July 13, 2023

Control of airport in limbo as legal action continues

This story is a partnership between the Nashville Banner and The News. The Banner is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization focused on civic news. For more information, visit NashvilleBanner.com.

It was business as usual at Nashville International Airport Monday during a busy and long holiday weekend. But a few miles away at the Metro Courthouse, a fight was gearing up both in the courtroom and at the Metro Council over the facility’s future.

Exploring four key issues that will face Nashville’s next mayor

BY D. PATRICK RODGERS

In a matter of weeks, Nashville will elect its fourth mayor in five years.

Following the 2018 resignation of Mayor Megan Barry in the wake of political scandal, the mayor’s office has been besieged with instability. After being elected to serve for the remainder of Barry’s term, David Briley was defeated by fellow former At-Large Councilmember John Cooper in 2019. And after a term plagued by everything from natural disasters and a Christmas Day bombing to a global pandemic, Cooper announced in January that he would not seek reelection.

Then came something of a land rush, with a dozen candidates ultimately qualifying to run for mayor by the May 18 deadline. Since then, the established candidates have participated in an inordinate number of forums, pleading their case to a city that

— according to a poll conducted by Public Policy Polling less than one month ago — is roughly 45 percent undecided. In terms of what we’ll call plausible, or viable, candidates — that is, folks who have significant campaign funding — we’re looking at eight contenders.

State Sen. Heidi Campbell has the support of three fellow Nashville Democratic legislators — Reps. Bob Freeman, John Ray Clemmons and Bo Mitchell — and name ID thanks to her recent race against Andy Ogles for the state’s gerrymandered 5th Congressional District. With experience as mayor of Nashville satellite city Oak Hill, Campbell prioritizes investment in public education, transportation infrastructure and equity and inclusion.

Kansas City-area native Jim Gingrich is the former COO of Wall Street firm

AllianceBernstein and, having moved to Nashville a half-decade ago, is pitching himself as an outsider. Gingrich loaned his campaign $2 million early on, and has gone on record as opposing the city’s deal to partially fund a new multibillion-dollar Titans stadium.

At-Large Metro Councilmember Sharon Hurt has served as the executive director of nonprofit Jefferson Street United Merchants Partnership as well as HIV/AIDS outreach organization Street Works. Having been elected to countywide office twice, Hurt has name recognition and a track record of public service.

District 19 Metro Councilmember Freddie O’Connell entered the race early — in April 2022 — and has a record as one of the most progressive members of the council. O’Connell voted against the

On one side, you have a slate of Metro Nashville Airport Authority board members newly appointed by Gov. Bill Lee and other state Republican leaders. In April, the General Assembly passed a law that effectively took the airport from Metro, with bill sponsor Sen. Paul Bailey (R-Sparta) saying that because 70 percent of the passengers came from outside of Davidson County, BNA is essentially a regional asset and the state should control its future.

On the other side is the former board, appointed by Mayor John Cooper and still claiming to be the rightful authority. Metro Legal filed suit in Chancery Court in June, saying that the law, which only affects Nashville, is an unconstitutional exercise of state power and should be struck down.

In the middle of these opposing boards is the Federal Aviation Authority, which has regulatory power over the airport and has refused to recognize the authority of the state’s board until the courts settle the dispute. In a June 27 letter, the FAA said it will wait for a court ruling and instead deal with the old board.

Metro Legal filed a 50-page memorandum late on Friday asking for a temporary injunction against the state. Included in the exhibits with the request were declarations from experts who said that the lack of clarity over who’s actually in control of the airport has both

STEVE CAVENDISH AND CONNOR DARYANI, NASHVILLE BANNER

PHOTOS BY ERIC ENGLAND

Heidi Campbell Vivian Wilhoite

Jim Gingrich

Alice Rolli

Sharon Hurt

Jeff Yarbro

Freddie O’Connell

Matt Wiltshire

Control of airport

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

the Airport Improvement Program and other funding sources administered by the FAA. Plus, MNAA has received almost $142 million in additional funding at the behest of the FAA in that period.”

Declarations from Shaffer and Bill Bradley, former state budget director, argued that the court should step in to avoid financial harm to the airport.

In the lawsuit, Metro claims that the law violates home rule, as the legislation singles out only Nashville to have its board seized by the state.

judge was appointed in this case. The two others joining Chancellor Anne Martin are Mark Hayes, a circuit court judge from Dyersburg, and Zachary Walden, a criminal court judge from Jacksboro. Hayes was an attorney in private practice for 40 years before his appointment in December 2021. Walden was admitted to the bar 2016 and became a criminal judge less than a year ago after serving as the chair of the Campbell County Republican Party.

“Until we hear from the courts, we should not be moving any legislation through.”

Bradford said he is concerned about the eminent domain provisions in the legislation as well. At a town hall meeting with an airport representative a couple of weeks ago, he said community members got unsatisfactory answers about constructing a new North-South runway.

short-term and long-term implications.

“This jeopardizes MNAA’s eligibility to receive airport funding from the FAA, including infrastructure grants, until the dispute is resolved,” declared Kirk Shaffer, a former high-ranking official at both MNAA and the FAA. “To place this substantial risk in perspective, over the past five years alone, MNAA has received over $70 million dollars in FAA infrastructure grants from

Exploring key issues

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

city’s Titans stadium deal, and though he’s not as well-funded as fellow candidates Gingrich and Matt Wiltshire, that early-June poll shows him doing as well as anyone. He also has the endorsements of five of his fellow councilmembers.

Of the eight candidates profiled here, Alice Rolli is the sole Republican. She has said she’d like to increase the number of Metro Nashville Police Department officers, and that she’d consider a takeover of the Metro Nashville Public Schools system if charters are not renewed. Her campaign treasurer is David Fox, who narrowly lost to Megan Barry in the 2015 mayoral runoff.

Vivian Wilhoite served two terms as a

“The state legislators supporting the Act’s passage identified no harms, irreparable or otherwise, that would befall the State if the new board is not seated on July 1, 2023, and no such harm is readily discernible,” the memorandum argued. “Even if the Act were ultimately found constitutional, the State will suffer no harm in waiting to implement it.”

A three-judge panel was appointed to hear the case. Unlike previous cases with constitutional issues where either chancellors or circuit judges were appointed, a criminal

Meanwhile, District 13 Councilmember Russ Bradford told the Banner on Monday that he would withdraw or indefinitely defer legislation in the Metro Council that would approve a critical piece of infrastructure for the ongoing construction at the Airport. Bill BL2023-2030 approves a deal between Metro Water and the airport authority for a new 24-inch water main at a cost of more than $130,000 to Metro. By pulling the bill, it could effectively halt some construction for months.

“I reached out to Metro Legal,” said Bradford, whose district includes the airport.

“We already have two appointees who don’t live in Davidson County and they’ll be making decisions about people who live near the airport. Homes will be negatively impacted by people who don’t live here, who don’t care about this community,” Bradford said.

The lawsuit is precisely the kind of Metro-versus-state issue that has been a topic on the mayoral campaign trail. Heidi Campbell, Jim Gingrich, Sharon Hurt, Vivian Wilhoite, Freddie O’Connell and Matt Wiltshire all told the Banner that they support the litigation. Alice Rolli said she would not pursue the lawsuit. Jeff Yarbro did not respond before publication.

Metro councilmember before being elected as the Davidson County Property Assessor in 2016. She was the last to officially enter the race, but has the endorsement of District Attorney Glenn Funk and name recognition as a longtime holder of countywide office.

Longtime economic development and housing executive Matt Wiltshire touts his experience working under four Nashville mayors, and has the endorsements of Metro Councilmembers Robert Nash, John Rutherford and Nancy VanReece. He’s also got a lot of money to spend, having raised more than $1 million, in addition to the $350,000 he loaned his campaign early on.

Another member of Nashville’s legislative

delegation, Democratic state Sen. Jeff Yarbro says he has the skills and experience necessary to “reorient our relationship” with the state’s Republican supermajority. He was able to transfer $141,000 from his state Senate campaign account to his mayoral campaign and says he’d like to focus on building more affordable housing and strengthening infrastructure.

In the four stories that follow — part of a partnership between the Scene and our colleagues at the Nashville Banner, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization — we explore four key issues that will face the city’s next mayor: homelessness, education, transit and crime. The Banner

KEY ISSUE: Crime in Nashville

BY STEVE CAVENDISH, NASHVILLE BANNER

This story is a partnership between the Nashville Banner and The News. The Banner is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization focused on civic news and will launch later this year. For more information, visit NashvilleBanner.com.

On the campaign trail, there are few issues as reliable as crime.

If the crime rate rises in a city, it’s often used as an indictment of a sitting administration and provides easy talking points for opponents. If the crime rate falls, politicians of all shapes and sizes take some measure of credit, no matter the factors involved in the drop.

But at the heart of it, the enduring success of crime as a political issue is because it is primarily a matter of individual perception, particularly of personal safety. If the homicide rate for the city inches up, but you’ve never been touched by it, Nashville seems like a safe place. But for the victim of an assault, every broken streetlight can feel like a potential danger.

With that in mind, let’s set aside things a mayor can’t control — like much of the local news coverage of crime that often favors the dramatic, sensational or the specific but rarely digs into systemic issues — and look at the landscape of crime and what levers a mayor can pull.

Political strategies for reducing crime usually fall into three buckets: policing, prosecution and addressing underlying causes. The police department reports directly to the mayor — John Cooper chose Chief John Drake to replace a retiring Steve Anderson in 2020 — and that line of accountability results in the most direct policies on crime reduction. The district attorney who prosecutes crimes is a state official, and voters gave Glenn Funk a second eight-year term in 2022. He and the mayor talk, but the DA is an independent actor. By almost every measurable statistic, national violent and property crime rates have plunged since the early 1990s. This

also asked all eight of the above candidates for their on-the-record responses to multiple questions for each topic. While there aren’t enough pages in this issue to include all of the candidates’ answers, you can read those in full and unedited at nashvillescene.com, where you can also find individual Q&As with each candidate.

