How to Get an Elon Musk Generator
🔌 Davis gets his hands on one of Musk's generators · The mayor hopes "no one dies" during tunnel project · NES failed to keep up with tree trimming · Much more!
Good afternoon, everyone. Davis takes a field trip to Plaza Mariachi in search of a generator... Freddie hopes "no one dies" as the Boring Co. embarks on its ambitious tunneling project in Nashville... Report shows NES had concerns over chronically neglected tree trimming... And much more!
Things That Never Happen But Should Join us Thursday, February 19th for an evening with Sean Davis, CEO and co-founder of The Federalist. This is the third installment of the Pamphleteer's new monthly event series. Paying Bard-level subscribers receive free access to this and future events. (Buy Tickets)
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Like mana from heaven, the Musk generators arrived. Let’s go get one
From Davis Hunt
The last time I was at Plaza Mariachi, I saw a guy eat fire. So when I got a tip that the Hispanic Family Foundation officed out of there and was handing out the mythical Musk generators gifted to the state, I wanted to go see for myself.
Plaza Mariachi has been in the news recently. The DOJ recently sentenced its founder, used car salesman Mark Janbakhsh, to 42 months in federal prison for inflating the value of cars on his lot and lying under oath. He also founded the HFF.
I had heard rumors, seen Facebook posts, and ingested all kinds of “information” about how, where, and to whom the generators were being distributed.
Rumors swirled. Some denied their existence entirely, others poo-pooed Musk for offering a pittance of his overall wealth, and still more claimed the whole thing was just the latest spotting of the reptilian spine of the city as generators were shuttled off to member organizations and distributed on specious grounds.
✹ THINGS THAT NEVER HAPPEN BUT SHOULD
Welcome to America in 2026. You're sitting at the End of History. Nothing will ever happen again.
The steady march toward the impossible vision of a borderless world governed by rooms full of perfectly rational leaders incapable of committing evil in thought word or deed continues apace.
Will anything–can anything happen–that shakes us from our stupor? Is "Nothing Ever Happens" the law of the land? What should happen that hasn't happened?
Join us Thursday, February 19th as we sit down with Sean Davis, CEO and co-founder of The Federalist, to discuss whether anything will ever happen again and more. (Buy Ticket)
This event is for the benefit of The Pamphleteer and free for paying, Bard-level subscribers.
⚡️ Power Levels As of this writing, the NES power outage map shows 4,141 customers without power. That’s 5,396 fewer customers than yesterday. The NES chart showing when the utility expects full power restoration broken down by zip code has been updated. The estimated date range for some areas extends to February 7th.
NDOT started picking up storm-related vegetation debris on Tuesday. In an announcement, they tell residents to put their brush at the curb. Over the next few weeks, workers will collect it free of charge. No need to request service.
💅 Hope No One Dies Bloomberg published an article on the Boring Company’s Nashville tunnel with the headline ‘Musk’s Boring Tunnel in Nashville Has Mayor Hoping No One Dies.’ It’d be easier to take our mayor’s feigned concern here more seriously here if he hadn’t sat on his hands for the first four days of this ice storm.
If you can get past the Musk invective, it does bring up legitimate seeming concerns around how an underground tunnel will work in the “tricky, sinkhole-prone limestone bedrock of middle Tennessee.”
That said, I don’t recall reading about any of these concerns when Mayor Berry put together her transit plan which included a one mile tunnel downtown.
HEADLINES
- 🌳 NES has been chronically behind on tree-trimming, and a November report highlighted concerns about outage risks. Fallen tree limbs were a primary cause of the outages caused by Winter Storm Fern. This week, NES CEO Teresa Broyles-Aplin said she was not aware of any unforeseen challenges related to vegetation management and described the utility’s tree-trimming program as “robust.” (Tennessean)
- ⚡️ The state threatens to take on the oversight of NES as the mayor fights to keep it under local control. “NES’ lack of a strategic disaster relief plan, pro-tree-canopy policy and being more concerned about a DEI contract renewal — all of which jeopardized public safety — requires executive management to be fired and the board to be replaced,” said Speaker Cameron Sexton (R-Crossville). The mayor has appointment power over the board, but a spokesperson from O’Connell’s office says they are still exploring the mayor’s full authority over the five-person body. (Scene)
- 📝 Will the Covenant shooter’s writings remain secret now that the investigation is over? In a ruling issued this week, the court said Metro Nashville Police Department attorneys acknowledged the investigation into the March 2023 school shooting is complete, undercutting their argument that the materials cannot be released because the case remains active. (Fox 17)
- 🔌 Power surges wreak havoc on home appliances in Nashville. Families suffer tens of thousands of dollars in damaged appliances from what appears to be a power surge during NES restoration efforts. (NewsChannel 5)
- 🚨 Man in a wheelchair dies after he caught fire in Midtown early Thursday morning. According to MNPD, the death is unclassified at this time, but he may have caught his clothing on fire while lighting a cigar. (Fox 17)
DEVELOPMENT
- Mall at Green Hills slated for a "complete transformation” (Tennessean)
- Historic Franklin mansion designed by Ryman architect for sale (NBJ)
- Popular sushi chef to open Nashville's first hand roll bar (NBJ)
- Local firms plan luxury condo development near 12South (NBJ)
THINGS TO DO
View our calendar for the week here.
📅 Visit our On The Radar list to find upcoming events around Nashville.
🎧 On Spotify: Pamphleteer's Picks, a playlist of our favorite bands in town this week.
👨🏻🌾 Check out our Nashville farmer's market guide.
TONIGHT
🎸 Dean Johnson @ The Blue Room, 7p, $32.51, Info
🪕 Rascal Flatts @ Bridgestone Arena, 7p, Info
🪕 Chatham Rabbits @ Station Inn, 8p, Info
🎸 Kelley’s Heroes @ Robert’s Western World, 6:30p, Free, Info
🎸 Open Mic @ Fox & Locke, 6:30p, Free, Info
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Today's newsletter is brought to you by Davis Hunt, Megan Podsiedlik, and Camelia Brennan.