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TDOT ROAD CLOSURES
NOVEMBER 24, 2022 | VOLUME 34 | NUMBER 44
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Senate Republicans will return same leadership group BY STEPHEN ELLIOTT
PHOTO BY MATT MASTERS
Richland Fine Art Gallery Owners Hunter Mobley, Bradley Hickman, Amanda and Stacy Beam.
Richland Fine Art Gallery reopens under new ownership BY MATT MASTERS
Richland Fire Art Gallery has reopened under new ownership and is representing news artists in the revamped Green Hills space. The gallery first opened in 2003 simply as Richland Fine Art under the ownership of Clay Whitelaw and Anne Goad, and now new owners Stacy and Amanda Beam, Bradley Hickman and Hunter Mobley have teamed up to lead the business in this new chapter. “We’d always, all four of us, talked about that a little bit, dreamed about that, and so [with] Clay retiring his plan was to close the gallery, but it kind of gave us that seed of an idea to think what would it look like for us to take this on,” Mobley said. “We then spent four months doing a full renovation, a rebranding, so even though the gallery has been around for 20 years, in many ways, it feels like a brand new, fresh kind of opening.” Co-Owner Stacy Beam, whose paintings
can be found in the gallery, held his first pop-up art show at 16-years-old, and now his dreams have become a reality. “I dreamed of a space of this kind of just really professional, really well-curated, presented in a way that feels elevated and invites just a larger sort of community in,” Stacy Beam said. “Thankfully, I encountered these lovely people who’ve kind of shared that dream with me.” The reopening features a revamped and dynamic space with movable walls and a variety of artists across multiple mediums, from paintings by Gina Julian, Dean Shelton, Kari Julianna and Hiroshi Sato, to photographs by Reagan Corbett, among the more than a dozen represented artists. “We’ve tried to kind of incorporate some very fresh, modern art that you would have never seen in the gallery beforehand, but kind of show how that can marry really well with very traditional art and kind of coexist in the same space in your home >> PAGE 10
Republicans in the state Senate voted Tuesday to stick with the same leadership group, meaning an almost-guaranteed fourth term as Senate speaker and lieutenant governor for Randy McNally (R-Oak Ridge). The caucus met in Nashville and, according to a release, voted unanimously to nominate McNally as Senate speaker. Though Republicans control 27 of the upper chamber’s 33 seats, a formal election for Senate speaker will be held with the full Senate early next year. It will be McNally’s fourth term as speaker. Senate Republicans also voted to return Jack Johnson (R-Franklin) as majority leader and Ken Yager (R-Kingston) as caucus chair. Rounding out the Senate leadership group are treasurer Ferrell Haile (R-Gallatin), secretary Dawn White (R-Murfreesboro),
chaplain Shane Reeves (R-Murfreesboro) and vice treasurer Bill Powers (R-Clarksville). House Republicans, who likewise dominate the lower chamber, have not yet voted on new leaders, though House Speaker Cameron Sexton (R-Crossville) has not drawn any public challengers. “I am honored once again to be chosen by my Senate Republican colleagues as their nominee for Speaker of the Senate,” McNally said in a release. “Our Senate team is full of strong, conservative servant leaders dedicated to their constituents and the state of Tennessee. I am proud to have their support and I am looking forward to working with them and the entire Senate to keep Tennessee the best state in the nation to live, work and raise a family.” This story was first published by our sister publication Nashville Post.
Domenic Micheli sentenced to 25 years in prison for 2018 Belle Meade gym owner BY MATT MASTERS 41-year-old Domenic Laurence Micheli was sentenced to 25 years in prison on Friday for the June 4, 2018, murder of Belle Meade gym owner Joel Paavola. Paavola, who was 41 at the time of his death, was killed when Micheli, a disgruntled former employee of The Balance Training in the Belle Meade Galleria shopping center, attacked Paavola around 7 a.m. Micheli was arrested the next day by Kentucky State Police near Bowling Green, Ky., and was charged with one count of firstdegree murder, three counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, and criminal homicide. Those aggravated assault charges were leveled against Micheli as other people were present for the attack and were in fear for their lives. According to court documents, Micheli accepted a plea deal that saw him plead
guilty to the lesser charge of second-degree murder, while all other charges were dismissed. The deal was accepted by Davidson County Criminal Court Judge Cheryl Blackburn and will require Micheli to serve 100% of the sentence. Evidence submitted throughout the pretrial court hearings included multiple victim impact statements and depositions, photographs of a “bloody meat cleaver and a hatchet,” autopsy report, as well as Micheli’s criminal record and two psychological evaluations that concluded that Micheli “suffers from schizophrenia” and was “suffering from delusions and believed he was the victim of a conspiracy involving numerous people attempting to kill him.” “The Court has sympathy for Mr. Micheli’s mental illness and hopes he continues to receive the >> PAGE 10
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