Early voting takes place July 14-29 and Election Day on Aug. 3. With so many candidates in the race, a runoff is exceedingly likely — meaning Aug. 3’s two top votegetters will face off again on Sept. 14. Get registered, get reading, and get to the polls. This story was first published by our sister publication Nashville Scene.

is true in Nashville, where the record for homicides was set in 1997 at 112. In 2020, Nashville broke that record with 113, but the city had added roughly 170,000 people in the interim, meaning the rate itself was actually lower. There were 105 last year. Will that bring solace to the families of homicide victims? Absolutely not, but it is a helpful perspective on the city for policymakers. Crime doesn’t affect the city uniformly, either. When you look at the most serious incidents tracked by law enforcement for the FBI’s uniform crime report — murder and nonnegligent manslaughter, forcible rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, larceny/theft, motor vehicle

Metro holds series of school safety meetings

BY KELSEY BEYELER

On June 14, the city hosted the first of three school safety meetings following the Covenant School shooting, which left three students and three staff members dead. As the school district, the police and fire departments, the Metro Council, state lawmakers and other groups discuss these matters, they’re inviting community members to be a part of the conversation.

City leaders spoke to the Metro Council’s education and public health and safety committees about the safety measures that the school district has taken — some of them old, some new. At the start of the 2022-2023 school year, following the Uvalde, Texas, school shooting, the Metro Nashville Police Department announced a new school safety division. At the same time, Metro Nashville Public Schools announced its plan to bring on “safety ambassadors,” or unarmed security personnel to be stationed in elementary schools. School resource officers are armed MNPD officers who work at middle and high schools — this has been the case for years. Because these are separate Metro divisions that work in schools, they maintain frequent collaboration.

“If we don’t speak daily, we speak at least weekly,” said Lt. Jason Picanzo of MNPD’s school safety division. “We may not always see eye to eye on certain things, maybe on what our responses is to something. But we always have a mutual respect and agreeance because we’re all on the same page.”

School security conversations can be divisive. While some want to see more police presence in schools, others worry how that could affect students and present other risks. Research indicates that students of color and those with disabilities are disproportionately arrested in schools.

At-Large Councilmember Zulfat Suara acknowledged this at the meeting.

“The phrase ‘school-to-prison pipeline’ was coined out of somewhere,” said Suara. “So I wanted to make sure that, as the audience are looking, as we all are having this conversation, that they know that we’re ready to have the tough conversations along with it, so we can have a lasting solution.”

MNPS COO Maura Black Sullivan encouraged folks who are aware of threats or suspicious behavior to contact the schools, MNPS’ family information center or the police. Mechanisms already in place to bolster schools against threats include security vestibules, AV intercom locks, routine drills, locked classrooms, interior and exterior cameras, badge access control, a K-9 division and a visitor management system. The district also considers social

KEY ISSUE: Crime

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 2

as introducing mental health professionals when appropriate or using nonprofits as violence interrupters or to help alleviate addiction or poverty.

theft and arson — there are more significant areas of concentration. In Metro, the breakdown of incidents by council district shows that District 19 (which includes downtown, Germantown and Salemtown) had the highest percentage of both violent and property offenses in 2022. Since it’s the most visited district in the city — by both tourists and locals — this is understandable, but so is the push by downtown residents for a more significant police presence. District 17 (12South, Wedgewood-Houston, Murfreesboro Pike and Edgehill) and District 2 (North Nashville, MetroCenter and Bordeaux) were the second-highest in a virtual tie. Districts 4 (Nipper’s Corner and points south) and 35 (Bellevue and points west) were the lowest.

Those statistics are also a measure of calls to the police, an imperfect metric as well. Multiple councilmembers say distrust of the police department means a certain portion of their constituents don’t call when they see crime. Suspicion can come from different sources: Police misconduct, immigration status or disbelief that police will be effective were all reasons given.

Because police response can be a blunt tool, some cities, including Nashville, have begun to explore alternative methods, such

“People talk about crime as if it is consistently going up,” says Sekou Franklin, a political science professor at MTSU. Franklin cautions about seeking a single solution, like increasing the size of the police force, to a complex problem. “There is no one empirically verifiable solution to solve the issue of crime. Most solutions are actually detached from addressing structural issues that fuel involvement in criminal activities — like poverty, the need for affordable housing, and chronic unemployment.”

WHAT HAS JOHN COOPER’S ADMINISTRATION DONE ABOUT CRIME?

“Mayor Cooper has made fully staffing MNPD a priority — a goal that did not seem achievable just four years ago,” says Cooper spokesperson T.J. Ducklo. “In his term, Mayor Cooper will have added nearly 500 new police officers while increasing police pay 32 percent over four years.”

First-year pay for police officers has risen from $49,000 four years ago to $65,000 in the current budget, and salaries for paramedics and firefighters have been raised 28 percent and 33 percent, respectively, during Cooper’s term.

Still, MNPD has suffered from some of the same problems as other Nashville institutions and businesses regarding staffing. Retirements, issues with retention and higher

cost of living in the area mean that MNPD is about 200 officers short of being fully staffed. Any future mayor who wants to increase the number of sworn officers first has to fill that gap.

Other spending on first responders includes:

• $11 million for a new Nashville Fire Department headquarters

• 81 new fire trucks

• Two new helicopters

• 677 new vehicles and the addition of an overnight shift for servicing them

• Body cameras and stun guns for all officers

• Investments in crime analysis and evidence management

Cooper also introduced Partners in Care in 2021, a program that pairs mental health and police resources when responding to calls where people suffer a behavioral health crisis. The diversion process has meant that fewer than 4 percent of 1,800 calls resulted in an arrest.

Controversially, the administration pushed a license plate reader program through the Metro Council, despite concerns over data management and how it would be shared. A Cooper aide says that in four months of usage, the program has already assisted in solving more than 60 carjackings. Police officials said during the debate over the devices that LPRs would not be used for expired tags or other minor offenses.

WHAT CAN THE NEXT MAYOR DO?

A high priority is going to be fully staffing the police department. It’s a part of

KEY ISSUE: Education in Nashville

BY STEVE CAVENDISH, NASHVILLE BANNER

This story is a partnership between the Nashville Banner and The News. The Banner is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization focused on civic news and will launch later this year. For more information, visit NashvilleBanner.com.

Just as the mayoral field finished taking shape in April, Vanderbilt’s annual poll of Nashvillians came out and made one thing perfectly clear: Whether or not the mayor has control over the Metro Nashville Public Schools system, education should be a top — if not the top — priority of the next administration.

“How much of a priority do you think [respondents were given a list of issues] should be for Nashville’s next mayor?” the poll question read — and 74 percent responded to education as “a top priority.” It was the highest-scoring issue in the poll, ahead of crime, affordable housing and homelessness.

MNPS is a big urban school system — the district’s 81,000 students put it in the top 40 in the country — and there are multiple challenges to Nashville public

schools: Thirty-seven percent of students are economically disadvantaged; 28 percent have limited English proficiency; 14 percent have some form of disability. There are 135 languages spoken by MNPS students in total, and the district is one of the most diverse in the state: Thirty-nine percent of the students are Black, 32 percent Latino and 4 percent Asian. And enrollment is trending down from a high of almost 88,000 six years ago, a result of declining birthrates and migration from the county among school-age populations.

Of MNPS’ 162 schools, 19 (almost 12 percent) are on the state’s “priority” list of underperforming schools — a number that actually has improved in recent years. This year, 34 percent of third-graders face summer school or being held back for a year due to a new state law mandating retention for low test scores in reading. It’s not all bad news, though. MNPS placed 48 schools on the state’s “reward” list and was named an “advancing” district by the state.

This is the landscape the next mayor will

inherit, all without the ability to hire or fire a single person or select their own leader to run the school district. That’s all reserved for the school board. The mayor’s only lever is the budget, which past mayors have used in a variety of fashions. For example, Mayor Phil Bredesen traded capital improvements — his administration built 32 schools — for promises from the district on standards.

But even the budget has come under strain. Whether or not you support charters, an increasing percentage of the MNPS budget is devoted to them. The net fiscal impact of charter schools has risen from $60 million in 2013 to more than $250 million in the 2023-24 school year. And as a 2023 report from the Nashville Public Education Foundation notes, more are coming, whether or not the school board authorizes them — despite 2-to-1 public opposition.

“As a result of the 2019 law that created the Tennessee Charter School Commission, which can authorize charter schools at the state level, the MNPS School Board no longer has complete control over when or

the commercials, websites and rhetoric of virtually every candidate in the race. But what happens after that?

Partners in Care is a startup program that has been steadily rolling out, adding Midtown Hills as the fifth precinct with trained personnel in May. While the results have been promising, it will likely need further expansion to become a countywide operation on all shifts. A similar pilot plan, called REACH, points mental health professionals toward low-risk situations where a person is in crisis in an effort to free up ambulance services. But its scope is limited in days and personnel.

While several candidates have addressed school programming from the pre-K side, multiple councilmembers say more programming is needed for middle- and high-schoolers after the school day ends as a way to combat juvenile crime. MNPS currently partners with nonprofits for some of these, but there is room for expansion.

And on the trust side of the equation, the state effectively gutted community oversight boards of law enforcement in the most recent session. Nashville’s COB was added by public referendum in the wake of the police killing of Daniel Hambrick and is popular, so there will be some pressure for a mayor — who has direct oversight — to fill in those gaps. This story has been edited for length. To read the candidates’ responses to our questions, visit www.nashvillescene.com.

where a public school may open in Nashville, making it difficult for the district to forecast enrollment in its schools and drawing funding away from the district,” reads the NPEF’s report. “Today, the number of stateapproved charter schools in Nashville is five, with four additional schools approved to begin operating in the coming years.”

And the impact of vouchers will be felt by the district soon. Gov. Bill Lee’s pilot program, which initially targets Memphis and Nashville, awarded more than 600 vouchers between the two systems, meaning that up to $40 million will go to private schools instead of MNPS.

WHAT HAS JOHN COOPER’S ADMINISTRATION DONE ON EDUCATION?

In short, Cooper has thrown a lot of money at MNPS.

This year’s budget includes an extra $100 million in new operational funds for the district, the largest such increase in the city’s history. The bulk of that will go

KEY ISSUE: Education

to teacher salaries, raised the year before to be the highest in the state. In 2022, for the first time, family leave was made available for all MNPS employees.

