Catfish and crop circles: The 8 weirdest news stories in Nashville in 2018 – Tennessean
It was a complicated year for Nashville news, starting early with the resignation of former mayor Megan Barry. Heroes were found in dark tragedies of mass shootings. The transit bill failed. Legislators approved wine sales on Sundays. Nashville was invaded by Birds. Amazon announced it planned to move in.
But among these highs and lows of the news cycle, there was also the just plain weird. That’s what this list is for. Make way for the odd and unexpected.
Undaunted by the “Catfish Jake” legacy from 2017, angry Nashville Predators fan Briley Meeks, 25, spent $141.75 to mail a dead catfish to the NHL office in Toronto in April as a protest of the league’s ruling on a Filip Forsberg goal that did not count because of a teammate’s goaltender interference. Meeks believed that decision cost the Preds a chance at the Western Conference title, which the team did not secure.
In May, 5-year-old Caleb Daniel got to live out a dream and toss a catfish onto the ice during Game 5 of the Stanley Cup against the Winnipeg Jets.
Do you remember when Hardee’s put a hamburger crop circle in the grass outside Nashville International Airport? It was in April.
The Franklin-based fast food joint decided to kick off its new campaign, “Tastes Like America,” by hiring a professional crop circle artist to create one in the shape of a hamburger with the Hardee’s logo.
Any mural in Nashville is primed to become an Instagram destination, but one artist said a music video took things too far — and sued the singer who made it.
Muralist Jason Woodside claimed in September that Christian singer-songwriter Hollyn violated his copyright protection on “the Gulch” mural, located at the corner of 12th Avenue South and Laurel Street, when she filmed part of a music video in front of it.
Also, in February, an East Nashville dog day care company sued two women over their Facebook comments about the business to the tune of $2 million. The suit was dropped the next month with prejudice to the plaintiffs.
In May, popular Swedish retailer Ikea announced it would no longer open a much-anticipated brick-and-mortar store in Antioch, instead planning to focus on online shopping. Online shopping is great, but it does not usually include Swedish meatballs, alas.
A truck driver told the Tennessee Highway Patrol he “thought he had a permit” after driving an oversized load under a downtown Nashville bridge. He did not, and instead his truck was wedged under the I-40 where it passes over I-65 for hours in April, and the area was under construction for repairs for weeks.
A late-year contender for unexpected legislation came in mid-December: Metro councilwoman Sharon Hurt proposed renaming Nashville International Airport after Oprah Winfrey. Winfrey got her start in television in Tennessee, is a Tennessee State University alum, and is the daughter of Vernon Winfrey, a former Metro councilman who has operated a barbershop in East Nashville for more than 50 years. Any name change would require agreement from the airport, which has yet to do so.
Springfield residents are used to seeing candy-themed cars. Their owner, Lavoy Sales, caught national attention in December when Hershey put up billboards in Nashville looking for him and his Reese’s car. The man just really likes Reese’s cups, he said, and to see people smile when he drives by.
This story, where Tennessean journalists competed to see which method of transportation took them downtown the fastest, was not, in itself, bizarre. It’s possible, though, that there needs to be a Bird/Lime/Lyft scooter rematch in 2019.
We can’t guarantee the news will always be weird, but you can get the most comprehensive coverage of Nashville from the Tennessean. If you value local news from local journalists, consider subscribing, downloading our app, or signing up for our newsletters.
Reach Mariah Timms at mtimms@tennessean.com or 615-259-8344 and on Twitter @MariahTimms.
