Boring Starts Digging, Councilmembers Win Lawsuit, and Marsha Blackburn Has Power

Today on CityCast Nashville, it's time for our Friday News Roundup. Executive producer Whitney Pasturek and CityCast Nashville contributor Nicole Williams joined me to talk about NDOT's director's resignation. Marsha Blackburn did what now? An anti-immigration law deemed unconstitutional and how to have dinner with your dog this weekend. It's Friday, February 27th. I'm your host, Marie Cecil Anderson, and this is what Nashville's talking about. Happy Friday, everybody. We have made it to the end of the week. And what better way to begin than with a little metro moments. I love a metro moment. Yes, and maybe my smoky voice a little bit because of a cold. Yeah. Yeah. So Metro Nashville is seeing a leadership shift as director of Nashville Department of Transportation and Multimodal Infrastructure. Say that 10 times fast. Director Diana Alarcon has resigned and deputy director Philip Jay Jones will serve as acting director. Alircon had led the department since 2021 and through our most recent winter storm, Fern. Her reasons for resigning are unclear. I thought it was. instructive that she resigned effective immediately. Generally speaking, in my experience, when you resign effective immediately, it's because someone has asked you to resign. The mayor's office has not said, to be clear, they have not said that they asked her to resign. They've lauded her for her efforts to... like improve transportation in Nashville, et cetera, et cetera. There has been a lot of... pushback to Director Alarcon from the sort of walk bike community in Nashville. She oversaw some really controversial decisions, particularly about downtown. So like removing the 9th Avenue bikeway, removal of the benches on Korean Veterans Boulevard and replacement with the big beautiful balls. Oh, the balls. Yeah. So. Decisions like that have caused sort of the activist community in Nashville to really question her leadership. Again, we don't know what happened. She hasn't made a statement as far as I've seen. We'll see if her deputy stays in that position. This is a position that Mayor O'Connell has the ability to appoint whoever he wants to. It's not overseen by a board or a commission like many of our director positions in Nashville. So, you know, Freddie really has carte Todd Blanche here to sort of imagine a better multimodal future for Nashville. I'll just say from a firsthand perspective.

It took one day this week for NDOT to put up flex posts in the bike lane outside Lady Bird Taco on Dumbrian. Oh. Because the restaurant had posted signs begging delivery drivers not to park there. So if a one day turnaround on hardening a bike lane is what we can expect in our new endot future, I'm cool with that. Let's do it. Flex posts everywhere. I mean, they're there to protect paint jobs, not people, but it's better than nothing. Concrete. And you think it's because of the new director? I'm just saying it's a previously unforeseen rapid response. Yeah, the timing is interesting, the speed with which that happened. Generally speaking, we've seen things happen pretty quickly that are actually detrimental to the safety of pedestrians and cyclists in Nashville. False. So it was a nice change of pace. All right. Vroom Vrooming on to more Metro News. Room Vrooming? Well, you know, transportation. I'm on a bike right now. I don't know. Moving on to more Metro News, the Nashville Electric Service swears they are ready for spring. An independent review board is conducting a thorough investigation on how the utility company responded to Winterstorm Firm. And the Nashville banner reported at this past Wednesday's board meeting, NES CEO Teresa Broil's Aplin. detailed to the board their new measures aimed at better preparing the city and its power grid for spring storms. She said NES will do extensive tree trimming and increase the minimum clearance between trees and power lines from 10 to 15 feet. In the coming months, she said vegetation management crews will work to complete NES's annual tree trimming goals and catch up on its four-year targets. Marie, can I stop you right there? Yes. We have some actual... Breaking news coming in literally as we're taping this. The Nashville scene just reported that U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn coordinated a personal power restoration timeline with NES CEO Teresa Broils Applin during Winterstorm Fern. And Teresa Broil's Aplen then advocated for the senator internally. They've literally got email records of Teresa asking her, team to specifically check on Marcia's power lines. Like, hey guys. The CEO of NES called on behalf of Senator Marsha Blackburn. Hey, hey, Marcia's office just called me. She wants to know when she's going to get power back. Can you go check that out? And they were like, I don't know, it's pretty bad over there. And then the CEO came back to check in again. And they were like, okay, actually, I think we can get over there. Do you think that'll go in front of the board? My favorite part about all of this, though, is that even after having her power lines apparently personally serviced, Marcia still went after NES CEO, Teresa Broils Applin. Pitting women against women, you know. The thing that really grinds my gears about this is that in that same Nashville banner piece where it talks about how Broil's Applin was reporting to... the NES board, about all the measures that they're taking. She was quoted as saying that giving like personalized restoration estimates to customers would be a very long time from now. Like that's not something that's going to happen anytime soon, it seems like. However,