“I remember being at McGavock High School during my campaign and learning that teachers did not have this basic benefit,” said Cooper when announcing his budget. “Teachers were trying to time their family planning around summer vacation. I left that day determined to change that — and we did.”

The new money also raises pay for support staff like bus drivers and cafeteria workers, as well as administrators, including principals and associate principals. Both Cooper and the district have emphasized the need to push pay higher in response to the city’s skyrocketing cost of living, all without much help from the state. Lee put an extra

$1 billion for schools in the state budget, but Tennessee’s new funding formula means Nashville will see only 2 percent of those dollars, despite having 8 percent of the state’s students. The rise in teacher pay has come almost entirely from investments at the local level.

Cooper also added more than $10 million for a pilot program to address problems with substitutes and $8 million for free lunches.

Some of the most visible signs of Cooper’s influx of cash are on the capital side, where 75 schools got improvements to air quality last year and three new schools have been built: a middle school in Cane Ridge, an elementary school in Goodlettsville and a new high school in Bellevue to replace Hillwood, which will open this year. Metro also will make a one-time allocation of $66

million to allow for pre-K space to be carved out of existing school buildings.

WHAT COULD THE NEXT MAYOR DO?

Taking a long view, investing in early childhood education and child care could show substantial benefits down the road.

In his 2012 analysis, Nobel economist James Heckman argued that money spent in the first five years of life has a huge return on investment.

“The highest rate of return in early childhood development comes from investing as early as possible, from birth through age five, in disadvantaged families,” Heckman writes. “Starting at age three or four is too little too late, as it fails to recognize that skills beget skills in a complementary and dynamic way. Efforts should focus on the first years for the greatest efficiency and effectiveness. The best investment is in quality early childhood development from birth to five for disadvantaged children and their families.”

Currently, pre-K programs in MNPS are limited, with fees assessed on a sliding scale based on need. Nationally, 11 states have implemented universal pre-K, but Tennessee does not appear prepared to join them, so the issue would require local leadership.

Similarly, MNPS provides some before-

and after-school programs in partnership with nonprofits like the YMCA, Backfield in Motion and the Girl Scouts, but the expansion of those programs and days of the week served would require funding.

In the shorter run, a mayor could continue Cooper’s path of capital investments, though without the benefit of some federal funds the current administration utilized because of COVID-19. Cooper knocked off $397 million from the MNPS Capital Improvement Budget, a list of capital priorities for the district, but that’s less than 10 percent of the $4 billion in needs throughout the district as of the 2020-21 CIB.

Another path might be to focus on intensive programs in areas such as reading or English proficiency. As mentioned, the significant number of English learners in MNPS — largely Spanish speakers, but also Arabic, Swahili, Kurdish and Somali — presents the opportunity to make gains in other areas once the language gap is bridged.

Every mayor says they want to be known as the “Education Mayor,” and there are implications across the board for Nashville if MNPS becomes significantly better. But achieving that title is something few actually have done.

This story has been edited for length. To read the candidates’ responses to our questions, visit www.nashvillescene.com.

Napier Elementary PHOTO BY DANIEL MEIGS

KEY ISSUE: Homelessness in Nashville

BY ADDISON WRIGHT, NASHVILLE BANNER

of chronically homeless people, more people live on the streets for longer periods of time and are more likely to perish on the streets of our city,” reads the 2022 Nashville Performance Study of Homeless and Affordable Housing. The mortality rate for those living unhoused doubled from 2016 to 2022, with 176 estimated deaths in 2022, according to Open Table Nashville’s 2022 Homeless Memorial. And the number of individuals living unhoused is on the rise.

Tennessee ranks third among states with the largest increase of unhoused individuals from 2020 to 2022, an increase of 45.6 percent in that time period. Furthermore, Nashville’s number of unhoused individuals has increased 11 percent from 2022. In the United States, the number of individuals experiencing unsheltered homelessness has increased by 3 percent.

saying, ‘How do we put more money in your budget to help accommodate the people that are suffering outside?’”

Metro’s strategy includes two components: outreach in which teams “connect encampment residents with services,” and a “housing surge” in which encampment residents are given a choice of either “interim housing placement and a pathway to permanent housing, or immediate permanent housing placement,” according to a 2022 strategy document.

based communities, where the average stay is about 96 days. Calvin’s goal is an average of 90 days. Once in permanent housing, 87 percent of encampment residents have stayed, compared to the national average of 75 percent remaining in housing, reports Calvin.

This story is a partnership between the Nashville Banner and The News. The Banner is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization focused on civic news and will launch later this year. For more information, visit NashvilleBanner.com.

A woman removes her shoes before entering her tent, placing them next to a home-decor vase arrangement and a seashell windchime. The encampment consists of items like a welcome sign, a hanging chandelier, two solar panels, a battery and a security camera jutting out from a tree.

This woman, who asked to remain anonymous for safety reasons, has lived unhoused for 10 years. Her encampment is one of many being assessed for potential closure under Mayor John Cooper’s homelessness strategy, now entering phase two just in time for Nashville’s next mayor.

“I was in the hospital for four-and-ahalf months in ICU, and I got out and everything was gone, everything I worked for,” says the woman. “People, they judge you out here. They automatically assume that you’re on drugs or you’re an alcoholic or you’re a prostitute, and that’s not true. … No matter where you go, for me, I just keep getting thrown out like trash.”

She’s one of Nashville’s 1,320 individuals who are chronically homeless. Those individuals make up 62 percent of Nashville’s total 2,129 unhoused individuals, according to the city’s January 2023 point-in-time count.

This means 62 percent of Nashville’s unhoused population are “unaccompanied … with a disabling condition … continuously … for a year or more” or have “had at least four episodes of homelessness in the past three years,” according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

“Because of Nashville’s high proportion

It is becoming increasingly harder to provide affordable housing, as 45 percent of renters and 24 percent of homeowners are cost-burdened, or “spend more than 30 percent of their annual income on housing,” according to the 2022 Nashville Performance Study of Homeless and Affordable Housing.

Tension has risen on how to solve this issue. Groups like Reclaim Brookmeade Park and Greenway have sounded the alarm about the unhoused population’s effect on Nashville’s safety. In August, Tennessee became the first state to make camping on public property a felony.

WHAT HAS JOHN COOPER’S ADMINISTRATION DONE TO ADDRESS HOMELESSNESS?

In October, the Metro Council approved Mayor John Cooper’s $50 million “housing first” legislation to address homelessness in Nashville.

“The concept is simple: Offer a person housing first, then connect the housed person with supportive treatment services,” reads the Metro Homeless Impact Division (MHID) glossary definition of “housing first.”

This housing-first model is also known as “permanent supportive housing,” and Metro is choosing to prioritize housing for those living in encampments.

Cooper’s $50 million is divided into four areas: $25 million to build affordable housing, $9 million to construct temporary interim gap housing, $7 million to incentivize lower landlord rent restrictions and to provide support services grants, and $9 million to provide wraparound services like physical and mental care. These funds are drawn from American Rescue Plan COVID-19 pandemic relief funds.

“Is there more money that could be used or needed? Absolutely,” says MHID director April Calvin. “We’re working with our Office of Homeless Services budget going forward, and Mayor Cooper was instrumental in

Calvin refers to this plan as “lifesaving.” The housing-surge process chooses encampments to close based on a prioritization team’s rank of “vulnerability of population,” “location characteristics,” “physically dangerous conditions of the space” and “environmental health,” according to a sample MHID encampment assessment form.

“When you have limited resources, then you have to do a prioritization path,” says Calvin. “Following best practices will allow us to house those that are most vulnerable, to focus on the people, the environment and then the location.”

This “prioritization path” is a point of contention. Vanderbilt professor Beth Shinn and Vanderbilt doctoral candidate Molly K. Richard report for the American Journal of Public Health that prioritization can leave behind groups of people.

“Because African Americans are more likely to use shelters than their white counterparts, a rule that prioritizes unsheltered people also favors white people,” Shinn and Richard write.

This is not the first time Cooper has been involved in closing encampments.

Before his 2022 “housing first” plan, Cooper’s administration prioritized closing the Jefferson Street bridge encampment — one of Nashville’s oldest encampments — and received criticism from advocates, including Open Table Nashville, which said there was not enough available affordable housing to be removing encampment residents.

In phase one of Cooper’s 2022 plan, the encampments at Brookmeade Park, on Edmondson Pike in Wentworth-Caldwell Park, and at the downtown TA truck stop have been closed, with 135 people housed. Metro officials say housing for residents at the truck stop will continue in phase two.

When an encampment is chosen to be cleared for a housing surge, case managers then prepare residents for the surge and its 30-day notice, assessing the residents’ needs and desires. Transportation, tubs for belongings, moving resources and education services are provided. The case manager stays in contact while wraparound resources are provided.

Many encampment residents move to interim housing in converted motels or faith-

Now Calvin, MHID and Nashville’s team of community providers are conducting encampment assessments for phase two of the housing surge. In addition, Nashville’s first Office of Homeless Services is opening on July 1, and Mayor Cooper’s 2024 fiscal year proposed operating budget would divert funds to 29 employee positions, giving them $1.25 million in a community partnership and support services fund.

In short, Cooper has just begun several programs about to be handed off to the next mayor.

WHAT COULD THE NEXT MAYOR DO?

The next mayor will take office when Nashville’s first Office of Homeless Services is a few months old. It will need mayoral support.

Nashville has an array of helpful resources that do not always work efficiently and effectively together toward a common goal, according to the 2022 Nashville Performance Study of Homeless and Affordable Housing.

One resource, the Continuum of Care program, was combined with the Metro Homeless Commission to form the Metro Homeless Impact Division in 2018. The CoC program gives grant funding to state and local governments, along with nonprofit providers, to collaborate on programs and data acquisition. It was established by the 2009 HEARTH Act through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Additionally, homelessness’s intersection with public health, housing affordability, domestic violence, mental illness, substance misuse and more brings together a wide range of community providers in the city to address the issue. There are also more than 30 Nashville housing options, including emergency shelters, transitional housing, rapid rehousing, permanent housing and more.

