LPRs not listed in Nashville Mayor's proposed budget
Two weeks ago, Metro Councilmember for District 26, Courtney Johnston, was eager to see whether O'Connell would fund LPRs in his 2026 budget after no funding for the technology was proposed for the 2025 fiscal year.
Highlights from Mayor Freddie O'Connell's State of Metro Address and proposed budget for fiscal year 2026
'That shows you his intent,' Johnston told News 2 on April 18. If he fails to fund, he has no intention of moving forward the contracts.'
In his proposed budget, O'Connell set aside $24.7 million dollars for the Metro Nashville Police Department. However, it didn't mention LPRs specifically. O'Connell told News 2 that doesn't necessarily mean the technology is entirely out of the question.
'If we can get our proposed LPR policy framework through the Metro Council, we believe we could fund that initiative,' O'Connell said. 'And I think there would be many different opportunities. You're not going to see a line item in there for it, but I think the capacity is there.'
Yet Johnston said she thinks the omission sends a different message.
'The police department asked for $2.8 million in this year's budget in order to fund the LPR program and that is peanuts in a $3.8 billion budget,' Johnston said. 'And I think there's no better way to spend money — taxpayer dollars — than to improve safety.'
Johnston added that Metro Council had previously passed an LPR policy. She said the next step is waiting on vendor contracts from the mayor's office.
Metro Councilmember for District 32, Joy Styles, was also frustrated to see another year of LPRs not mentioned in the budget.
⏩
'Representing a district that is majority-minority — I have minority constituents that are begging for it; I have minority business owners that are begging for it,' Styles told News 2. 'To have to explain our mayor is just basically playing games and not valuing what Nashvillians want — it's a horrible place to be put in.'
A recent Vanderbilt University poll found more than 80% of Nashville residents polled were for LPRs — as long as there were restrictions on how the data was used.
Both Styles and Johnston hope to see amendments to the budget, specifically funding for LPRs, before it passes.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
10 hours ago
- Yahoo
'It is a great honour': Enniskillen barber shop in running for national award
A barber shop with a twist is in the running for a national award. Headhunters Barber Shop and Railway Museum in Enniskillen is one of eight finalists in the UK-wide Love Your High Street Awards 2025, organised by the British Independent Retailers Association. The barber shop is the only finalist from Northern Ireland and was selected from amongst hundreds of independent businesses across the UK. Read more: Library demolition could see discovery of 'archaeological deposits' Founded in 1981 by brothers Nigel and Gordon Johnston, Headhunters Barber Shop & Railway Museum combines traditional barbering with a celebration of Irish railway history. In 2002, the brothers converted an adjoining ladies' salon into a railway museum to house their growing collection of artefacts. The museum, now one of the largest collections of small Irish railway memorabilia, covers the Great Northern Railway (Ireland), the Sligo, Leitrim & Northern Counties Railway, and the Clogher Valley Railway. Headhunters has welcomed several well-known visitors over the years, including Gloria Hunniford, Richard Wilson, Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen, Adrian Dunbar, and Rob Bell. The business now serves third-generation customers, reflecting its long-standing presence in the Enniskillen community. Operated entirely by volunteers, the museum is a registered charity and has previously received the Queen's Award for Voluntary Service. Admission is free, and the site is dog-friendly. It regularly hosts school groups, community events, and heritage talks. Read more: Classic satire and horror to hit the stage in Fermanagh this August Nigel Johnston, co-founder of Headhunters, said: "It is a great honour for us to be recognised as a small family barber shop and railway museum from our island town of Enniskillen and the only finalist from Northern Ireland. "The confirmation that we had firstly been nominated by our wonderful customers and then selected as a finalist came as a complete surprise and is very humbling for us and all the railway museum volunteers. "As the world's only barber shop and railway museum, we enjoy meeting visitors from far and wide, sharing our heritage on the high street. "We are overwhelmed by the response from the local community and further afield to the news that we have been selected as a finalist, and we are grateful for everyone's support, showing how much our high street is loved." The Love Your High Street Awards celebrate independent businesses that help keep high streets vibrant and are decided by public vote. Visitors and supporters can vote for Headhunters via the Headhunters Barber Shop & Railway Museum Facebook page or through the British Independent Retailers Association website. The public vote closes on August 27, 2025, and the winner will be announced on September 1.
