City curfew, state of emergency remain active
The state of emergency Strickland also issued with the curfew runs through Monday, June 8.
Bill Dries
Reporter
Bill Dries covers city and county government and politics. He is a native Memphian and has been a reporter for more than 40 years.
There are 3662 articles by Bill Dries :
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June 2020
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Analysis
City of Memphis‘Crashing Down': Two states of emergency in one city
The "last seven days" mark long-standing issues in Memphis and a renewed public interest in them as a global pandemic and nationwide protests intertwine.
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Metro Floyd protest Day 6 blog: Night of protests ends quietly
Protest groups moved around, as did police. But it all ended peacefully as everyone went home before the 10 p.m. curfew.
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City of Memphis Council ends budget season with core services intact
Passing the $707.8 million city budget saw $1.8 million from a dozen line items moved around to items council members wanted and the use of city reserves that leaves the rainy day fund at a low level of 7% of the budget that starts July 1.
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City of Memphis State comptroller: Memphis faces ‘Catch-22’ with federal CARES money
Tennessee Comptroller Justin Wilson said a lack of federal regulations on the use of $113.6 million that came to Memphis is "crazy," but warrants careful use of the money.
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City of Memphis Final vote on Memphis mask requirement delayed
Councilman says consensus from local officials could come soon if a recent uptick in coronavirus cases continues.
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City of Memphis City Council could wrap ‘difficult’ budget season Tuesday
The council also takes a final vote on a mask ordinance and talks about rules to better regulate lobbyists at City Hall.
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City of Memphis City curfew follows night of 31 arrests, property damage Downtown
The imposition of the late night curfew by Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland, announced Monday, also marks another chapter in the relationship between the city and activists who led the splinter group that tried to occupy the city's two interstate bridges Sunday night.
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Rallings, mayor respond to protests with curfew, Guard
Mayor Jim Strickland and Memphis Police Director Michael Rallings held a special press conference Monday, June 1, to address recent protests. -
City of Memphis Memphis Branch NAACP coordinating legal assistance for arrested protesters
The number of those arrested this past week in a series of five demonstrations in the city is estimated at several dozen with an exact number from last night expected later today.
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Public Safety Fifth night of Downtown protests erupts into scuffles with police and among crowd
As hundreds of protesters gathered Downtown Sunday evening and early Monday morning, there was more tension and more strategy than the previous four demonstrations in response to the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police. And some of the tension was among different camps of activists.
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Analysis
City of MemphisThe politics of face masks
The Memphis City Council could vote this week to require citizens to wear face masks in public places. The facial coverings have touched a political nerve and divide, although proponents of the push for masks say it's not political.
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May 2020
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Metro Peaceful protests turn tense
The latest in the series of four marches so far began Saturday from the National Civil Rights Museum and saw calls for action in the wake of George Floyd's death in police custody in Minneapolis. The Memphis march was peaceful. But hours later a smaller group of people clashed with police at Beale and Main after the entertainment district closed for the night.
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Podcasts Politics Podcast: The return to the familiar
A short podcast this week brings updates on several political topics, as non-COVID issues began to move back into prominence and an uneasy coexistence with the pandemic.
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City of Memphis Report: MLGW could save $150M by splitting from TVA
Leaving the Tennessee Valley Authority could produce up to $150 million a year in savings for Memphis Light, Gas and Water Division. But there are also costs to consider in the numbers-heavy first draft of a report released Friday on a possible move away from TVA.
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Premium
City of MemphisStay or Leave TVA: Critical first draft report expected to say it’s more complicated
The first draft report, which MLGW will release by Friday, likely won't outline a simple unplugging from TVA and plugging in somewhere else. MLGW's president and CEO said in a "Behind the Headlines" interview it's a risky move without the utility generating some of its own power. And two Entergy executives nearby back him on that assertion.
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Elections Governor refuses Black Caucus’ request for universal absentee vote
Despite COVID-19 cases continuing to spread statewide, with Tennessee counting 373 more Thursday, Gov. Bill Lee is rejecting a request by the Tennessee Black Caucus to issue an executive order allowing universal absentee voting.
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Premium
City of MemphisTough past negotiations position city well as TVA question reaches critical point
The city’s nearly century-old relationship between Memphis Light, Gas and Water Division and the Tennessee Valley Authority reaches a critical point with some options, thanks to hard past negotiations.
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City of Memphis City budget season moves along quietly
The review by the council budget committee continued Wednesday with no major changes to the $708.8 million operating budget proposed by Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland. The full council is scheduled to take final votes on the budget and a stable city property tax rate next week.
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Health Department: Transmission happening in households, workplaces
Shelby County Health Department Director Alisa Haushalter said Shelby County could conduct 2,400 tests a day, but many sites lack people who want the tests -- some are at only 40% of capacity.
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City of Memphis Sawyer says fractured county budget season could have been about tax hike
On The Daily Memphian Politics Podcast, Shelby County Commissioner Tami Sawyer also talked about the rift between the Democratic county mayor and the eight-vote Democratic majority on the commission.
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State Government Lee Administration dodges Trump’s call for governors to open houses of worship
Gov. Bill Lee's Office isn't worried about President Donald Trump’s demand for houses of worship to open, saying he never ordered churches to close but did urge alternative services to avoid spreading COVID-19.
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Podcasts Politics Podcast: Thoughts on the Democratic majority in county government
Shelby County Commissioner Tami Sawyer talks about the County Commission’s budget struggle, almost two years in office with a Democratic majority and the politics of face masks.
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Public Safety Testing surge planned in June at correctional center
Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris made the announcement Friday at the end of an eventful week that includes a lawsuit over COVID-19 cases at the Shelby County Jail, calls for testing at the correctional center and a sit-in by jail prisoners with the virus as they were moved out of isolation.
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