Coordination around homelessness is possible, though. Houston, for example, reduced its unhoused population by 63 percent from 2011 to 2022 through a datadriven housing-first model that brought all service providers around the same goal — to make homelessness “rare and brief” by addressing the chronically unhoused population.

This story has been edited for length. To read the candidates’ responses to our questions, visit www.nashvillescene.com.

PHOTO BY ERIC ENGLAND

KEY ISSUE: Transit in Nashville

BY CONNOR DARYANI, NASHVILLE BANNER

This story is a partnership between the Nashville Banner and The News. The Banner is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization focused on civic news and will launch later this year. For more information, visit NashvilleBanner.com.

At a recent mayoral forum, when candidates were asked how often they use public transit, all but one of them admitted to it being a rare occasion, if ever.

Nashvillians who have tried to use the bus system in their day-to-day lives are unlikely to hold it against the candidates. Getting around in Nashville is hard. Not only is the city missing a reliable form of public transit, the roads are a mess, bike lanes are few and far between, and pedestrian death rates continue to increase every year. A top 25 American city, Nashville remains the only one of those 25 cities without dedicated funding for transit — and it shows.

Nashville has a rocky history when it comes to trying to solve the problem.

The past decade has seen two major attempts at large transit overhauls fail, both of which were marred by controversy and powerful lobbying groups. The first came in 2011 when Mayor Karl Dean announced plans for The Amp, a bus rapid transit line. Following a fraught political battle between local powers and the state — along with lobbying from the Koch brothers-backed Americans for Prosperity and the notorious local car dealer and Republican donor Lee Beaman — the plan died in 2015.

Two years later, Mayor Megan Barry proposed a plan for light rail and bus rapid transit with a $5.4 billion price tag. By this time, the funding structure for projects like this had been changed by the Improve Act, which was signed into law by Gov. Bill Haslam in 2017. The legislation allowed local governments to take transit projects straight to the voters, rather than having to go through the state legislature. But following a successful counter-campaign by Americans for Prosperity, along with Barry’s term being scandalously cut short, the referendum crashed and burned, with over 65 percent of Davidson County voters rejecting the plan.

That leaves Nashville in 2023 almost completely dependent on cars.

“It’s an inequitable economic system when we are assuming that anyone who wants to participate in this economic system has to buy a car up front,” says Jessica Dauphin, president and CEO of the Transit Alliance, a nonprofit that focuses on building support for transit funding. Not only does better public transit make it easier to get around — it also ties in with a number of other benefits. Those include a healthier population due to people walking more and an increase in spaces that are important for community connection. Transit also frees up

money that people would typically need to spend on a car. In the case of candidate and Councilmember Freddie O’Connell’s ofttold story, riding the bus even allowed him to save up enough money to afford a home.

The Transit Alliance has been running community engagement meetings to gather information on what Nashvillians need, and Dauphin says the consensus is clear.

“It’s not easy to ride transit in Nashville,” she says. Inconsistencies in the bus schedule require users to plan out their entire trip before setting foot outside their homes, and gaps in service make it either unusable or wildly inconvenient for those who need it most. Even the bus service between the city and the airport, which gets more than 400,000 ride shares in and out every month, only comes around every 45 minutes.

Despite the shortcomings of Nashville’s WeGo Public Transit, ridership has largely returned to its pre-pandemic numbers or surpassed them in spots. People are using public transit, and the support for a larger network seems to be there. But while citywide transit may be on the rise, Regional Transit Authority ridership is at just 40 percent of what it was pre-pandemic. Changing lifestyles and work schedules have led to many people opting for the drive between Nashville and neighboring cities when commuting, leading to nearly constant congestion on the main interstates. Dauphin says the city needs to find a way to put a greater emphasis on mass regional transit.

“How are people utilizing regional bus transit services like the WeGo Star, and how can we help support and facilitate that into greater numbers?” asks Dauphin.

WHAT HAS JOHN COOPER’S ADMINISTRATION DONE ON TRANSIT?

The Cooper administration has largely maintained the status quo.

On the heels of Barry’s failed transit referendum, a large part of Cooper’s campaign was a $1.5 billion transit plan — less ambitious and exciting, but he argued more attainable and what the city needed. Rather than require a referendum to get dedicated funding, his plan would use funding from grants to improve the bus system, fix sidewalks and bike lanes, and make various other infrastructure improvements.

Of course, a plan is good and all, but when it came time to execute, things got difficult.

Cooper’s first full year in office was marred by tragedy. The city was struck by a nationwide pandemic, a fatal tornado and the Christmas Day bombing. On top of this, the federal and state grants the Cooper administration planned to put toward transit projects are typically very competitive, requiring local governments to

spend money to get money. And without a dedicated funding source, Nashville’s ability to compete with peer cities is hindered.

That’s left Nashville the past four years with a handful of transit-related plans — the Nashville Next Plan, Connect Downtown and Vision Zero to name a few — but not enough funding to go around.

WeGo’s Better Bus plan has been able to secure some funding over Cooper’s term. This year’s budget not only fully funds WeGo’s baseline operational needs, but also supplies a little less than half of what they asked for in capital improvement funds. But the Better Bus plan is really just a starting point, getting the city’s bus services up to date and more in line with other peer cities. To really make a difference in the city’s transit challenges, the next term will require more ambition.

WHAT COULD THE NEXT MAYOR DO?

All signs point to a transit referendum.

Haslam’s Improve Act allows cities to choose from a few different taxes — sales tax, hotel tax and rental car tax among them — to fund transit projects. But in order to do so, the city must first present voters with a specific plan, showing what Nashville’s leaders want to fund and how much it will cost. When it comes down to it, the voters get the final say, and as we saw in 2018, while people may be excited about transit, it’s going to take a well-thought-out, carefully orchestrated plan to pass. That means people may need to be patient when it comes to light rail.

“I know it sounds fun and sexy out front to be able to hop on a light rail train, and

it is fun, and it is quick,” says Dauphin. “But we have to keep in mind what our communities are willing to pay for this. This is not going to come free, and it’s not going to be cheap.”

There are a lot of options for what a transit referendum could look like, ranging from light rail to something as simple as a dependable and fast bus service to the airport. It will be up to the next mayor to determine what the city is ready for, and what the voters are willing to fund.

What’s more, while Gov. Bill Lee’s recently passed Transportation Modernization Act aims to relieve traffic congestion on the interstates, it does little to address any form of mass transit. It will be on the next mayor’s shoulders to find a way to revitalize the Regional Transit Authority, get ridership numbers up and relieve the highways.

If transit isn’t touched on in the first question of the many mayoral forums taking place this season, it’s usually touched on in the second. All candidates have brought up some sort of plan, some more concrete than others, and most of the candidates have acknowledged the need for an eventual transit referendum. Choosing the next mayor comes down to what voters want that referendum to look like.

This story has been edited for length. To read the candidates’ responses to our questions, visit www.nashvillescene.com.

WeGo bus station in Nashville

PHOTO BY ERIC ENGLAND

Butch Spyridon: A visionary leader and Nashville’s champion

BY BILL FREEMAN

Since news has spread of Butch Spyridon’s retirement from his role as head of the Nashville Convention & Visitors Corp, the city has collectively risen to its feet to applaud. It’s a bittersweet moment for Nashville, as we celebrate the remarkable achievements of this fine leader while reluctantly bidding him farewell. Spyridon’s unwavering support, tireless dedication and infectious enthusiasm have transformed Nashville into a thriving global brand and a sought-after destination. The good news for us is that, as recently reported by the Nashville Business Journal, he will continue to serve the city in a consulting capacity for the next two years. And as he told The Tennessean last month, that will allow him to “chase large events” — something he does very well.

Everyone deserves to sit back and see that good results have come from their hard work, and no one should be prouder than Spyridon. Under his leadership, Nashville

has experienced extraordinary growth in the tourism industry. The NBJ reports: “Since 2013, the number of hotels in Nashville has gone from 187 to 273, representing 46% growth. Hotel room revenue has seen 157% growth, growing from $730 million to $1.9 billion. Music City earned the No. 2 spot on Cvent’s 2023 Top 10 Meeting Destinations in North America list, up from No. 6 in 2019.”

But statistics alone don’t define Spyridon’s impact on Nashville. He also has an unwavering belief in Nashville’s potential, an infectious passion for the city and the ability to rally others to share his vision. “Getting Nashville to believe in itself in terms of what we could do,” Spyridon told The Tennessean, “here in Nashville and outside, convincing people that we’re worthy, we’re capable and we’ll probably over-deliver on that. That challenge, it really doesn’t ever go away.”

As the NBJ put it, “Butch didn’t coin the name Music City, but he made

Nashville’s casual nickname a global brand.” His focus on songwriters and their stories added an authentic touch to Nashville’s narrative, captivating the hearts of visitors and locals alike. Bart Herbison, executive director of Nashville Songwriters Association International, told the NBJ: “Just from my perspective, outside of the songwriters themselves and a small handful of congressional leaders, Butch is the most important advocate we’ve ever had in America for songwriters in modern times.”

Spyridon’s collaborative approach has extended beyond the realm of music. Spyridon sought partnerships with diverse organizations. Whether it was the 2019 NFL Draft (which attracted upwards of 600,000 attendees), the recent NHL Awards at Bridgestone Arena or the numerous Stanley Cup Final watch parties, Spyridon’s ability to bring people together and create memorable experiences is unparalleled. “A global map, a destination map … doesn’t happen without sports,” Spyridon said.

Back in January, the Nashville Scene relayed Kevin Lavender’s thoughts on Spyridon’s impact. As Nashville Convention & Visitors Corp chair and head of commercial banking at Fifth Third Bank, Lavender knows the NCVC better than nearly anyone in Nashville’s business community. “It is hard to imagine anyone else who has shaped Nashville’s growth and success as much as Butch,” said Lavender, “from branding it as Music City to making it attractive to professional sports teams and corporate relocations to elevating the quality of life by drawing world-class events, restaurants, retail and hotels.” I wholeheartedly agree.

