📲 ICE call center coming to Nashville

📲 ICE Call Center Coming to Nashville

The location of a planned Immigration and Customs Enforcement call center has changed from Adams, TN to Nashville. The contract lists a 37214 ZIP code, which would place it in Donelson or near the airport. The call center will offer 24/7 support to local law enforcement across the U.S. that have entered into agreements with ICE. The mayor’s office is still collecting information. [Tennessee Lookout]

🛣️ Controversial Choice Lanes

TDOT’s Choice Lanes are coming to Nashville. Councilmember Ginny Welsch says her Glencliff district alone could lose more than 30 homes to make room for the toll roads, and it also likely impacts our new Chinatown development. We’re talking about it on today’s Friday News Roundup, plus our favorite ice cream shops and new Rock Block developments. [🎧 City Cast Nashville]

💻 How Is Nashville’s Government Using AI?

Nashville Scene reporter Alejandro Ramirez has combed through hundreds of public records to better understand how the Metro Nashville government is using generative AI. He found tens of thousands of employee Copilot AI prompts in a nine-month period, and 300+ within 10 days from the mayor’s office alone. Metro released an updated AI policy in July, but a local AI lawyer and union leader worry the policy doesn’t do enough to protect current employees. [Nashville Scene]

• The government’s use of AI includes this absolutely hideous — er, interesting — cover for MNPD’s department manual featuring a disturbingly buff eagle. View it at your own risk. [Nashville.gov]

🚕 I Spy a Parked Waymo

Even while parked, self-driving Waymo vehicles in Nashville record their surroundings. While Waymo claims the vehicles are designed with privacy in mind, it doesn’t have a specific privacy policy about what happens to all that recorded data. Waymo has previously shared data with law enforcement in other cities and is also under a research agreement with Nexar, an AI dash-cam company. [Nashville Banner]

• How will Waymos impact our streets? We asked a transportation expert. [🎧 City Cast Nashville]

Remember my interview with the man behind the No New Data Center account? He also wanted to share these pics of his beloved 16-year-old diabetic love bug, Oliver! Oliver has never known a treat he didn’t want to eat, a squirrel he didn’t want to chase, or a baby he didn’t want to be friends with. Fearless and obstinate, despite having excellent regularly cleaned teeth, he has breath that smells like a wet dumpster in August. And he clearly enjoys kissing his humans nonetheless!

Drew adopted Oliver the week he started dating his now-wife, with the secret hope that the cutie would help him win her over. It worked. Drew and his wife will celebrate their 14th anniversary in October.

Happy anniversary!

Have a pet you want to share with readers? Email it to me!