If you are a U.S. senator, you get personalized restoration estimates. Honestly, I'm so sorry, but I kind of feel like these people deserve each other. Like, here's poor N.E.S. CEO, Teresa Broil's Aplin doing everything she can to help one of her powerful constituents who then turns around and yells at her. And we still don't know how long it took Marcia to get her power back. That's not reported in this Nashville scene article. And she was back in D.C. She was in D.C. anyway. Okay, moving on. Remember that Tennessee law that made it a felony for local officials to vote in favor of so-called sanctuary policies? Yes, we talked about it. We did in length. That law is now dead, and Metro Council members will not be criminalized for how they vote in favor of policies supporting immigrant communities. The ACLU of Tennessee announced a proposed settlement this week where the state acknowledged that the law unconstitutionally violates legislative immunity, the foundational principle that protects elected officials from prosecution for their voting record. Wow. This is big. And it's a great win for the Constitution and Tennessee and specifically our Metro Council, which is hoompsed the law was targeting. This resolved. The lawsuit that was filed last June by seven council members, Clay Cap, Brenda Gad, Delicia Porterfield, Sandra Sepulveda, Solfout Sawara, Terry Vo, and Jenny Welsh, who all faced potential criminal prosecution. I think it's maybe worth reading what Terry Vaux from District 17 had to say. She said, quote, this settlement is a powerful affirmation of democracy and the rule of law. No elected official should ever face prison time simply for casting a vote on behalf of their constituents. The outcome protects not just council members, but the Democratic voice of every Tennessee and we were elected to serve. I feel better. I do. I feel better today. Nicole. Nicole's head has just rolled to the side. Nicole does not feel better today. I mean, what makes me not feel better is the fact that we were here at all. The legislature was warned by their own legal counsel. that this could and likely would face constitutional challenges. And they forged ahead. That is their way, however. That is the state in which we live. And it is. I'm glad that we got this outcome. A lot of time was wasted. A lot of resources were wasted. Just every moment that a council member has to spend putting time and energy. into something like this is a moment that they cannot spend serving their constituents. Is that the point of the state doing this? I don't think so. I think that they think that they can like get away with this stuff and maybe they just don't care if it gets struck down. Like.

At the end of the day, they got almost nine months of people being really concerned about this. It's disappointing that we continue to be in this situation. But I'm glad that the council members won. I think this is a theme. We're going to see it again a little bit later in this episode where you just got to stay on your toes here. I do think that like some of the council members who were involved in this lawsuit. I do think that they would go to jail for this, like that they have the courage of their convictions, that they would be willing to fall on the sword in order to like make a statement. I'm glad that they don't have to, but I am encouraged that I think that a not insignificant number of them would. Quick question, Nashville. Has your sink been draining a little slower than usual? Or maybe you've heard some gurgling when the washing machine runs? Well, those little warning signs are often your main drain asking for help. And trust me, I am speaking from experience. It's a whole lot easier and a heck of a lot cheaper to deal with the problem now than to wait until you've got water backing up into your kitchen or your bathroom. That's where Hoffman Brothers comes in. Right now, they're offering a main drain opening special for just $95. It's a flat rate, so there are no surprises. And their licensed Nashville plumbers will get your drain flowing again before a small issue turns into a major headache. So don't wait until your ankle deep in water, like I did. Book your $95 drain service today at hoffmanbrose.com. Hoffman Brothers has Nashville covered.

