More Owners Target Gang Tags

Plumbers of Nashville (corner of 5th and Buchanan) also removed graffiti from their building within 24 hours of being hit.

Today

Yesterday

Sea-Tac Takes Down Xmas Tree

The Seattle-Tacoma Airport has removed their Christmas Tree after a local rabbi requested that a Menorah be put up, too. Airport officials believe that they will keep having to put up more symbols for more religions if they go down that road. Sounds logical to me. I think it should be all or nothing when it comes to government-sponsored public displays of religion.

Owners Quickly Remove Graffiti

Kudos to the property owners at 5th & Garfield for cleaning up gang-related graffiti within 24 hours of getting tagged.

Today

Yesterday

Historic Germantown Organizes to Oppose 7th & Taylor Development

The Neighborhood Board of Historic Germantown, Inc. is encouraging its membership to oppose the designs of a proposed a development near Werthan Lofts at the corner of 7th Av. and Taylor St. According to Historic Germantown, neighbors who have seen the plans maintain that they are "not in keeping with the rest of the neighborhood."

The development plans have other strikes against them: the Planning Commission staff disapproved them and the Planning Commission voted against them after Metro Council passed them on first reading. Council passed the plans on second reading (which included a public hearing; was there public opposition at that time? I did not see that portion of the meeting), but on third reading they voted to defer and re-refer them to the Planning Commission. Even so, none of the requested changes have been made by the developer.

Charrette Discussion on 6th & Hume Townhouse Development

Over the weekend I posted some first pictures of the new 6th & Hume townhouse development over at the Nashville Charrette to get some impressions from the thoughtful folks who frequent that on-line discussion on urban design issues. The response seems to be mixed. There seems to be agreement so far that this new development in Salemtown is good new urbanism. There is some contentious debate as to whether it is good or bad architecture. Go over and check out the discussion.

Hope Springs

I believe that some of the more interesting-looking homes in the North End are currently being built in Hope Gardens.

Gang-Related Graffiti Returns to the North End

In the past 48 hours several business buildings and sign posts were tagged in Salemtown by rival gangs. Our last incidence of gang-related graffiti was in March. The night before last one gang tagged the buildings and last night another gang tagged the first gang's tags and hit other spots.




The best deterrance to gang-related graffiti is removing it as soon after the tagging as possible. That also keeps it from spreading to other buildings in the neighborhood.

Requiem for the Wagon

I've known of a while that the East End's premiere brunch stop, Red Wagon, was going to close up shop soon. In fact, I had kept information that this weekend would be it's last on the down-low; I was planning on doing a "Farewell to the Wagon" post tomorrow after it closed. And our family brunch today and tomorrow were going to to be at the Wagon regardless; nothing was going to keep me from my last chance to savor the best damned biscuits in Nashville, with some shrimp and grits or migas on the side.

Well, I found out today that weekend brunch has gotten a reprieve and that owner and chef Meg Guiffrida will keep the place open on weekends until her lease is up at the end of January. So, we've been given the gift of 7 more weekends after this one to scarf down Meg's wonderful fare. The end of the Wagon's trail is going to leave a huge vacuum in the weekend brunch market.

But Meg tells me that she has a friend who is planning on opening a restaurant in Germantown and that she may help him out once and a while there. If the menu includes those fat cat-head biscuits, I'm all over it.

Poorer Suburbs

For the first time in history, the number of poor people in the suburbs outnumber the number poor people in cities. And it isn't just because more people in general have moved into suburbs than into cities; the reason involves techtonic economic shifts in the workplace and a new flight of the affluent to the rurburbs for bigger houses and more land. Rather than problems of poverty, fiscal distress, poor schools, and low job growth being concentrated in urban neighborhoods with the suburbs acting as havens for the affluent, entire metropolitan areas are bifurcating with deteriorating conditions concentrating on one side across cities and suburbs and with affluence and growth concentrating on the other side, according to researchers at the Brookings Institute.

Christmas Wars: Touched a Nerve with the American People?

