👀 Is this license plate ‘lewd’?

🍁 Take a Fall Road Trip

Planning a fall road trip? On today’s City Cast Nashville podcast, we’re chatting with food and travel contributor Margaret Littman about what makes Highlands, NC the perfect fall destination, with Blue Ridge Mountain views and great places to eat and hike. [🎧 City Cast Nashville]

🏛️ Metro Council Picks New Leaders

• At Tuesday’s Metro Council meeting, councilmembers elected new leaders in several contested roles. Delishia Porterfield will serve as leader of the body in the vice mayor’s absence, Rollin Horton as chair of the Planning and Zoning Committee, and Sean Parker on the Traffic and Parking Commission. [Nashville Banner]
• The council also considered a voluntary housing incentive program to encourage developers to set aside 10% of units at affordable prices for middle-income Nashvillians. [NewsChannel 5]
• Our middle housing crisis [🎧 City Cast Nashville]

🏗️ NDOT Lags at Traffic Improvements

The Nashville Department of Transportation recently chose 25 new streets for traffic calming improvements. However, NDOT has only completed 10% of its 2024 traffic calming projects, and still has numerous projects yet to be started from 2023. NDOT’s director says funding challenges and a lack of staffing slow the process. [WSMV]

• Related: Residents demand action from NDOT after a second pedestrian crash in a Germantown crosswalk, which led to a death earlier this year. [WSMV]

💸 Office of Homeless Services Might Be Audited

Councilmember Ginny Welsch has formally requested the city audit Metro’s Office of Homeless Services after reports of millions in suspected financial irregularities and questionable payments. The Metro Nashville Audit Committee will consider the request on Sept. 23. [Nashville Scene]

• Several local leaders and unhoused advocates have been concerned about OHS’s leadership. [🎧 City Cast Nashville]

I recently took my seven-year-old to the Discovery Center at Murfree Spring in Murfreesboro, and we loved it. While I’d taken her a few times as a toddler, we hadn’t visited since the pandemic, and I wanted to see if it was as great as I remembered. Some areas are specifically geared towards toddlers, but my daughter still had a blast. Here’s everything you need to know about visiting.

💦 What’s Inside

On the first floor, kids can splash and experiment at several sensory water stations, play pretend at a farmers market and restaurant, create masterpieces in an art room, climb aboard a fire truck, and visit turtles and fish in the aquarium section. Kid-friendly science experiments are scattered throughout. There’s a separate area for toddlers only, with pretend play stations and soft mats for playing on without being trampled by bigger kids.

Climb the book-themed stairs, or take the elevator to the second floor, where kids can play musical instruments from all over the world. There’s also a miniature town with a train set, an auto mechanic pretend play area, and more science experiments. Kids can take a twisty slide to return downstairs.

If you’re paranoid about germs, like me, there’s hand sanitizer everywhere, and I found it surprisingly clean.

🛝 What’s Outside

The center has a patio outside with messier and nature-themed experiments, like dirt cooking and bubble making. Have a snack at one of the picnic tables or benches surrounding a pond, and visit the owl. The pond also has a water feature, and stepping stones toward the parking lot. Behind the pond is a short trail where kids can see the Murfree Spring wetlands.