The Stika. I think we should just call it the Ninja Turtle Committee. They're making hats. Yeah. Yeah. And this is, I think, possibly related to the fact that according to the Tennessean, the boring company is also now exploring a statewide expansion of the Tesla Tunnel system with potential routes to Murfreesboro, Memphis, Chattanooga, and Knoxville. They're going to dig a tunnel to Knoxville, y'all. And the Ninja Turtle Committee's going to make sure they're able to do it. I just want to point out zero taxpayer dollars except for the $5 million that the state plans to spend on this oversight authority. And the 20 staff members that they'll be paying. Yeah. How can you tunnel to Knoxville? You can't. Have you been to Knoxville lately and in the amount of construction above ground? Why would you want a tunnel to Knoxville? Can we just get a train? No, it's funny. It reminds me of a, I know, a train. What? A train. Can we just have a train to Chattanooga and to Atlanta? Isn't there literally a song about the Chattanooga Choochoo? Yeah. Pardon me, boys. Is that the Chattanooga Chutu? Okay, to take it seriously for a second, which I guess we should, because it's happening. This feels to me like just another exciting piece of state overreach, but it is targeted straight. at our city because yes, boring could say that they plan to tunnel to Knoxville, but also I could try to make Pedro Pascal fall in love with me. Like these things are not going to happen. And the only actual tunnel activity so far, all 2.5 feet of it is right here in Nashville. It's also worth noting, though, that the only people making money off of this thing at the moment are the boring company slash Elon Musk. And the airport authority, who y'all remember, we talked about it last week, they've signed this lease agreement with Boring where they're going to get less than a million dollars a year for 50 years to allow Boring to have a tunnel come up and out on their property. According to the National Business Journal, this new legislation setting up the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle Tunnel Committee, that requires all... pre-existing agreements, permits, or approval to be transferred to this state authority by October 1st. So one would assume that that means this agreement with the airport and that that money would then go to the state. But don't worry because Senate Majority Leader Jack Johnson, who wrote this legislation says no, no, no, and he just needs to clear up some of the language. I mean, the state tried to take over the airport authority. I mean, they're still trying, I guess, because... The Supreme Court hasn't ruled on that. And in that instance, the airport authority like kind of acquiesced. Metro is suing. The airport authority was like, we're fine to be taken over by the state. Yeah. So this just feels like preemptive preemption. Yeah. Preemptive overreach of something that doesn't underreach. Should we call the state underreach? Because they're reaching under the roads. All right. Well, finally, we have updates on two stories that were upsetting a lot of folks over the past couple of weeks. Ah, yes. Remember, I said we'd be coming back to this. Ah, here we are. We're back.

Republican Senator Mark Potty of Lebanon will not be running his bill to keep up a monument to unborn children at the Capitol because Republican Representative Jody Amy Coney Barrett tacked on an amendment that would charge women who seek abortions with murder. Amy Coney Barrett said he wasn't specifically seeking the death penalty for women and also that he wasn't singling out women with the amendment. But Potty said he couldn't get the votes to pass that in Senate. When. The Tennessee state Republicans were running their abortion ban bills. Their constant refrain was, we want to punish people who perform abortions and who prescribe abortion-inducing medications. They said, we are not coming after the women who get abortions. They were like, Full stop, you don't have to worry about that. Anyone who says we're pushing for that is like a Cassandra who's hysterical. This amendment. puts the lie to that entire argument. Like, sure, it apparently doesn't have the votes to pass in this General Assembly, but I don't think that that should serve as some great relief for us. The fact that a legislator was willing to try, and I'm sure we'll be willing to try again in the future. It's incredibly alarming. I absolutely agree. And going back to your earlier point, it sucks to live in this environment where they do these wildly unconstitutional things. And we have to sit there and wait for sort of the system to take care of them, whether they're going to be legal or not. In this case, it's... I guess we just sit here and wait to see if the Tennessee State Senate shuts it down, which just seems like it has, right? And that's a regular pattern around here. The House proposes all kinds of stuff. And then it kind of stalls out in committee in the Senate. That's a broken system. We shouldn't have to live this way. And Nicole's right. It's alarming that they even sort of touch this third rail. And it made national news. I had friends texting me like, how can you stay in Tennessee with this coming down the pipeline? I'm like, just wait and see how it develops. And here it is. It's not moving forward. Yeah. We love to be on Rachel Maddo. It's great. Yeah. So fun. Okay. Well, there's more. Despite her reported bad behavior during the storm, shout out Marsha Blackburn. According to the lookout, she posted on the former Twitter Tuesday that U.S. immigration and customs enforcement will not move forward with plans to build an immigrant detention mega center holding up to 16,000 detainees in Wilson County. An ICE spokesperson confirmed the news. How much do we trust these ICE spokespeople at this point? I mean, they've really been given us the runaround.

