Looking at support for venue ownership in general, and Black venue ownership in particular

Talking to a handful of local restaurateurs about staffing, safety, pay and more

On two of the most hotly debated issues during the recently concluded session of the Tennessee General Assembly, two conservative Republican doctors stood on opposite sides. 

Inspired by Earth Day, we at the Scene have dedicated this week’s cover package to environmental issues. We’ve got a round-up of eco-friendly shops, services and nonprofits, as well as a look at responsible recycling. We also dive into disaster mitigation as it relates to climate change, loo…

This article is part of a two-story cover package on labor in Tennessee. See also: "The State of Labor in Tennessee: Speaking with workers’ rights advocates and union organizers about the ongoing fight for worker protections."

This article is part of a two-story cover package on labor in Tennessee. See also: "Right-to-Work Policy Makes Its Way to the State Constitution: Though organized labor is ‘woven in the history of the South,’ Tennessee’s unions remain weakened."

It’s kitten season, and local trap-neuter-return advocates are up to the task

Five or six years ago, dancer Erik Cavanaugh — then in his early 20s — “never saw the point” of Instagram. He would post performance shots and videos here and there, plus the occasional selfie. But mostly, he didn’t give much thought to the platform.

No political or social issue really exists in a vacuum — just ask Brenda Pérez, who is happy to explain how the worlds of transportation, immigration and class intersect regularly. Some of it is pulled from her own experiences as an undocumented immigrant navigating car-centric Nashville.

Not five minutes have passed during a visit with David Dark at his 12South home before he offers a cup of coffee and references The Simpsons, Radiohead, The Matrix and the Book of Revelation in the same sentence. The joy in his voice — and the smirk on his face — reveals his love for this so…

Veronica Salcedo has known she wanted to be a journalist since she was an 8-year-old in Zacatecas, Mexico. She got her first opportunity at a radio station when she was 14, and stuck with the career as an adult.

Vann Newkirk took over as interim president of Nashville’s Fisk University in August — the school dropped the interim tag earlier this year.

Ask LaQuita James what she does for a living, and you’ll get a simple answer: “I talk — all day long.” But as with most things, the story of how James became an in-demand voice-over artist and audiobook narrator is just a bit more complicated. 

This story is part of a five-part series examining the presidency and legacy of Andrew Jackson. For full context, please visit these stories as well: "Wrestling With Jackson," "Reevaluating Old Hickory's Legacy," "The Cruel Enslaver," "Conductor on the Train of Native American Genocide."

This story is part of a five-part series examining the presidency and legacy of Andrew Jackson. For full context, please visit these stories as well: "Wrestling With Jackson," "Reevaluating Old Hickory's Legacy," "Conductor on the Train of Native American Genocide," "At The Hermitage, the Fu…

This story is part of a five-part series examining the presidency and legacy of Andrew Jackson. For full context, please visit these stories as well: "Reevaluating Old Hickory's Legacy," "The Cruel Enslaver," "Conductor on the Train of Native American Genocide," "At The Hermitage, the Full S…

This story is part of a five-part series examining the presidency and legacy of Andrew Jackson. For full context, please visit these stories as well: "Wrestling With Jackson," "The Cruel Enslaver," "Conductor on the Train of Native American Genocide," "At The Hermitage, the Full Story Must B…

At the beginning of 2020, most of us probably didn’t even know what an N95 mask was. Since then, roughly 90,000 Nashvillians have contracted the illness known worldwide as COVID-19. That means somewhere in the neighborhood of 13 of every 100 Davidson County residents has tested positive for …

Before WeGo eliminated its downtown circulator buses as part of budget cuts, this valuable service laid bare a frustrating disparity surrounding food insecurity in Nashville. If you were the owner of a $400,000 condo in the Gulch, a free shuttle would stop at your front door a few times an h…

Nashville’s first COVID-19 death was confirmed nearly a year ago — on March 20. The deceased was a 73-year-old-man with “underlying health conditions.” Back then that last bit was often stressed, a comforting caveat to those of us watching the case counts and hospitalization numbers grow. A …

The pandemic has stressed all sorts of institutions and services around the city, and Nashville’s public transit system is no exception. Over the past year, WeGo Public Transit saw ridership numbers fall while at the same time having to implement new COVID-19 safety protocols — like running …

After nine anxiety-inducing months of limbo, independent music venues ended 2020 on a high note. The federal financial assistance they’d been lobbying for since the National Independent Venue Association launched in April was incorporated into the stimulus bill signed into law in December. T…

Rachel Thomas’ daughter has never set foot inside Eakin Elementary School, where she is enrolled in kindergarten. She’s made some new friends via teleconferencing — but she likely won’t sit in a classroom until she reaches first grade in the fall.

In July, as Nashville was hitting new highs for COVID-19 positivity rates and hospitalizations were surging across Tennessee, TMZ published a video of Lower Broadway with the title “No-Maskville.” The nearly 90-second clip taken from a car shows what looks like a normal scene for the street …

A boundary-shattering country music superstar. A legendary folk songwriter. Two iconic leaders — and friends — from Nashville’s civil rights movement. Two personalities from one of Nashville’s most beloved longtime restaurants. An inspirational band director. A colorful drag queen.

Brownlee O. Currey Jr.

John Lewis

Pete Meenen and the Tennesseans We Lost to COVID-19

Tracy Smothers

David Olney

All right, we admit it — when we put out our annual “Stories to Watch” issue about 12 months back, there was one rather large story we didn’t see coming. I think we can all admit that 2020 has been a humbling year.

As I write this, many health care providers in Nashville are receiving the Pfizer-produced COVID-19 vaccine. As you read this, it’s likely even more medical workers will be receiving Moderna’s vaccine, which was cleared for emergency use by the Food and Drug Administration late last week.

Mid-June brought the development that activists, community organizations and a growing number of Metro Councilmembers were loudly calling for: Mayor John Cooper announced that Metro Police Chief Steve Anderson would be retiring after 45 years with the department and a decade as chief. The an…

Even with the pandemic keeping many people at home and off the roads, 2020 was the deadliest year on record for pedestrians in Nashville. As of Dec. 16, 38 people were killed while walking in the city, surpassing 2019’s previous record of 32 deaths.

On Dec. 17, Mayor John Cooper sat down in front of the microphone at the Office of Emergency Management. It was the 90th time in nine months Cooper had addressed the public on the city’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. And the week before his first virus address in March? Four press confe…

At press time, only one of Nashville’s independent music venues — venerable songwriter hangout Douglas Corner Cafe, which is the subject of a remembrance in this week's issue — closed permanently due to the pandemic. It’s taken enormous effort and ingenuity to keep it that way since March, w…

After a tumultuous 2019 that featured a state House speaker’s downfall and on-the-record claims of vote buying, 2020 was supposed to be a return to normalcy — at least insofar as Tennessee’s legislature has ever been normal.

Taking a gander at what the Titans, the Predators, Nashville SC and the rest will look like in the new year

Even in These Uncertain Times, there’s one thing we can still count on: There are some mind-bogglingly bonerific criminals operating in our fair city.

The numbers keep coming — relentless, like a driving rain. New cases. New hospitalizations. New deaths.