💄 The State of Metro is Chapstick

🚌 Transit Referendum Takes Center Stage

Mayor Freddie O’Connell delivered his first State of Metro address on Tuesday, from a dais flanked by WeGo buses. The familiar purple backdrop kept focus squarely on his transit referendum: A $3.1 billion plan to increase bus service, build new transit centers, and improve sidewalks and traffic signals, coming soon to a ballot near you this fall. [Nashville Scene]

• Before the speech, Nashville Youth Poet Laureate Jadyn Marshall performed a stunning original poem centered on book bans and gun violence. “Mother Tennessee,” she read, “you're overprotective of your children, not realizing you're the reason we can't breathe.” Listen here. [WPLN]

🏙️ Designing a Different Downtown

In the Scene’s monthly Street View column, reporter Lena Mazel takes a look at Metro Planning’s new Downtown Code draft guidelines and makes the good point that the area’s major systemic issues (affordable housing, anyone?) are unlikely to be solved by design recommendations alone. [Nashville Scene]

🎤 A Call for Black Tennessee Voices

The Tennessean will host its third annual Black Tennessee Voices Storytellers Live event this fall. Columnist/curator Andrea Williams is sending out a call for participants with an eye on adding future contributors to the newspaper’s opinion page, as well as her regular newsletter. Spread the word, y’all! [Tennessean]

🤬 Spotify Penalizing Songwriters, Says NSAI

Spotify’s decision to bundle music and audiobooks into a new premium tier is estimated to cost songwriters $150 million every year. The Nashville Songwriters Association International is joining other trade associations and publishers in asking the streaming service — most recently known for its curious choice to stop paying artists with fewer than 1,000 streams — to knock it off. [Tennessean]

👯 Lipstick Lounge Gets Sporty

As announced last month, legendary East Nashville “bar for humans” Lipstick Lounge is adding a new sports bar named Chapstick to their property. Wednesday marked the official groundbreaking for the new hang, and the timing couldn’t be better, as delightful rumors are swirling about Nashville getting a WNBA and/or NWSL team someday. I can’t wait to watch my beloved Houston Texans (yes, the Titans, they do have fans) in an inclusive space this fall!! [WPLN]