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A daily look at the most significant and interesting stories affecting Nashville. Written by Nate Rau and Adam Tamburin.

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Thought Bubble

Critically acclaimed chef Julio Hernandez has converted his North Nashville tortilla shop into a 12-seat dine-in restaurant called Fonda Fina.

Why it matters: The new concept debuting Wednesday features a redesigned space and overhauled menu.

The big picture: The latest culinary offering from Hernandez joins the Maiz de la Vida taco truck in East Nashville and the elevated Maiz de la Vida restaurant and bar in the Gulch.

Hernandez was a semifinalist for the James Beard Foundation's emerging chef award in 2023.

Zoom in: Fonda Fina will feature a focused menu of familiar Maiz de la Vida favorites and new additions, including quesabirria tacos, burritos, flautas and empanadas.

If you go: The new concept opens Wednesday, the fifth anniversary of the Bordeaux-area tortilla shop.

The restaurant, located at 3101 Clarksville Pike, will be open Tuesday through Saturday from 11am-4pm.

Read about Hernandez's rise to culinary stardom

Chef Julio Hernandez debuts Fonda Fina

Maiz De La Vida tortilla shop converts to cozy Fonda Fina dine-in concept.

Smiling chef Julio Hernandez with glasses and tattoos wearing a pink T‑shirt and black apron, holding a round flatbread in a busy stainless‑steel kitchen with white tiled walls.

Julio Hernandez. Photo: Courtesy of Maiz de la Vida

Critically acclaimed chef <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="Julio Hernandez" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/local/nashville/2023/02/03/julio-hernandezs-james-beard-semifinalist" data-vars-content-id="01d3ae9b-69f8-48a5-ab7f-afbb41983cbb" data-vars-headline="Chef Julio Hernandez debuts Fonda Fina" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/local/nashville/2023/02/03/julio-hernandezs-james-beard-semifinalist" target="_self">Julio Hernandez</a> has converted his North Nashville tortilla shop into a 12-seat dine-in restaurant called Fonda Fina.Why it matters: The new concept debuting Wednesday features a redesigned space and overhauled menu.

Food and Drink

In 1993, then-Nashville Mayor Phil Bredesen believed he was at the helm of a city ready for its next chapter.

He wanted residents to start dreaming big about Nashville's potential.

Flashback: To make his case, Bredesen used his State of Metro address to invite Nashvillians on a futuristic helicopter tour of the city.

Bredesen foresaw 21st century Nashville bustling with international flights, professional sports and, as he puts it, new "civic furniture" such as a vibrant downtown library.

Why it matters: Bredesen's ambitious speech stood the test of time and foreshadowed the evolution of Nashville over the next three decades.

Among Metro insiders, it's still cited as one of the more consequential and memorable public addresses by a Nashville mayor.

Between the lines: Not every State of Metro speech is meant to be a cinematic masterpiece. Sometimes, it's just a nuts-and-bolts update on how the government is working and what the next year's budget will look like.

Driving the news: Although the hypothetical helicopter ride is the part veteran Metro people remember, Bredesen didn't get to that part of the speech until several pages into his remarks.

Bredesen, a former business executive who went on to serve two terms as Tennessee's governor, began his remarks by updating the public about  social service programs, education initiatives and relations with the Metro Council. Then he pivoted.

What he said: "Now I want you to look at the future with me," Bredesen told the crowd of elected officials, political insiders and downtown business leaders in 1993. "Let your mind loose a little bit, and let the clock slip forward to the year 2000; the new century, the new millennium. It's spring, about this time in the morning on the first of April, and we're going to take a helicopter ride over the city."

The intrigue: During the helicopter ride, Bredesen predicted a downtown anchored by a professional sports team called the Nashville Notes playing at what is now Bridgestone Arena. The city didn't break ground on that project until a year later.

Bredesen envisioned a new library (in Centennial Park instead of its downtown location), a vibrant Meharry Medical College campus and a new Country Music Association headquarters.

What's next: Mayor Freddie O'Connell will deliver this year's address Wednesday.

