County Commission approves alcohol ban at county functions
Though it’s expected to be amended, Shelby County Commissioners approved Monday, July 13, a ban on alcoholic beverages being served at county facilities.
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 4051 articles by Bill Dries :
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July 2020
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Metro -
Elections Shelby County Schools board races feature a majority of positions
A majority of the seats on the nine-member Shelby County Schools board are on the August election ballot. As voters make those choices, starting with early voting later this week, parents are making other choices around the new school year.
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Shelby County County imposes hiring freeze and review to hold line on ‘tight’ budget
The proposal comes as County Mayor Lee Harris has 46 requests from other countywide elected officials to add positions two weeks into the new fiscal year. Harris also served notice Monday that next budget season he will be back with some kind of proposal to raise revenues to avoid layoffs and cuts in services that are a real possibility this fiscal year.
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Shelby County County ‘Ban the Box’ proposal for ex-offenders gets more complicated
Some significant amendments to apply the program to private contractors pushed a final vote to July 21.
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Elections August ballot includes some surprise races
Early voting in advance of the Aug. 6 election day begins Friday in Shelby County.
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Shelby County County Commission to take final vote on ‘ban the box’
The proposal would remove from county government employment applications the check box or question that asks whether the applicant has been convicted of a criminal offense.
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City of Memphis Elections are the next step beyond protests, say NAACP Freedom Fund speakers
The annual fundraiser of the Memphis Branch NAACP was held online Saturday and featured appearances by the national president and CEO of the nation's oldest civil rights organization as well as recent Democratic presidential contender Julian Castro.
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Podcast
City of MemphisMorgan says local reaction to George Floyd still awaits real legislative police reform
On The Daily Memphian Politics Podcast, City Council member Worth Morgan talks about his possible move to take police out of the city's civil service system and calls a move to cancel the November referendum allowing the city to hire police from outside Shelby County "the ultimate hypocrisy."
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City of Memphis City Council calls special session next week to discuss solid-waste-fee discount
The proposed discount would be in "Area E" – parts of Cordova and Hickory Hill where Waste Pro, the contractor for the city, has been falling behind in garbage collection.
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Shelby County County Commission continues budget reckoning at first in-person meeting since March
The Wednesday committee sessions drew most of the 13 commissioners, with the remainder attending online. Also debuting was a partitioned commission chambers with glass barriers between the elected officials and masks worn in the booths created for them.
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Public Safety Strickland, Rallings shift emphasis from police reform to ongoing violence
Mayor Jim Strickland’s reform discussions are continuing, he said Wednesday, but critics of the belief that more cops means less crime have become more vocal since the death in Minneapolis of George Floyd on Memorial Day.
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City of Memphis City Council takes first vote to remove police residency from ballot, talks other reforms
Memphis City Council members also got their first look Tuesday at how much police have spent in the past four years on overtime and riot gear as well as other preparations to handle protests.
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City of Memphis TVA counteroffer to keep MLGW includes buying transmission system
The offer by CEO Jeff Lyash at a Tuesday City Council presentation includes investments and money over a 20-year period. Meanwhile, there was more reaction from other parts of the issue on a final version of the Integrated Resource Plan on the matter commissioned by MLGW.
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Elections Voter registration deadline for August election likely to pass quietly
The deadline is the end of the business day Tuesday for those not already registered. But 83% of the county's voting age population is already on the voting rolls. Meanwhile, about 7,500 Shelby Countians already registered to vote have requested absentee ballots — far above the usual number of requests for the mail-in ballots.
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City of Memphis Sierra Club says MLGW-TVA report distorts renewable-energy use
While critical of the first draft of the IRP by Siemens consulting, the environmental group says it still makes a case for more renewable energy to generate electric power. The Sierra Club response also stops short of recommending cutting ties to TVA, saying the cost of transmission lines to rival MISO should be fully explored.
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City of Memphis Police reform proposals and discussions dominate council agenda
Memphis City Council members to discuss removing police from the city’s civil service system.
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Elections Shelby Republicans open campaign headquarters
The Cordova headquarters opening spotlighted the only countywide race on the August ballot – the race for General Sessions Court Clerk between Democrat Joe Brown and Republican Paul Boyd.
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Podcast
City of MemphisMLGW-TVA decision enters critical phase
The public comment period on the first draft of the study that plays a crucial role in whether the city-owned utility stays with the federal agency ends Monday.
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Public Safety City Council to discuss removing police from civil service system
The ordinance to be discussed is aimed at cases in which police leadership have moved to fire officers they found had used excessive force or deadly force improperly only to have those officers reinstated on appeal. The appeal is part of the city's civil service system.
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Public Safety Judge in jail lawsuit urges both sides to talk
U.S. District Judge Sheryl Lipman says the case isn't about her ordering changes at Shelby County Jail, but about whether vulnerable prisoners should be ordered released.
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Video
City of MemphisSmiley says look for more City Council moves on police reform
On “Behind The Headlines,” the first-term council member said the proposals to come will push further on changing the Memphis Police Department beyond nonbinding resolutions approved last month.
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Shelby County Shelby County Commission Scorecard: Ending the Budget Season
The commission scorecard includes votes on a property tax hike, a Juneteenth holiday and a resolution recognizing racism as a pandemic.
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June 2020
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Shelby County Harris issues virus measures in county prisons, detention centers
The measures, effective immediately, include no out-of-county prisoners into the four facilities and more access to visitation and prison programs by video livestream. They follow a testing surge for prisoners and staff earlier in June.
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Metro Alexander says statues, monuments should be reviewed, rotated
Speaking to an online meeting of the Memphis Rotary Club, the U.S. senator from Tennessee said efforts to take down the statue of Andrew Jackson in Washington D.C. show "a terrible misunderstanding of history." Alexander also said the lawsuit seeking to do away with the Affordable Care Act is "flimsy."
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Public Safety Strickland, Rallings make new overture on police reform
Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland and Memphis Police Director Michael Rallings talked about further police reform efforts at a Tuesday briefing that was partially an answer to critics of Strickland's first set of reforms.
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