Latest news with #AustinHornbostel
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Yahoo
Escaped zebra captured in Rutherford County after more than a week on the loose
An elusive zebra who's evaded capture in Middle Tennessee for more than a week has finally been captured. The fugitive zebra — who had been nicknamed 'Ed' by the social media users tracking his escapades — has been on the loose since May 31. Eight days later, the zebra was finally captured in a field in Christiana, south of Murfreesboro in Rutherford County. Earlier in the weekend, law enforcement officials were tracking the zebra with a drone. Those efforts paid off on June 8 — News Channel 5 reports that the zebra was hit with a tranquilizer dart, then strapped in and airlifted via helicopter to be returned to captivity and seen by a veterinarian. It's been a busy week since the zebra escaped from the home of a Rutherford County couple the night of May 31. Ed's runaway journey has taken him everywhere from neighborhood streets to a parkway near Interstate 24, about 35 miles south of downtown Nashville. That spawned plenty of memes, jokes and amusement overall as Tennesseans pored over videos of the zebra plodding through suburban cul-de-sacs and galloping along country highways. Now, there's one more rare sight to add to the list — of the zebra soaring through the air, tethered to the helicopter, with just its head poking out of the bag used to execute the airlift. Austin Hornbostel is the Metro reporter for The Tennessean. Have a question about local government you want an answer to? Reach him at ahornbostel@ Get Davidson County news delivered to your inbox every Wednesday. This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Escaped zebra captured in Rutherford County after more than a week on the loose
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Yahoo
Escaped zebra captured in Rutherford County after more than a week on the loose
An elusive zebra who's evaded capture in Middle Tennessee for more than a week has finally been captured. The fugitive zebra — who had been nicknamed 'Ed' by the social media users tracking his escapades — has been on the loose since May 31. Eight days later, the zebra was finally captured in a field in Christiana, south of Murfreesboro in Rutherford County. Earlier in the weekend, law enforcement officials were tracking the zebra with a drone. Those efforts paid off on June 8 — News Channel 5 reports that the zebra was hit with a tranquilizer dart, then strapped in and airlifted via helicopter to be returned to captivity and seen by a veterinarian. It's been a busy week since the zebra escaped from the home of a Rutherford County couple the night of May 31. Ed's runaway journey has taken him everywhere from neighborhood streets to a parkway near Interstate 24, about 35 miles south of downtown Nashville. That spawned plenty of memes, jokes and amusement overall as Tennesseans pored over videos of the zebra plodding through suburban cul-de-sacs and galloping along country highways. Now, there's one more rare sight to add to the list — of the zebra soaring through the air, tethered to the helicopter, with just its head poking out of the bag used to execute the airlift. Austin Hornbostel is the Metro reporter for The Tennessean. Have a question about local government you want an answer to? Reach him at ahornbostel@ Get Davidson County news delivered to your inbox every Wednesday. This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Escaped zebra captured in Rutherford County after more than a week on the loose
Yahoo
27-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Nashville lands in bottom half of park rankings, buoyed by park acreage, added investment
Among America's 100 most populous cities, Nashville is in the back half of the pack when it comes to the quality of its park system. That's according to the Trust for Public Land's 2025 'ParkScore' index, which ranks park systems by factors including access, equity, acreage, investment and amenities. In this year's ranking, Nashville comes in at 74th, up four spots from last year's rankings. The other Tennessee city on the list, Memphis, comes in at 70th. A release from the Trust for Public Land notes that Nashville's move up this year's rankings was helped by improvements to park acreage and public investment. Here's what else the ranking said about Nashville's park system. According to the ParkScore index, Nashville's strongest marks came from its acreage rating. The Trust for Public Land found that Nashville's median park size is 16.7 acres — more than triple the national ParkScore city average of 5.4 acres. Nashville's ranking boost also benefited from an increase in investment. Today, Nashville spends $116 per capita on park investments, with that money coming mostly from city agencies. That spending is up from $81 in last year's rankings — but the increased spending is still below the national ParkScore city average of $133 per person. In most other areas of the ranking, Nashville falls below the national average. That includes the percentage of residents who live within a 10-minute walk of a park. In Davidson County, that's only 44% — well below the 76% average among the 100 most populous U.S. cities, and also below the 57% average for all urban cities and towns in the country. Nashville also comes in below the national median for the percentage of land used for parks and recreation. The national median is 15%, and Nashville uses only 12% of land for parks. Compared to Nashville, Memphis performs a little better in some elements of the ranking profile. For instance, Memphis' park investments come in at $185 per capita, well over the national average in park spending per person. And though not far off of Nashville's performance and still below average, about 45% of Memphis residents like within a 10-minute walk of a park. Memphis performed especially poorly compared to Nashville when it comes to the percentage of land used for parks and recreation — just 6%. Austin Hornbostel is the Metro reporter for The Tennessean. Have a question about local government you want an answer to? Reach him at ahornbostel@ Get Davidson County news delivered to your inbox every Wednesday. This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Nashville lands in bottom half of park rankings
Yahoo
07-04-2025
- Yahoo
Still getting texts warning of an unpaid E-ZPass toll? How to avoid getting scammed
If you're getting text messages warning that you could be subject to legal action for an unpaid E-ZPass toll, you're not alone. The popular text message scam first appeared about a year ago and resurfaced in February. It hasn't gone anywhere since — in fact, Nashvillians are still getting them as of this week. The texts are a type of scam called 'smishing,' which uses fake text messages to trick people into downloading malware, sharing sensitive information or sending money to cybercriminals. Here's what else to know about the persistent scam messages. The texts tend to stick to a now familiar pattern, generally impersonating the toll service for your state with varying levels of specificity. One recent message, for example, simply says, 'You have an outstanding toll. Your toll account balance is outstanding. If you fail to pay by April 4, 2025, you will be penalized or subject to legal action.' From there, the texts usually include a payment link and instructions about how to access it: 'Please reply Y, then exit the SMS and open it again to activate the link, or copy the link to your Safari browser and open it.' Earlier versions may also have included a specific dollar amount owed, referenced other toll services like FastTrak or warned that 'the matter may be reported to the DMV.' After receiving thousands of complaints in early 2024, the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center issued a warning about the scam that includes a few different action steps. The first is to file a complaint with the IC3 at including the phone number from which the text originated and the website listed within the text. The FBI warning also recommends checking whether you do indeed owe any outstanding fees by contacting a toll service directly, either on an account on a toll service's legitimate website or by calling their customer service number. The FBI also recommends deleting the texts. If you clicked a link or provided your information, take efforts to secure your personal information and financial accounts, and dispute any unfamiliar charges. Austin Hornbostel is the Metro reporter for The Tennessean. Have a question about local government you want an answer to? Reach him at ahornbostel@ This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: E-ZPass toll scam texts are still floating around. Here's what to do