There are some parallels to 1993. Like downtown in the '90s, the East Bank is being completely remade with a sports venue — the new Titans stadium — as the anchor.

Axios Nashville interviewed Bredesen about his recollections of the speech. For starters, Bredesen says he "always" wrote his important speeches like this one himself, and then solicited feedback from aides.

"I think speeches like that are the way you're trying to explain to people what you think ought to happen. I just think morally, it ought to be my words," he says.

This Q&A has been edited for length and clarity.

What were you trying to accomplish by using that device of the helicopter tour of the city?

"The idea was that I had things I wanted to do. I wanted to build a library. We had the arena. So rather tackle them as individual issues — 'Well this year, I want to build a library' — I sort of said, 'Let me paint a picture of where I'd like to be 10 or 15 years from now,' and sell people on that vision for the city."

I also interpreted it, especially the closing remarks, as trying to inspire people that Nashville could be more than it was in 1993.

"I came into the mayor's office having never held political office before, and being out of the business world. One of the things that struck me about city government, and state government as well later on, was that it was different from business in that there tended to be a bias toward the idea that if you have an extra dollar, you use it to do something operational."

"If I have an extra dollar, I need to hire another policeman, or pay another fireman or pave an extra street. Yet, I'm of this belief that $100 is a lot more valuable than 100 $1 bills.

"That is to say, accumulating your resources and saving them to do a couple big things is a lot more valuable than taking your resources and scattering them all over the place."

"I described it as building civic furniture, you know, libraries, arenas, parks and those kinds of things."

"I also wanted to paint a picture of a very different Nashville from the same old crew down there doing the same old stuff."

"When I left the mayor's office, I did the standard exit interview with The Tennessean and they asked me what I was most proud of. I said the thing I'm most proud of was that Nashville expects a lot more of itself today than it did eight years ago."

"When we first built the arena, I said publicly I want to bring a pro sports team here. And people just hooted and hollered and said, 'We're never gonna get a pro sports team and let's move on.'

"The speech was about trying to convince people they could expect a lot more from the development of the city and to put some bones on it with a helicopter ride to show you what that might be."

"It's a little hard to remember. The helicopter speech was different than I think a lot of the usual political speeches. It's a little more of a story and a visual. I know I got a number of compliments later. It was certainly not something where people said, 'Oh my God, that's the best speech I've ever heard. Let's do all that stuff.'

"But it was more of a case of people were nodding their heads saying, 'Well that's interesting.'"

Bredesen's 1993 speech set the stage for Nashville's future

Bredesen used his State of Metro address to invite Nashvillians on a futuristic helicopter tour of the city.

Phil Bredesen delivers a speech in 2018. Photo: Drew Angerer/Getty Images

In 1993, then-Nashville Mayor Phil Bredesen believed he was at the helm of a city ready for its next chapter.<ul><li>He wanted residents to start dreaming big about Nashville&#x27;s potential.</li></ul>Flashback: To make his case, Bredesen used his State of Metro address to invite Nashvillians on a futuristic helicopter tour of the city.<ul><li>Bredesen foresaw 21st century <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="Nashville" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/local/nashville" data-vars-content-id="161b63e3-ef65-4b79-9beb-86c5841af59f" data-vars-headline="Bredesen&#x27;s 1993 speech set the stage for Nashville&#x27;s future" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/local/nashville" target="_self">Nashville</a> bustling with <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="international flights" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/local/nashville/2025/08/18/nashville-international-airport-bna-passengers" data-vars-content-id="161b63e3-ef65-4b79-9beb-86c5841af59f" data-vars-headline="Bredesen&#x27;s 1993 speech set the stage for Nashville&#x27;s future" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/local/nashville/2025/08/18/nashville-international-airport-bna-passengers" target="_self">international flights</a>, <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="professional sports" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/local/nashville/2026/04/21/nashville-super-bowl-announcement-could-be-on-the-horizon" data-vars-content-id="161b63e3-ef65-4b79-9beb-86c5841af59f" data-vars-headline="Bredesen&#x27;s 1993 speech set the stage for Nashville&#x27;s future" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/local/nashville/2026/04/21/nashville-super-bowl-announcement-could-be-on-the-horizon" target="_self">professional sports</a> and, as he puts it, new &quot;civic furniture&quot; such as a vibrant <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="downtown library" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/local/nashville/2026/03/03/nashville-downtown-library-reopening-date" data-vars-content-id="161b63e3-ef65-4b79-9beb-86c5841af59f" data-vars-headline="Bredesen&#x27;s 1993 speech set the stage for Nashville&#x27;s future" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/local/nashville/2026/03/03/nashville-downtown-library-reopening-date" target="_self">downtown library</a>.</li></ul>Why it matters: Bredesen&#x27;s ambitious speech stood the test of time and foreshadowed the evolution of Nashville over the next three decades.

