Several organizations have said the maps are a textbook example of gerrymandering and will lead to diminished voting power for people of color.

The two key votes of the week in Washington D.C. were in the Senate. But the discussion among the city’s representatives in Washington included both U.S. House members who represent Memphis.

The debate over whether to use tax dollars to send children to private schools has reared its head.

Robinson said the process was unfair since the Senate Ethics Committee comprises four white Republican men and one Black woman.

The latest map would split Tipton County along U.S. 51, and about 30,000 Shelby County residents would be drawn out of Republican Rep. David Kustoff’s district.

“This is a racist power grab for Republicans to try to cheat their way to more power,” said Charlane Oliver, cofounder and co-executive director of The Equity Alliance. “We will obstruct, we will disrupt any chance we get.”

Sunny Eaton, who runs Nashville’s Conviction Review Unit, said, “These wins are the kind that are absolutely changing lives for people who never deserved to be in that position.”

The map will likely allow Republicans to win another seat in Congress.

Tennessee Highway Patrol Colonel Matt Perry: “We’re gonna hire a whole lot of troopers in a short period.”

Rep. Kevin Vaughan said his district often doesn’t ask too much of him, but Wednesday he shared how decisions in Nashville impact their daily lives.

The Tennessee Department of Education released a draft of its new education funding framework Tuesday, Jan. 11, the same day lawmakers began this year’s regular legislative session.

State lawmakers have descended on Nashville for three months of committee hearings, debates and vote-wrangling over how to spend taxpayer dollars.

Residency requirements, reckless driving and Germantown’s namesake schools are among the issues lawmakers plan to address at the upcoming General Assembly session. School funding reform might have to wait until next year.

The Tennessee Housing Development Agency begins taking applications online Monday, Jan. 10, for $168 million in federal American Rescue Plan Act funding for those behind on their mortgage payments specifically because of the pandemic.

With local motorists driving ‘as if they are in video games,’ city and state law enforcement are at odds over who bears more responsibility for enforcing highway speeding laws.

A federal judge granted an acquittal on two wire fraud charges against state Sen. Katrina Robinson but denied acquittal or a new trial on two remaining counts of wire fraud.

State Rep. Mark White confirmed he’ll file another bill in the upcoming legislative session that could determine who controls Germantown Elementary, Germantown Middle School and Germantown High. The bill could also affect Lucy Elementary in Millington.

Before lawmakers approved $138 million in October, costs had already risen from $60 million to $136 million. On Dec. 20, with no discussion, the State Building Commission approved a budget revision to $274 million.

“(The BEP) needs to change,” Gov. Bill Lee said. “We are due for a strategy that is money well-spent, not just more money.”

State Sen. Brian Kelsey’s trial for campaign finance charges has been delayed by more than a year, until after the 2022 elections.

Prosecutors in a federal case have dropped charges against Sen. Katrina Robinson, D-Memphis, and two codefendants in a plea deal.

The proposed political map, which was unveiled Friday, Dec., 17, takes one seat away from Shelby County, while adding three to Middle Tennessee. 

“Licensure of liars should not be allowed,” one Nashville physician told the state legislature’s Joint Government Operations Committee.

Gov. Bill Lee bumped up the starting annual salary for corrections officers from $32,500 to $44,500.

State Rep. Torrey Harris said the boundaries of state Rep. London Lamar’s district were extended by several blocks, just enough to include his home at South McLean Boulevard and Union Avenue, according to a tentative map House Republicans allowed him to see.