Originally published at Free Tennessee:

Today's Tennessean delves into the culture war over salutations.  While it reports the high numbers of Americans who prefer wishing people "Merry Christmas" at this time of the year, it also seems to claim that prospects of non-Merry-Christmas salutations have "touched a nerve with the American people."  However, in making that claim, reporter Bonna de la Cruz has confused personal preference with a different question:  whether the semantics of the salutation really matter to many Americans.
A recent poll not cited in the Tennessean clears up that confusion.  According to the Pew Research Center, while personal preferences for "Merry Christmas" are indeed strong, Americans do not feel as strongly that being wished "Merry Christmas" matters more than being wished "Happy Holidays" or "Season's Greetings":

Most among the U.S. public are largely unconcerned about how they are greeted as they enter stores and businesses during the holiday season. But, between the two, by a substantial 60%-23% margin the public does prefer "Merry Christmas" to non-religious welcomes such as "Season's Greetings," according to a Pew survey conducted in December of last year. However, given the choice, a 45% plurality says it does not matter much either way.

Our Frist Love

Before we share in this morning's City Paper's nostalgic love in the wake of Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist's departure from DC, keep in mind that Frist is the main reason why the Congress did not finish any budget work after the November 7 elections. The only time that Frist scheduled for spending bills this year were for Defense Appropriations and Office of Homeland Security. My retrospective on Frist's last months in office would include the fact that he got paid to carve his name in his desk while accomplishing little else for his country.

Separate But Equal Languages

Check out the comments from "Anonymous" under my post on Tuesday's English Only deferral. S/he takes Nashvillians to task for channel surfing past council meetings and s/he interprets Crafton's second reading defense of English Only. It's long, but here is an excerpt:

I watched the entire session of the second reading [Nov. 21] of this on the public channel. Eric Crafton's speech sounded like something you'd hear from a 50's far right bigot trying to pitch the sanity of segregated water fountains. What's really scarey [sic] is that 20 other people in the room that we elected apparently are drinking from the same water fountain.

Listen to his speech: to actually entertain the idea that the Nashville government, the commission [council?] no less, is somehow going to be forced to speak Spanish in 15 years shows that there is something sadly lacking in logical progression in this man's mind.

Brownsville, Texas is 93% Hispanic, has been in existence since 1848, and still has their city commission meetings officially in English. So much for that theory Eric... I would like to know the real cost to the taxpayers of processing this waste of city government time and MY money for an obvious play at political grandstanding.

Might English Only be a linguistic counterpart to Jim Crow?

Waiting to See Those Elevations

The Struever Bros. updated ballpark master plan is out:


The Tennessean had an article on the rocky outcropping in right field--introduced in May--with the best views of the river, Downtown, and the ballpark. To the right is a picture of the Struever Bros. May 19 presentation where they show the slide of what the ballpark would look like from atop the rocky outcropping (let's not nickname the feature "Rocky Top," okay?). Click on to make the jump to the bigger picture.

Last Night's Launching Pad

Last night's "Launch Party" for a neighborhoods' "plan for progress" at the Courthouse: by my unscientific count, around 100 people showed up; acoustics were awful, and parking was not free, as advertised. It seemed a far cry from the momentum of the first meeting.

Down In Flames

Council Member Ludye Wallace's resolution asking the State Lege to pay people to vote in order to encourage voter turnout looked to be buried by snowballing, vociferous opposition until Wallace moved to defer it before it could be crucified by council vote. Not too surprising that The Gambler came up with the bright idea of twisting voting into a numbers game.

Council Votes to Defer English Only Bill Until February

Metro Council Member Eric Crafton mysteriously moved to defer his English Only Bill tonight, saying that there needed to be more discussion of it. Fellow member Charles Shumer introduced a motion to table the bill saying that the issue was too divisive, that parties from outside of Metro were trying to influence the vote, and that the discussion needed to end tonight. Shumer's motion was voted down by the Council, but did the breakdown of the vote on the tabling motion signal why Crafton moved to defer? Crafton could only muster 19 votes to kill the tabling motion; he needs at least 21 to get English Only passed. So did Crafton know that he only had 19 votes to pass English Only? Judging by the vote to approve Crafton's deferral is impossible; it passed by voice vote. Opponents of Crafton's Resolution did not choose to call for a roll call vote on the deferral vote; proponents had called for one on the less significant tabling motion. What do you think the latter is about? Using parliamentary procedure to intimidate or bully, perhaps?

