Morning Brief: Tennessee lawmakers start session, cliff deal forces IRS to delay tax filing

City Council votes to defer ordinance on Hixson development—Nooga

City Council approves $38 million in sewer repairs—Nooga

Peter Murphy, Yusuf Hakeem to face off in District 9 race—Nooga

Yusuf Hakeem's qualifying for ballot questioned—Nooga

StudentsFirst gives a C- to Tennessee education—Nooga

Charlie Brock to head Launch Tennessee—Nooga

Tennessee lawmakers start session, get right to work—Tennessean

Proposed bill limit hiked but not spiked—WPLN

House bill limit criticized by some Republicans—News Sentinel

Artists of persuasion—TN Report

Mitch McConnell to take entitlement talks lead, John Boehner in back seat—The Hill

Cliff deal forces IRS to delay tax filing—Wall Street Journal

Hillary Clinton to testify on Benghazi on Jan. 22—Politico

Barack Obama's remade inner circle has an all-male look so far—NY Times

Raring for a fight, Obama heads into his second term swinging—The Hill

Iraqis held at Abu Ghraib, other sites receive $5 million—Wall Street Journal

Syria frees 2,130 captives to rebels in exchange for 48 Iranian prisoners—Washington Post

Nashville's latest big hit could be the city itself—NY Times