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 3978 articles by Bill Dries :
The first reception to the council resolutions presented Tuesday comes with a record of past resistance that indicates it probably won't be as easy as a council vote. The resolutions are advisory.
Council members expressed alarm at the rise in the daily COVID-19 case count locally and are prepared to call a special meeting Friday to enact a mask requirement in public places within Memphis.
The “Justice in Policing Act” was introduced in the House Monday. Hearings before the House Judiciary Committee, including U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen, begin Wednesday.
The plan to balance the county budget came apart when the commission put too much weight on the idea that federal reimbursements for county dollars spent on the pandemic freed up about $4.8 million. It didn't. Then a move to cut the sheriff's department budget brought two weeks of protest over the George Floyd incident into the discussion.
The chief of staff to Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris talks about her son's coming transition as a young black man and worries about what will happen when he encounters police. The city's police director says his officers are not the enemy.
Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland has lifted the citywide curfew.
A grieving mother's account, and a man who says he participated in the 1968 I Am A Man march add poignancy to Sunday evening demonstrations.
Bobby White, a native Memphian with experience behind the scenes in local government and politics, talks about what more than a week of daily protests in the city means for future decisions on how the police do their jobs.
Bobby White says oversight of police by the police director isn't enough, no matter how good or well-intentioned the director is.
The curfew, renewed on a daily basis by executive order, has been in effect since Monday.
The leader of the consulting team that drafted a plan for MLGW potentially getting power from providers other than TVA said even the “worst outcome” in the report shows savings for MLGW.
No protest was planned for the evening of Thursday, June 4, 2020, but one occurred anyway after a civil disobedience class at the National Civil Rights Museum. The Daily Memphian followed events with photos, videos and stories.
Epidemiology chief David Sweat said the "vast majority" of deaths are patients age 55 and older.
The dean of clinical affairs at UTHSC says the local pandemic is "under reasonable control" and a week of protests gathering hundreds of Memphians together was important enough to risk what might lead to a rise in confirmed cases.
Our coverage includes stories, videos and photos.
Shelby County commissioners got within $11 million of rebuilding County Mayor Lee Harris’s consolidated county budget proposal before calling it a day and leaving the rest for a Monday commission meeting.
The state of emergency Strickland also issued with the curfew runs through Monday, June 8.
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.
Protest groups moved around, as did police. But it all ended peacefully as everyone went home before the 10 p.m. curfew.
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.
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.
Councilman says consensus from local officials could come soon if a recent uptick in coronavirus cases continues.
The council also takes a final vote on a mask ordinance and talks about rules to better regulate lobbyists at City Hall.
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.