During discussion of English Only, Council Member Mike Jameson revealed that Eric Crafton never bothered to reply to the 4 questions that he asked Crafton in September when English Only was introduced. Jameson said that not only had he asked Crafton the questions in council meeting, but he sent Crafton a letter with the questions, sent him an e-mail with the questions, and sent him Metro Staff with the questions without any Crafton response. Jameson asked Crafton the same questions tonight, but Michael Craddock buzzed in after Jameson and "moved the previous question," a parliamentary tactic that closed discussion without further debate. So, once again, Eric Crafton escapes without answering some important questions.


UPDATE: News 2's Chris Bundgaard reported at 10:00 that Crafton did not have the votes to pass English Only. Council Member Adam Dread told NewsChannel5 reporter Amy Rau that Crafton's votes were not there.

Dunkin Donuts Taking Tennessee

NPR's Morning Edition has a story on Dunkin Donuts opening 12 new stores in Tennessee. Hillsboro Village used to have a Dunkin Donuts right across the street from Pancake Pantry. It was the best place to get coffee in Nashville, and it would have competed well with Fido had it stayed. I agree with the guy in the story: DD coffee is wicked good; who cares about the donuts?

Bill Moyers at West Point

Giving one of the best speeches I've read on the Iraq War, Bill Moyers considers "the great divide that has opened in America between those who advocate war while avoiding it and those who have the courage to fight it without ever knowing what it’s all about."

Green Roof, Façade Elevations, and Historic Zoning

The "Lower Broad/Westin Resolution" is up for first reading tonight at tonight's Metro Council Meeting. Among other things it requires a minimum of nearly 16,000 square feet of "green roof" on the proposed Westin, a historic overlay along Lower Broadway, and "review and comment" of hotel façade elevations by the Metro Historic Commission.

Keeping Tabs on the Council's On-Going Conversion of Tax Dollars to Charitable Donations

With another Metro Council Meeting upon us on Tuesday night, it is time for the third Enclave report on how this council is electing to spend a $1.95 million windfall from uncollected property taxes this year that they earmarked for their own discretionary spending. And by "discretionary spending" they don't seem to mean adding funds to government services to address public need. So far, 100% of those tax dollars have gone to subsidize private charities close to council members' hearts.

This week's council agenda extends the conversion of property tax dollars to charitable donations with 5 "Reserve Council Infrastructure Program" resolutions up for council vote:

• $1,500 for Watkins Institute of Art (Jamey Isabel--holdover from last month)
• $20,000 for Community ALERT (Brenda Gilmore, Ronnie Greer, Edward Whitmore, Carolyn Baldwin Tucker)
• $10,000 for Cumberland Region Tomorrow (Gilmore, Buck Dozier)
• $7,000 for Metrocenter Teachers' Apartments, Inc. (Tucker, Gilmore)
• $5,000 for Nashville Inner City Ministry, Inc. (Greer)

Our watch to see if any of the $1.95 million actually goes to public programs continues.

Despite glaring chances to pave some alleys or to solve a few water runoff problems or to refurbish the worst public parks in Nashville, council members continue to be set on playing philanthropists, pitching public money at private non-profits rather than at actual Metro infrastructure. Metro Water should have a bunker and more than one security guard to protect those dangerous chlorine gas tanker cars currently sitting out in the open on the North End, so why are these leaders not so allocating these tax dollars to protect us from the calamity of a chemical spill? Why can't they pool a couple or three million to build Charlie Tygard the fire station he says he needs (even as he's spending his own allocated funds on private sports groups and on private swimming pool upgrades)?

Why? Because it would probably get called "massive government expansion" by those who seem to fancy a world of declining municipal services as subsidies for private charities increase. Why is it perfectly fine to criticize spending on government programs that pave roads or build fire stations, but not to criticize the frittering away of uncollected property taxes on private charities, based on nothing but councilmanic discretion?