Business Insider
6 days ago
- Business Insider
The Disney World vs. Epic Universe battle is looking like a win-win — so far
Disney World just emerged from its first battle with Universal's Epic Universe seemingly unscathed. The park had a record early-summer quarter, Disney said in its latest earnings report on Wednesday. Disney revealed that revenue across its domestic experiences business, which includes its parks and cruises, rose 10% to $6.4 billion from late March to late June. Disney executives said in prepared remarks they were "encouraged by the continued resiliency" of their US parks, particularly Walt Disney World, "given increased competition in the Orlando market." Epic Universe opened in late May, two-thirds of the way through Disney's quarter. Universal's parent company, Comcast, said last week that its theme park revenue rose 18.9% to $2.3 billion in the quarter ending June 30. The best-ever showing for Disney World in the company's fiscal third quarter was driven by both an uptick in attendance and a surge in per-capita spending, the company said. Disney World's "traffic was solid, up a little bit, and per-caps were up very, very solidly," Disney financial chief Hugh Johnston said on CNBC on Wednesday. "Per-caps" refers to per-capita spending, or the amount of money a visitor spends at the park on average. Four employees at Disney's Florida parks have told BI in recent weeks that they hadn't seen a noticeable increase in crowds this summer. This, along with Johnston's comments, suggests per-capita spending is a big factor driving the strong performance. Disney's parks haven't been weighed down by rising geopolitical tensions, as Johnston said on the call that there was "nothing material going on" with international attendance at Disney's US parks. The Disney World vs Epic Universe battle looks like a win-win — so far Although it may surprise some that Disney World stayed strong as rival Epic Universe opened, the new theme park could actually aid the Magic Kingdom, as Business Insider previously reported. Two Disney-focused travel agents said their Disney bookings had risen at a double-digit rate this year, even though Epic Universe is also popular. "A rising tide raises all boats," Rob Stuart of the trip planning service Creating Magic Vacations told BI in July. "If they're not locals, if they're going to go to Epic Universe, they're probably going to go to one of the Disney parks as well." Travel agent Jennifer Novotny of Upon a Star Travel said Tuesday that many of her clients were splitting visits across Epic Universe and Disney World. She said her Disney bookings were up about 12% this year. However, Novotny wouldn't be surprised if Epic Universe makes a mark on Disney World during the quarter spanning July, August, and September, which Disney won't report results from until November. "People want to go see what's brand new; that's natural," Novotny said. If there is any impact, it hasn't dampened Disney's bookings so far. Johnston said on the earnings call that forward bookings this quarter were tracking up 6%.
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Yahoo
Disney goes all in on streaming with big NFL and WWE deals: Opening Bid top takeaway
It's been a day of holes getting poked in the hot tech balloon. Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), Snap (SNAP), and Super Micro Computer (SMCI) are getting hit on Wednesday after less-than-blowout earnings reports — and blowout is what this FOMO market wanted! If there's any saving grace here, it's that each of these tech stocks is getting dumped for company-specific reasons rather than a fundamental change in the bullish AI thesis. AMD let investors down on the timeline of getting AI chips back into China due to further regulatory scrutiny. Snap had an ad sales glitch in the quarter that led to its latest earnings day fumble. And Super Micro missed estimates and is getting penalized for providing guidance that is overly upbeat in light of this quarter's execution. Despite the heavy tech focus, investor attention is also getting pulled in the way of Disney (DIS). The entertainment giant beat estimates and lifted guidance. Even still, the stock is being sold off as the company's guidance hike wasn't as joyful as a photo op with Mickey Mouse. Zoom-in: Disney's flurry of deals Disney reported a strong showing in its parks business. And the direct-to-consumer division led by Disney+ turned a solid operating profit of $359 million, compared to no profit the year earlier. But a flurry of headline-making deals has stolen the thunder. Disney has inked a deal with the NFL to acquire the NFL Network and other media assets in exchange for the NFL taking a 10% equity stake in ESPN. It also reached a $1.6 billion agreement with TKO Group's (TKO) WWE for exclusive rights to high-profile events like Wrestlemania. The deal is for five years and begins in 2026. "We feel terrific about the assets that we'll be getting for the deal — the combination of the NFL network and all of what that brings, [and] in addition to that, combining our fantasy football business with the NFL's fantasy football business, plus the ability to market RedZone overall," Disney CFO Hugh Johnston told Yahoo Finance (see video above). "We think about it from two perspectives," Johnston added. "No. 1 is the impact it's going to have on the ESPN direct-to-consumer business, which we think will be super positive. And then second, obviously putting the NFL network together with ESPN will create both revenue and cost synergies. The outcome of that from an investor perspective is it'll be accretive by about a nickel before purchase accounting." Johnston declined to disclose the value of the deal. Though ESPN has been valued in a range of $25 billion to $30 billion, so one could do the math on the value of the NFL's stake. The wins Big deals put ESPN in a very strong position ahead of its $30 a month streaming service launch later this year. Cautious consumers are still showing up to the parks. Disney is finally seeing direct-to-consumer operating profits. The losses Full-year guidance was not raised as much as some likely hoped. There was no outward signal on CEO Bob Iger's successor. The linear TV network business remains in structural decline. Bottom line: Iger is clearly going all in on a streaming future with these deals and also solidifying his legacy as he nears handing off the baton to a successor. Given the importance of content to Disney's financials, it's hard to argue these are bad deals even when considering the hefty price Sozzi is Yahoo Finance's Executive Editor and a member of Yahoo Finance's editorial leadership team. Follow Sozzi on X @BrianSozzi, Instagram, and LinkedIn. Tips on stories? Email
