In case you hadn’t noticed the giant signs and rows of port-a-potties sprouting up around Nashville for the past week, all of the streets in town will be closed this weekend for the Country Music Marathon. Just kidding! Only some of the streets will be closed. Here’s our best shot at helping you navigate the city this weekend, you know, if you must leave your house.

Public Transportation:

• Busses will be on detour Saturday, April 28 due to the marathon. A full list of the detours is HERE.

Road Closures:

• Closed now – Saturday, 4/28 at 7pm: Russell St from 2nd St to Titans Way; Titans Way from Russell St to Victory Ave; Victory Ave from 2nd St to Titans Way; 1st St from Woodland St to Russell St
• Closed Friday, 4/27 from 4:15-8pm: Union St from 3rd Ave N to the Woodland Street Bridge
• Closed Friday from 4:30-8pm: Woodland St from the Woodland St Bridge to Interstate Drive; 1st Ave N from Church to Union St
• Closed Saturday, 4/28 from 3-9am: West End Ave from 31st to 21st Ave
• Closed Saturday from 6-9am: West End Ave from 21st to 16th
• Closed Saturday from 6-9:15am: Broadway from 16th to 2nd Ave; 4th Ave from Union to Demonbreun St
• Closed Saturday from 6-9:30am: Demonbreun from 4th to the Music Row Roundabout; Music Row Roundabout from Demonbreun to 17th
• Closed Saturday from 6-9:45am: 17th Ave from Music Row Roundabout to Magnolia Blvd; Magnolia Blvd (southbound only) from 17th to 18th; 18th Ave from Magnolia to Portland Ave; Portland Ave from 18th to Belmont Blvd
• Closed Saturday from 6-10:30am: Belmont Blvd from Portland Ave to Clifton Ln; Clifton Ln from Belmont Blvd to Granny White Pike
• Closed Saturday from 6-11am: Granny White/12th from Clifton Ln to Wedgewood; Wedgewood from 12th to Magnolia
• Closed Saturday from 6-11:15am: Magnolia Blvd from Wedgewood to 16th; 16th from Magnolia to Division St; Division from 16th to 12th; 12th from Division to 11th
• Closed Saturday from 6-11:45am: 11th Ave from 12th to Charlotte Ave; Charlotte from 11th to 10th Circle N; 10th Circle N from Charlotte to Rosa Parks Blvd
• Closed Saturday from 6am-12:15pm: Dominican Dr from Rosa Parks Blvd to 9th Ave; 9th & 10th Aves from Dominican Dr to Rosa Parks Blvd
• Closed Saturday from 6am-12:30pm: Rosa Parks Blvd (southbound) from James Robertson Pkwy to Mainstream Dr
• Closed Saturday from 6am-1:15pm: Jefferson St from Rosa Parks to 6th
• Closed Saturday from 6am-1:30pm: Rosa Parks Blvd (northbound) from James Robertson Pkwy to Mainstream Dr; 5th, 6th & 7th Aves from Jefferson St to James Robertson Pkwy; Harrison St from Rosa Parks to 7th; James Robertson Pkwy from Rosa Parks to 3rd; 3rd from James Robertson to Union St; 4th from Charlotte to Union; Deaderick St from 3rd to 4th Ave; Union St from 4th to the Woodland St Bridge; Woodland St from 5th to 12th
• Closed Saturday from 6am-1:45pm: 11th St from Holly St to Russell St; 12th St from Woodland to Holly; Holly from 12th to 11th
• Closed Saturday from 6am-2pm: Russell St from 11th to 7th; 7th from Russell to Fatherland; Fatherland from 7th to 5th
• Closed Saturday from 6am-3:15pm: Shelby Park – ALL PARK ROADS
• Closed Saturday from 6am-3:30pm: Davidson St from 5th to Shelby Park
• Closed Saturday from 6am-3:45pm: Woodland St from the Woodland St Bridge to 5th St; 5th St from Woodland to Davidson St
• Closed Saturday from 6:15am-9:15am: Broadway ramp on I-40 Eastbound & Westbound
• Closed Saturday from 6:15am-9:30am: Demonbreun ramp on I-40 Eastbound & Westbound
• Closed Saturday from 6:15am-1:30pm: Metro Center/Rosa Parks ramp on I-65 Northbound & Southbound

Shelve your bagged lunch leftovers – Today is Dining Out For Life, the annual event where local restaurants donate a percentage of their profits to fight AIDS with Nashville CARES. Topping our list: Arnold Myint’s restaurants ChaChah and Suzy Wong’s House of Yum are donating 100% of tonight’s dinner proceeds to the cause – Suzy Wong’s even has a special dinner buffet for the occasion. Other notable high percentage participants are all three Kalamatas locations at 75% of lunch and dinner and Jackson’s, Mambu and Rumba at 60% of dinner.

