Thursday morning on The Tennessee Star Report, host Michael Patrick Leahy welcomed recovering journalist Clint Brewer in studio to examine the widening field of Nashville mayoral candidates.
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Wednesday morning on The Tennessee Star Report, host Michael Patrick Leahy welcomed Nashville mayoral candidate Freddie O’Connell in studio to comment on the expulsion of Justin Jones, Metro City Council’s vote to put him back in, and what makes him a good choice for Nashville mayor.
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Councilman Freddie O’Connell tweeted this week that Nashville Metro Water Services had officially opened its first net-zero energy building. O’Connell said the location was in Salemtown, where the Metro Water Service is also planning a new multiuse path.
“The electric meter literally runs backward on a sunny day!” O’Connell tweeted. He added the price of solar for residential properties had decreased 80 percent in the past decade.
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Nashville’s Metro Council is set to meet this week to discuss the possibility of allowing alcohol back onto party buses. In October, the Council and Mayor John Cooper voted to change the rules regarding the open-air vehicles beginning December of this year.
Councilman Freddie O’Connell submitted a bill quickly after the decision and told WKRN News that his bill would allow party buses to keep alcohol on their vehicles.
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The Metro Nashville City Council is considering a resolution to increase downtown sales taxes for generalized safety and cleaning. This .25 percent increase would apply to the Downtown Central Business Improvement District (CBID), and would result in an estimated $2.4 million in revenue. The Tennessee General Assembly authorized the increase during this past legislative session.
The resolution didn’t include an exhaustive list of what safety and cleanliness measures would be funded with this sales tax increase, but did note that it would include public safety, social services, and sidewalk cleaning. Additionally, the resolution noted that the funds would be deposited into the city’s event and marketing fund to assist in promotional materials and the recruitment of major conventions and group meetings.
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Colorful entertainer Kid Rock will be welcomed in the Christmas parade in Leiper’s Fork. Parade goers at the Leiper’s Fork Christmas Parade on Saturday, Dec. 15, will be joined by special guest Kid Rock, who will walk in the parade. The parade, previously scheduled for Saturday, Dec. 8, was postponed until Dec. 15 at 2 p.m. due to inclement weather, the Williamson Herald said. Kid Rock was disinvited as the grand marshal of the Dec. 1 Nashville Christmas Parade after he called Joy Behar of ultra-liberal show “The View” a word that starts with “b,” The Tennessee Star reported. The colorful singer appeared on “Fox & Friends” Dec. 30, live from Nashville, and made the remark about Behar. Parade organizers instead invited James Shaw Jr., the hero who wrestled a gun away from the Waffle House shooter in April. Nashville Mayor David Briley and Councilman Freddie O’Connell had threatened to boycott the parade over Kid Rock, according to Fox 17 News. In the “Fox & Friends” interview, Kid Rock also bemoaned political correctness, Townhall said. Rock said everyone deserves love, minus one person in particular – Behar. He then used the derogative term. “No, no, no, no,” host Steve Doocy…
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Early voting on Nashville’s light rail transit plan ended Thursday, April 26, but one group advocating for alternative transit planning is making a final push for Election Day. There is one more opportunity to vote on the transit plan as Election Day is Tuesday, May 1. In a newsletter Thursday, the NoTax4Tracks PAC said, “This plan is incredibly flawed and costly. What’s worse, it’s being forced onto Davidson County families and businesses before we have seen any alternatives. There are better, less expensive options than making families pay $43,000 in new taxes for a light rail system that won’t even reach them.” In a separate communication, NoTax4Tracks referred people to listen to an episode of the Nashville Sounding Board podcast discussing the light rail transit plan. Nashville Metro council members Freddie O’Connell and Angie Henderson were guests. O’Connell said, “I think that as a councilmember trying to do the best job of representing my constituents… I will say I think a mistake was made by the administration in preparing this plan was a lack of council engagement.” Henderson said, “Absolutely, I concur with that.” James Pratt wrote a letter to the editor that appeared in The Tennessean on Wednesday, April…
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