By J. Holly McCall | Editor-in-Chief
Good morning and TGIF, Lookout readers.
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.
On Wednesday, state officials, including Gov. Bill Lee, joined with city leaders and sports luminaries for the biggest announcement in the history of Tennessee sports: the Tennessee Titans, Nashville’s NFL franchise, will host the 2030 Super Bowl.
As tourism events go, it’s hard to conceive of one bigger. Sportscaster Jim Nantz, who lives in a tony Nashville neighborhood and serves as co-chair of the Super Bowl committee with former Gov. Bill Haslam, told reporters that money is going to pour into Nashville. Senior Reporter Sam Stockard has details on Wednesday’s press conference and how a recently-passed bill to carve out money from the capital city’s tourism development zone will help pay for the event.
On Thursday, Lee found himself at a grimmer task: he granted a one-year reprieve to death row inmate Tony Carruthers after a failed attempt at execution.
According to Amy Harwell with the Federal Public Defender for the Middle District of Tennessee and one of Carruthers’ lawyers, the physician tasked by the state with performing the lethal injection spent 90 minutes trying and failing to find a vein by which to inject the drugs. Harwell is calling for Lee to investigate the practices of the Tennessee Department of Correction following the incident.
Carruthers’ execution would have been the fourth in a year following a hiatus to examine the execution protocol.
THE LOOKOUT’S TOP STORY
Anthony Ashton, an attorney representing the NAACP Tennessee State Conference and other plaintiffs in a lawsuit challenging the redrawn 2026 congressional map, delivers his opening arguments to a three-judge panel during a hearing on May 21, 2026. (Courtesy of the Tennessee Administrative Office of the Courts livestream)
by Cassandra Stephenson
During a hearing on Thursday, a three-judge panel heard arguments from an attorney for the NAACP Tennessee Conference hat legislators ran afoul of Tennessee’s constitution by acting outside of Lee’s specifically stated purpose for a recent special legislative session: to make statutory changes necessary to change the composition of Tennessee’s congressional districts and facilitate the 2026 congressional election.
NEWS AND NOTES
Sagging poll ratings, soaring gas prices put GOP in a fix for keeping US House control | Jonathan Shorman and Jacob Fischler
US Senate GOP punts immigration bill amid big split with Trump over settlement fund | Ashley Murray and Shauneen Miranda, States Newsroom
FEATURED ON THE LOOKOUT
Former Gov. Bill Haslam and sportscaster Jim Nantz, a Nashville resident, touted the 2030 Super Bowl to be held in Nashville during a May 20 press conference. (Photo: John Partipilo/Tennessee Lookout)
by Sam Stockard
Tennessee lawmakers passed legislation this year creating a joint capital tourism board to oversee $30 million in excess funds generated in the tourism development zone and $300 in surplus funds held by the Nashville Convention Center Authority and former Gov. Bill Haslam said that’s a good thing, as funds generated from it will help pay for the 2030 Super Bowl in Nashville.
Gov. Bill Lee issued a reprieve for death row inmate Tony Carruthers after a failed execution attempt at Riverbend Prison in Nashville, photographed during an anti-death penalty protest in 2025, on May 21, 2026. (Photo: John Partipilo/Tennessee Lookout)
by J. Holly McCall
Gov. Bill Lee issued a one-year reprieve Thursday for Tennessee death row inmate Tony Carruthers after a failed execution attempt in which the physician responsible for the execution could not successfully tap a vein to deliver the drugs for lethal injection.
ICYMI
State approves $30M for Starbucks’ Nashville location | Sam Stockard
NFL tabs Nashville for Super Bowl LXIV | Sam Stockard
COMMENTARY
Thanks for reading The Daily Lookout. Did you know our weekend digest is also free? Sign up here. And if you enjoyed today’s edition, please forward to a friend. Increasing our readership helps us cover more news.