Day: June 20, 2017

Nashville will join a worldwide celebration Wednesday as musicians take to the streets and different venues around town to give performances, offer free music lessons and hand out free instruments. This is the fourth annual “Make Music Nashville” day, an event timed to the summer solstice and related to a tradition begun in France in 1982 and now held in more than 750 cities in 120 countries. Wednesday will be the longest day of the year. Wednesday’s celebration in Nashville is set to be bigger than past ones. More than 128 artists and more than 36 venues are participating. Many genres will be featured, from bluegrass to a cappella to indie rock. There will be a 250-person “kazoo jam” at the airport and a songwriting “street studio” downtown. Kids at the Nashville Zoo will be given harmonicas, and guitar lessons will be offered at the Country Music Hall of Fame. Several upright pianos, decorated by students in the after-school program at Tusculum Elementary, have been placed in different spots downtown for passerby to play. The pianos are part of a two-month installation. Besides group music lessons, there will be instrument play-alongs and group sings throughout the day. “If our programs encourage…

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  Rutherford County homeowner Patrick Hale, who is credited with stopping two escaped Georgia convicts Thursday, clarified on Friday that the men surrendered on his driveway without him having to pull out a weapon, an unusual outcome that Hale attributes to divine intervention. Earlier media reports said that Hale, who lives in Christiana, held the men at gunpoint until police arrived. The Putnam County Sheriff’s Office in Georgia had announced reward money for information that would lead to the arrests of Donnie Rowe and Ricky Dubose. However, Sheriff Howard Sills later said no reward money would be issued because he heard the men had surrendered to law enforcement. But after learning more about how Thursday’s events unfolded, Sills issued a press release Saturday saying officials are considering how the money might be awarded. “We are presently looking into the facts,” Sills wrote. “I am confident from what I know at this time that there will be payments made.” At a press conference Friday, Hale, 35, recounted what happened Thursday evening at his home. Hale said he received two calls from two friends around 6:40 p.m. warning him about fugitives in the area. He loaded every weapon in his house. Then he saw the two…

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Four men have been charged with theft after Shelby County deputies raided a home last week and discovered stolen construction equipment valuing around $1 million in the backyard, reports WREG News Channel 3. Oscar Celallos, Jose Lopez, Victor Gonzalez and Iserel Dela Cruz were all charged with theft of property, and Cruz was also charged with aggravated assault. Three of the men are from Guatemala and one is from Mexico. Their immigration status was unknown but immigration officials were notified. A judge denied bond for all four men. There was enough construction equipment to fill five tractor trailer trucks, according to officials. The men are alleged to have stolen around $745,000 in roofing shingles, $88,000 in rolled roofing, $12,000 in roofing nails, $14,000 in aluminum drip rails and rolled trim, and $13,000 in stolen lawn equipment. Deputies also seized 10 cars. Officials believe the men have been stealing items for a long time and then selling them. Contractor Sam Hearn told WMC Action News 5 that he’s glad the men got caught. “They’re stealing stuff from us and it’s holding us up on building these houses,” said Hearn, whose crew works in a new Arlington subdivision. Hearn alerted deputies after realizing that shingles and…

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During the final days before the special congressional election in Georgia’s 6th congressional district, Republicans sought to transform the contest into a referendum on the increasingly hysterical tactics of the anti-Trump Left. The Congressional Leadership Fund released a mailer last week that linked Ossoff to House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and lumped him in with vehemently…

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The Hytch ridesharing app is now being touted by Hill Center Brentwood. Launched last year, the free app helps people make arrangements to carpool. “We can use an asset we all now have – our smartphones – to fix a problem that’s been escalating for decades – too many cars on our road network,” said Hytch LLC co-founder and CEO Mark Cleveland in a press release last year. “Hytch built the tool everyone can use on their smartphones that brings old-fashioned carpooling into the digital age for commuters.” Hill Center Brentwood is a new mixed-use development at the corner of Franklin Road and Maryland Way that includes offices, shops and restaurants. Developer H.G. Hill Realty Company is supporting a six-month Hytch pilot program by offering participating employees transportation reimbursement incentives of up to $50 per month. There also are two dedicated parking spots in the center’s parking garage for Hytch drivers. “Adding this commuting program fits well with out desire to encourage alternative transportation options for employees,” said Jimmy Granbery, chairman and CEO of the H.G. Hill Realty Company, in a press release last week. The Hytch app helps users locate, meet and reward other drivers going in the same direction.…

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