🗳️ Ogles gets another challenger

🚧 They Dug a Hole Where? Plus, Fun With Infrastructure Funds

With $104M in Choose How You Move funding heading out to build sidewalks and install smart signals, we’ve got infrastructure on the brain — which is why it’s a little weird that Elon Musk’s Boring Co. was digging over by Vandy this week. Plus, our election commission has a new administrator, and people really like BNA. Join us on today’s podcast as we try to figure this all out. [🎧 City Cast Nashville]

🗳️ Hatcher to Face Ogles in GOP Primary

Former state agriculture commissioner Charlie Hatcher will challenge incumbent U.S. House Rep. Andy Ogles in the 2026 Republican primary for the 5th Congressional District. Hatcher’s run adds to both Republican and Democratic efforts to unseat Ogles. [Nashville Banner]

• Money talks: Ogles is also facing mounting campaign debt and weak fundraising as his campaign finances have been spiraling downward. [Nashville Scene]
• Meanwhile, the campaign for Democratic challenger Chaz Molder has raised $785,000 in just four weeks. [The Tennessean]

🏥 TN’s First Pediatric Rehab Center to Open in Nashville

Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital will build Tennessee’s first pediatric rehabilitation facility, which will provide families with local options for children in need of long-term care following serious injuries or illnesses. Currently, families have to travel out of state for specialized care. Construction is expected to begin next year. [NewsChannel5]

📚 How Nashville Saved a Book Festival

The survival of the Southern Festival of Books was threatened earlier this year after a $1.2 million annual grant to Humanities Tennessee was terminated. But it’s back, baby. Here’s how inspiring community action saved Nashville’s beloved annual literary event, plus a guide to the festival lineup. [Nashville Scene]

• But wait, there’s more: Check out our guide to the best indie bookstores in Nashville. [🎧 City Cast Nashville]

We’ve been talking a lot about Nashville’s best indie bookstores and this weekend’s Southern Festival of Books. But how well do you know Nashville’s literary scene? Let’s test your knowledge in this week’s Nashville trivia!

Which one of these celebrated Nashville authors has won a Pulitzer Prize?

This is Bronco Barber. He loves Fridays, especially Payday Friday because he gets a fried egg for breakfast. Yum! Bronco lives in downtown Nashville and is the unofficial greeter at Church Street Park.

I’m gonna have to head over there soon so I can say hello to this handsome fellow!