🚸 Why don’t our schools have crossing guards?

⚽ How a Nashville SC Star Learned To See the Field

October is Dyslexia Awareness Month, and local nonprofit Learning Matters is hard at work supporting and empowering K-12 students impacted by diverse learning styles. Nashville SC founding player Taylor Washington joins the podcast today to talk about his own journey with dyslexia — and he’s sharing his analysis of NSC’s current record-breaking season. [🎧 City Cast Nashville]

• Buy tickets to the next Nashville SC game and support Learning Matters. [FEVO]

🚸 Why Don’t Public Schools Have Crossing Guards?

Inglewood Elementary parents are renewing a push for a crossing guard. However, the Metro Nashville Police Department requires proof that children are walking unattended to school for a guard to be present. Given Riverside Drive’s traffic, parents are unwilling to let their kids walk to school alone. Students who live 1.25-1.5 miles from school cannot ride the bus. Yet out of Nashville’s 160 public schools, only 71 have crossing guards. [🔐 The Tennessean]

• MNPD is currently seeking 37 new crossing guards. [Nashville.gov]
• More and more Nashvillians have been calling for road safety improvements as pedestrian deaths continue to rise. [🎧 City Cast Nashville]

🛣️ Is the Choice Lanes Deal Too Good?

One of the shortlisted bidders for the state’s Choice Lanes, which will run from Nashville to Murfreesboro, is suing the Tennessee Department of Transportation. The lawsuit claims TDOT is illegally blocking public review of the final agreement with DriveTN. DriveTN outbid competitors by $17 billion. [WKRN]

• Will the toll lanes benefit Nashville? We asked Nashville Business Journal senior reporter Adam Sichko. [🎧 City Cast Nashville]

🧑‍⚖️ Tourist Sues Over Alleged Sexual Assault

Last week, a Utah woman filed a lawsuit against Nashville and four correctional officers from the Davidson County Sheriff’s Office Downtown Detention Center. According to the lawsuit, Lisa Travis was in town to sing at the Dove Awards in 2025 when she was booked into the detention center, then drugged and sexually assaulted by officers. MNPD is investigating. [Nashville Banner]

🤱🏿 Nashville’s Maternal Mortality Crisis

The maternal mortality rate among Black women in Tennessee is more than twice that of white women, and only about nine Black OB/GYNs practice in Nashville. To help address Nashville’s crisis, North Nashville resident Tanzye Hill trained as a doula, and now teaches other women to become birth workers at Birth Manifesta. Meanwhile, others are advocating for Medicaid to reimburse for doulas. [Nashville Banner]