And then, I mean, I guess, yeah, good on you, Marsha, for whatever reason, deciding that this wasn't something that she wanted to have. I don't know if it's in her state or just in Wilson County. Obviously, she also made sure to point out that she's still very much in favor of mass deportation of immigrants. But, you know, this is the third time Republican leaders have gotten involved to kill a detention center in their state. It's also happened in New Hampshire and in Mississippi. So for whatever reason, this concept has become toxic, even amongst Republican leaders. I mean, most people don't want what amounts to like a mega prison in their community. You know, people might like it in the abstract, the idea of this. But I think this is a win for NIMBYism, quite frankly. Yep. We love to see the NIMBYs of the world using their powers for good. Exactly. Looking for an easy getaway from Nashville, head just a few hours south to Birmingham, Alabama, where southern hospitality meets a vibrant food scene, outdoor adventure, and plenty to explore. Nicknamed the Magic City, Birmingham has transformed into one of the South's most exciting destinations. Food lovers can dig into their nationally recognized dining scene where 11 local restaurants earned Michelin honors this year, including the prestigious Outstanding Service Award. If you'd rather be outside, you'll find miles of nature to hike, bike, climb, camp, or simply unwind. Not to mention the 140,000 yards of some of the best public golf on Earth. Traveling with family, catch a Birmingham Barron's baseball game. Spend the day at the McWain Science Center. Visit the Birmingham Zoo or check out the world's largest vintage motorsports museum. With live music, festivals, incredible restaurants, and something new happening year-round, Birmingham makes for the perfect weekend escape. Start planning your next getaway to Birmingham today at inbermingham.com.

And Nicole hit it. Duna, done a good news. So we actually have to start with some bad news. I'm sorry. Nashville's oldest restaurant, Varallo's, has closed its doors after 119 years. The restaurant was founded in 1907 by Italian immigrant Frank Verallo Sr. as a chili parlor and became a downtown staple known for its chili three-way and classic breakfast and lunch menu. Chili three-way? That sounds like something you would be all over, Marie. Sounds like my nickname in college. There it is. Its current owner, Bob Peabody, said, He was unable to secure a new lease on the space downtown because of rising rent and operating costs. Yeah. And unfortunately, this is just part of a much larger trend that was highlighted in a recent article by the Tennessean. They reported this figure blew my mind. They reported that 73% of restaurants and coffee shops that have shut down this year were locally owned and operated. 73%. And it's not just the restaurants. We've also seen, obviously, we've talked about Acme Feed and Seed. We know the five spot is struggling, dark matter is struggling. And literally this week, Layla's has just announced that they are also struggling. in large part due to the increase that they owe in property tax. Again, that's just because of the valuation. Property tax rates went down, but the increase in the valuation amount people have to pay went up. It sucks. I don't know what to do about it. It just feels like it's our local beloved spots, the places that we hang on to that make us want to stay in the city that are being disproportionately pushed to the brink on this. I mean, is this just the free market at work? I've never been to Veralo's. I've never been to Lailas. I've been to Acme like once. I don't go downtown. So for me, this is not a huge loss, but I understand why people are upset. What are places from your youth that you miss? Sylvan Park Restaurant, McKay Pub. Like I grew up in Sylvan Park. So like those were two huge losses for me. But that happened years ago. Well, I spent my entire high school in Hillsborough Village, and it's unrecognizable. We still have Fido's, but not for long. Yeah. And the bell court. Thank God for the bell court. Well, speaking to the bell court. Yeah, go. That was a great segue. This weekend is actually my favorite weekend because they have the... Oscar nominated short films for 2026. You can go see animated films, live action documentaries. I'm going to go see the live action short films. Why? Because I'm going to be filming my first short film in the next two weeks. What? And I'm directing it and I'm producing it. It's about manifesting and witches and stuff. It's very fun. I'm hoping that it'll get into the Nashville Film Festival. You can't just say it's about manifesting and witches and stuff and leave it there.

