📹 Mayor changes his mind on surveillance system

📹 Mayor Reverses Fusus Support

Mayor O’Connell is reversing his support of the surveillance system Fusus, which would give police access to private security cameras, citing “erosions in the rule of law at the federal level,” and worries that guardrails might not be enough to prevent misuse. [Nashville Banner]

• Why the Fusus guardrails might not work [🎧 City Cast Nashville]

🥫 No Grocery Tax Relief

O’Connell plans to release Nashville’s 2026 budget next week, but grocery tax relief won’t be on it, despite the mayor’s efforts. Due to state law, while city and county governments can lower grocery taxes, consolidated metropolitan governments like Nashville cannot. [The Tennessean]

• A proposed state law eliminating the grocery tax failed to pass during the Tennessee General Assembly. [🎧 City Cast Nashville]

🛹 Do We Need More Skate Parks?

Local skateboarders are asking Metro leaders to include more skate parks in the budget. On the City Cast Nashville podcast, we’re sitting down with two of them to find out why. [🎧 City Cast Nashville]

🎨 Jefferson Street’s Colorful Update

Jefferson Street got a colorful update over the weekend, with the first painted intersection in Nashville on the corner of Rosa L. Parks Boulevard. The art was designed by Elisheba Mrozik, who previously painted murals honoring Elizabeth Duff and Z. Alexander Looby. [The Tennessean]

Hungry? Every month, Jenn Harbin, the creator of The Hungry Loner, curates this list of the best new restaurants and bars in Nashville, just for you. Here are her favorites!

Urban Cowboy Bar

Urban Cowboy Bar, the first standalone bar from Lyon Porter and Jersey Banks, has opened inside the historic Arcade. The 8,000-square-foot space stretches across three floors: A rowdy first-floor saloon pouring frosty mugs and whiskey shots, a Roberta’s counter slinging wood-fired pies and slices, and an upstairs cocktail bar framed by the Arcade’s soaring windows. Grab a hot margherita slice and a Standing Room cocktail inside a historic landmark reimagined to bring locals back downtown.

Little Rey

Little Rey, an Atlanta-born, Mexican-inspired fast-casual concept, opened this month on West End in Midtown, with a lively menu built around wood-roasted chicken, breakfast tacos, frozen margaritas, and soft serve. Order a tray of pollo al carbon, smoked wings with salsa macha, or pork tacos off the grill, and don’t skip a grapefruit margarita to wash it all down on their covered patio.

Fishmonger

Fishmonger, another Atlanta spot, has officially opened its first outpost outside of Georgia in Germantown’s Neuhoff District — with a second location already on the way. The space is small but packed with personality: Neon lights, citrus-foamed oysters, colorful crudo plates, and a bright indoor patio strung with greenery. It’s built for breezy afternoons over frozen cocktails like the saffron-spiked Painkiller and the neon-pink Fishmonger Gibson. On the menu: Gulf shrimp rolls, tuna melts on sourdough, caviar bumps, and their runaway hit — the blackened grouper sandwich, slicked with Florida sauce and pickled peppers.

Sho Pizza Bar

Sho Pizza Bar, the newest project from Chef Sean Brock, Mary Carlisle, and Ben Gambill, is a Tokyo-by-way-of-Tennessee pizza bar tucked inside East Nashville’s Riverside Village. A blue-tiled oven turns out Sho’s signature pies with 72-hour fermented dough that’s light, chewy, and crackles on the bite. Classics like the margherita anchor the menu, but the daily "Sho-Stopper" pie and must-orders like the salumi with Calabrese salami and chili honey show off the restaurant’s playful side. The bar leans Italian and Japanese with sake, Italian wines, and cocktails like the Industry Spritz — an earthy, blood-orange patio crusher.