Early voting tops 81,000 ahead of Thursday election day
The early voting period ended Saturday afternoon and includes a larger than usual absentee ballot count. Election day is Thursday with polling places open until 7 p.m.
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 3833 articles by Bill Dries :
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August 2020
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Elections -
Analysis
State GovernmentAllegations of wrongdoing nothing new for Shelby politicians in Nashville
The recent indictment of state Sen. Katrina Robinson isn't a first for local members of the state legislative delegation, though it is different in that the charges are not connected to her duties as a state senator.
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Podcast
City of MemphisPolice force of 2,800 key to community policing, city experts say
Phyllis Betts and Richard Janikowski have set a new bar for growing the Memphis Police Department ranks to 2,800. They talked on The Daily Memphian Politics Podcast about calls for more police amid calls locally for changing the fundamentals of policing and even the share of government funds devoted to policing.
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Elections Early voting countywide tops 62,000 with two days left
Meanwhile, the hard-fought statewide Republican primary race for the U.S. Senate is being seen by partisans on both sides of the close race as about the conservative movement in the state.
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July 2020
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City of Memphis Council to discuss resolution backing larger Memphis police force of 2,800
If approved, it would call on Mayor Jim Strickland to submit a plan by Oct. 6 for getting to 2,800 police officers by the end of 2023.
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video
ElectionsNew voting system to wait until after November presidential election
On "Behind The Headlines," Shelby County Elections Administrator Linda Phillips says some upgraded digital scanners that are part of the new system will be used in the August vote count and again in November. She expects the November presidential general election Shelby County to be a record-setter in terms of turnout.
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Public Safety Strickland administration pushes for police force of 2,800, end of bid to kill residency referendum
The two-pronged effort comes as two criminal justice consultants instrumental in the Blue Crush police strategy are again working with the city and recommending a police force larger than the goal of 2,300 officers by the end of this year.
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Elections Cohen’s role as vocal Trump critic figures prominently in bid for eighth term
The Congressman faces former Shelby County Democratic Party chairman Corey Strong in the Aug. 6 primary. Strong is critical of Cohen’s style; Cohen says Strong and past challengers don’t understand the job.
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Metro MLGW extends moratorium on late utility payment cutoffs
Memphis Light, Gas and Water Division won't be cutting off utilities for those late on their bills. Customers now have until Aug. 24 to pay their bills or work out a payment plan with MLGW.
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City of Memphis Memphis Rep. Steve Cohen attends John Lewis funeral
The Memphis Congressman said calls at the Atlanta funeral to continue the struggle for voting rights are appropriate in the current political environment.
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Elections State Supreme Court weighs expansion of absentee voting
The state's highest court heard the state's appeal of the recent expansion of mail-in absentee voting ordered last month by a Nashville Chancery Court. The state says absentee ballots are a privilege and not a right. Plaintiffs in the lawsuit argue that in the current pandemic, in-person voting is a choice for voters between their health and their right to vote.
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Elections Deadline to apply for absentee ballots is Thursday
By the 4:30 p.m. Thursday deadline to apply, the Shelby County Election Commission could process 20,000 requests for mail-in ballots that could be a major factor in the August elections.
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Elections Cohen’s campaign track record
Through seven Congressional campaigns, incumbent 9th District Democrat Steve Cohen has posted some impressive percentages in the primary that counts in the majority Democratic district within Shelby County.
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Shelby County County Commission Scorecard: The Race for Number Two
First-term Republican Commissioner Brandon Morrison became chairman pro tempore of the commission with the votes of six of the eight Democratic commissioners and none of the votes of her four Republican colleagues on the body. While it's controversial, the political move is also a common feature of commission politics.
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Public Safety Vandals target homes of county officials
Authorities are investigating after, police say, vandals targeted the homes of Shelby County Sheriff Floyd Bonner and County Commissioners Mark Billingsley and Amber Mills Tuesday, July 28.
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Elections State nears quarter-million mark in early voting
Shelby County posted the second highest county total for the state through the first six days of early voting. Davidson County, including Nashville, has the highest turnout and, at least for now, is the bluest county in terms of early voters' choices of primaries. Of the state's 95 counties, 92 show Republican majorities in their turnout.
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State Government Gov. Lee recommends in-person classes, outlines contingency plans
Gov. Bill Lee outlined the contingency plan the day after Shelby County Schools Superintendent Joris Ray said a safe reopening of in-person classes was "largely a myth" with the number of COVID-19 virus cases growing. The Memphis and Nashville school systems are the only two in the state starting the school year with online classes only.
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City of Memphis Tennessee Supreme Court agrees to hear Graceland appeal of lawsuit dismissal
The state appeals court late last year upheld the dismissal of one in a series of lawsuits by Graceland challenging the FedExForum contract. The lawsuits specifically challenged the clause that forbids public financing of arenas that would compete with the Forum. The appeal to the state Supreme Court could revive the lawsuit.
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Elections Race for the U.S. Senate: The fundraising threshold and the candidates
Statewide races in Tennessee are daunting tasks requiring millions of dollars to credibly campaign in a state with 95 counties and two time zones. Here are the major contenders by those fundraising standards and the other contenders in each primary.
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Elections Mackler bides time, plans for Senate Democratic primary
The Nashville attorney is back two years after bowing out of another Senate bid. This time, James Mackler says his campaign will be “laser focused.”
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Elections Republican Senate primary narrows between Hagerty and Sethi as Flinn seeks different path
The three-way race is a skirmish between two to show who is closer to President Donald Trump and a different strategy by a third candidate, seen before in the 2018 GOP primary for Tennessee governor.
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Shelby County County budget season still echoes short of a ‘budget book’
It's been a month since a county government budget was approved for the fiscal year that began July 1. But until that detailed budget is printed in black and white, there is still some wrangling underway, some distrust and the hiring freeze the county imposed may be melting.
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Shelby County ‘Ban the Box’ wins final approval on county side
Taking a question about past criminal convictions off the county's job application involves a set of complex rules for hiring those with a criminal past. The new ordinance pushes the consideration to later in the hiring process.
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Metro Jones elected new County Commission chairman
Shelby County Commissioner Eddie Jones will move from the number two spot on the commission to the chairman’s job next month. -
Metro County Commission delays vote on new public health board
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