Will These Data Center Bills Help the Zoo? Plus, Deepfake Ads and Early Voting

Think you're brave. Adventure Science Center wants to put you to the test. Way late Playdate Camp Fear at Adventure Science Center is a 21 and up night out where you'll face your phobias and maybe discover a few new ones. Hold hissing cockroaches. Take on 300,000 volts at the Vandigraph generator, catch live comedy, and see a planetarium show scored by a string quartet. Plus, there'll be food trucks and a full bar to help calm your nerves. Way late play date. Camp Fear. August 7th at Adventure Science Center. Tickets at AdventureSci.org. Today on CityCast Nashville, it's time for our Friday News Roundup. Contributor Nicole Williams and newsletter editor Margaret Kingsbury joined me to talk about Nashville's three new data center bills, early voter turnout, congressional candidates, weird, deep fake ads, and what we know so far about a federal search warrant involving Metro Water Services. Plus, in our members-only segment called Hellnaw, this week we have a very special guest who calls in with a complaint that's sure to bum you all out too. It's Friday, July 24th. I'm Marisa Sill Anderson, and this is what Nashville's talking about.

Hey Nashville, real quick before we get into this week's FNR, we have to ask you one last time. That's right, folks. This is the last time we're going to ask you to fill out our annual listener survey. Yay, Margaret. Nicole, aren't you all excited that this is the last time we get to ask for this? Yeah, absolutely. Well, folks at home, thank you so much for those who have filled out the survey. But if you have not do so right this second at citycast.fm slash survey, it only takes seven minutes and you'll be eligible to win a $250 visa gift card and Citicast Nashville swag. So again, go ahead and take that survey right this second at citycast.fm slash survey. Get that money, folks. Win it. $250 visa gift card. That'll go for these days. Actually, it won't. All right. It's like two grocery trips. It'll go somewhere. All right. On with the show. Margaret and Nicole, we have to start today's headlines with some breaking news of our own. This just in Nicole Williams. This is your final. Friday News Roundup with us at CityCast Nashville. It sure is. It sure is. Oh, grab your tissues, folks. Do you mind sharing why you're leaving? Well, I got a job. Yay. Incredible news. Incredible. So I will be receiving an actual paycheck. And unfortunately, I will have to bid you all adieu. In light of that. That's right. You will be working at the time of our recordings. Yes. So it makes total sense. But Nicole, from the bottom of our hearts, thank you so much for everything that you've done for us here in Nashville and especially for our show. So thank you so much. And congrats on the job. I mean, that's a big deal. Thank you. Yeah. It's hard out there. It's very hard out there, y'all. If you have a job, I would advise that you just keep the job that you have at this particular moment in time. And that's the wisdom that I can impart at this event. Well, Nicole, apparently Nashville heard that you were leaving and decided to enter its own era of dramatic goodbyes. The Tennessean reported this week that Nashville deli's final location now in Green Hills will close next summer, marking the end of the restaurant brands, more than three-decade run in Nashville. But don't worry, folks. The Nashville name may live on. AJ Capital Partners founder purchased the brand as a personal investment because he claims he wants to preserve the legacy restaurant. There are no definite plans yet for when or where a new Nashville might open. But for now, we have one more year to grab a Rubin or a matzabal soup. Nicole, are you familiar with AJ Capital?

I sure am. And what could go wrong? What could go wrong? What could go wrong? Yeah, we're waiting with bated breath to see what they do with the Bell Mead development over there where my beloved Kroger used to be. Yes, same. I loved the Belmead Kroger. It was a good Kroger. That's where I got my pregnancy test for Marion, for my kids. Wow. Some Margaret Lord. Wow, that is. Every time I pass that, I think so, I think the same thing. Like, oh, no, that's where I got my pregnancy test. It's so bizarre. Anyway, another longtime Nashville business San Antonio Taco Company, better known to us kids as Satco, is also changing hands. The beloved 42-year-old taco spot near Vanderbilt is being sold to a group of local investors that includes Edley's barbecue founder Will Newman. The new owners say they want to preserve what makes Satco a Nashville institution while exploring ways to refresh the business. According to the Nashville Business Journal, the cell is expected to close in early August and no immediate changes have been announced. Nicole, you went to Vanderbilt. Are you mourning this restaurant closing? Yes, absolutely. And I don't know what you could do to improve on perfection. So I will be very anxious to see what they think they're doing for the good of Nashville. Well, you know what both of these closings have got me thinking is that these are two of my favorite places in town, places I used to frequent growing up, to be honest, with Nashville right this second. I haven't been to those places in years. We just have so many options these days. And so we got to remember. keep going to the older businesses too, and make sure we continue to revisit them. That's a great segue to quickly talk about voter turnout, since that will require folks to revisit their polling stations. I think a lot of people were worried that the chaos and confusion surrounding the congressional redistricting would keep people from voting. But I'm happy to report that doesn't seem to be the case. In fact, early voter turnout is 50% higher than it was in 2022. And in Nashville, it's 35% higher than in 2024. As of Wednesday, almost 210,000 Tennesseans have cast their ballot, including nearly 15,000 voters in Davidson County. That's still only a small percentage of registered voters, but it makes me feel pretty good to see people getting out there and voting. Early voting runs until August 1st and Election Day is August 6th.