Well, you're going to have to come see it screened at the National Film Festival, hopefully that it gets in. So anyway, I'm going to watch the shorts to be inspired as this is my first directorial debut. I love this for you. Thank you. All right. Well, then also, the CMA Fest lineup has dropped. It's June 4th through the 7th. A few of the headliners include Tim McGraw, Blake Shelton, Shaboozy, and Gretchen Wilson. Which is I love those people. So that's very exciting. All you all know, CMA Fest is the longest running country music festival in the world. It used to be known as fanfare. Is that right, Nicole? That is right. When we grew up here, that's what it was. We still call it that. I think a lot of us locals. So fanfare is back and proceeds are donated to the CMA Foundation whose mission is to give every child access to quality music education. So if you love country music, it's going to be a fun weekend. Again, that's June 4th through the 7th. That's far away. It is far away. But it's good. If you want to buy tickets to the stadium shows, that's the key is that these are the people who are headlining the stadium. So the nightly concerts where they end with fireworks, which I always like to imagine is like the hunger games where they just shoot off fireworks with the faces of the country stars who played that night over the stadium. And then we can all hear it from our bedrooms. I'm interested in this lineup. It's fascinating that there are people in there who I've never heard of. For example, I have absolutely no idea who. a Tucker Carlson Wetmore is. And I used to work in this business. They've also got Zach Top. I believe even Ann Power said was one of her favorite artists from 2025. I just want to shout out the band Perry, who are back. They've wandered back in from the wilderness. They'll be playing a satellite stage at the stadium. I would almost buy a ticket just to go see what those kids are up to. I loved those crazy kids. They did not die young. Yeah. And then something happened. They went pop. They got big machined. Anyway, so that's exciting. And speaking of music festivals, the Tin Pan South Songwriters Festival lineup is also out now. It features over 400 different songwriters. That's going to be running later this month. So if you're interested in that, you can go check up that full lineup. But possibly of slightly more interest and stick with me to find out why. The Eagles. Long Goodbye Tour, Act 3, aka longest goodbye ever because we like Money Tour, is coming to Vanderbilt's football stadium. They'll be there May 9th with Desky Trucks Band as their opening act. Tickets go on sale next Friday. But I'm bringing this up because I don't know how many people are aware that Vince Gill is in the Eagles. No, I did not know that. He stepped in in 2017 after Glenn Fry died and he's been playing with the guys ever since. I think it's nice. My dad loves the Eagles. That tracks. My favorite story about the Eagles is that I was at Stagecoach, which is Country Music Coachella, many years ago, and I was standing there talking to Dirk's Bentley, pardon me as I casually named Rob, and all of a sudden, they told me in Dirk's Bentley that we had to get out of the backstage area because the Eagles' separate tourbuses were pulling in. They each ride on a separate tour bus. And so Dirk's Bentley and I walked through the fence out into the field and just kind of stood there until they told us we could come back in. Well.

