WKRN: Spudz owner murdered

UPDATE: Read more about Spudz owner Eric Brown and those who knew him in this Oct. 26 Tennessean article.
---
Metro Police are investigating the murder of Eric Brown, 36, the owner of Spudz restaurant on Charlotte Avenue, according to a report by WKRN News 2. Brown was found behind the restaurant with a gunshot wound to his upper body.

Nashville Scene restaurant critic Carrington Fox, who recently wrote a favorable review of Spudz, posted a response to the news.

Fall Harvest Party: Oct. 21 Farm Fest

From the folks at Nashville Urban Harvest:

Join Nashville Urban Harvest for our First Annual Fall Harvest Party and see how we've been growing! Bring your instruments and get ready for some down-home pickin' (musical and horticultural). Check out our site for a map to the farm. Click here to view the flier for more details on the event, which is Sunday, Oct. 21, at 5 p.m.

Please feel free to forward this on to your friends, or put up a copy of the flier at your favorite local shop. The West Nashville Community Farm is at 57th and Tennessee avenues in the Nations neighborhood off Charlotte Ave.

You can RSVP here so we don't run out of beer.

Nashville Urban Harvest is the group behind the West Nashville Community Farm, the Public Square Farmers' Market, the Nashville Buy Local Guide (to be released at the party), and the Veggie Project.

Old Navy, Staples, Ross now open at Nashville West

UPDATE March 21, 2008: For the latest on Nashville West store openings, click here.

Clothing stores Old Navy, Ross Dress for Less and Justice Just for Girls recently opened in Nashville West, the huge retail development along Charlotte Avenue. Party City, Staples and PetSmart stores also are open.

The free-standing building that will house a Red Robin burger restaurant is under construction and is expected to open early next year, according to Chad Newell of Newton Oldacre McDonald, the real estate company developing Nashville West as an "open-air lifestyle center."

The developer's site plan, which names additional tenants such as T.G.I. Friday's , can be viewed here (pdf). An earlier post on Nashville West can be read here.

The following list of stores and their status is based on a Monday evening drive through Nashville West and information on the developer's site plan:

Target - open
Dick's Sporting Goods - open
Best Buy - open
Ross Dress for Less - open
Marshall's - open
Cost Plus World Market - not yet open
Lane Bryant - not yet open
Cacique - not yet open
Old Navy - open
Justice Just for Girls - open
Bath & Body Works - not yet open
Children's Place - not yet open
DSW shoes - not yet open
Claire's - on site plan only
New York & Company - on site plan only
Books-A-Million - not yet open
Marble Slab - on site plan only
Kinnucan's - on site plan only
LensCrafters - on site plan only

Red Robin burgers - not yet open
T.G.I. Friday's - on site plan only

Costco - open

Party City - open
Staples - open
PetSmart - open

Google responds to Street View questions

The Charlotte Parker reported on Friday that a driver for Google Maps was spotted in the neighborhood with a roof-mounted camera to collect 360-degree street-level images for Google Maps' Street View. After the sighting, The Charlotte Parker asked Google for details on Street View for Nashville, and today Kat Malinowska of Google Inc. responded.

Malinowska declined to confirm the specifics of Google's Street View vehicles, but said, "We're focused on making this service available in as many cities as possible. At first we will focus on major metropolitan areas but plan on making Street View more comprehensive as time goes on. We will be adding Street View imagery for new cities on an ongoing basis and will be announcing new imagery rollouts on the Google Lat Long blog."

(A statement from the company on privacy issues related to Street View is included in a Sept. 24 post on the Google Lat Long blog.)

When asked about Google's presence in Nashville -- time period, number of vehicles and expected date for producing map images -- Malinowska said Google cannot confirm or provide driving details, except to say the company is "collecting imagery on an ongoing basis." Malinowska said Google has not received any local (Nashville) inquiries about the Street View cars.