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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 3661 articles by Bill Dries :
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%.
The Shelby County Commission meets Wednesday, Dec. 14, to talk about making an appointment to the State House District 86 seat ahead of the special elections.
A redistricting committee explores whether City Council members seeking reelection on the October 2023 Memphis ballot take a hand in redrawing their district lines.
The 8-5 vote by the commission came after an emotional debate and crossed party lines. It is the second of four votes on the deal that would transfer the namesake elementary and middle buildings to Germantown’s school system and greenlight the sale of Germantown High.
Gibson is a former Shelby County Commissioner who founded Gibson Companies, which has been involved in several economic development projects.
A public hearing highlighted skepticism about past efforts to bring blighted areas back to life, and fears the North Memphis neighborhood’s current residents could be displaced.
The Memphis City Council session involves Klondike and Sheraton tax votes, as well as a look at the Dream Hotel next to Peabody Place and the city’s animal ordinance.
The Shelby County Commission will appoint the winner of the Democratic primary election Jan. 24. Since there are no Republican or independent challengers in the special March election, the appointee will effectively be the Tennessee House District 86 representative.
The Shelby County Commission passed the TIF trust fund to collect increased property city and county property taxes and use the revenue for Klondike redevelopment. The plan next goes before the Memphis City Council.
The unanimous Memphis City Council vote approving the tax increment financing district in Klondike follows months of delay. Debates about residents’ displacement and representation will stick around into the new year.
The 5% surcharge on items bought and rooms rented at the Downtown Sheraton hotel goes to finance a renovation of the existing 600-room hotel by the Renasant Convention Center. City Council passes Klondike tax vote, but residents’ concerns remainRelated story:
The lynching site that drew a crowd of 5,000 in 1917 is now an overgrown area by the Wolf River west of Summer Avenue.
Beginning at 11:30 a.m. Friday, Dec. 23, MLGW will implement systemwide “rolling blackouts.”
Here are the links to report outages, find shelter and get rides if you have to get out in the dangerous temperatures that aren’t expect to crack 20 degrees until late Saturday morning.
The 11 who made the noon Thursday, Dec. 15, filing deadline are all in the Jan. 24 Democratic primary in the predominantly Democratic district. No one filed in the companion Republican primary.
MLGW said Friday evening that it was preparing for the possibility of TVA requiring its customers to cut power load by at least 5%.
The Daily Memphian’s D.C. Scorecard tracks votes and positions by the city’s four representatives in Washington on two large spending bills and the ongoing saga of Title 42.
The Shelby County Commission Scorecard calls the roll and explains the importance of the last major votes of 2022, including the county’s part in the deal that moved control of three Germantown schools from one system to another.
The last Memphis City Council Scorecard of 2022 finds the 13-member body unanimous on Klondike revitalization and a tourism surcharge for the city’s convention center hotel. A negotiated settlement of the damage deposit for Memphis In May’s use of the redesigned Tom Lee Park is another matter for another year.
Here is all of the information you need to participate in the first local election of 2023.
The co-founder of the People’s Convention said on The Daily Memphian’s “On The Record” podcast a 2023 edition of the gathering could serve to whittle down the field in this year’s race for Memphis mayor. Meanwhile state House District 86 contenders clashed Tuesday, Jan. 3, at a community forum.
Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland called the development — the latest in the city’s efforts over the last year to force renovations at Peppertree — “great news.”
Memphis Museum Inc., which manages MoSH, Lichterman Nature Center, the Magevney House and the Mallory-Neely House, will operate as an independent entity under a new, still-developing contract with the City of Memphis.
Crime and the city’s power grid were among the major issues and stories of 2022 as discussed on a “Behind The Headlines” reporters roundtable.