🏙️ What was our biggest event this summer?

🗳️ Polls Show Close Republican Governor Primary

Tomorrow is the last day of early voting in the 2026 Federal and State Primary. On today’s Friday News Roundup, we’re chatting about higher-than-normal early voting turnout and the closing gap between Republican candidates for governor in recent polls. Plus, the latest restaurant news and school supply deals. [🎧 City Cast Nashville]

• News broke after we recorded that Republican gubernatorial candidate U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn’s staff broke ethics rules, according to a federal probe. [🔐 The Tennessean]
• Here’s our website and podcast guides to the election, and Davidson County’s sample ballot with early voting locations. [🎧 City Cast Nashville; Davidson County Votes]
• And check out our interviews with these gubernatorial candidates: Jerri Green, Adam “Ditch” Kurtz, and independent Lauren Pinkston. [🎧 City Cast Nashville]

🏨 Tourists Flock to Nashville

Nashville has seen record-breaking tourism this summer thanks to several big-ticket events. Downtown hotels say occupancy rates during Alan Jackson’s final concert weekend reached 98%, outpacing our July Fourth extravaganza, with 400,000 attendees, and CMA Fest. Local tourism experts hope the new indoor Nissan Stadium will draw even more crowds. [Axios Nashville]

• Here’s how Nashville plans to spend $300 million in former Music City Center funds on East Bank projects. [Axios Nashville]
• Will the East Bank be ready for the Super Bowl? We asked the East Bank Development Authority. [🎧 City Cast Nashville]

👮 Law Enforcement Problems

The Metro Nashville Police Department came under national scrutiny last month when they tased, arrested, and then charged an unhoused person with a felony. The Nashville Banner has obtained body cam footage of the incident. MNPD has reissued a training bulletin on enforcing the felony camping law, which requires a supervisor to be present. The officers who made the arrest followed those guidelines, according to the department. [NPR; Nashville Banner]

• Meanwhile, 44 traffic-ticket cases were dismissed over three days because Metro Legal didn’t have enough attorneys to provide representation. Retiring Metro Legal Director Wally Dietz says the department needs at least 10 more attorneys. [NewsChannel 5; 🔐 Nashville Business Journal]
• In a harrowing case, a three-judge panel has largely dismissed a legal challenge brought by a Nashville woman who suffered a miscarriage after an arrest by MNPD, despite the panel taking issue with the officer’s conduct. [Nashville Banner]

🚸 Local Mother Detained by ICE

Immigration and Customs Enforcement has arrested a mother of two on her way to a doctor’s appointment in Antioch, without a warrant. The woman, who has no criminal record, fled domestic abuse in Guatemala four years ago and has been seeking asylum. She’s being housed in an immigration detention facility in Louisiana, more than 700 miles away from her breastfeeding infant and two-year-old with Down syndrome. Lawyers at the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition and Sanctuary of the South are fighting for her release. [🔐 The Tennessean]

Meet Lottie! Her human says she’s a HUGE fan of the newsletter. Obviously, she has discerning tastes. I’m a big fan of you too, Lottie!

Have a pet you’d like to share with readers? Email me!