Members of the public were only given a fraction of the seats in the two galleries overlooking the House floor.

Other than Gov. Bill Lee’s proposal to expand private school vouchers, legislation intended to fight crime is likely to be the General Assembly’s biggest focus in its 2023 legislative session, which begins Tuesday.

Lawmakers will return to Nashville on Tuesday, Jan. 9, for the start of the 2024 legislative session. It’s the first time the full General Assembly is back since an August special session on public safety

The Tennessee Supreme Court is looking for a new justice after Justice Roger Page announced his retirement.

Bill Lee has held office as a “conservative education revolution” has swept states controlled by Republicans.

The governor called DeAndre Brown earlier this month and Brown said, “I just lost it — I mean, tears, snot, I couldn’t even talk. ... To have that be removed with a phone call was mind-blowing.” 

TDOT announced a plan to rebuild the I-55 bridge over the Mississippi River with funding from Gov. Bill Lee’s $3.3 billion Transportation Modernization Act.

The Tennessee Department of Correction “housed potential aggressors in the same cells as potential victims of sexual abuse” and officials weren’t disciplined after substantiated cases of sexual misconduct. 

The Tennessee governor has granted one commutation and 22 pardons, including a Sevier County woman convicted of first-degree murder. Two of those receiving pardons are from Shelby County.

More than three-quarters of Tennessee voters support at least some access to abortion, background-check requirements and restricting “high-risk” people’s access to guns.

Tennessee House Speaker Cameron Sexton stopped in Collierville to address upcoming initiatives in the next legislative session.

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee and state House Speaker Cameron Sexton say the fine print of a new, expanded school-voucher bill will include accountability standards for private schools and home-schooled students.

The list of government entities opposing a school voucher program continues to grow as the Lakeland School Board passes a resolution against Gov. Bill Lee’s plan.

The gingerbread replica of the governor’s residence is highly accurate, but pastry chef Konrad Spitzbart made sure to include the Peabody’s famous ducks.

While ascribing the gloomy climb to any one cause would be simplistic, one factor jumps out: relaxed gun laws.

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Deadly surge: Memphis surpasses past homicide record

“Once this service is in operation, much of the country will be accessible by rail from Memphis,” said U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen, D-Tenn. “This is a very big deal.”

The General Assembly approved private school vouchers by a one-vote margin in 2019, with some supporting the program because it applied only to Memphis and Nashville. Now, Lee wants anyone, regardless of income, to have access to discounted private school tuition.

An armed man’s stroll on Peabody Avenue near Cooper Street forced two schools to increase security measures on Monday. What he did was legal, and the ordeal drew attention to Tennessee’s lenient gun laws.

State lawmakers narrowly approved the so-called education savings accounts initiative for the three counties in 2019.

At least 11 judges have been referred for removal dating back to the 1800s for a variety of offenses, from aiding in a duel to writing a letter to Hustler magazine on official stationery.

A three-judge panel ruled that the state Senate map is unconstitutional because the districts in Nashville are not consecutively numbered. The state House map will remain unchanged, and the redrawn Senate map is unlikely to change the body’s partisan or racial composition.

More than 50 troopers will contribute to an ongoing “surge” over the next few weeks, after state Sen. Brent Taylor pleaded for more help fighting crime in Memphis. 

Dr. Dale Viox was sworn in Saturday, Nov. 18, in Nashville during theTennessee School Boards Association Delegate Assembly at the Opryland Convention Center.

Eight hours of meetings focused on federal education funding and whether Tennessee should give that funding up wrapped last week. Here are some of the main takeaways.

Tennessee’s education commissioner refused to say Tuesday whether she supports or opposes the possible rejection of more than $1 billion in annual school funding from the federal government.