Merle Haggard Museum and Restaurant to Open in Nashville Next Year

A Merle Haggard museum and meat and three is set to open in Nashville next summer, reports Nash Country Daily. The museum and restaurant will open next door to the Johnny Cash and Patsy Cline museums downtown on Third Avenue South. As with the other two museums, Icon Entertainment is behind the new venture. The Cash and Cline museums are among Nashville’s top tourist destinations, according to Forbes. The Cash museum opened in 2013 and the Cline museum opened earlier this year on the second floor of the Cash museum. Merle’s Meat + 3 Saloon, a bar and restaurant offering Southern dishes, will be located under the museum devoted to Haggard’s career. The museum will showcase instruments, awards, outfits and other things that belonged to the late musician. His widow, Theresa Haggard, has been involved in getting displays ready for the museum. “Merle would be very happy knowing that his museum will be next door to his dear friend, Johnny Cash,” she said, according to Nash Country Daily. “I’m sure he is up there smiling about that.” Born in 1937, Haggard was raised in Depression-era California, where he lived with his family in a box car they made into a home. His father,…

Read the full story

Tennessee Reportedly Offers Dream Candidate Jon Gruden Over $10 Million to Replace Butch Jones

Tennessee has reportedly offered former Tampa Bay Buccaneers coach Jon Gruden “over $10 million a year” to be its next head coach, according to The Read Optional’s Oliver Connolly. Connolly reported that the Vols have also targeted TCU’s Gary Patterson, Louisville’s Bobby Petrino and Purdue’s Jeff Brohm as potential candidates as well. The rumored deal would…

Read the full story

The International Olympic Committee Says Video Games Are Indeed … Sports

They may apparently require no more than a comfortable chair, decent knowledge of a computer screen and nimble mastery of controllers, but the International Olympic Committee insisted Saturday that eSports are indeed…sports. An Olympic Summit, under the guidance of IOC president Thomas Bach, meeting in Lausanne hailed the phenomenal growth of video games. In a statement,…

Read the full story

Refs Walk Off in Protest After Players Kneel During Anthem at New Jersey Football Game

Two high school football officials walked off the field in protest Friday night after players from Monroe High School in Somerset County knelt during the national anthem before the team’s game against visiting Colts Neck. The officials, Ernie Lunardelli, 54, and his son, Anthony Lunardelli, 27, stood for the anthem and then abruptly left the field…

Read the full story

Joy Villa: Singer, Ex-Democrat, Trump Supporter, … Congresswoman?

President Donald Trump took to Twitter on Friday to welcome to politics a 26-year-old entertainer who made a political statement earlier this year with her “Make America Great Again” dress at the Grammys. “She has many fans,” the president tweeted. Villa responded by thanking the president and calling him her “ultimate warrior.” During a Friday appearance…

Read the full story

Frank Ragnow, All-SEC First Teamer and Potential NFL Draft First Rounder, Lost for the Year Due to Injury

Arkansas head coach Bret Bielema announced on Monday that first-team All-SEC offensive lineman Frank Ragnow will miss the rest of the season. He suffered a high ankle sprain in Saturday’s 52-20 loss to Auburn. Ragnow had started 33 consecutive games including that game with 18 coming at center and 15 coming at right guard. The 6-foot-5,…

Read the full story

Rock-and-Roll Legend Fats Domino Dead at 89

Fats Domino, whose rollicking rhythm and blues piano helped give birth to rock ‘n’ roll, has died in his lifelong home of New Orleans, the coroner said Wednesday. He was 89. Domino, who had made few public appearances over the past decade, died Tuesday morning of natural causes, said Gerry Cvitanovich, Jefferson Parish Coroner. “He was…

Read the full story

Kenny Rogers Receives Star on the Music City Walk of Fame

NASHVILLE, TN  – Grammy winner and music icon Kenny Rogers was inducted into the Music City Walk of Fame on October 24. The induction ceremony took place one day in advance of the all-star “All In For The Gambler: Kenny Rogers’ Farewell Concert Celebration” taking place at Bridgestone Arena. He will receive the 80th star on the Music City Walk of Fame. Inductees are recognized for their significant contributions to preserving the musical heritage of Nashville and for contributing to the world through song or other industry collaboration. Introducing Kenny Rogers was long-time touring partners, the Oak Ridge Boys.  In 1979, Kenny Rogers became the first person to sell out arenas in his Full House Tour.   The Oak Ridge Boys’ Joe Bonsall reminded the crowd, “No other country tour in history had played 90 cities in a row, to 18,000+ people.”  Touring with Kenny Rogers, “We didn’t see an empty seat for ten years.” Not only that, Kenny Rogers brought the Oak Ridge Boys along for a Christmas tour.  “This year, [because of Kenny Rogers], we are embarking on our 29th Christmas tour,” stated Bonsall. When the Oak Ridge Boys were inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame, Kenny Rogers graciously…

Read the full story

Breast Cancer Death Rates Fell 40 Percent Since 1989

ANALYSIS/OPINION: The American Cancer Society reported earlier this month that breast cancer death rates declined almost 40 percent between 1989 and 2015 – averting an estimated 322,600 deaths. The reduction is attributed to screening and early detection by self-exams, mammography and improvements in treatments over the recent decades. And while everyone is in agreement that there…

Read the full story

Former NBA Player-Turned-Western Kentucky Coach Quits After Embarrassing Incident on the Road

Drinking and driving can come with other consequences besides possible jail time and fines. A former NBA player turned college basketball coach found that out the hard way. Ben Hansbrough, who had just been promoted to a full-time assistant coach’s role at Western Kentucky University this summer, resigned his position just two days after he was…

Read the full story

NASA Discovers Mars Has a Magnetic Tail Twisted by Solar Wind

Artist’s conception of the complex magnetic field environment at Mars. Yellow lines represent magnetic field lines from the Sun carried by the solar wind, blue lines represent Martian surface magnetic fields, white sparks are reconnection activity, and red lines are reconnected magnetic fields that link the surface to space via the Martian magnetotail. Credit: Anil Rao/Univ.…

Read the full story

Nashville Symphony to Hold Free Day of Music Saturday

The Nashville Symphony will holds its annual free day of music Saturday to give people a chance to enjoy free concerts and participate in other fun activities for the whole family. The event will run from 10:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. at the Schermerhorn Symphony Center in downtown Nashville. There will be more than 20 performers, including the Nashville Symphony. Doors open at 10:30 am, music from 11 am – 9 pm Kids’ Zone in the East Lobby, featuring our Instrument Petting Zoo, crafts and more, from 11:45 am – 3 pm Food vendors including Burritos La Mina, Two Thompsons Airstream & Churro Diva, presented in partnership with Mesa Komal Beer garden, presented by Craft Brewed Quiet spaces for people with sensory sensitivities For a complete schedule of events, click here.    

Read the full story