Nashville will miss Butch Spyridon’s leadership, but we embrace the future with gratitude for the foundation he has laid. Spyridon’s successor, Deana Ivey, has had the privilege of working closely with him for many years and possesses the knowledge and experience to continue building upon his achievements. After all, Deana has been with the NCVC for nearly as many years as Butch. She is currently the president of the NCVC and has been instrumental in Nashville’s growth since she began 1997. Under Ivey’s guidance, the Nashville Convention & Visitors Corp will remain in capable hands, ensuring the city’s continued growth and prosperity.

And what can a newly minted CEO expect to hear from her former boss? Here’s what Spyridon said about Ivey when she was promoted to the position of NCVC president: “She has been a committed

partner these past 25 years and has been integral in shaping the Music City brand, creating and attracting major events, and marketing Nashville around the world.” Ivey’s history with Nashville, her experience in the tourism industry and her dedication to charitable organizations make her Spyridon’s clear successor.

We are in good hands with Deana Ivey. And to Butch Spyridon, we express our heartfelt gratitude.

Bill Freeman

Bill Freeman is the owner of FW Publishing, the publishing company that produces the Nashville Scene, Nfocus, the Nashville Post and The News.

Butch Spyridon PHOTO BY NASHVILLE CONVENTION & VISITORS CORP

ADDED FEES

TICKED OFF!

What really should TICK all of us off is the fact that when ordering tickets to events at TPAC they add a handling fee of $50.00. Let me ask you, does it really take up enough time of the person doing the sale that $50.00 is warranted? Sure the cost of the tickets pays for the performers and crew and we are getting an hour or two of entertainment but 50 bucks to buy a ticket seems a little overboard. Just recently POTUS is trying to stop the airlines and hotel people from adding hidden charges. Maybe we should write to him with these extra fees too. If TPAC sells 500 seats that might bring in an extra 12,500 dollars. And that might be for 1 show. And they do this without wearing a mask or carrying a gun. Legalized robbery.

GERRYMANDERING

“Gerrymandering is the manipulation of electoral district boundaries so as to favor one party or class. It is the political manipulation of electoral district boundaries with the INTENTION to create undue advantage for a party, group or socioeconomic class within the constituency.

The term was derived from the name of Gov. Elbridge Gerry of Massachusetts, whose administration enacted a law in 1812 defining new state senatorial districts. The law consolidated the Federalist Party vote in a few districts and thus gave disproportionate representation to Democratic-Republicans.

Gerrymandering is used to manipulate our elections for over 200 years.” Look at all the time and money spent just here in Tennessee to accommodate those who are hell bent of making it more difficult for voters to vote. The only reason for gerrymandering is for politicians to create districts to suit their needs in gaining seats in their hometown district.

You should care that changes to district maps can alter the balance of power in the states. The new maps last for a decade. They can give one party an unfair advantage — in each state and nationwide. And redistricting contributes to political polarization by making elections less competitive.

So my question is why? Why do we have to go through redistricing/confusion and expense because of gerrymandering? What would happen if gerrymandering (manipulation of votes) was no longer and you were allowed to vote in the county in which you live? This would stop a lot of

obvious illegal vote getting and confusion at voting sites. It would also put an end to all the redistricing we read about when we show up at the site you’ve voted at for years and find out you no longer are eligible to vote there because of gerrymandered.

I cannot believe that so much expense and confusion over gerrymandering exists because (and I’m going to repeat myself) . . . “is the manipulation of electoral district boundaries so as to favor one party or class. It is the political manipulation of electoral district boundaries with the INTENTION to create undue advantage for a party, group or socioeconomic class within the constituency.”

WHO REALLY BENEFITS?

Who’s butts are being kissed and paid off to have so much incredible space taken in this paper for rich, white, nouveau Nashvillians with regard to The Swan Ball? How irrelevant this all is to the paper’s name, THE NEWS! This is sickening to many of us regular folks.

NOISE AND PROGRESS

Ha Ha Ha I am still laughing about Noise equals progress and that is good. With that reasoning I should buy a house that backs up to the railroad tracks and the Interstate Highway with the trifecta being next to shopping center with the parking lot lights on all night.

Oh wait, nobody wants to do that.

Continuing that faulty logic maybe I should install horns on my doors at home that way I would feel safe knowing my doors are locked. The last think I could do is leave on all my inside lights (to match the outside lights) and then feel completely safe. Ha ha ha.

I feel like I am at an Ignoramus Happy Hour and it is time to leave.

Next you will be telling me Stop signs don’t matter and speed limits just slow you down.

How about No Noise pollution and No Light pollution?

R/S Common Sense

The comments in the Ticked Off column do not reflect the views of FW Publishing.

Metro school safety

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 3

and emotional learning strategies as a part of its school safety approach.

Additionally, the district and MNPD are recruiting to fill SROs and safety ambassador vacancies, engaging in more school safety trainings and hoping to invest in shatterresistant film that could slow down active shooters. These new and continued measures take funding — a matter up to the Metro Council, which is nearing the end of the budget cycle. State funds could also help with security matters, but MNPS and MNPD need to apply for those grants and not all of the money is recurring.

Nashville’s state Reps. Bob Freeman and Caleb Hemmer attended the event to discuss the state’s status on school safety — another contentious topic. While lawmakers passed a school safety bill, it didn’t address guns. State Democrats have called for gun reform, and Republican Gov. Bill Lee has proposed an extreme risk protection order and a special session pertaining to gun laws. His Republican colleagues have resisted both ideas. While the session is still up in the air, Freeman suggested folks talk with friends and family in other parts of the state and encourage them to ask their lawmakers for a

Appeals court reinstates trans health care ban

special session and gun reform.

Despite the flood of information from the meeting, parents and community members still have many questions and concerns about the city’s school safety response and how it filters down to individual schools.

The school safety series continued with a session at Hillsboro High School on June 21 which featured a moderated panel discussion with Daniel Chapin, founder/president of The Uvalde Foundation for Kids, Moms Demand Action, and Shaundelle Brooks, co-founder/president of the Akilah Dasilva Foundation, plus pre-submitted questions from the public.

The series concluded on June 28 inside the Council Chambers of the Historic Metro Courthouse. There, the Special Metro Council Public Health & Safety Committee focused on gun violence as a public health epidemic with the Metro Public Health Department, the Mayor’s Office of Community Safety, Metro’s Office of Family Safety, and the Mental Health Cooperative.

This story was first published by our sister publication Nashville Scene.

Nashville police seek help identifying man who attacked woman at Bellevue church

BY MATT MASTERS

The Metro Nashville Police Department is seeking the public’s help identifying a man they said attacked a woman July 5 outside of a Bellevue church.

According to an MNPD release, the unidentified woman was putting her toddler into her vehicle just after 10 a.m in the parking lot of a church on Hicks Road when she was “attacked from behind” by a man armed with a knife.

“He grabbed her by her hair and attempted to take her clothes off,” the release noted. “She fought back and he fled into the woods behind the church, possibly

to a nearby homeless encampment.”

Police describe the man as a thin, white male with shoulder-length blond hair and a “bushy” beard who was wearing a darkcolored and white flannel-type shirt, dark pants and black sneakers.

MNPD deployed dogs and a helicopter during their search for the man. They are now asking anyone with information about the man or the incident to call Crime Stoppers at 615-742-7463 or the Department of Emergency Communications at 615-862-8600.

BY HANNAH HERNER

Gender-affirming care for minors is banned in Tennessee after a weekend ruling from the 6th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals.

A three-judge panel of the appeals court granted Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti’s request to lift a partial block of the law put in place by Nashville federal Judge Eli Richardson late last month. Richardson had temporarily blocked part of the ban on puberty blockers and hormone therapies but allowed the ban on surgical procedures to go into effect.

The ACLU of Tennessee, a local family and others filed a lawsuit in April and the U.S. Department of Justice also stepped in to attempt to block the law.

The ban on gender-affirming care for youth in Tennessee was originally set to take effect on July 1 and reflects a promise from legislators during an October anti-trans rally led by right-wing media figure Matt Walsh and The Daily Wire. Filed this legislative session as SB1/HB1, it puts doctors at risk of losing their license for providing genderaffirming care to minors. It also provides a path for parents to sue if the care happened without their consent and for people who received gender-affirming care as minors to sue their medical providers as adults. Even if the family involved is satisfied with their child’s care, the state attorney general can sue.

“The case is far from over, but this is a big win,” Skrmetti said in a statement Saturday. “The court of appeals lifted the injunction, meaning the law can be fully enforced and recognized that Tennessee is likely to win a constitutional argument and case.”

Skrmetti is also investigating VUMC’s

adult transgender clinic, with the hospital’s decision to turn over health records to the state alarming some patients.

The law allows for a nine-month unwinding period for transgender youth to end gender-affirming treatment, however, the Pediatric Transgender Clinic at the Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt University Medical Center ceased operations in June. After being the target of far-right efforts to end the care, the clinic stated that it only performed about five surgeries per year on minors, all over the age of 16, and none of them were genital surgeries. It also paused surgeries for minors in November.

Tennessee subverts national trends in banning gender-affirming care for minors entirely. In June, a similar ban was found unconstitutional in Arkansas. In 2022, Alabama was the first to make providing gender-affirming medical treatment a felony in the state. The U.S. Department of Justice promptly challenged the law, and eventually a judge ruled to allow hormones and puberty blockers but not surgeries.

“This ruling is beyond disappointing and a heartbreaking development for thousands of transgender youth, their doctors and their families,” the coalition of groups challenging the law, including the ACLU and Lambda Legal, said in a statement. “As we and our clients consider our next steps, we want all the transgender youth of Tennessee to know this fight is far from over and we will continue to challenge this law until it is permanently defeated and Tennessee is made a safer place to raise every family.”

This story was first published by our sister publication Nashville Post.

Caregiver charged with 6 counts of child neglect following April death of Nashville child

STAFF REPORTS

A caregiver has been charged with six counts of child neglect following the death of an unidentified 3-month-old boy in a West Nashville apartment on April 10.

Police first announced their investigation in April and on July 29, 51-year-old Anne C. Jordan was arrested in Hickman County.

As previously reported, the Old Hickory Boulevard apartment served as a daycare provider, and police said that Jordan was not at the apartment when the child was found dead by his unidentified mother and another parent.

