Freddie O’Connell Announces First Appointments to His Staff

Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell announced on Tuesday updates to his staff one day after being sworn into office during a private ceremony.

Marjorie Pomeroy-Wallace, who ran O’Connell’s campaign as campaign manager, will serve as his chief of staff. Alex Apple, who served as O’Connell’s communications director during the campaign, was also hired to serve as deputy communications director and press secretary in the mayor’s office.

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Metro Public Health Department Warns of ‘Widespread’ Mosquitoes Infected with West Nile Virus in Davidson Country

The Metro Nashville Public Health Department recently announced that multiple batches of mosquitoes infected with West Nile virus have been collected across Davidson County.

The widespread virus was detected through the Public Health Department’s Pest Management Division. The division routinely traps mosquitoes at 40 surveillance sites across Nashville and sends them for testing at the Tennessee Department of Health’s lab.

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Huey: If Nashville Republicans, Christians, and Libertarians Vote, Republican Alice Rolli Can Win the Mayoral Race

Digital marketing expert and creator of the conservative TennVoterGuide.com Craig Huey joins host Michael Patrick Leahy in-studio on Monday’s episode of The Tennessee Star Report to outline who – among the 12 candidates – has a real chance to win the Nashville mayoral election; who is running the smartest campaign; and who is behind the well-financed efforts to push Nashville – and Tennessee – to the far Left.

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Nashville’s Top Republican Candidate for Mayor Alice Rolli on Her Surge in the Polls as Early Voting is Underway

As the Nashville mayoral election cycle heats up and early voting has begun, leading Republican candidate Alice Rolli joins The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy in-studio on Thursday to discuss her campaign up until now and her plans for Music City.  TRANSCRIPT Michael Patrick Leahy: 6:06 a.m.; broadcasting live from our studios on Music Row in Nashville, Tennessee; it’s Thursday, July 20th, 2023. We are delighted to welcome to our microphones for the full hour Alice Rolli, who is a candidate for mayor of Nashville-Davidson County. And Alice, the momentum of your campaign is really moving. You know, when you first came in here, I thought, well it’s gonna be hard for a Republican to do well – but you had a particular strategy and your advertisement is on Fox News. You’re doing some advertisement with us here, on this station, and you’re reaching out to the conservatives, and it seems to be doing very well. I saw the recent poll. You’re in third place and rising 20 percent for Freddie O’Connell, 15 percent for Matt Wilshire, 13 percent for you. Of course, margin of error, is about 4 percent. These polls are not exactly done by national…

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Clint Brewer: ‘There’s This Collective Delusion That Nashville Is This Freestanding, Autonomous Entity Sitting Smack Dab in The Middle of Tennessee’

Thursday morning June 8, 2023 on The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy, broadcast weekday mornings on TalkRadio 98.3 and 1510 WLAC. 6:30 am      TRANSCRIPT Michael Patrick Leahy:  Clint, so we’re talking about the Nashville mayoral race. There was a poll released a couple days ago by the Commercial Real Estate Development Association. And well, it’s interesting because when the polls and there are polls, this is a poll of 400 likely Davidson County voters. What’s the margin of error on a poll like that? Clint Brewer:  I think normally it’d be like four to five percent. Michael Patrick Leahy: Four to five percent. Got it. Okay. I mean, that’s a pretty small sample. Clint Brewer: It’s a sample size many would use for a city.  But still small. Michael Patrick Leahy: You’re quite right. If it were a state, you’d probably get minimum 700 for your sample size, or more. But with the city being smaller, it’s harder to get a good sample. So the margin error is four or five percent. There are two things that struck me about this poll. And we’ll get to the horse race here in just a second. 45…

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New Law Blocks Nashville’s Supermajority Requirement for Speedway Demolition

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee has signed a bill to block Metro Nashville’s requirement for a council supermajority vote on demolition at the Fairgrounds Speedway.

