🐅 Your guide to the Nashville zoo

🎱 Are These Headlines Real or Fake? Play Along!

Our resident Metro Council contributor Nicole Williams joins the City Cast Nashville podcast team for an update on the fastest Council meeting in recent history, plus another round of “Real or Fake Tennessee Headlines.” Which celebrity might be moving to Nashville? Robertson County is giving away what in their libraries? Tune in to find out. [🎧 City Cast Nashville]

🏙️ East Bank Development Authority Approved

The board overseeing the East Bank’s development has been officially created and approved. This will free up Metro government to concentrate on other areas of Nashville’s governance. The nine board members will be chosen this fall. [WPLN]

👟 Teacher’s Nonprofit Gives Away Free Shoes & Outfits

Makayla Nash, a North Nashville teacher at John Early Middle School, gives away free sneakers to students as part of her nonprofit Drip Drive. The nonprofit also sets up stores for kids to "shop" for free outfits throughout the year. Nash says she knows how important fashion is for her students’ confidence. [WKRN]

• Drip Drive accepts gently used clothing and cash donations. [Drip Drive]

🚌 Your Guide to the Transit Referendum

The Nashville Scene is doing a deep dive into the "Choose How You Move" transit referendum on the Nov. 5 ballot, from an interview with Mayor Freddie O’Connell to a passenger’s guide to WeGo, as well as rider interviews. [Nashville Scene]

I’ve been a Nashville Zoo fan since I was a kid. I remember visiting with my parents when it opened in Cheatham County in 1991, not too far from our home in White Bluff. We were initially dubious when it moved to the Grassmere property in 1996, but we’re a big bunch of animal lovers and visited often despite the longer distance.

Now that I’m a parent, I’m there all the time. It’s such a great place for animal lovers of all ages. As an AZA-accredited nonprofit facility, the zoo is dedicated to conservation efforts and research. If you want to make the most of your next zoo trip, here’s my advice.

🦎 Must-See Animal Exhibits

If you don’t visit often, exploring the entire zoo is worth the extra time. Since we go a lot, we each pick one animal exhibit to see. The zoo is big, and by choosing a few exhibits to check out, we know we'll get to them all without getting too overwhelmed. Here are some of my favorites!

• 🐅 We love visiting the tigers, and the exhibit now includes three tiger cubs! The tigers often get right by the exhibit window, so you can get an up-close look at them.
• 🐉 The new Komodo dragon exhibit by the vet center is amazing. They are so cool! And sometimes you can see zoo critters at the vet clinic, too. Fun story: We saw the Komodo dragons when the exhibit first opened, and on the way up there, I overheard a zoo visitor leaving, complaining about how the Komodo dragons aren’t “real dragons,” and it’s false advertising to call them that. We all know dragons are fictional, right?