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 3834 articles by Bill Dries :
The City Council delayed a vote on the Memphis in May plan Tuesday, Nov.15, and is discussing some amendments, including a third-party arbiter to watch the set-up and take-down of Memphis In May’s two biggest events.
Martavius Jones has been acting chairman of the body since Jamita Swearengen gave up her council seat in August. Council member JB Smiley Jr. remains council vice chairman.
A reporters’ roundtable on “Behind The Headlines,” looks at the November midterm election results in Shelby County and the campaign for Memphis Mayor that ends with an October 2023 Election Day.
Two suburban economic development pros said on “Behind The Headlines” that infrastructure and real estate are Shelby County’s two critical areas as it sees growth from Ford’s BlueOval City in Haywood County.
There are city residency questions surrounding two of the six declared contenders to succeed Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland. Here’s a summary of legal opinions fueling the controversy.
The 2023 election year will begin in Memphis with a set of January primaries for the late Barbara Cooper’s state House seat.
U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg will be in the city Tuesday, Nov. 29, to tout federal infrastructure funding aimed at supply chain challenges during FedEx’s busiest time of year.
Here are some of the specs involved in Tuesday’s opening of Memphis International Airport’s Consolidated De-Icing Facility.
Davis has been a key player in the latest changes to the city’s solid waste division. His nomination goes to the Memphis City Council next week.
The Memphis Sports & Events Center formally opens Dec. 10 with amateur sports leagues and tournaments following in January.
The new Shelby County Clerk’s office missed a second opening deadline of Dec. 1.
Here’s how the city’s representatives in Washington D.C. voted on the two major issues and what they had to say about it on social media.
On “Behind the Headlines,” the incoming president and CEO of the Greater Memphis Chamber Ted Townsend called it a “vast change” from being a magnet for logistics and distribution.
MSCS leaders say they may be going to court. Meanwhile, the commission has delayed what was to be a final vote on a TIF district for redevelopment of Klondike.
The council renews discussions Tuesday on a damage deposit agreement for the Memphis In May International Festival’s use of Tom Lee Park as well as a tourism surcharge for the Downtown Memphis Sheraton Hotel.
“The terminal is what we want redone now,” Mayor Jim Strickland said at the opening of the $309-million de-icing facility at Memphis International.
Some Shelby County Commissioners didn’t care for how terms of the deal that would transfer two Germantown namesake schools to the City of Germantown were made public.
The $1.3 million is one-time money for the city’s bus system. Meanwhile, commissioner Henri Brooks voted against three grants made by other commissioners.
The terms of the tax incentive for adding a 300-room tower to the existing Sheraton convention center hotel include keeping the value of the existing hotel at its 1998 assessment for tax purposes. Although they don’t have a vote on the incentive terms, Memphis City Council members say their concerns are linked to their vote on a hotel tourism surcharge.
The delay to the Dec. 20 council session mirrors a delay by the Shelby County Commission. The council also delayed a vote on a settlement to the damage deposit dispute between Memphis River Parks Partnership and the Memphis in May International Festival.
The former Shelby County commissioner filed Monday, Dec. 5, in the January Democratic primary special election. There are six other Democrats with qualifying petitions out ahead of the Dec. 15 filing deadline.
The D.C. Scorecard looks at the partisan split on federal same-sex marriage recognition and the National Defense Authorization Act.
Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris and Germantown Mayor Mike Palazzolo talked in more specific terms about the Germantown schools transfer on “Behind The Headlines.”
As Mayor Jim Strickland formally opened the Memphis Sports and Events Center on Saturday, he had a contract on his desk for the commercial mixed-use development along Central Avenue.
The certified vote totals from the November election show an increase in the number of provisional ballots cast and counted compared to the August elections. The votes added didn’t change any of the outcomes on the November ballot, but they did boost the turnout to 34.4%.