Reporter
Bill Dries covers city and county government and politics. He is a native Memphian and has been a reporter for almost 50 years covering a wide variety of stories from the 1977 death of Elvis Presley and the 1978 police and fire strikes to numerous political campaigns, every county mayor and every Memphis Mayor starting with Wyeth Chandler.
There are 3812 articles by Bill Dries :
Memphis Fire Chief Gina Sweat says the Monday pre-dawn fire took about an hour to bring under control. She warned Tuesday the investigation of the cause will take time. Calkins: On Clayborn Temple’s final day, shaken Memphians came to pay their respectsRelated content:
Local Democrats set a May 31 date to pick a chair, Patricia Possel is the newest Shelby County election commissioner and Congressman Steve Cohen says revoking student visas is causing problems on Memphis college campuses.
“If history teaches us anything, it’s this: Clayborn Temple will rise again, because its foundation was never merely physical. It was spiritual. It was communal. And that foundation cannot be burned,” said NCRM President Russ Wigginton.
The multi-year dollar figure comes from the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office and would fundamentally alter the county’s annual capital budget now at $150 million a year for all capital projects.
Council Chair Ford Canale and Council member Philip Spinosa are working on a proposal they hope will not draw the attention of Airbnb lobbyists in Nashville who undid some of the regulations council members put in place in 2016.
Although the capital and operating funds are separate, the new capital projects are expected to push attendance up, which raises more money for the zoo to operate.
The council hears about a proposal to enforce standards for lighting and cleanliness of Downtown parking garages and votes on a move to extend the life of a temporary Downtown surface parking lot at Beale and Main streets.
County Commissioner Britney Thornton said Wednesday the allegations against Commissioner Edmund Ford Jr. shouldn’t be considered in deciding what, if any, changes should be made to the body’s grant program.
Darren Goods is a veteran former Memphis police officer who, before his retirement, was part of the police brass, including leading several specialized units that focused on violent crime.
Investigators behind a new criminal justice report talked about a way to change how cases move through the courts.
The logistics of the concert business have changed dramatically since the city’s last stadium show 25 years ago, with more elaborate stages. The planned renovation announced last week would allow the biggest tours to again have a venue in Memphis.
Developers cut the ribbon Wednesday, April 16, on three new homes in Soulsville with plans for a total of 12. The Compass Circle developers aim to create affordable housing for first-time homebuyers.
Memphis Public Libraries marked the 1893 opening of the Cossitt on Saturday, April 12, with discussions of the history about public libraries in the city that touched on racial segregation and more.
Sunday’s shooting underscored a troubling week for gun violence in Memphis. There have been nine murders over the past seven days, according to the city’s Weekly Crime Trends report.
The Shelby County Commission approved unanimously an expansion of universal prekindergarten services.
The commission also takes a second reading vote Monday on a pay raise for the next Shelby County Sheriff. Final action on a pair of ethics ordinances has been delayed to next month.
Church Health CEO Jennie Robbins talked on “Behind The Headlines” about concerns that show up with the nonprofit’s patients amid national policy changes in Washington, D.C.
The four days of intense rainfall set a new record for the period in Memphis and raised the level of the Mississippi River at Memphis dramatically.
“I can’t remember seeing a full bus,” Council member Dr. Jeff Warren said. “If we are not filling those buses up, why are we buying the big buses?”
Mayor Paul Young’s second budget proposal as mayor trims $30 million in red ink Young says began his budget planning process.
At its Tuesday, March 18, session, the City Council also takes first votes on the Cleveland Street redevelopment plan and a $300 a year blight fee on owners of abandoned and vacant properties.
Complicating the budget proposal for Memphis Mayor Paul Young is an estimated $7 million hole in revenue because of problems at the Shelby County Clerk’s Office.
The Political Roundup also digs into the reaction at the National Civil Rights Museum’s April 4th commemoration to Donald Trump’s executive orders.
The Memphis City Council delayed indefinitely any decision on the proposed closings of two streets in Chickasaw Gardens, and environmental impacts of an xAI plant caused a riff in the body.
The Memphis education landscape is among the topics discussed on this week’s “Behind The Headlines.”