📚 Could the state take over Nashville schools?

🍂 A Perfect Road Trip for Fall

Can you feel fall in the air yet? On today’s podcast, we’re chatting with City Cast Nashville travel and food contributor Margaret Littman about why Highlands, N.C., is the perfect fall getaway. With cool alpine vibes (and limited cell service), this Blue Ridge Mountain town is packed with places to stay, eat, shop, hike, and get away from it all. [🎧 City Cast Nashville]

• Another great option for fall: Gatlinburg! [🎧 City Cast Nashville]

😬 Could the State Take Over Nashville Schools?

State lawmakers are discussing auditing Metro Nashville Public Schools a month after a similar audit done to Memphis-Shelby County Schools led to a state takeover of the district. An audit doesn’t necessarily mean the state will take over the school system; it’s a measure to see if there are problems to fix. [WKRN]

• Metro Council also included funding for an operational and performance audit of MNPS in this year’s budget, “blindsiding” school board members. [Nashville Banner]

🏥 Nashville General Hospital’s New Plan

Veronica Elders is the new CEO of Nashville General, our city’s safety net hospital, and she says her priority is getting more patients into the hospital, particularly those who can pay. Having paying patients is essential for the hospital to afford providing care to uninsured patients. To attract these patients, Elders told the Nashville Scene she is prioritizing getting a new or improved building for the hospital. [Nashville Scene]

🎶 One Nashville Venue’s Solution to Ticketing Fees

Todd Sherwood, the owner of East Nashville’s The 5 Spot, has created his own ticketing system for his venue to avoid the fees associated with larger ticket services like Live Nation. Sherwood says that ticketing fees were eating into his business, and after a disappointing partnership with Vanderbilt-incubated ticketing service TuneHatch, he was ready to try and figure it out on his own. [Nashville Scene]

• Can indie venues coexist with corporate venues? We asked two music business professionals. [🎧City Cast Nashville]

We asked you for your memories of Dolly Parton, and your emails keep pouring in. Dolly was such a shining light in this world. Here are some of your Dolly memories.

“Thank you for the Imagination Library books for my granddaughter, born in 2013, who received your books in 2020. You will be missed but not forgotten.” – Priscilla F.

“She was the hallmark of grace and compassion in the industry with a huge heart, a smile, and a song for everyone. God bless Dolly, and may she be with her family during this time.” – Chris P.

“My daughter was almost three when the pandemic hit. She first knew Dolly as an angel who funded the vaccine that saved millions of lives and safeguarded hers.

We arrived in Nashville when she was four — just one month before her brother was born. Representatives of Dolly’s came to the hospital room where my son was born to register the kids in her Imagination Library, where they each got the gift of one book every month until they turned five.

My son just received his last book, and a special happy birthday and happy graduation video from Dolly.

We all know her and love her for different things. Wonderful things. She moved us all. What an incredible person and incredible life. The very definition of leaving the campsite better than you found it.” – Brooke T.