Kustoff says November election results could take a while
The Germantown Republican says he thinks mail-in absentee voting could be manipulated and said recent changes in postal service began during the Obama administration.
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 4097 articles by Bill Dries :
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September 2020
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Elections -
City of Memphis City Council approves changes to renaming process
The approval of the ordinance Tuesday is part of the council's larger debate about the Black Lives Matter Movement. Several other resolutions from that larger discussion were also approved by the council.
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City of Memphis MLGW halts utility cutoffs for another two weeks
The announcement came Tuesday as Memphis City Council members called for a better accounting of the various funds that help those behind on utility bills.
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City of Memphis Police reform discussion continues at City Council
The council has two final votes scheduled as part of its ongoing discussion of police reform and a discussion of a third measure to create an online portal for the public to see some details of complaints of police misconduct.
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August 2020
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Podcast
ElectionsA political valley on the road to Nov. 3
The Daily Memphian Politics Podcast recaps some events from the past week and some of the recently certified election results are cause to go looking through some numbers from the historic 1991 city elections.
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Video
ElectionsMarquita Bradshaw: ‘Not a fringe campaign’
On "Behind The Headlines," the Democratic nominee for the U.S. Senate says she's raised 10 times more money since she won the August primary statewide. Bradshaw touts an alternative path back to the U.S. Senate in Tennessee for Democrats that relies on community organizers and their networks.
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Elections Election chief: Using FedExForum for voting ‘not practical’
Using FedExForum as a gigantic polling location for the November election would be like “shooting flies with cannon balls,” Shelby County Elections Administrator Linda Phillips said Friday, Aug. 28.
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City of Memphis Strickland to name police reform commission in second phase of ‘reimagining’ police
Word of the commission comes the same week that a federal task force shot and wounded a teenager while serving a warrant in a case of mistaken identity.
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Metro MATA gets federal grant for combined fare collection system
The Memphis Area Transit Authority is developing a fare collection system that combines the city bus system with other transportation options including ride services, van pools, medical transportation and “micro-transit.” -
City of Memphis TVA board chair says Lyash stays as board announces 2.5% reduction in cost
President Donald Trump called earlier this month for changes at the top of TVA including Lyash. But after Thursday's board meeting in Knoxville, new board chairman John Ryder of Memphis said there are no plans to oust Lyash.
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Elections Kanye West petition for state’s presidential ballot includes familiar Memphis names
West qualified for the Tennessee presidential ballot this week with two members of the Ford family among those who signed from Memphis. The effort also included signatures from the Nashville and Clarksville areas.
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City of Memphis City puts $3.5 million toward MLGW fund to slow chain reaction
Thousands of people began to contact MLGW Friday and Monday to work out payment plans, overwhelming the utility's phone bank and creating long lines outside branch offices.
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Shelby County County Commission Scorecard: Defender’s office do-over, firefighters hired
The latest edition of our scorecard looks at several moves in the hiring freeze and what the rejection of a convenience store on East Holmes Road could mean for similar businesses in the rest of the county.
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Elections Certified vote totals show signs of frustration with mail delays
The voter turnout totals certified Monday by the Shelby County Election Commission show a larger than normal number of provisional ballots.
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Metro Commission votes down East Holmes and Hacks Cross convenience store
A proposed convenience store with gas pumps on the southeast corner of East Holmes Road and Hacks Cross Road was voted down Monday, Aug. 24, by Shelby County commissioners. -
Shelby County County hiring freeze continues to thaw with questions about budget numbers
Shelby County commissioners approved a waiver to the freeze Monday for county firefighters but put off another waiver for 78 more positions in other departments.
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Metro Clerk-elect Joe Brown recovering from coronavirus
General Sessions Court Clerk-elect Joe Brown, the former Memphis City Council member who won the clerk’s position in the August elections, said he is recovering from coronavirus.
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Shelby County Tight county budget, plus term limits, hurt hiring, commissioner says
Milton's argument comes as the head of information services for county government says his lean budget could exacerbate problems hiring tech employees. The commission votes Monday on a set of exceptions to the county's hiring freeze totaling 104 positions and nearly $7 million.
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Podcast
On the RecordCity Parks director says parks seeing ‘renaissance’ in pandemic
Nick Walker, who recently went from interim to permanent director of the city’s division of parks and neighborhoods, talked about the change and the move to a parks master plan on The Daily Memphian Politics Podcast.
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City of Memphis TVA chief details Memphis losses in economic development by leaving the system
Memphis and Shelby County will sacrifice hundreds of millions of dollars worth of support in economic development if Memphis Light, Gas & Water Division splits from TVA, chief executive Jeffrey Lyash tells the EDGE Board.
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Metro Council approves church demolition moratorium
Any demolition permit for a church on Summer Avenue that is 50 years old or older would have to get Memphis City Council approval for the next six months. -
Public Safety Owens pleads to federal heroin conspiracy charge
The son of onetime topless nightclub kingpin Danny Owens is one of five people charged last year with running a heroin and fentanyl dealing operation in the city as Owens allegedly was planning to open a Memphis nightclub.
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Video
Behind The HeadlinesPolice numbers still dominate city council’s debate over police reform
Council members Michalyn Easter-Thomas and Chase Carlisle were on opposite sides of the council's veto override vote on police residency this week. On "Behind The Headlines" they talked about how many police are enough and how to get to the bigger issues beyond the numbers in the ranks.
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City of Memphis City Council Scorecard: The veto and the override
The City Council Scorecard also looks at a police reform measure that fell short of seven votes and failure of Graceland's plan to open a manufacturing plant with a vocational school in Whitehaven.
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City of Memphis MLGW board moves to speed up review of TVA exit options
As expected, the utility is moving to a request-for-proposal process that would seek specific proposals from electric power suppliers that could replace the Tennessee Valley Authority.
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