In March, city officials agreed to the NFL’s request to chop down 21 mature cherry blossom trees in downtown Nashville, just two weeks before the annual Cherry Blossom Festival. Why? To make room for a stage to be used for three days during April’s massive NFL Draft event. People. Were. Pissed. More than 66,000 citizens signed a petition to save the trees. Then-Mayor David Briley tried to compromise, promising the trees would be replanted elsewhere. But the damage was already done. The similarity in numbers is probably just a coincidence, but it’s at least poetic: A few months later, more than 62,000 Nashvillians cast their vote for Briley’s opponent, John Cooper, in September’s runoff election. MEGAN SELING
Best Controversy
The Cherry Blossom Trees