Politics

Gov. Bill Lee called for a special session Friday so that Republican lawmakers can redraw Tennessee's U.S. House map to eliminate the state's lone Black-majority congressional district in Memphis and secure another seat for the GOP.

Why it matters: Tennessee joins the national partisan arms race to overhaul House maps as both parts scratch and claw for control of Congress.

The special session, which begins Tuesday, could upend midterm primary races that are already well underway.

What he's saying: "We owe it to Tennesseans to ensure our congressional districts accurately reflect the will of Tennessee voters," Lee said in a statement Friday. "I believe the General Assembly has a responsibility to review the map and ensure it remains fair, legal, and defensible."

Driving the news: The frantic special session comes after President Trump and U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn pushed state leaders to redraw the district boundaries in order to give Republicans advantages in all nine of Tennessee's U.S. House races.

Trump expressed hope in a Truth Social post that Tennessee would carve up the Memphis area seat, which has long been out of reach for Republicans.

State of play: The state's current House delegation features one Democrat — U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen from Memphis — and eight Republicans.

The District 9 seat covering the Memphis area has historically been preserved as a Black-majority district under a longstanding interpretation of the Voting Rights Act.

The latest: A ruling earlier this week by the U.S. Supreme Court in a lawsuit over Louisiana's map seemed to pave the way for Tennessee's Republican super-majority to draw new boundaries to their advantage.

Time is of the essence in order for state leaders and local election officials to create new ballots before the Aug. 6 primary. 

Yes, but: The deadline for candidates to qualify for midterm primary races has passed, and ballots are already set. Early voting is set to begin in July.

Restarting the process with new maps at this point would be unprecedented.

The other side: Democrats are certain to throw down the gauntlet in order to block the effort. A legal challenge to prevent a new map from taking effect this year is all but guaranteed.

Tennessee GOP lawmakers meeting next week to carve up Memphis' blue House district

Gov. Bill Lee called for a special legislative session so lawmakers can draw new U.S. House map.

Illustration of a map with a gavel cut out of it. 

Gov. Bill Lee called for a special session Friday so that Republican lawmakers can redraw <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="Tennessee&#x27;s U.S. House map" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/local/nashville/2026/04/29/blackburn-pitches-9-0-gop-map-for-tennessee-after-supreme-court-decision" data-vars-content-id="af45a47f-c8c0-4c5b-8bac-c0401444f7e1" data-vars-headline="Tennessee GOP lawmakers meeting next week to carve up Memphis&#x27; blue House district" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/local/nashville/2026/04/29/blackburn-pitches-9-0-gop-map-for-tennessee-after-supreme-court-decision" target="_self">Tennessee&#x27;s U.S. House map</a> to eliminate the state&#x27;s lone Black-majority congressional district in Memphis and secure another seat for the GOP.Why it matters: Tennessee joins the national partisan arms race to overhaul House maps as both parts scratch and claw for control of Congress.<ul><li>The special session, which begins Tuesday, could upend midterm primary races that are already <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="well underway" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/local/nashville/2026/04/23/house-majority-pac-spend-unseating-ogles" data-vars-content-id="af45a47f-c8c0-4c5b-8bac-c0401444f7e1" data-vars-headline="Tennessee GOP lawmakers meeting next week to carve up Memphis&#x27; blue House district" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/local/nashville/2026/04/23/house-majority-pac-spend-unseating-ogles" target="_self">well underway</a>.</li></ul>

Nashville Mayor Freddie O'Connell rolled out an affordability agenda during his State of Metro address that includes small business initiatives, new investments in affordable housing, and cutting the grocery tax.