Six other children ranging in age up to 16 months were also found in the

apartment and police determined them to be in “good health.”

“Medical staff at Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital reported that the deceased child did not have any obvious sign of traumatic injury or medical issues,” an April news release read.

Hikers in the nearby Harpeth River State Park found Jordan “suffering from significant lacerations, apparently selfinflicted, to her arms,” and she was flown by medical helicopter to a Nashville hospital. The investigation into the death remains open with final autopsy and toxicology results pending.

Police union backs Wiltshire for mayor

BY STEVE CAVENDISH/NASHVILLE BANNER

leading candidate on a number of issues.)

One of the byproducts of Monday’s news is the awkwardness the FOP endorsements will create among at least one group on the left. Planned Parenthood’s endorsements last week followed a questionnaire in which the group asked candidates if they would “pledge to refuse endorsements and/or donations from police unions?” All of the top candidates for mayor interviewed for the FOP endorsement. The two groups endorsed six of the same candidates on the Aug. 3 ballot: Jim Shulman for vice mayor, Marcia Masulla for council at large, Jordan Huffman for District 14, Brandon Taylor for District 21, John Rutherford for District 31 and Sandra Ewing for District 34.

This story is a partnership between the Nashville Banner and the Nashville Post. The Banner is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization focused on civic news and will launch later this year. For more information, visit NashvilleBanner.com.

The Fraternal Order of Police’s local chapter on Monday endorsed Matt Wiltshire for mayor, Jim Shulman for vice mayor and a slate of council candidates, including Democrats and Republicans.

The endorsement surprised some political observers who had assumed Alice Rolli, a Republican who has campaigned on reducing crime as an issue, would get the nomination. But similar to four years ago when the FOP snubbed Carol Swain in favor of John Cooper, the police union tacked toward the center instead of the right.

“I’m honored to have the support of our rank-and-file officers,” Wiltshire said in a release. “The Nashville community has seen more than its share of tragedies, but the Metro Nashville Police Department has responded time and time again. As Mayor, I’ll work every day to make Nashville the safest big city in America.”

Four years ago, following the 2018 killing of Daniel Hambrick and guilty plea by former officer Andrew Delke, an endorsement by the police had different optics than today in the wake of the Covenant School shootings. First responders were universally praised for their quick response time and handling of the situation. In the 2018 case, the FOP launched a website attacking the slain Hambrick.

(For a deeper dive into crime as a political issue, check out the Banner’s Monday story, including on-the-record statements by every

Wiltshire and fellow mayoral candidate Jim Gingrich were both snubbed by Planned Parenthood despite their past support for the organization and alignment with the group’s goals on reproductive rights. Freddie O’Connell, Jeff Yarbro, Vivian Wilhoite and Heidi Campbell were endorsed for mayor by Planned Parenthood, while Sharon Hurt received a “thumbs up” from the group.

Rolli said she thought she had “a 40 percent chance to get” the FOP endorsement in a radio interview last week.

Was she surprised?

“No it’s a repeat of the 2015 [Bill] Freeman campaign,” Rolli told the Banner. “I’ll get it in the runoff.”

(The FOP endorsed Freeman, now the owner of Post parent FW Publishing, in the 2015 general election. After Freeman failed to make the runoff, the organization backed David Fox, who lost to Megan Barry and is now Rolli’s campaign treasurer.)

The endorsement may carry more political juice than actual votes, as an increasing number of rank-and-file FOP members live outside the county.

In a separate announcement, Hurt picked up the endorsement of “the Brendas” Monday as Davidson County Clerk Brenda Wynn and former state Sen. Brenda Gilmore threw their support behind the mayoral candidate and at-large Metro councilmember.

“I support Sharon Hurt for Mayor,” Wynn said in a release. “I have known her for over 30 years, she was then, is now, and will always be one with a courageous heart and tough mind. She is a committed, loyal and proven leader with extensive service to the Nashville community at large and will lift ALL Nashvillians.”

Matt Wiltshire PHOTO BY ERIC ENGLAND

Athletes from across Nashville area named TSWA all-state for spring sports

Class AAA

C: Ella Polk, Page, Jr.

P: Laura Walker, Greenbrier, Sr.

Class A

IF: Brinli Bain, Eagleville, So.

OF: Addyson Linton, Eagleville, So.

OF: Emmaline Whitt, Eagleville, Jr.

Division II-AA

IF: Chloe Jones, Lipscomb Academy, Sr.

UT: Hailey Story, Lipscomb Academy, So.

Division II-A

IF: Rose Davis, Middle Tennessee Christian, Sr

IF: Tori Duval, Columbia Academy, Sr.

IF: Brooklyn Jones, Goodpasture Christian, 8th grade

P: Anna Brewer, Columbia Academy, So.

Division II-AA

IF: Hunter High, Lipscomb Academy, Sr.

IF: Hutson Chance, Christ Presbyterian Academy, So.

OF: London Humphreys, Christ Presbyterian Academy, Sr.

OF: Bryant Loving, Lipscomb Academy, Sr.

P: Miller Green, Lipscomb Academy, Sr.

Division II-A

IF: Carson Rucker, Goodpasture Christian, Sr.

IF: Brooks Jones, Middle Tennessee Christian School, Jr.

BOYS SOCCER

Class AAA

GK: Thomas Fields, Brentwood, Sr.

F: Cooper Bailey, Brentwood, Sr.

BOYS TENNIS

Class A

SINGLES

Tobias Mandeville, Merrol Hyde, Jr.

Class AA

SINGLES

Rich LaLance, Siegel, So.

Division II-AA

SINGLES

Hank Trondson, Ensworth School, Sr.

DOUBLES

Martin Grier, Jr.-Daniel Torre, So., Montgomery Bell Academy

GIRLS TENNIS

PHOTO BY KAITLYN HUNGERFORD

The Tennessee Sports Writers Association announced all-state teams for spring sports last month for the 2023 season. In this week’s issue, we will feature the baseball, softball, boys soccer, and tennis honorees. Next week’s issue will highlight the track and field winners.

Below are the Nashville-area honorees.

SOFTBALL

Class AAAA

C: Addison Maurer, Columbia Central, Jr.

IF: Emily Legrand, Green Hill, Jr.

IF: Avary Stockwell, Green Hill, Fr.

IF: Ryan Brown, Independence, Sr.

OF: Lauren Johnson, Centennial, Sr.

OF: Saviya Morgan, Columbia Central, Jr.

P: Rylan Smith, Nolensville, Sr.

P: Mackenzie Ventura, Siegel, Fr.

UT: Bailey Shepard, Donelson Christian Academy, So.

BASEBALL

Class A

IF: Brady Burns, Eagleville, Jr.

P: Brayden Baker, Eagleville, Sr.

P: Josh Jeffcoat, Eagleville, Jr.

Class AA

C: Justin Smith, White House Heritage, So.

Class AAA

IF: Jake Maddox, Central Magnet, Jr.

IF: Brady Knepper, Greenbrier, Sr.

OF: Will Becker, Central Magnet,

Class AAAA

OF: Gage Hoover, Stewarts Creek, Sr.

P: Harrison Cowdrey, Independence, Sr.

P: Cooper Johnson, Beech, Jr.

P: Aiden Schwartz, Stewarts Creek, Jr.

Class AA

GK: Mitchell York, Valor College Prep, Sr.

MF: Dany Retana, Greenbrier, Jr.

D: Daniel Jimenez, Valor College Prep, Sr.

D: Jad Rahme, Valor College Prep, Sr.

Class A

GK: Noah Mendenhall, Harpeth, Sr.

F: Jasper Tharpe, Harpeth, Jr.

Division II-AA

GK: Hunter Walker, Christ Presbyterian Academy, Sr.

MF: Richard Aylward, Montgomery Bell Academy, Jr.

MF: Hogan Walker, Montgomery Bell Academy, Sr.

D: Charlie Duckworth, Christ Presbyterian Academy, Sr.

D: Bennett Tidwell, Montgomery Bell Academy, So.

Class AA

SINGLES

Ellie Zolt, Siegel, So.

DOUBLES

Uma Sood, So.-Helen Smith, Jr., Central Magnet

Division II-A

SINGLES

Shelby Franklin, Franklin Road Academy, So.

Division II-AA

SINGLES

Leah Tomichek, Brentwood Academy, Fr.

Predators add first-round talents but can’t pull off trade

BY JOHN GLENNON

The Predators bolstered the prospect pipeline at both forward and defense in the first round of the NHL Entry Draft at Bridgestone Arena.

They took rangy, productive right wing Mathew Wood from the University of Connecticut at No. 15 and speedy defenseman Tanner Molendyk from the Western Hockey League’s Saskatoon Blades at No. 24.

What they didn’t do was make the big splashy trade, the one incoming general manager Barry Trotz had sought to pull off in order to land one of the dynamic centers selected early in the first round.

With 13 overall picks in this year’s draft — including two in the first round — and

10 selections in the 2024 draft, Trotz had hoped to pry loose a selection in the top four. But the four teams at the top of the draft wouldn’t budge, each selecting a center.

The Predators nevertheless added two promising young players in the first round.

In choosing Wood, the Predators picked a forward for the sixth time in the last seven first-round selections to that point.

The 6-4, 197-pound native of Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada is coming off quite a freshman season for the Huskies, as he led the team in scoring with 34 points (11 goals, 23 assists) in 35 games. Wood, 18, racked up those numbers despite the fact he was the youngest player in the NCAA in 2022-23. He’s been a mainstay on the power play

during his career, which should benefit the Predators when he reaches the NHL.

The fourth-ranked North American skater in the NHL’s Central Scouting rankings, Wood plans to return for his sophomore season at Connecticut, where the Predators would like him to work on his strength and his skating.

Molendyk, 18, became the first defenseman selected in the first round by the Predators since Dante Fabbro in 2016.

He was ranked as the 25th-best overall prospect by The Athletic and the 28th-best North American skater by the NHL’s Central Scouting.

