by Kahwit Tela | Jul 2, 2021 | Arts and Entertainment, BREAKING NEWS, News
Nashville’s COVID-19 silence ended in a roaring spectacle on Sunday when Let Freedom Sing! brought fireworks and live music back to Music City. Officials said about 350 thousand spectators attended the event, which began at 4 p.m. and ran until well past 10 p.m. The fireworks were scheduled to start at 9:20 p.m. but were delayed until 10 due to unauthorized people in the explosive danger zone. Police SWAT officers were called to the Bridge Building following reports from the Metro Fire Department of a person on the roof of the building, according to a press release issued from the Metro Police Monday afternoon. A flyover from a police helicopter confirmed the sighting. Officers removed four people from the scene, including one employee of the Bridge Building. Located on the east side of the pedestrian bridge, the Bridge Building was in the firework evacuation zone due to the proximity to the firework launch site and the potential for injury for anyone too close to the explosives. “While the officers were still in the building and the (police) helicopter remained close by, a security guard apparently relayed to an (Nashville Fire Department) employee that he was the last one in the building. Without going through command and without checking with MNPD to ensure officers were out of the building, the message was relayed to start the fireworks show. Command was not advised the show had commenced,” according to the press release. “Due to the close proximity of the professional firework mortar shells and the fallout from detonated fireworks, the eight SWAT members sheltered inside the Bridge Building until the conclusion...
by Erin Turner | Jun 18, 2014 | Opinion
I am not a huge modern country music fan, but when I heard about the opportunity to be a photographer on the CMA Award of Merit Photo team, I knew had to apply. I began shooting for Lumination during the second semester of my freshman year, and around the same time I started a semester-long internship at The Tennessean as a news photographer. During my freshman year, I tried to seek out all the opportunities I possibly could. I saw shooting the CMA Fest as a great opportunity to meet new people, build my portfolio and just have a little fun this summer. In short, I sent CMA my portfolio and soon heard back that I was accepted on to the team. There were five student photographers on the team, along with several other veteran photographers in the area to cover the rest. The team had a meeting about a month before the fest to see how things would go, and then June 5 quickly rolled around the corner. When everything is said and done, CMA will pick the top student photographer who had the best overall images. That student will receive an award and have the opportunity to attend the CMA Awards in November. The first day of the fest started out horribly for me. I had never been before, and I was completely clueless on all the locations. I arrived late for my first assignment and spent about an hour just trying to figure out where the CMA offices were in the Music City Center. I would go up to worker after worker, each of them sending...