Okay, now I've got some other breaking Metro Nashville News for listeners. Federal authorities have executed a search warrant on a longtime official with Metro Water Services John Honeysucker, who has been placed on administrative leave. John's LinkedIn says he's the assistant director of governmental and external affairs with Metro Nashville and previously the assistant director of waste services and had worked for the city for five years. A Nashville banner source familiar with the investigation described Metro as a victim of alleged wrongdoing being investigated. So we don't have any more details right now. But we'll definitely be keeping readers updated in the CityCast Nashville newsletter. Dun dun dun. I mean, what kind of reality show BS is this? This is wild. Yeah, I don't know why federal authorities would be getting involved in Metro Water, like a city service here. I'm not sure what's going on. Why are federal authorities involved in a lot of things? That's true. That's true. But yeah, I have no idea and I am so curious. It's very dramatic and alarming. It is. Strange.

After months of debate and some very, very, very long Metro Council meetings, this week, Nashville passed some of the most restrictive zoning regulations around data centers in the country. As you all know, in May, Atlanta-based D.C. blocks announced plans to build a data center near the Nashville Zoo. And this ignited major pushback from the community, over a half a million people signed a petition against it. Council member Rowling Horton introduced legislation to finally regulate data centers in our city because, believe it or not, there had not been any legislation or regulations before that. Just to note, we already have 27 data centers in the Nashville area. Just a fun fact. We had him on the show. And so I do recommend people going back and listening to that interview with him if you have the time. Margaret, can you tell us what exactly passed at council this week and what it means for future data centers besides the 27 that already exist? Whoops. I guess it's better late than never. But still, yeah. So Metro Council passed three bills related to data center construction, including council member Rollin Horton's two linked bills that set zoning regulations. The bills ban large data centers and establish environmental protections and distance requirements from certain places, such as schools, parks, and zoos. Council members added nine amendments to the bills that require data center developers to provide public and environmental reporting and establish an emergency response and power resiliency plan. They also passed Councilmember Courtney Mike Johnston's temporary data center ban, which places a moratorium on new data center permits until December 1st. to allow time for additional regulations to be passed. And there's one more data center bill council members voted on, Mayor Freddie O'Connell's eminent domain legislation. If passed, this would allow Metro to buy the land by the Nashville Zoo from D.C. blocks at fair market value. The property is worth something like $23 to $37 million, so this isn't a cheap endeavor here. This advanced on its second reading and should be up for a final vote at the August 4th meeting. But Nicole, how will these bills impact the Controversial Data Center at the Nashville Zoo? Well, that's an open question. So I want to mention that first of all. Councilmember Horton started working on his bills back in February of this year. So it actually predated like public knowledge of the data center by the zoo. It was not a reaction. But the timing worked out that by the time he had sort of finalized and massaged the language to the point he felt comfortable with it, it ended up dropping right around the same time as we all lost our minds. Whether or not.