Mind of I name drop, my own name, Marie Cecil Anderson, will be in appearance this weekend. I love you, Marie. At Unleashed, Dinner with Your Dog by the Nashville Humane Association. It's the Saturday, 6 to 9 p.m. at the Hilton, downtown Nashville. I'm super excited. I'm going to be walking a dog that's available for adoption down, a runway. It's barks and bonfire. So I'm trying to scrape together. What am I going to wear? What am I going to wear? Whitney's my date. I don't know. Please dress up because I am going to go bohog in like a camp counselor outfit or something. I don't know. Or maybe a park ranger. Yeah, I bet you you're just going to go for it. I'm just going to probably find like an old Girl Scout vest or something. Please. That would be amazing. They really are encouraging people to dress up for this theme. And you can bring your dog. Miss Lottie, obviously, is Marie's beloved Foster Fail. And then I've got Wally the SuperMed over here, both Nashville Humane rescues, both amazing. So get out there, watch Marie walk a dog down a runway, do a fashion twirl. And let's raise some money for these great people. Other things happening this weekend. Music City Polar Plunge, it's Saturday. At Nissan Stadium, registration check-in starts at 10.30 a.m. Helping the fundraise for Special Olympics Tennessee athletes. So we love that. I personally am going to the She Believes Cup on Sunday, which I'm extraordinarily excited about as the U.S. women's national team playing Argentina. But earlier in the day, your one ticket gets you two games, folks. Earlier in the day, it's Columbia. versus Canada. And y'all, if you have not seen the Colombian women's national soccer team play, be prepared to be stunned. They are outstanding. It should be a great match. Isn't it going to be like 70 degrees on Saturday for the bowler plunge? Oh, yeah. They're going to be like, oh, I need to. Cool off. This is perfect. Nicole, do you have any good news? Anything you're looking forward to? We just got an extra recycling cart at my house. That. is exciting. My girlfriend was like, they didn't charge anything for it. And I said, that's the point. They charge $60 if you want an extra trash can. But to get an extra recycling cart is free because they are trying to incentivize recycling and disincentivize creating waste. Wow. And I assume you did that through Hub Nashville? We sure did. And it just showed up like two days after we submitted the request, it just was in our driveway. That's fantastic. I love to hear that. Lastly, we have a brand new CityCast Nashville neighbor to shout out. Robert Kaye, welcome to the neighborhood. Welcome, Robert. And. We also have a neighborhood shoutout, which is a huge perk if you want to join our membership program. This one comes from Olivia R who says peach tree grill helps the woodbine neighborhood shine and has the city's best peach cobbler. Oh, I love a cobbler. I love a cobbler. I love coffee, man. Marie, should we go ahead and talk just really quickly about our next upcoming Nashville neighbors event that you can come to if you join today at membership.citycast.fm and become a Nashville.

neighbor. Yes, please spell the beans. At some point next month. And you neighbors are hearing it on this podcast first too. We will be going to the Lipstick Lounge to sing karaoke as a group. That's right. Lipstick Lounge, CityCast Nashville Neighbors. Next month, join. Be there. Yes, you can come and see Whitney sing, and I'm going to sing some Taylor Swift for sure. Yeah. Daniel's going to be up there, Margaret. Nicole, we want you to come to you be our celebrity guest. I might come. Who knows? You're invited. Come hang out with us and our neighbors. So fun. All right. We did it. We did it. We did it. Made it through another one. We did it. Goodbye. Goodbye.

That's all for today here on CityCast Nashville. And don't forget, you can support this show and get great perks by becoming a CityCast Nashville neighbor at membership.citycast.com. I'm your host, Marie Cecil Anderson. Our executive producer is Whitney Pasturek. Our producer is Daniel Sumstein. Our CityCast Nashville newsletter editor is Margaret Kingsbury. And our theme music is by Prof. Jenkins with additional music by James from Triple Scoop music via Getty Images. If you enjoyed the show, why not tell your friends? Rate the show. Leave us a review and subscribe to our city cast Nashville newsletter. We'll be back Monday morning with more news from around the city. Doodles.