Why it matters: Affordability is consistently listed as the top challenge facing the city in recent polls. O'Connell proposes leveraging Metro government to confront the problem.

Driving the news: O'Connell's plan would reduce the local sales tax on groceries by half a cent. That move became possible due to new state legislation passed this year.

The plan to cut grocery taxes comes shortly after the Metro Council approved legislation backed by O'Connell to bring more day care centers to Nashville.

Between the lines: In 2024, voters approved O'Connell's transportation funding plan, which raised countywide sales tax on all transactions by half a cent.

"Reducing our grocery tax doesn't just change a line on a receipt; it acknowledges that feeding your family shouldn't be treated like a luxury," O'Connell told the crowd gathered at Nissan Stadium for his speech.

"It's a shift toward fairness and economic breathing room for the people who make the city work."

Zoom out: The mayor's third State of Metro speech also unveiled two policies aimed at helping small businesses.

O'Connell's Office of Economic and Community Development is finalizing details for a new Legacy Business Fund to support longtime neighborhood businesses with grants.

O'Connell also proposed a new workforce advancement grant that would assist small businesses paying for their employees' continuing education. The plan would allocate $1,000 per employee, capped at 10 workers.

Housing is a dominant political issue in Nashville. O'Connell said the city set a new record for most housing units preserved or created in a single year.

O'Connell's budget proposal would set a new record for affordable housing funding at over $60 million.

O'Connell also touted early successes for his Choose How You Move program, including free bus passes for economically disadvantaged residents and early work on modernizing traffic lights.

Yes, but: O'Connell's speech acknowledged continued headwinds.

One year after raising property taxes, O'Connell forecast a tight budget. He said he instructed Metro departments to reduce their budgets.

He also pointed to continued political tensions with the state, including recently approved legislation allowing Republican leaders to take over the city's Airport Authority board.

Nashville mayor focuses on affordability in State of Metro speech

Mayor O'Connell proposes cutting the city's grocery tax and new grant programs for small businesses.

Photo illustration of Freddie O'Connell with lines radiating from him.

Photo illustration: Axios Visuals. Photo: Terry Wyatt/Getty Images

<a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="Nashville Mayor Freddie O&#x27;Connell" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/local/nashville/2025/10/14/nashville-mayor-freddie-oconnell-two-years" data-vars-content-id="e6a10478-d5de-4303-aa28-c670aa774f1e" data-vars-headline="Nashville mayor focuses on affordability in State of Metro speech" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/local/nashville/2025/10/14/nashville-mayor-freddie-oconnell-two-years" target="_self">Nashville Mayor Freddie O&#x27;Connell</a> rolled out an affordability agenda during his State of Metro address that includes small business initiatives, new investments in affordable housing, and cutting the grocery tax.Why it matters: Affordability is <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="consistently listed" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/local/nashville/2026/03/30/nashville-housing-affordability-poll" data-vars-content-id="e6a10478-d5de-4303-aa28-c670aa774f1e" data-vars-headline="Nashville mayor focuses on affordability in State of Metro speech" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/local/nashville/2026/03/30/nashville-housing-affordability-poll" target="_self">consistently listed</a> as the top challenge facing the city in recent polls. O&#x27;Connell proposes leveraging Metro government to confront the problem.

News

U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn wants to redraw Tennessee's congressional map to eliminate the state's only remaining Democratic district.

Why it matters: A U.S. Supreme Court ruling on Wednesday said legislatures no longer have to consider race when drawing district boundaries. The decision opens the door to splitting up majority-Black districts across the country.

