EX-TITAN MAWAE
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DOUGHBIRD OPENING
FEBRUARY 2, 2023 | VOLUME 35 | NUMBER 5
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Bellevue man arrested after ex-girlfriend’s body found in apartment STAFF REPORTS
Mayor John Cooper
Mayor Cooper will not seek reelection; proposes funding for new schools, juvenile justice center in 2023 capital spending plan BY STEPHEN ELLIOTT
Mayor John Cooper announced Tuesday that he will not run for a second term this year. The news came as a surprise to some, as Cooper had already held a fundraiser, filed official paperwork setting the stage for a 2023 campaign and secured endorsements from the local Fraternal Order of Police and firefighters’ union. He was elected to the office in 2019 after a term on Metro Council. Cooper’s time in office has been defined by the 2020 tornado, COVID-19, the Christmas 2020 bombing and a push to
PHOTO COURTESY OF MNPD
PHOTO BY HAMILTON M. MASTERS
build a new stadium for the Tennessee Titans. “No one could have predicted the unprecedented challenges we would face as a city,” Cooper told reporters at a press conference Tuesday morning, referring to his term as two terms “of crisis and investment.” He went on to thank various department heads and members of his administration as well as his family, before noting, “I never wanted to campaign — I wanted to govern.” Cooper’s decision not to run leaves candidates including former Metro official Matt Wiltshire and Metro
Councilmembers Freddie O’Connell and Sharon Hurt in the race. The mayor’s brother, Jim Cooper, a longtime Nashville-area member of Congress, decided not to run for reelection last year after redistricting carved his district into several GOP-friendly seats. 2023 CAPITAL SPENDING PLAN Last week, Cooper proposed hundreds of millions of dollars in spending on capital improvements as part of his >> PAGE 2
Dwayne Herelle Jr. The Metro Nashville Police Department charged a Bellevue man with criminal homicide after police said that his exgirlfriend body was found in his apartment. According to an MNPD news release, 28-year-old Dwayne Herelle Jr. was charged on Sunday night after the body of 24-yearold Irene Torres was found inside of a plastic container in Herelle’s closet at the 865 Bellevue Apartments complex. Police said that Herelle met Torres outside of her Old Hickory home between 1:30 a.m.-2 a.m. on Sunday when they had an argument which led to Herelle stabbing Torres to death. “Herelle is alleged to have driven Torres’ body across the county to his Bellevue apartment and put her in the plastic container in the closet,” the news release reads, adding that Herelle was captured on a security camera “taking Torres away” from her home. “Torres’ father went to the apartment and was told by Herelle that >> PAGE 2
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