GOVERNOR LEE INAUGURATION
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MNPS STUDENT EXHIBITION
JANUARY 19, 2023 | VOLUME 35 | NUMBER 3
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Nashville Police seeking public’s help in identifying carjacking suspect STAFF REPORTS
PHOTO BY MATT MASTERS
Protestors hold signs prior to the start of the 113th general session.
Lawmakers kick off new state legislative session as protesters warn of injustice Abortion, infrastructure, education and Metro are expected to be hot topics in 2023 BY STEPHEN ELLIOTT AND HAMILTON MATTHEW MASTERS The Tennessee General Assembly kicked off its 113th session last week as lawmakers returned to Nashville. The session’s first meetings were largely ceremonial and organizational, as legislators were sworn in and committee assignments were handed out. House Speaker Cameron Sexton and Senate Speaker Randy McNally, both Republicans, were both reelected to their leadership positions by overwhelming margins on the first day of the session. The legislature will return later this month for Gov. Bill Lee’s State of the State address and
the beginning of regular legislative work. Dozens of bills have already been filed, but lawmakers can continue to submit proposed legislation in the coming weeks. So far, bills have been filed related to cutting in half the size of the Metro Council and far-right culture-war issues like criminalizing drag shows, restricting trans health care and prohibiting the manufacture of food with a vaccine in it. Lee is expected to push an infrastructure plan that seeks to build new highway lanes by partnering with private companies that
could charge tolls. Lawmakers could revisit earlier laws including an abortion ban and an education law that critics say could result in significant numbers of third-graders across the state being held back a year. On Jan. 10, the first day of the session, more than 100 protesters gathered at the Legislative Plaza to raise concerns over legislation related to abortion rights, drag shows, trans health care, privatization and education, among other issues. Attendees came from across the state, including dozens on a chartered >> PAGE 3
Hillsboro Pike Suspect The Metro Nashville Police Department is seeking the public’s help in identifying a man they said carjacked a woman in Green Hills in October. According to a January 2023 MNPD news release, the incident took place at the intersection of Hillsboro Pike and Woodmont Boulevard on Saturday, Oct. 22, 2022, and involved an unidentified woman whose red Volkswagen Jetta was initially sideswiped by another vehicle. That woman reported to police that the man got out of the vehicle and “demanded she get out of her car at gunpoint,” also taking the victim’s phone and other belongings inside of her car. Police said that the man was recorded on a convenience store security camera driving the stolen Jetta, which was recovered in a Dickerson Pike hotel parking lot in December. MNPD is asking that anyone with information about the man’s identity or whereabouts to call Crime Stoppers at 615742-7463.
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