Front of the Book: Dams, Edward Snowden, and the Titans

This week's cover story is about dams — the dams surrounding Nashville and, specifically, Old Hickory Dam which could soon have a rock quarry as a new neighbor. 

Like this part of town and the main road that runs through it, Old Hickory Dam is named after Andrew Jackson, whose 640-acre plantation, The Hermitage, is about 13 miles away. Jackson got the nickname because his troops said he was "tough as old hickory." And if the Good Lord's willing and the creek don't rise, the dam named in his honor is tougher still.

But is it tough enough to withstand dynamite blasts nearby? That's the question. A limestone quarry has been proposed on 141 acres of property adjacent to Old Hickory Dam. Neighbors want it stopped for a variety of reasons. The lawmakers are standing on one.

If none of the three legislators is successful in stopping the project, the quarry will eventually begin blasting deep in the ground, within eyesight of where they're standing today. Engineers say the half-century-old dam was built to sustain shocks far greater than a mere TNT pop-and-boom. They see no threat from the quarry.

Neighbors and legislators aren't so sure. In recent weeks, driven by what he considers a looming threat, Cooper has made it his mission to jog local residents' memories about what a devastating flood looks like. It's not just the one dam that has the Nashville congressman concerned; it's the chain of aging dams that includes Old Hickory — along with two dams that have been classified among the nation's riskiest.

After the jump, more from the front of the book:

How ACLU project director Ben Wizner got a firsthand look at the scope and severity of surveillance issues — as Edward Snowden's lawyer, by Alex Hubbard: 

Ben Wizner got a call in January 2013 that would revolutionize his professional career.

The call was from a journalist and filmmaker, Laura Poitras, whom he had known for years. She had received an email from someone who claimed to be a senior intelligence official.

"She came to me in order to seek advice," Wizner says via phone from New York. "She wasn't sure, and I wasn't sure, whether the writer was a real person, a crank, or even something more sinister."

The writer turned out to be a former CIA employee and government contractor named Edward Snowden. The rest turned out to be history.

, by Alex Hubbard:

In fact, 29 nominees are currently awaiting confirmation to federal judgeships across the country by the Republican-controlled Senate — 31, if you count two awaiting future vacancies. That doesn't even touch the total of 67 empty seats, according to the American Bar Association. Another 17 seats are expected to become vacant in the near future, according to the American Constitution Society, which tracks publicly announced intents to retire or take senior status.

Meanwhile, the Senate has confirmed just seven nominees this calendar year. That rate is so slow, it can only be compared to the Eisenhower administration 60 years ago, said Lena Zwarensteyn, director of strategic engagement at the American Constitution Society, which also tracks judicial nominations.

"The problem is only continuing to grow," Zwarensteyn said. "I would definitely call it a crisis."

by J.R. Lind:

The Titans could be a lot of things: 4-0, leading the AFC South, the world's largest extant vaudeville troupe, the Houston Oilers, the Memphis Hound Dogs, running for the Republican presidential nomination (as a unit), Nashville's most unusual apiary co-op.

But what the Titans actually are is 1-3, matching last season's record through four games.

That said, things have been better — if more heart-wrenching — this season. After winning the opening game (same as the Two-Toners did in 2014), the Titans have lost three games by a combined 17 points, 14 of which were in a two-touchdown loss to the Cleveland Browns, led by now-benched future Axe Body Spray spokesman Johnny Manziel. There was a two-point heartbreaker to the Colts, which saw the Titans storm back before crashing on the rocks late in the game, a collapse capped with an inexplicable play call on the potential game-tying two-point conversion try. Sunday, the Titans were up on the Bills, a solid team but one that was missing several crucial offensive players, before quarterbacking afterthought Tyrod Taylor scrambled for a game-winning touchdown. Even in Week 2's loss in Cleveland, the Titans had the ball in Browns territory with a chance to win before the already porous offensive line, missing two critical players, gave up their umpteenth sack of the game, leading to a Marcus Mariota fumble.

By point of comparison, with the same 1-3 record, the 2014 had been outscored by 50 through four games. Things, yes, are better on the East Bank, even if the records are identical.

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