Halbert goes to Jamaica, Comptroller says she’s ‘AWOL’
The Tennessee Comptroller’s office confirmed Halbert’s vacation to Jamaica with Comptroller Jason Mumpower calling her “AWOL.”
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 3841 articles by Bill Dries :
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August 2022
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Metro -
Elections Election commission certifies Aug. 4 vote
The results show 23.6% of Shelby County’s registered voters cast ballots.
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City of Memphis MATA secures $76.3M in federal funding for long-planned public transit upgrades
When U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen hosts the Federal Transit administrator Wednesday, Aug. 24, at the Memphis Area Transit Authority’s maintenance shop and head office in North Memphis, the good and the bad will be on display. -
City of Memphis Memphis City Council approves new district lines — for now
The goal was to set new boundaries for the District 4 special election in November but the map, released just ahead of the Tuesday vote, featured changes to other districts. The council appeared likely Tuesday, Aug. 23, to reopen and redraw the map next year ahead of regular October 2023 city elections.
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City of Memphis FedEx founder, Pulitzer Prize winners tapped for Freedom Awards
The Freedom Awards will be held Oct. 20 at the Orpheum.
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City of Memphis Tom Lee Park ‘open for business’ as remodel reaches halfway point
Crews working on the $62 million redesign are on seven-day-a-week schedule. The Memphis River Parks Partnership is hosting events next month to field proposals for events in the park as well as food and beverage vendors.
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EducationWho’s Who at Memphis-Shelby County Schools
Here’s a look at key players at Memphis-Shelby County Schools as the system investigates allegations of sexual misconduct against Superintendent Joris Ray.
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Here’s a look at the changes MSCS has seen over the past decade
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City of Memphis MATA celebrates additional $140M in federal funding
With the funding, MATA is looking to add “service in the streets,” but it also hopes to move to a new headquarters within three years.
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MetroCity Council Scorecard: Scrap city primaries, OK One Beale backstop resolution
The City Council Scorecard tracks the council votes that killed a bid for city primaries and sent a One Beale financial backstop to the mayor’s office even though the mayor says he won’t act on it.
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Arts & Culture Memphis in May posts record $2.2M in red ink for 2022
The unaudited Memphis in May annual report shows a loss as sponsorships and contributions dropped along with revenues from the record 2019 month-long event. The cost or expense of putting on the events was also up due to relocation.
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Elections Transitions and certified vote totals fuel move to November ballot
The Daily Memphian’s “On The Record” podcast takes a closer look at the numbers in the certified vote totals from August, previews the nearly complete November ballot and features a few political notes.
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Elections Ballot taking shape for Nov. 8 election
The Shelby County Election Commission meets Monday, Aug. 22, to certify the August election results, including winners of the state and federal primaries from that ballot.
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Downtown Memphis in May, ‘down but not out,’ worries about 2023 festival in Tom Lee Park
Memphis in May is eager to return to Tom Lee Park but cites issues with a lease and damage deposit lead to ‘uncertainty’ at its annual meeting.
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Shelby County State comptroller says no takeover of county clerk’s office
The response from Comptroller Jason Mumpower is a response to a bipartisan resolution from the Shelby County Commission calling for state oversight of the county clerk’s office led by clerk Wanda Halbert. It also raises the possibility of some kind of local ouster effort
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Metro Mayor tells MIM and Memphis River Parks Partnership to work it out
The day after Memphis in May president Jim Holt said the dispute over holding the festival at Tom Lee Park should be settled by Mayor Jim Strickland, Strickland flatly rejected the idea at least for now and in public.
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Memphis in May ‘down but not out,’ worries about 2023 festival in Tom Lee Park
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City of MemphisHere’s how MIM can lower $1.4M damage deposit for Tom Lee Park
Negotiations between the festival and the partnership hit a rough patch this week over the amount.
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Mayor tells MIM and Memphis River Parks Partnership to work it out
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Behind The Headlines Controversial Jamaican holiday, MSCS superintendent search top busy news week
A reporters’ roundtable recaps those events and more on “Behind The Headlines.”
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Elections Mayoral runoffs could return ahead of 2023 elections
With little fanfare, the council pulled its Aug. 9 vote defeating a ballot question on partisan city primaries. The reconsideration could amend that plan to a proposal to restore the runoff provision in the race for Memphis mayor.
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Shelby County Shelby County Commission closes 4-year term of office with Monday meeting
Six of the 13 commissioners are ending their time on the legislative body with Monday’s session. The commission also takes a vote that sets in motion $350 million in funding over several years for a new Regional One Health center.
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South Memphis Judge orders no new tenants for Peppertree for next four months
The city filed in Federal Court this past month following two elevated walkways collapsing and a fire that burned the apartment leasing office to the ground.
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Shelby County Five County Commissioners attend last meeting after hitting term limit
Five departing commissioners were honored with plaques, framed proclamations and green-and-gold county flags while reflecting about holding elected office.
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Shelby County County votes to set up committee to tackle new Regional One Health center funding
The next move for county funding toward a new Regional One Health center in the Medical District is an appointed committee to come up with recommendations on what is likely to be some kind of bond financing.
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Five County Commissioners attend last meeting after hitting term limit
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Shelby County Easter-Thomas pushes for reopening Memphis City Council district lines
Michalyn Easter-Thomas has the backing of a coalition of groups who want to explore not only new district lines for the council but possibly a restructuring, including runoffs and eliminating super districts.
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Shelby County Halbert calls attention to vacation ‘disrespectful’
Shelby County Clerk Wanda Halbert also responded to allegations from the Assessor’s office that her cut off of information from a county database on new business permits has cost the county $4 million in tax revenue.
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Assessor alleges Halbert decision costs county $4M a year in lost tax revenue
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Shelby County Commission narrowly rejects special counsel to investigate clerk’s office
The move could have been a start toward ouster proceedings against Clerk Wanda Halbert.
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