Peruse the lengthy list of participating restaurants and their donation percentages HERE.

• Many Tennessee residents are getting a special notice from Amazon.com in their inboxes this week. Oh, you didn’t know you were supposed to be paying taxes to the state on your online purchases? Surprise!
• The mystery of the abandoned plane in Cornelia Fort Airpark has been solved, sort of. 74-year-old Russell Brothers has been identified as the pilot and claims that when his radio and landing gear stopped working, he needed to land somewhere familiar. Brothers’ criminal past – money laundering, drug smuggling, extortion – makes the story that much more interesting.
• It’s settled – The Preds will take on the Phoenix Coyotes in round 2 of the playoffs. And by “take on” we mean annihilate.
• Our favorite flag adoring, singer/songwriter/music video star, Youtube sensation and former “goobernatorial” candidate Basil Marceaux is currently in the slammer for contempt of court following a traffic ticket appeal.
• Speaking of flag lovers, a Gibson County high school senior was denied admittance to her prom because of her custom-made Confederate flag dress.
• Willie Weesner of Rutherford County has been arrested approximately 200 times since 1979. So many things to say about this story, so little time.
• Ever wanted a pair of boots from Dolly Parton, Kid Rock, Josh Turner, Wynonna, Reba McEntire, Randy Travis, Vince Gill, Little Richard, Emmylou Harris or Peter Frampton? It’s your lucky day! These artists (and more) are auctioning off their boots to raise money for the Music City Walk of Fame.
• Bits & pieces: The guns in parking lots bill is a no-go … Gas prices are down, enjoy it while it lasts … Or just spend all the money you just saved on gas on your rising rent costs … Abandoned foreclosure homes could make our mosquito problem worse … UT’s Hall of Fame basketball coach Pat Summit is writing a memoir … From the Department of Tell-Us-Something-We-Don’t-Know, half of new college grads are jobless.

Photo by Southern Bella Images. Want your photos to be used on Nashvillest? Add them to our Flickr pool!

Hello Nashville, and welcome to your new and improved Bright & Early! You may have noticed that we occasionally (read: every day) have issues getting Bright & Early posted, well, bright & early. As much as we adore our readers repeatedly pointing out that 11am is not bright & early, it’s time to make a few format changes to the daily news roundups. Bright & Early is going away to give us more flexibility on the time of day we bring you the news, and we’re going to experiment with a more link-based format for the daily news.

Give us a few days, then let us know what you think via comment or email! We want to hear from you if you hate the changes we’re making (as we all know, the Internets hate change), but we’d appreciate civil, constructive feedback. We’re real, live people over here (more on that later). But enough with that. On to the news!

• A mystery plane has appeared at the closed Cornelia Fort Airpark in East Nashville, and no one knows where it came from or who the pilot is. We’re not really surprised – boat and plane are pretty much the only ways into East Nashville on weekends right now.
• Three cheers for the Preds, who took down the Detroit Red Wings on Friday to become the first team to advance from round 1 in this year’s playoffs! We can’t wait to watch them crush either the Chicago Blackhawks or the Phoenix Coyotes in round 2.
• Nashville’s brand new riverfront Cumberland Park is closed for repairs mere days after opening, after a child broke either his arm or his thumb playing on either the rock climbing wall or at the base of the bridge.
• Some guys got hurt falling off a Cumberland River bluff, too.
• It’s TCAP time! TCAP testing starts this Wednesday in Nashville, and this is the first year that scores will factor into students’ final grades. Take luck, kiddos.
• PSA: “Nashville residents are warned not to accept any offers of free bags of potatoes“
• Record Store Day was this past weekend, and we have all sorts of warm vinyl-buying, local-shopping fuzzies.
• As if the USPS didn’t have enough problems already, someone is vandalizing mail trucks in Brentwood.
• Got 5 million smackaroos lying around? You can purchase Alan Jackson’s mansion!
• We’re suckers for a weird headline, so here you go: Suspect Asks Officer If He’s Jesus, Steals Cruiser
• Bits & pieces: An express bus from Clarksville to Nashville is under consideration … There are cigarette butts in the streets … Keith Urban is the newest member of the Grand Ole Opry … Country Music Marathon runners will be served chocolate milk post-race this year, mmm … Everyone’s talking about Goo Goo Clusters … Tax revenue in Tennessee was up 8.5% in the fourth quarter of 2011 … The Bridgestone Arena will probably get some upgrades next year.