At 5-11 and 181 pounds, Molendyk is not the biggest blueliner, but the Predators

believe his speed and puck-moving abilities will outweigh any potential size deficiencies. In 67 games last season, Molendyk totaled 37 points (nine goals, 28 assists). Those are respectable numbers, but Molendyk feels he can bump up his offensive game when he returns to the Blades in 202324.

Poile, who’s stepping down as general manager following the draft, said he was happy with the team’s balance in the opening round, noting that the plan had been to select one forward and one defenseman. This story was first published by our sister publication Nashville Post.

Hunter High

Nashville SC’s Mukhtar, Zimmerman selected for MLS All-Star game

BY JOHN GLENNON

Nashville SC’s two designated players have been selected to take on the English Premier League team Arsenal FC in the 2023 Major League Soccer All-Star Game.

Midfielder Hany Mukhtar, the league’s reigning most valuable player, and central defender Walker Zimmerman were each voted in by fans to play in the contest, which will be played July 19 at Audi Field in Washington, D.C.

Zimmerman will be making his fourth consecutive appearance in the all-star game, and has now been selected for more all-star games than any other player on the 2023 MLS all-star roster.

The 30-year-old Zimmerman has

been limited — by a groin injury and by international duty for the U.S. men’s national team — to playing 14 games (12 starts) out of 20 for Nashville this season. But Zimmerman has helped Nashville allow just 16 goals, the lowest figure in the league.

Earlier this month, Zimmerman started and played a full 90 minutes in the CONCACAF Nations League championship game, helping the U.S. capture the title with a 2-0 victory over Canada.

This will be Mukhtar’s second consecutive appearance in the all-star contest.

This story was first published by our sister publication Nashville Post.

BUSINESS BRIEFS

VUMC to update One Hundred Oaks building space

BY WILLIAM WILLIAMS

Vanderbilt University Medical Center is planning to utilize the long-empty third floor of the Berry Hill-area building it leases at One Hundred Oaks.

According to news.vumc.org, work on the project started on July 5 and is expected to require about one year to complete. The effort will yield about 61,000 additional square feet of health care space.

Specifically, the repurposed third-floor

space will accommodate a pediatric primary care clinic and a second location for the otolaryngology clinic.

The work will take place on the north side of the building near Entrance E (the Guitar Center side) and include vertically extending the existing elevators and stairs at that entrance to allow access to the future clinical area.

The various Vanderbilt Health clinics and

MBA director of schools begins tenure

STAFF REPORTS

Montgomery Bell Academy announced Monday that Dr. William Daughtrey has begun his tenure as director of schools. According to a release, Daughtrey is the 16th head of school since MBA was founded in 1867. He replaces Brad Gioia, who retired at the end of June after 29 years leading the West Nashville private school.

Daughtrey most recently served as director of upper school and Hunting Valley Campus at University School, an all-boys institution located in Cleveland. Prior to that, he coached, taught English and served as both assistant dean of students and director of outdoor education at Woodberry Forest School, an all-boys academy located in Orange, Va.

A Richmond, Va., native, Daughtrey is a graduate of the University of Virginia

(bachelor’s degree), Georgetown University (master’s degree) and Vanderbilt University (Ed.D. degree).

The release notes the MBA Board of Trustees selected Daughtrey in May 2022 after a national search conducted by Bostonbased Carney Sandoe & Associates.

“I have long admired MBA for its clear focus on teaching boys, and its commitment to developing young men of character,” Daughtrey said in the release. “In the classrooms and studios, on the stage and the athletic fields, students are encouraged to explore a wide array of interests, to reach for their best, and to embody the ideal of ‘Gentleman, Scholar, Athlete.’”

MBA is home to 850 boys in grades 7-12.

This story was first published by our sister publication Nashville Post.

offices on the second floor of the building will stay operational during the effort, and no changes will be made to the existing surface parking servicing the building.

Vanderbilt Health at One Hundred Oaks is located at 719 Thompson Lane. An LLC affiliated with Chicago-based LaSalle Investment Management paid $49.2 million for the 51.69-acre property in December 2006, according to Metro records. In

addition to the Vanderbilt Health building (a former shopping mall that opened in 1967 and that also houses retailers on its main level), the property includes the Guitar Center building and the structure housing Regal Hollywood Nashville.

This story was first published by our sister publication Nashville Post.

Berry Hill music venue building sells for $5M

BY WILLIAM WILLIAMS

A Berry Hill building last home to music venue Skyville Live — which hosted livestream performances by artists including Cyndi Lauper, Taj Mahal, Jason Isbell, Chris Stapleton and Little Big Town — has sold for $5 million.

Offering a former warehouse that was updated to accommodate the music business, the property is located at 2602 Westwood Dr. about one block east of Eighth Avenue South and beer-focused retailer Craft Brewed.

The new owner is C & M Real Estate Holdings LLC, details about are unclear.

The sellers were music industry veterans Wally Wilson and Paul Worley, who paid $1.09 million for the property in early 2017.

Wilson and Worley launched, in conjunction with The Tennessean, Skyville

Live in 2015. The shows, bolstered by live audiences, were livestreamed online (via a partnership with the USA Today Network) seemingly until late 2019 or early 2020.

A producer, songwriter and music publisher, Wilson has worked with Gladys Knight, Steve Earle, Emmylou Harris and Jerry Lee Lewis, among others.

Worley, a guitarist, has produced or coproduced albums and singles by The Chicks, Lady A, Marie Osmond, Martina McBride, The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band and The Band Perry.

The Post was unable to determine if brokers were involved in the transaction. This story was first published by our sister publication Nashville Post.

Walker Zimmerman

PHOTO BY DAVID RUSSELL

The Faith of Kevin Burns

BY MATT MASTERS, ELI MOTYCKA

Kevin Burns had bad luck twice. Thirty-one years ago, he got caught in a gunfight in Shelby County that killed two people — Damon Dawson and Tracey Johnson — and put three others, including Burns, in prison for murder.

Derrick Garrin, identified by a surviving witness as the “big man in glasses” who shot Dawson, was convicted for Dawson’s murder. At 6-foot-4, Garrin is a full nine inches taller than Burns. Garrin wears glasses. Burns doesn’t. Burns had short hair that night, not the shooter’s Jheri curl, as remembered by another witness.

Those arguments, which could have saved Burns from a death sentence, weren’t made at his 1995 trial. He was convicted for Dawson’s murder — after Garrin was convicted for the same murder. Garrin got life in prison and made parole in 2023. Carlito Adams, the third man convicted in the killings, got a life sentence and made parole in 2017.

You shouldn’t be able to receive the death penalty if you didn’t actually kill someone, argues Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor in her dissent (joined

by Justices Jackson and Kagan) after her colleagues denied Burns’ appeal. Burns hoped higher courts would acknowledge the negligence and ineptitude of his trial attorneys, William Johnson and Glenn Wright, court-appointed lawyers who lost six clients to death row.

“The focus of the appeal was that trial counsel was ineffective for failing to show that Kevin Burns didn’t kill anyone,” says Richard Tennent, an assistant federal defender and Burns’ current counsel.

“They’re the reason he got convicted. Real lawyers should’ve won this trial. We shouldn’t have been arguing over whether he deserved a death sentence — we’d be arguing over whether he deserved any punishment at all.”

Today, Burns remains behind bars. In its June 20 order — a bimonthly update that lays out its docket — the United States Supreme Court declined to rehear Burns’ appeal, which it denied in April. One path remains: direct intervention from Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee, who has struggled to square his avowed Christianity with support for the death penalty.

Through his first and second terms, Lee has criticized the inequalities of the state’s legal system but failed to deliver any substantive changes. Instead, he presides over mismanaged state facilities and constitutional challenges to Tennessee’s execution practices. Six months after the state botched the execution of Oscar Smith in May 2022, Lee brought on Frank Strada, a former prisons chief in Arizona, to bring Tennessee executions back online. While he waits, Burns has built a church on death row.

From the offices of Franklin Community Church Pastor Kevin Riggs, the Scene spoke with Burns via phone. Riggs and Franklin Community Church are among Burns’ advocates on the outside. The Scene is joined on the call by Riggs as well as Tennent and a friend, Brad Davis, who is a Franklin church member.

“The stated purpose of that church is a church for the men of Unit 2, led by the men of Unit 2,” says Riggs, referencing the area in Nashville’s Riverbend Maximum Security Institution where all the state’s male death row inmates are housed. “As far

as I know, that’s the only church on death row anywhere in the United States that’s set up that way.”

The Scene was not permitted to visit Burns in prison. The phone call to the prison disconnects at 30 minutes, and begins with an automated voice message notifying the callers that the line is being recorded. At times the call would distort and break up, seconds of silence interrupting Burns’ testimony about how his faith has kept him focused and hopeful, even as he runs out of options to avoid being put to death.

Davis has known Burns — also known to friends as KB, Pastor KB or just Kevin — since about 2014. Davis used to support capital punishment, but his personal relationship with Burns has changed that. Davis and his wife sent a wedding invitation to Burns knowing that he wouldn’t be able to attend, but they hope to introduce Burns to their 2-year-old and one day help him post-prison.

“I believe that God is able to touch the hearts of the governor or whoever he needs at that time when he sees fit,” says Burns. “I have patience in waiting on the Lord.”

Riggs ordained Burns in 2018, and Riggs now considers Burns his pastor. Burns serves at both Riverbend’s The Church of Life and at Franklin Community Church, where he preaches through recorded phone calls.

Riggs has written multiple letters to Lee asking the governor to step in and grant clemency for Burns and other death row inmates.

“My prayer is that he will take an honest look at the entire situation and see the injustice that’s been done in this particular situation,” Riggs says.

Burns says that in 1993, a little more than a year after his arrest, God spoke to him and called him to the faith. It’s an experience he says he initially doubted. But now he counsels other inmates, praying with them or for them and their families.

“I want people to know that people are not the same people as they were when they got arrested,” Burns says. “God has the ability to change people. There is that opportunity for salvation, for reconciliation, for God to restore lives.”

He describes a “gentle spirit” in Unit 2, calling it a “building of peace” where men of changed mind, heart and spirit live. He’s called on Lee to visit the prison and pray with inmates, “to fellowship as brothers and as Christians.”