Nashville’s council is expected to soon hear a proposal on Bristol Motor Speedway rebuilding the grandstand and track at the Fairgrounds Speedway in order to bring a NASCAR race back to the fairgrounds.

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Nashville Council Approves New $2.1 Billion Tennessee Titans Stadium, to Open in 2027

LP Field in Nashville, Tennessee

The Tennessee Titans will have a new $2.1 billion stadium in 2027 after the deal to fund the stadium was approved by Metro Nashville’s Council on its third and final vote at a special meeting that stretched into Wednesday morning.

The final vote was 26-12 for the stadium project with Council Member Delishia Porterfield voting for the bill in order to attempt a procedural reconsideration of the vote that would have created another vote on the bill at the council’s May 2 meeting.

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Metro Nashville City Council Member Bob Mendes Endorses Freddie O’Connell for Nashville Mayor

Metro Nashville Council Member (At-Large) Bob Mendes endorsed fellow council member Freddie O’Connell as the next mayor of Nashville.

In January, The Tennessee Star reported that current Nashville Mayor John Cooper announced that he would not seek re-election, leaving the race wide open. O’Connell was one of the first to announce his candidacy for the position.

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Hospitality Job Fair to Host 48 Employers at Nissan Stadium on Tuesday

The Nashville Convention & Visitors Corp, in partnership with the Greater Nashville Hospitality Association, is hosting a hospitality industry job fair at Nissan Stadium on Tuesday. The job fair will be held from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. (Central Standard Time) and will host 48 regional employers – some with current job openings ready to hire on the spot.

The hiring event comes as the hospitality industry in Nashville continues to grow. The city has 273 hotels, with an additional 2,544 rooms under construction, according to data by the Nashville Convention & Visitors Corp. In addition, 66 new restaurants opened in 2022, with 765 restaurants and bars opening since 2015.

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Analysis: Nashville Officials Cobble Plans to Pay Estimated $2.2 Billion in Titans Stadium Costs, Spend $2.9 Billion in Estimated Revenues

Construction costs have been divided up clearly to fund up to $2.2 billion of construction expenses on a new Tennessee Titans stadium in Nashville, expected to open in 2027.

Tennessee has committed $500 million in funds it will bond, Nashville’s Metropolitan Sports Authority will take out $760 million in revenue bonds backed by Metro Nashville’s general fund set to be paid off with state and local tax captures and the Titans have committed at least $840 million including an estimated $200 million from a National Football League G-4 loan and $270 million from new personal seat license sales at the stadium.

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Nashville Council Members Push Back Against Mayor’s Closed-Door $2.1B Stadium Deal

Opposition to a deal for the public portion of financing of a new $2.1 billion Tennessee Titans stadium is building amongst Nashville council members since the deal was first announced at a press conference by the mayor’s office and then a non-binding term sheet was presented to the city’s sports authority and East Bank Stadium Committee.

The deal includes a $500 million payment from the state of Tennessee, $760 million in bonds from the city’s sports authority and an undetermined amount of future tax dollars that will go toward stadium maintenance, upkeep and East Bank infrastructure. The mayor’s office hired private consultants, New York-based Inner Circle Sports, to help broker its deal.

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Americans for Prosperity Calls Out Oracle for Reported Layoffs While Receiving Taxpayer Money

Following a report that tech company Oracle has begun laying off workers from its Nashville location, the libertarian conservative political advocacy group Americans for Prosperity is calling on state and local leaders to scrutinize the company especially after it received “nearly a quarter of a billion dollars in taxpayer money.”

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Governor Lee Touts Education Savings Account Program

Tennessee’s Governor on Wednesday touted the state’s new Education Savings Account (ESA) program. 

“When TN families can choose the right school for their child, that student has an even greater shot at success in life,” said Gov. Bill Lee (R) on Twitter. “That’s what our Education Savings Account program is all about. Nearly 1,000 families have applied. 350+ are already approved. And we’re just getting started.”

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