Any of these bills would affect the data center by the zoo, like I mentioned, is an open question. The lawyers for the property owner and DC blocks have said that they are vested in the property because they've applied for permits. There are some folks I've talked to who have a different interpretation of the state's vesting statute. And the state passed like an updated statute in 2024, basically to say if you've submitted your application and it's substantially complete the application, then you are vested in the development you're trying to move forward with. But there's some in Metro and other circles who think that DC blocks has not met. the burden, like they haven't crossed the threshold of being vested. And we haven't seen that statute really tested in court. So we may see litigation at some point over whether these bills actually do or do not affect that planned development. Interesting. Yeah. The imminent domain legislation I thought was fascinating because there was. a very obvious push to avoid any debate on the council floor. Councilmember Benedict called the question to try to end debate before anyone had said a single thing about the bill. And vice mayor Henderson was taken aback and confused by this because it is such a monumental piece of legislation. Yeah. Yeah. I talked to some folks about, you know, why they thought that happened or if they knew why that happened. And I've heard a couple of theories. One being. a concern that Metro might weaken its position in court because if this passes, Metro would expect to be sued by DC blocks over their planned eminent domain. So there was some concern perhaps that things that council members may say on the floor could weaken Metro's position in that sure to happen litigation. And then another theory I heard was a belief that If people started talking about being opposed to it, they would realize they weren't the only ones opposed to it. And there might reach some sort of critical mass of people saying, actually, this is a really bad idea. But by stifling debate, you don't really see where people, like where your colleagues stand on the issue. And you don't want to necessarily be the one person to vote against something that the public seems to want. whether or not they understand the implications of it. Yeah, I did see some council member push back in terms of the cost, how much it would cost, and also that we would end up getting sued, and it could cost even more through litigation. So this is something we're going to be paying for as taxpayers. For sure, yeah. Any word on how these new regulations will affect the plans for FISC universities plan data center on their campus? Yeah, I tried to look it up and I couldn't find anything. Yeah, I don't know that they've applied for permits or started the process at all. So it could throw a wrench in their plans, but that's been a little on the back burner. I think people have been mostly focused on the one by the zoo because it is.

moving forward a pace. Yeah. Yeah. All right. Well, Nicole, what else happened at this week's Metro Council meeting? Well, Mayor O'Connell is one step closer to getting a bill passed to give him control of the director of the Nashville Entertainment Office. We are still arguing about this. He got that taste at Nashville 911 and he wants more control as his star rises in the industry, the entertainment industry. Exactly. I mean, if you all will recall, the mayor attempted to strip funding for the office entirely from the budget and the council put that funding back in. And Councilmember Joy Stiles was there again as the foil to the mayor's office attempting to get her own piece of legislation passed. But I think at this point, everyone on the council, most people seemed a little sick of the debate. and seemed like they just want to get something passed. And clearly the mayor's office has done enough to convince council members that this is the right path forward. Now, whether or not the Entertainment Commission itself is convinced is another matter. But it is looking like this is like full steam ahead. And hopefully a director for that office will be hired soon. And it would be under the mayor's office. Yes. And he would have hiring and firing authority. Originally, it was contemplated that the commission would have hiring and firing authority of the director, much like the Human Relations Commission, the Arts Commission, the Planning Commission, etc. But as time went on, there was an argument from Mayor O'Connell's office that that is an untenable situation simply because the office as constituted would only be one person. So they need to be housed somewhere. What a mess. Yeah. Yeah, they need to be housed somewhere. And the idea of having the director housed in the mayor's office, but not subject to. the mayor's authority to hire and fire was a little wonky. Well, but why can't they just work with Joyce Stiles and collaborate on something together? Well, I think the mayor's office would argue that they have attempted to come to a consensus and that there is no path forward. I think council member Stiles would argue that the mayor's office is playing petty politics.

and they don't want to collaborate with her because she is running for mayor. The truth is probably somewhere in between. Oh, Nicole, this is the last time you're going to sing this for us. Make it a good one. Okay. Duna, done a, good news. Yay! Actually, maybe we should just get a sound bite. You know what? Do you mind if we just use that in your honor for the rest of our existence? Okay. I would love for you to use that. Okay, I might put some instruments behind it. But there you go. We got the vocals. Thank you for that. You'll be the sound of good news. That's right. Oh, yes. Okay, well, for this first piece of good news, I feel like I'm transported back in time to report this. Nashville will soon have its very own steam-powered choo-train. For the first time in decades, the whistle blew on historic engine 576 last week, thanks to the hard work of volunteers with the Nashville Steam Preservation Society. They've been restoring this locomotive since 2019. Believe it or not, folks, engine 576 was built in 1942, retired in 1952, and it's the only locomotive of its exact kind still in existence. And it's right here in Nashville. Once it's fully up and running, No, you will not be able to take it to Atlanta. I'm so sorry. But according to the Nashville scene, when completed, this engine will operate on the same tracks as the Nashville to Lebanon. Wego Star and the excursion train run by the Tennessee Central Railway Museum. The group will partner with the museum to pull its fleet of 1950s passenger cars, hopefully by the end of 2027. I think this is super cool. And for people who visit Centennial Park, this was the train that was sitting at Centennial Park for forever. That's right. If you know what I'm talking about. Yeah. I had some friends married right in front of that. Oh. Oh, that's so cool. I love your memories. Margaret. You have a story for everything. Truly. Margaret, what else are we celebrating this week? Novelette, a beloved East Nashville bookstore, is turning four this weekend and is throwing a birthday party crawl. You can check out their Instagram at Novelette Booksellers for more details, but it sounds like you can stop by their store and pick up their stamp card, visit participating local businesses, and each stamp earns you a raffle entry for a $250 Novelette gift card. That's a lot of books that you can buy with that. So I'm going to check that out. There are other fun activities all weekend long, including flash tattoos on Sunday from 11 to 3. Get your bookish tattoos, folks. Yeah. That's so exciting. I love novelette. It's my favorite bookstore. Yeah, I do too. I'm glad. I mean, there's so many bookstores nowadays. I remember when we only had Davis Kid, really. Yeah. Bookstar. I miss Davis Kid.