Photo by Paul Beavers.

Good morning, Nashville. We’re happy to be alive and well after Friday’s severe weather across the southeast. Two Middle Tennessee tornado touchdowns were confirmed in Jackson and Cheatham counties, but Nashville escaped relatively unscathed with just some early school dismissals, power outages and hail damage.

• Much love to Burger UP. Burger UP co-founder Michael Pontes died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head inside the restaurant this weekend. We’re sending all of our love to both his family and everyone in the Burger UP family during this difficult time. The restaurant has been closed since Saturday and will re-open on Wednesday.
• Tardy to the party. Sen. Rick Santorum made a last minute campaign pitstop at Belmont University last week, and despite showing up 45 minutes late due to a Sean Hannity interview, about 600 people stuck around to hear the senator speak. We won’t wager a guess at how many attendees were bored students looking for witty Twitter fodder,but this gives us a pretty good idea.
• Bits & pieces. Shots fired at Young Buck’s vehicle on I-24 this weekend missed the rapper, but caught his girlfriend … The Preds beat the Florida Panthers 3-1 on Saturday … Taylor Swift got Punk’d by Justin Bieber … Three former Sommet Group execs are being charged with multi-million dollar fraud … Belmont is headed to the NCAA Tournament once again … The “Fairy Godmother” Project paired over a hundred teen girls with prom dresses this weekend.

Photo by Paul Beavers.

Good morning, Nashville. Tennessee’s SuperTuesday Republican primary is shaping up to be quite the event after a Vanderbilt University poll released over the weekend showed Rick Santorum with a significant lead. Santorum made several campaign appearances in east Tennessee over the weekend, and Newt Gingrich is campaigning in Nashville today. Speaking of voting: Tomorrow is your last day to early vote if you want to avoid the crowds next Tuesday, so get thee to a pollery ASAP (if that’s your thing, of course).

• Nashville noms. The James Beard Foundation dished out some lovin’ on Nashville restaurants and chefs last week, nominating The Catbird Seat for best new restaurant and chefs Tandy Wilson (City House) and Tyler Brown (Capitol Grille) for best chef in the Southeast.
• Bits & pieces. More “suspicious powder” was found in Nashville on Friday, this time in former Vice President Al Gore’s office in Green Hills … A Clarksville man landed in jail for advertising a baby for sale on Craigslist, but don’t worry, it was just a joke … Green Hills will get a new Mexican restaurant this summer … Vince Gill has parted ways with MCA Records … New York & Co, Brow Art 23 (we don’t even want to know), Subway, Solitaire the Diamond Outlet and Motherhood Maternity are the latest updates to the Opry Mills roster … A family of three got trapped under a boat at Bass Pro this weekend, thanks to a rogue Ford F-150 … The Titans are jacking up the price of lower-bowl tickets by $6 … Congrats to “Undefeated,” a Memphis-made film that took home the Best Documentary Oscar at the Academy Awards last night.

Photo by Tom C Frundle.

Good morning, Nashville. Seems like all we do lately is talk about the weather, but that 75-degree February afternoon yesterday was really one for the books! Looks like that chance of snow for today has disappeared, and we have a dry weekend in the 40′s and 50′s to look forward to. In more important news:

• Rites of Spring. Always close on the heels of the Bonnaroo lineup announcement, Vandy has released the list of performers for this year’s Rites of Spring, scheduled for April 20 & 21. Wiz Khalifa, Mutemath, Sleigh Bells, Fitz & The Tantrums, Gloriana, Wick-It The Instigator, Tyler Hilton, Chancellor Warhol and Beaker Street Blues Band round out the bill. Tickets go on sale Tuesday at 10am.
• Nuh uh no way. Metro Council voted 25 to 5 in favor of asking Davidson County Clerk John Arriola to step down from his position, but Arriola says he isn’t going anywhere. The council also approved a non-binding resolution asking Arriola to return the $40 fee he collected from nearly 3,000 couples for performing wedding ceremonies.
• Bits & pieces. A suspicious envelope mailed to Senator Lamar Alexander’s office on West End Ave has been sent off to the state for analysis … Activists have handed in a 6,000 signature petition opposing Tennessee’s voter ID law … The Preds lost to the Blues last night in a shootout … A Music City Center construction worker was seriously injured after a 40-foot fall on site … The Aquarium and Rainforest Cafe in Opry Mills are hiring for a collective 500 jobs … Time Magazine has named Dollywood one of the weirdest theme parks in the world … Three USPS processing centers will close in Tennessee, and work will be redistributed to Nashville and Atlanta’s centers … Ever wondered about Nashville’s top 50 paying jobs?

