It’s that time of year when music halls of fame make their big announcements. And since everyone has their own definition of musical greatness and who embodies it, people have OPINIONS.
Senior Music Writer Jewly Hight is accustomed to hearing fellow writers, artists and fans make a case for performers they feel are overlooked by these institutions.
She`s looking at three halls: the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the Country Music Hall of Fame and the Musicians Hall of Fame.
And she`s learned from the discourse swirling around the nominees and inductees that a lot of people don’t really know how the processes work.
In this edition of Key Changes, Jewly will give you the background and the current lowdown on these halls and how they work in a side-by-side comparison.
Follow along for more, and head to YouTube for the full breakdown.
After nine months of closure, Nashville’s Main Library reopened Monday.
The downtown library closed in June after a fire erupted in the adjoining parking garage. NPL had initially targeted an opening date one month later, but the closure was soon prolonged after improvements to the building’s fire safety systems were identified during cleanup.
The garage, which is operated by the Nashville Downtown Partnership, will remain closed. Instead, library patrons can park for 90 minutes at the McKendree Parking Center on 6th Avenue for a discounted rate of $4.
NPL Director Terri Luke said the library is working with Nashville Yards on 9th Avenue to reach a similar parking agreement.
Still, on reopening day, many patrons expressed their excitement.
Tap link in bio for more stories and to subscribe to the NashVillager newsletter for local and national stories Monday - Friday.
Data centers comprised about 10% of the Tennessee Valley Authority’s total power load in 2025.
And demand from data centers could double by 2030, according to TVA, the utility that covers nearly all of Tennessee and parts of six other states. That may impact the cost of electricity.
In response, a Tennessee lawmaker proposed a bill to protect rate-paying citizens from subsidizing data centers.
“We don`t want what`s happened in some other states where data centers have come in and rates have gone up $20 to $30 a month,” said the bill’s sponsor, state Rep. Ed Butler, R-Rickman.
But as WPLN’s Caroline Eggers reports, the bill could have an entirely different impact: It would allow data centers to produce their own power or buy from an independent company without needing approval from a state regulator.
“This bill would open the door to a massive influx of unregulated methane gas plants across the state,” said Trey Bussey, an attorney with the Southern Environmental Law Center.
One example is already playing out in Memphis. Elon Musk’s data center called xAI has set up dozens of mini gas turbines, which research shows could significantly worsen regional air quality.
Follow along and tap link in bio for more.
Image Credits: Steve Helber/Associated Press, Steve Jones, Flight by Southwings for SELC., David Goldman/Associated Press (flaring oil and gas facility)
Were remains of ancient Mississippian people found during construction of the Brentwood Library? We got this question from one of our Curious Nashville audience members.
The answer is yes. In the late 1990s, despite protests, remains were relocated and artifacts collected from the site.
In revisiting what happened, WPLN’s Cynthia Abrams also finds the property was the site of an archaeological dig — described by some as a "plundering" — in the 1880s.
Flash forward to today, and the repatriation movement is still pushing for museums and universities to return items to the tribes. You can learn more at curious.wpln.org.
Tap link in bio for Curious Nashville and more.
✍️ and 📹 : Cynthia Abrams & Tony Gonzalez, WPLN News
🗣️: Tom Kunesh, Tennessee Ancient Sites Conservancy
📸: ProPublica, Newspapers.com, TDEC
Despite years of chronic underfunding by the state and past fiscal missteps, Tennessee State University is making a financial turnaround. The university’s president, Dwayne Tucker, is exploring new revenue options for long-term sustainability.
TSU was in dire financial straits when Tucker became interim president in December 2024.
This came on the heels of Gov. Bill Lee removing the school’s board of trustees and a scathing financial audit showing administrative issues that left students without promised scholarships and freshmen in hotels. WPLN’s podcast special, The Debt, highlighted how these issues were compounded by decades of the state underfunding the university by millions, perhaps billions, of dollars.
As a followup to our podcast, Education Reporter Camellia Burris talked one-on-one with Tucker to learn more about his five-year turnaround plan for TSU and what he’ll do convince the state to pay the school what it owes.
Last Friday at @wnxpnashville, Chuquimamani-Condori announced a new booklet and songs from Los Thuthanaka that will released April 3. They also played unreleased tracks on WNXP.
The booklet, “Waq’a,” is about the birth of the sun or the birth of the “mundo en policia” (policed world). Chuquimamani-Condori and brother Joshua Chuquimia Crampton make up Los Thuthanaka and are Aymara, the indigenous people of the Andes. The story comes from old oral histories and traditional Aymara ceremonies. “I grew up hearing it and our version is an assemblage of every version we could find,” they said.
“It’s like a humming. And the song gets louder and louder and it generates heat and color and it generates so much heat that by accident the star is born,” said Chuquimamani-Condori.
Tap link in bio for the full story from Music and Culture reporter @justinbarney.
Photos: Noah Torralba
Thousands of people marched the streets of downtown Nashville, seemingly similar showings to the last protest in October.
Nearby in Ashland City, a town with about 5,600 residents, a much smaller crowd of dozens of people gathered on Saturday. Caroline Eggers went to Ashland City to talk to some of the demonstrators.
“Congress has laid down and quit, so what do you do? You come out here and you protest,” said Carl “Vip” Vipperman, who lives in Kingston Springs.
“Grocery prices and gas prices are affecting me. It’s affecting everyone,” said Mike Kobrick, who lives in Pleasant View near Ashland City. He attended the rally on Saturday partially to help encourage folks to help influence change by voting in the upcoming midterm elections.
Nancy Dorman, who has lived in Ashland City for the past three decades, is also concerned about military activity.
“It impacts the people who are least able to care for themselves all over the world,” Dorman said.
Tap link in bio for the full story.
Photos:: Caroline Eggers
Education — it`s critical for thriving as a community and as a state. It plays a role in our democracy. It`s key for our job market. It`s important for growing, attracting and retaining talent.
How do you stay informed about education here in Nashville?
Reporter Camellia Burris covers education in Nashville and the state, and her drive and hard work mean that we can keep you up-to-date on education issues, developments, policy, and legislation. From undocumented kids in schools, to the voucher program, to the complicated, dynamic financial situation at TSU, Camellia is on the ground asking questions, combing through public records, and attending legislative sessions.
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Curious Nashville Returns!
Back by popular demand, the WPLN fan favorite series Curious Nashville is here to investigate oddities, share local history, tell stories of interesting people, and explain how local institutions operate.
You ask the questions, and we answer.
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Los Thuthanaka releases “Waq’a” and tells the story of the birth of the sun
An expansion of Tennessee’s school vouchers could impact undocumented students
NashVillager Podcast: Tennessee’s first State Police
Key Changes: So many music halls of fame, so many opinions
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