Yeah, I did love Davis kids. Mm-hmm. All right. Well, Nashville, if you want to keep it weird this weekend, we have the Kindling Arts Festival all weekend long, and we interviewed their artistic director, Daniel Jay Jones, and Emma Supika, creator and director of East Nashville Facebook Facebook page The Musical this past week. So go back and listen to that episode. But the way that they describe the Kindling Arts Festival, it's like our own fringe festival here in Nashville and like really weird experimental stuff in like, unexpected venues across town. So please check out Killing Arts Festival and go support them. And for the kiddos, we've got T-PAC's Family Day. They invite you and your family to follow the Yellow Brick Road into the world of Oz. Enjoy sensory-friendly activities, tasty treats, and live performances inspired by Dorothy, the Scarecrow, the Tin Man, the Cowardly Lion, and more. Activities are from 130 to 430. But tickets are a little pricey, $50 for adults and $35 for kids, just a heads up. But it's still going to be a fun time if you can afford tickets. And it's your last chance to see the Nashville Zoo's Dino Trick. It costs $5 in addition to your regular zoo ticket. I do this every year. It's a fun little walk with animatronic dynos. Definitely worth it if you have kids who love dinosaurs. And if you go on Saturday, they also have a summer splash event with slip and slides, sprinklers, and lots of water play areas. That's really fun too and comes with the zoo ticket. Well, now it is time, that glorious sweet time where we tell our listeners that they should pause the show right now and join our exclusive membership program called Citicast Neighbors. Because without joining, you won't be able to hear this next segment called Hell Nah, where we're going to rant and rave about what's really pissing us off right now in Nashville. And we have a very special neighbor calling in with an amazing rant today. You definitely do not want to miss. So folks who are not members, join right now. Head on over to membership.citycast.fn.fn. We did it. We have actually done it, friends. We are at the end of the show. I just got to mention that this afternoon we have CityCast Nashville office hours at East Nashville Beer Works. We'll be there from 2 to 5 o'clock. Come hang out with us. Have a non-alcoholic beer if you're not drinking or a real crisp Pilsner like myself. Again, come check us out today at East Nashville Beer Works. And that is it. Oh, one other very exciting thing to mention. I'm going to cue the song, Wins in the East. Mist coming in like something is brewing and about to begin. That's right, folks. We have a very wild, exciting announcement next week here at CityCast, Nashville. Things are changing. And it's really, we could not be more excited about it. But you're going to have to tune in next week to listen to see what's up. But yeah, it's huge.

Huge changes here at CityCast, Nashville, and the whole team is so freaking excited about. So be sure to tune in. It's blowing on in. It's blowing on in. Time's changing. Anyway, all right, we did it. Nicole, we've got that soundbite of you singing good news, so you'll live on forever here in our hearts. That's all I ever wanted. Happy Friday, everybody. Bye. Bye. Oh, bye, Nicole. That's all for today here on CityCats Nashville. Early voting is now open through August 1st for the August 6th state and federal primary election and municipal general. Go vote. And don't forget, you can support this show and get great perks by becoming a citycast Nashville neighbor at membership.citycast.f.m. Our executive producer is Whitney Pastorak. Our creative producer is me, Marie Cecil Anderson. Our CityCast Nashville newsletter editor is Margaret Kingsbury, and our theme music is by Prof. Jenkins, with additional music by Amber Rose and Steve Curry from Triple Scoop music, via Getty Images. Post-production this week was done by Kyle Neal, with roving support from producer. Alyssa Castles, Lizzie Goldsmith, and Laura Kondurongian. If you enjoyed the show, why not tell your friends. Rate the show. Leave us a review and subscribe to our CityCast Nashville newsletter. And subscribe to our CityCast Nashville newsletter. We'll be back Monday morning with more news from around the city. Toodles.