks off with a cover story in which their staffers argue over who has our city’s best doughnut, fried chicken, berry beer (Lovebird 4Eva!), birria, and more. Let this double as your dining guide for the weekend ahead! [Nashville Scene]
The weather should warm back up by Sunday, per NashSevereWX, but we’ve got some clouds in the forecast for eclipse day. (Don’t complain, we had our very own totality back in 2017 and it was awesome.)
My weekend plans include Fridays by the River at Shelby tonight, another Nashville SC game (that will probably end in yet another tie) tomorrow, and lots of garden prep — Tax Day a.k.a. It’s Okay To Plant Tomatoes If You’re Brave Day is right around the corner. Meanwhile, I’m off to write a scathing letter to the Scene for leaving out the bourbon banana pudding at Shotgun Willie’s.
P.S. Want to write this newsletter so I don’t have to? Applications are open until Monday!
Whitney Pastorek
Executive Producer
City Cast Nashville
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