Between the lines: Legislatures across the state have been engaged in a redistricting arms race in advance of the November election when control of Congress is on the line.

Zoom in: Tennessee's District 9, which includes Memphis, has historically been preserved as a Black-majority district based on longstanding interpretation of the Voting Rights Act.

Yes, but: The court's 6-3 ruling in a lawsuit over Louisiana's map could pave the way for Tennessee's district boundaries to change dramatically.

State of play: Tennessee's current House map is drawn to favor Republicans 8-1.

Driving the news: Blackburn, who is running for governor this year, seized on the controversial court ruling to box out Democrats altogether.

"I urge our state legislature to reconvene to redistrict another Republican seat in Memphis. It's essential to cement @realDonaldTrump's agenda and the Golden Age of America," she said on X. She also shared a version of possible all-Republican map, which would create a sprawling district that stretched from Memphis into Middle Tennessee.

Democrats would be sure to vehemently oppose a frantic redistricting effort.

Reality check: The odds of creating a 9-0 Republican map this year are steep at best.

The qualifying deadline for the August primary has already passed and the field is set for this year's election ballots.

Any maneuver to change the boundaries in the span of a few months would surely trigger a lawsuit.

Zoom out: Even if it can't be done this year, Blackburn says she's committed to a new map if she is elected governor.

The other side: "Today's ruling makes it harder to challenge unfair maps and practices designed to dilute the voices of communities like ours," state Sen. Raumesh Akbari, a Memphis Democrat, said in a statement. "It hands Republicans across the South the legal cover to redraw districts in ways that will cost Black and Latino Americans seats in Congress, seats in state legislatures and seats at every table where decisions about their lives are made."

Flashback: The state legislature previously sliced up the Nashville-area in 2022, redrawing the reliably blue District 5 and eliminating a Democratic U.S. House seat in Middle Tennessee.

Go deeper: Read about the Supreme Court's opinion in the Louisiana lawsuit.

National

Blackburn pitches 9-0 GOP map for Tennessee after Supreme Court decision

Sen. Marsha Blackburn wants Tennessee to redraw its U.S. House map to help President Trump.

Photo: Brian Stukes/Getty Images for Vanderbilt Policy Accelerator

U.S. Sen. <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="Marsha Blackburn" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/local/nashville/2025/08/06/marsha-blackburn-announces-run-for-tennessee-governor" data-vars-content-id="f4196d53-3e59-4b8e-8d36-cd696ce50f66" data-vars-headline="Blackburn pitches 9-0 GOP map for Tennessee after Supreme Court decision" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/local/nashville/2025/08/06/marsha-blackburn-announces-run-for-tennessee-governor" target="_self">Marsha Blackburn</a> wants to redraw Tennessee&#x27;s congressional map to eliminate the state&#x27;s only remaining Democratic district.Why it matters: A <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="U.S. Supreme Court ruling" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/2026/04/29/supreme-court-redistricting-race-gerrymander" data-vars-content-id="f4196d53-3e59-4b8e-8d36-cd696ce50f66" data-vars-headline="Blackburn pitches 9-0 GOP map for Tennessee after Supreme Court decision" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/2026/04/29/supreme-court-redistricting-race-gerrymander" target="_self">U.S. Supreme Court ruling</a> on Wednesday said legislatures no longer have to consider race when drawing district boundaries. The decision opens the door to splitting up majority-Black districts across the country.

2024 will be an election year like no other, as President Biden seeks re-election amid economic uncertainty, two wars and questions about his age. His likely foe, former President Trump, faces felony charges and vows revenge on his political enemies. Meanwhile, Americans generally are dissatisfied with those choices and are divided over immigration, race, education and more.

Nate Rau

Featured stories

Tennessee GOP lawmakers meeting next week to carve up Memphis' blue House district

Blackburn pitches 9-0 GOP map for Tennessee after Supreme Court decision

Nashville mayor focuses on affordability in State of Metro speech

Chef Julio Hernandez debuts Fonda Fina

Bredesen's 1993 speech set the stage for Nashville's future