✈️ BNA board drops out of lawsuit against state

🏊 The Best Hotel Pools & Spas for a Day Pass

Summer getaway season is here, but you don't have to travel far to feel like you're on vacation. Travel journalist Amelia Edelman joins the podcast today to share her top picks of local hotel pools, spas, and day-pass experiences to help you relax close to home this summer. [🎧City Cast Nashville]

✈️ State-Controlled BNA Board Drops Out of Lawsuit

In a special-called meeting Monday, the newly reconstructed Metro Nashville Airport Authority board voted to withdraw from a lawsuit that challenges a state law changing the makeup of the airport board to give state officials a majority of seats. The lawsuit, approved by the previous Metro-controlled airport authority board and filed alongside the Metro Government last month, seeks to halt the law's implementation. The lawsuit's first hearing is scheduled for Aug. 5. [🔐 Nashville Business Journal]

• Mayor Freddie O’Connell responded to the new board’s decision, saying “It was outrageous to call this meeting today because the Metro Board is still the rightful oversight board for the Nashville airport. We appreciate the DOJ stipulating in court that the FAA is granting a stay through July 27, and we are confident the courts will agree that our board is the rightful oversight board.” [Nashville Scene via Nashville Post]
• The city of Chattanooga and their airport authority are also suing the state over the same law. [Tennessee Lookout]

⚖️ Recent Homeless Arrests Highlight Controversial State Law

Housing advocates are speaking out after two people experiencing homelessness were arrested for camping in South Inglewood Park. Under a Tennessee law enacted in 2022, unauthorized camping on public property is considered a felony that can carry prison time, fines, and long-term barriers to future housing. While both cases are expected to be dismissed or reduced to misdemeanors, advocates say the arrests underscore a growing concern the law is being used to criminalize homelessness. [Nashville Scene]

• The neighborhood group Inglewood Mutual Aid has denounced the arrests. [Nashville Peoples’ Journal]
• Unhoused residents were also arrested downtown by off-duty Tennessee Highway Patrol officers in the fall of 2024, leading to scrutiny and playing a role in the end of the Nashville Downtown Partnership’s use of private security force Solaren. [Nashville Banner]

👀 Murfreesboro Renews Surveillance Company Contract

Murfreesboro City Council unanimously voted to renew Flock Safety's contract until 2028. The Atlanta-based company is best known for their automatic license plate readers, which Murfreesboro has employed since 2024 and officials say have been critical to solving violent crime. The newest contract includes the company's gunshot detection system, which uses audio technology to direct police to areas where gunshots may have occurred. Critics of the technology warn inaccuracies can lead to false alerts and wrongful arrests. [Nashville Scene]

• Nashville’s Metro Council has rejected recent attempts to implement large-scale surveillance tools in our city. [🎧City Cast Nashville]