Unposted speed limit goes from 30 mph to 25 mph in close council vote
By a narrow 7-6 vote, the Memphis City Council has changed the default speed limit on city streets without speed limit signs from 30 miles an hour to 25 miles an hour.
Bill Dries
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 3972 articles by Bill Dries :
-
January 2021
-
City of Memphis -
City of Memphis Rallings says police department numbers too low for community policing push
In the discussion with Memphis City Council members Tuesday, Jan. 5, the police director said he can’t carry out plans of a city task force to reopen several community policing centers given the pandemic. He got immediate pushback from several council members.
-
Arts & Culture Stolen: $11,000 in artifacts taken from Mud Island museum
The museum has been closed to the public during the COVID-19 pandemic while the Mud Island River Park has been open to visitors.
-
City of Memphis City Council marks one year of exile from City Hall chambers
The first online council meeting of the year comes with some changes in committee chairmanships and votes on down-zoning two parts of Summer Avenue as well as new penalties for illegal street racing.
-
State Government Blackburn, Hagerty oppose presidential election certification
The two Republicans are part of a group of 11 Republican Senators and Senators-elect who are calling for a Congressional investigation and audit of presidential election results in battleground states won by President-elect Joe Biden.
-
-
December 2020
-
Shelby County 5 critical votes by the Shelby County Commission
From an ongoing budget battle to police reform and new voting machines, these are five critical votes by the Shelby County Commission in 2020 as chronicled in The Daily Memphian’s County Commission Scorecard.
-
State Government Cohen, Kustoff vote for veto override, split on larger stimulus checks
The two Republican U.S. senators representing Tennessee have not commented on the override of the Defense Authorization Act veto by Trump or the move to boost stimulus checks from $600 to $2,000 per person.
-
Premium
City of MemphisFive significant City Council votes in 2020
The Daily Memphian City Council Scorecard tracked 48 key council decisions in the current council’s first year in office. These are five significant decisions made that promise to have an impact on what happens in 2021.
-
Elections Pandemic, police reform, political divide and county budget rift top Year In Review podcast
The Daily Memphian Politics Podcast offers a review of the year 2020 centered on four major events. Three of the four were national in scope. The fourth is a local story that has broad implications for the gap between aspirations and the reality of governing.
-
Shelby County County Commission Scorecard: Pandemic maneuvers and keeping police reform alive
The last County Commission meeting of the year included important decisions on governing in a pandemic, with a path to nine votes through compromise and the fine print of the newest health department directive.
-
Metro Alexander, Blackburn split on COVID-19 relief bill
The city’s representatives in the U.S. Senate split on the bipartisan $900 billion package while the city’s two Congressmen both voted for the bill.
-
Metro National Civil Rights Museum closes temporarily
The National Civil Rights Museum is closed until further notice because of the new countywide health directive.
-
City of Memphis City Council backs health directive, considers taking pay cut
The council action wasn’t unanimous and it follows a split vote the day before by the Shelby County Commission expressing support for the countywide directive that takes effect the day after Christmas.
-
Metro County commission approves PILOT extension fund for Downtown parking project
Shelby County commissioners approved Monday, Dec. 21, the use of a PILOT (payments in lieu of taxes) extension fund to finance a five-part, $62 million Downtown parking project. -
Shelby County Last of county police reform measures pushed into new year
The delay in the final vote on requiring County Commission approval for the sheriff to acquire surplus military hardware came after Sheriff Floyd Bonner complained he hadn’t been consulted. County Mayor Lee Harris disputed that assertion.
-
Shelby County County Commission supports health directive, fines for violations
Shelby County commissioners voted Monday, Dec. 21, to support a health department directive announced earlier in the day and, in a separate vote, to give the health department the authority to cite and fine business owners for violating the directive.
-
Shelby County Suburban, county leaders still have concerns about revised health directive
A revised health directive released Monday, Dec. 21, by the Shelby County Health Department is better than a draft leaked to the media earlier, suburban and county leaders say, but still causes some concerns. Related story: New, restrictive health directive out, effective Dec. 26
-
Business Lee limits public gatherings with executive order
Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee again refused to order a statewide mask mandate Sunday, Dec. 20, instead ordering a statewide limit on indoor public social gatherings of no more than 10 people excluding homes and churches.
-
Shelby County County Commission has busy afternoon ahead
The commission is taking final votes on an ordinance that would let Shelby County Health Department levy fines for COVID violations, and a requirement for Shelby County Sheriff’s Department to get commission approval to acquire surplus military equipment and weapons.
-
Elections Organizers say down-ballot races key to Tennessee Democrats
Several dozens activists and organizers working for Democratic candidates in the 2020 elections have drafted a “roadmap to renewal” for the state party. A Memphis organizer talks about the roadmap on The Daily Memphian Politics Podcast. The recommendations come as the party prepares to elect a new statewide leader in January.
-
Coronavirus Memphis looks at pre-Christmas lockdown; suburbs say no way
The Memphis City Council will consider asking health officials for another lockdown just before Christmas, but suburban mayors adamantly oppose such action.
-
City of Memphis Beale St. Music Festival canceled as City Council mulls ‘safer at home’
The Memphis In May International Festival is calling off the Beale Street Music Festival in May as the Memphis City Council considers urging a Christmas week “safer at home” order.
-
City of Memphis City Council Scorecard: Parking money and the 13-way split
The council approved the financing for a $62 million set of five Downtown parking projects. But the issue was what to do with the money made from the parking garages.
-
City of Memphis Look back at 2020 includes peering into 2021
The local face of a global pandemic, challenges to education and the local reaction to the death of George Floyd topped a “Behind The Headlines” review of the year 2020.
-
Spirit of Memphis Opinion: Jarman made radio’s hard work sound easy
The death of Chris Jarman this week ends a radio career built on credibility with Memphis radio listeners that transcended formats and call letters.
-