Photo by Winnie Cheung.

Good morning, Nashville. How about all that snow this weekend? Nashville was a beautiful winter wonderland for about an hour on Sunday, but rising afternoon temperatures erased all traces of our short-lived snowpocalypse. We’ll see spring-like temperatures in the 50′s and 60′s this week, but hey, what do you know? There’s a small chance of snow again on Friday. Weather bonus this week (and next): Step outside on a clear night and you may be able to spot the planet Mercury.

• Bonna-boo-hoo. Saturday was a sad day for thousands of anxious Bonnaroo ticket buyers, who were turned away by a glitchy website. The festival finally suspended ticket sales and announced that they will try again this coming Saturday at 11am. Second time’s the charm?
• Jobs!The Nissan plant in Smyrna plans to add 1,000 jobs over the coming year, with 1,300 more coming in 2013. The first round of jobs will staff a second shift on the truck line for assembly of the Infiniti JX, the second batch will be hired on for lithium-ion battery and Leaf electric car production.
• Bits & pieces. Students at Martin Luther King Jr. Magnet School got a surprise on Friday when hip hop artist Drake showed up to chat with students and hand out tickets to his show at Bridgestone Arena … A pair of Brentwood sisters racked up sales of 1,800 boxes of Girl Scout cookies this year … You’ve heard of a flashmob, but how about a cashmob? … Warren County inmates overwhelmed the jail’s sewage system to protest the lack of hot dogs on the menu, but the story is way less gross than it sounds … The Preds defeated the Dallas Stars 3-2 on Sunday … Nashville finally had an Instameet … Green Hills is getting a Vera Bradley … Don’t mind that noise, it’s just us, weeping into our keyboards: Gas prices could climb to $5 this summer and are already at record highs … Legislation to repeal Tennessee’s law requiring helmets for motorcyclists over 21 is on the table today.

Photo by Paul Nicholson.

Good morning, Nashville. Here’s your roundup of today’s headlines:

• Guessing game. Weather models say we may get some snow on Sunday! Will it be less than one inch, or eight inches?! We can’t wait to find out.
• Tragic accident. Mayor Dean’s 2-year-old niece was struck and killed in a tragic accident at her family’s home yesterday. Our thoughts are with Mayor Dean and his extended family.
• Still occupying. Occupy Nashville and their tents will get to stay (legally) in Legislative Plaza for another week. The House passed legislation banning unauthorized camping on public property yesterday, but the Senate has yet to take up the bill.
• Don’t cry, etc. Insert various “spilled milk” jokes here.
• Bits & pieces. The latest Opry Mills tenants to get rebuilding permits are The Game Stop, Auntie Anne’s Pretzels and Select Comfort … Rick Santorum will head to the ‘Noog next weekend … A new honky tonk located in the old Seanachie building on Broadway is now taking applications … Dozens of homeless people have been told to vacate a large tent city in Hermitage … Tsk tsk, Belmont student caught selling “special” brownies on campus … Metro Councilman Brady Banks was arrested in an undercover prostitution sting … Ten Metro students will head to Washington, DC next week to meet the First Lady.

Photo by Southern Bella Images.

Good morning, Nashville. Yesterday, a woman from California made her way to Nashville via Greyhound bus from Knoxville, hopped in a limo and made a beeline for Kenny Chesney’s house in Williamson County, where she was arrested in a bathroom near the pool. The woman had been drinking wine at the pool, and claimed to be dating the singer. We have many concerns about this news story, not the least of which is that creepy screen capture on the newscast video.

• Early birds. Early voting in the Tennessee presidential primary has begun, so get out there and vote! For a list of early voting locations and times, click here.
• Boom boom pow. An underground transformer exploded in Printer’s Alley this morning, injuring a NES worker who was lowering himself underground.
• Po-tay-toe, po-tah-toe. Music notes are emerging as Nashville’s visual icon, causing our dear old friend the guitar to take a back seat. Did you know that musicians such as Hank Williams and Garth Brooks have played a guitar?
• Bits & pieces. Props to The Catbird Seat, named one of the top 10 new restaurants in the country by GQ … Speaking of winning things, a Clarksville dog took home “Best in Breed” at the prestigious Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show … PSA: Having took many Facebook friends may lead to depression.

Photo by Beerbrain.