“God is a god of justice … but he rejoices in mercy,” Burns says, just before an automated voice cuts into the line — “You have one minute remaining.”

This story was first published by our sister publication Nashville Scene.

Pastor Kevin Burns (left) is ordained at a prison ceremony in 2018 by Franklin Pastor Kevin Riggs. PHOTO COURTESY OF KEVIN RIGGS

Five free and cheap family things to do in middle Tennessee

BY AMANDA HAGGARD

It’s hard to believe school will be starting again in a month’s time. There’s still plenty of time to get in some more summer fun before we lose all the sunlight, though. This week’s roster of free and cheap events in Middle Tennessee includes some Movies in the Park, a whole day of nature play, a yoga class for parents and their little ones, a musical playdate for the whole family at Centennial Park and an expo that’s supposed to answer all (or at least a few) of your childcare questions.

As part of our series on free and cheap things to do with the family, here is our weekly roundup of places to spend time together over the next week:

MOVIES IN THE PARK

The City of Franklin is hosting a Movies in the Park at Pinkerton Park: Folks are invited to bring a chair or pack a blanket when they come to the park for a free outdoor movie. Movies are slated to begin at 8 p.m. — on July 14, come watch The Emperor’s New Groove and on July 21, check out Shrek under the stars.

NATURE PLAY DAY

Playing outside is an excellent activity, and it’s even better in an area made specifically for your kiddos to play in. On Friday, July 14, Warner Park Nature Center will unveil the new and improved Nature Play area at Nature Play Day. The event will be facilitated by play leaders who will guide children in creative play using mud, sticks,

rocks, movement, make-believe and more. It begins at 10:30 a.m.

MOMMY & ME YOGA CLASS

Come stretch with the tiny ones. Tennessee Integrative Health is slated to host a Mommy & Me Yoga Class outdoors behind the playground at Centennial Park on Saturday, July 15, at 10 a.m. The classes are open to the public, but folks should have their own mat and some water on hand.

THE CHILDCARE EXPO

This expo on July 15 is really more for the parents, but it’s a good investment of time for the whole family. At the Isaac Litton Alumni Center from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., childcare providers will be set up to meet parents. Folks can expect information on how to get their children enrolled and what to expect as well as an education in the latest trends in childcare. Admission is free, and there is free childcare on site with games and activities for the kiddos.

TALES AT TWILIGHT

Beginning at 6 p.m. on all Fridays in July, Metro Parks Music will offer hourlong family performances of interactive magic, stories, dance and music at the Centennial Park Bandshell as part of Tales at Twilight. July 14 will feature William Crosby, and all Tales at Twilight events are free.

Yoga in the park

Grilled Pork Tenderloins With Gochujang BBQ Sauce

BY EDIBLE NASHVILLE

This recipe is from one of our favorite cookbook authors and Nasvhillian, Matt Moore. This recipe is from his new book, Butcher on the Block. Although you can certainly get a pork tenderloin from the grocery store, Matt prefers to buy his from a local butcher. He serves his with a classic BBQ sauce made with a Korean ingredient,

gochujang sauce, easily found in most super markets. It’s a sweet, salty fermented pepper paste that adds a new (and tasty) dimension to the pork. Cook the tenderloins to just above medium rare, then slice them thin after a bit of a rest, and serve on a platter with grilled summer vegetables and a big salad.

ACROSS

1 Smurf with a red hat

5 One thing … or two people

9 Urgent request

13 “Word”

14 Green juice staple

15 Succeeds, as a joke

17 “Bye, beautiful,” in Bologna

19 Accessor y worn by Fred in “Scooby-Doo”

20 “___: Large, crashing waves threaten cruise ship”

22 Gemstone unit

24 Originate (from)

25 “Toy Story” character voiced by Wallace Shawn

26 “___ appear s to show that the ship has been damaged”

30 Ocean State sch.

INGREDIENTS

TENDERLOINS

2 pork tenderloins, 2 1⁄2 to 3 pounds in total, silver skin removed

1/4 cup vegetable oil

2 tablespoons soy sauce

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 tablespoon kosher salt

1/2 tablespoon fresh-cracked black pepper

1. About an hour before cooking, marinate the pork. Combine the pork, oil, soy sauce, garlic, salt and pepper on a rimmed baking sheet or in a ziplock bag, tossing to combine.

2. Open the bottom vent of a charcoal grill completely. Light a charcoal chimney starter filled with charcoal. When the coals are covered with gray ash, pour them onto the bottom grate of the grill, and then push to one side of the grill. Adjust the vents as needed to maintain an internal temperature of 400° to 450°F. Coat the top grate with oil; place on the grill. (If using a gas grill, preheat to

GOCHUJANG BBQ SAUCE

11⁄2 cups apple cider vinegar

6 tablespoons gochujang

2 tablespoons ketchup

2 tablespoons honey

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1⁄2 teaspoon garlic powder

1⁄4 teaspoon kosher salt

1/4 teaspoon fresh-cracked black pepper

medium high [400° to 450°F] on one side.)

3. To make the sauce, combine vinegar, gochujang, ketchup, honey, soy sauce, garlic powder, salt and pepper in a mason jar. Shake vigorously. Set aside.

4. Grill the tenderloins over direct heat, 4 to 5 minutes per side, for a total of approximately 20 minutes, until the in- ternal temperature reaches 135°F. Remove the tenderloins from the grill,wrap infoil and rest for 15minutes.

5. Slice the tenderloins on the bias into 1⁄2-inch-thick slices. Serve with the sauce on the side.

Follow Edible Nashville on instagram @ediblenashtn and their website ediblenashville.com. To subscribe to the magazine that comes out 6x/year, go to ediblenashville.com.

31 Took part in the final leg of a triathlon

32 Inhaled, so to speak

33 Apes with a matriarchal social str ucture

36 “Ta-da!”

40 Goal of a half nelson

41 Microbrewery option

42 Actor and filmmaker Reiner

43 “Water is pouring into the ship! You can see it here ___”

47 “Power” suffix

49 F irst-year college assignment

50 Suppor ter of the arts?

51 “Changes in ocean conditions allowed the ship to return safely to port. Stay tuned for more ___”

55 F ix, as code

56 Kind of joke

59 Stick (to)

60 Home to the Ibsen Museum

61 Mama’s mama

62 Droops

63 Hammer end

64 Shade of black

DOWN

1 Follower of super or preceder of Man

2 “Are you telling this story or ___?”

3 Knucklehead

4 Pullover jacket traditionally lined with fur

5 Home furnishings superstore

6 It can be small, smooth or sweet

7 “Invisible Man” author Ralph

8 Will, if all goes well

9 Electronics purchase of the ear ly 2000s

10 Go the distance

11 “One more!”

12 Treasure

16 Underwor ld boundary

18 Belle’s counterpart

21 Soak up the sun

22 Kind of soda, steak or sandwich

23 Prefix with dynamic

27 Speak monotonously and at length

28 Followers of mis

29 Nat ___ (nature channel, familiarly)

34 Choice word

35 Common source of protein for opossums

36 Commercial prefix with Pen

37 Biometric identification method

38 A battlefield, per Pat Benatar

39 Genesis brother

41 Dunk

43 Landlocked Balkan countr y

44 Music genre related to glam rock

45 Chap

46 Like roughly a fifth of the U.S. population

47 “Dir ty Deeds Done

Dirt Cheap” band

48 Plot points in “Hamilton”

52 Ladder par t

53 Low-lying area

54 Class that might involve investing in a virtual stock market, for short

57 Whichever

58 “I hopped off the plane at ___” (Miley Cyr us lyric)

ANSWER TO PUZZLE

Online subscriptions: Today’s puzzle and more than 9,000 past puzzles, nytimes.com/ crosswords ($39.95 a year).

Read about and comment on each puzzle: nytimes.com/wordplay.

Crosswords for young solvers: nytimes.com/ studentcrosswords.

EDITED BY WILL SHORTZ NO. 0607

PUZZLE BY JENNIFER LEE AND VICTOR GALSON

Dell Reimagining Digital Equity Event

PHOTOS BY FIONA BATTERSBY

Dell Technologies awarded two Nashville nonprofits, UpRise and BIT-Nashville, a total of $100,000 to digitally transform their organizations as part of a new program, Reimagining Digital Equity. On June 20, Dell welcomed dozens of local tech leaders and nonprofit partners to Tech Hill Commons to share results from the pilot program with a Shark Tank-style pitch session and networking mixer to identify areas of collaboration. Over the four-week Reimagining Digital Equity program, Dell team members worked alongside leaders from UpRise Nashville and BIT-Nashville to create tangible solutions to address challenges the nonprofits face related to overcoming the digital divide. UpRise sought to develop a regenerative roadmap for

entry-level IT skills and career opportunities, and BIT-Nashville looked to scale their LocalTek-Thrive program to increase access to and equity in technology education for Metro Nashville public high school students. The solutions produced by the Dell teams included building a robust aptitude test and tech sales training for UpRise participants and establishing an internship and apprenticeship program for BIT-Nashville to spark participation and greater awareness of LocalTek-Thrive. Each organization was awarded $50,000 from Dell to implement these solutions. The Reimagining Digital Equity event was also part of the U.S. Dept. of Education-led Online For All week of action, of which Dell is a proud sponsor.

Paul Brisco, Dell Technologies, presents a solution developed as part of the Reimagining Digital Equity pilot program.

Jeni Butz, Mark Marshall, Lena Winfree, Holly Rachel, Cara Borawski, Keya Wondwossen, Al Brady, Deborah Drew, and Courtney Hyder

Vanessa Hickman and Mark Marshall catch up with an attendee.

Jeni Butz, Deborah Drew, Keya Wondwossen, and Cara Borawski

Terry Vo chats with a guest.

Dell Technologies team members pitch their idea for BIT-Nashville.

Al Brady of UpRise Nashville describes their mission. Carey Hartkopf, Tractor Supply Company

Lena Winfree (right) and Holly Rachel, co-founders of BIT-Nashville, discuss their support from Dell Technologies.

Attendees were leaders in education, nonprofits, and technology in Nashville.

Sh’kaira Branick, JJ Light, and Shoshana Samuels, all of Dell Technologies

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