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 3898 articles by Bill Dries :
On The Daily Memphian Politics Podcast, incoming City Council member J.B. Smiley Jr. said he would like to have a voice in the current council's decision about residency requirements. But he said he accepts if the referendum on the matter is approved by the current council before members leave office. He also said concerns about reliability if MLGW breaks ties with TVA might be a "scare tactic."
On Behind The Headlines, Memphis River Parks Partnership President Carol Coletta offered few clues about what the mediation over the redesign of Tom Lee Park will mean.
Mayor Jim Strickland officially unveiled plans Thursday for the naming rights of the Renasant Convention Center. The 10-year deal with renewals clauses should pay about half of the $2 million in the red that convention center operates at annually, according to Strickland.
The council approved a November 2020 referendum on a residency requirement for police and fire fighters Tuesday on the first of three votes.
Tom Intrator, 18 S. Main developer, took the concept of aligned development to City Council members Tuesday as they reviewed a unique tax incentive for the $1.1 billion project that is a PILOT used like a TIF.
Memphis City Council members have paperwork on their agenda Tuesday for the second convention center hotel project, changes to the Union Row project incentives and a supplement to the Pinch District redevelopment.
A public comment session Monday at the Central Library drew several dozen people and plenty of reminders of the city's long-running debate about the bus system run by the Memphis Area Transit Authority. The corridor has almost all of the $74 million to build the Union and Poplar corridor that would start operations in 2024.
Memphis Public Libraries are doing away with one of the basics of public libraries -- fines for books that are returned past their due date.
The Sunday afternoon Mass recalled the 1939 milestone at the neighboring Magevney House and the ecumenical spirit that led to the city's first Catholic parish that followed. St. Peter's pastor also reminded parishioners that faith is not without divisions and controversy but is also about unity.
An October federal indictment of Blake Owens and four others for allegedly dealing heroin and fentanyl is a major drug case. It's also part of a 25-year saga that includes real estate, strip clubs, kidnapping, racketeering, wiretaps and a plea by Owens in 2006 for federal prison officials to release him somewhere other than Memphis.
General Sessions Court Clerk Ed Stanton Jr. has a little less than a year left in office and will not seek re-election next year. Before his exit, Stanton says he has a few goals to accomplish.
On The Daily Memphian Politics Podcast, outgoing council Chairman Kemp Conrad discusses Memphis Light, Gas and Water Division rate hikes and a recent visit to Hungary.
Memphis City Council chairman Kemp Conrad talks about the new council that takes office in January, the current council’s end-of-term agenda, why the new CLERB proposal can wait and a sobering moment during his recent trip to Hungary.
Michalyn Easter-Thomas upset incumbent District 7 council member Berlin Boyd by a wide margin in runoff elections Thursday. And In District 1, challenger Rhonda Logan upset incumbent Sherman Greer.
A federal judge has denied the city’s motion to modify the 41-year old consent decree barring political surveillance by the Memphis Police Department.
MLGW brass, TVA leaders and Memphis City Council members met Wednesday at City Hall for the latest discussion in a decision the utility and the city are expected to make in 2020.
The races in District 1 and District 7 close out the 2019 election year in Memphis politics with hard fought contests reflecting political combat before the election season started.
Here is everything you need to know about participating in the last election day of 2019 – the dos and don'ts, what to expect and what's next.
As the city of Memphis prepares to mark its 200th anniversary, the Chickasaw Nation is finding the story of its origins in a part of the city Native Americans left 500 years ago.
Memphis City Council members are moving toward an ordinance banning hand-held cell phone use in cars that will mirror state law on the matter.
On The Daily Memphian Politics Podcast, Jim Strickland campaign consultant Steven Reid talked about the blip in polling and said challenger Tami Sawyer never split the African American vote as rival and former Mayor Willie Herenton repeatedly charged during the campaign.
Most of the early vote in the two Memphis City Council runoff races was in the District 7 matchup between incumbent Berlin Boyd and challenger Michalyn Easter-Thomas.
In its first year, the park has made some changes to adapt to the way Memphians are using it. It's also a "glimpse of the future" for similar changes along the city's riverfront says Memphis River Parks Partnership president Carol Coletta.
Planning and Development Director John Zeanah said on The Daily Memphian Politics Podcast that federal funding announced this week for the Downtown-University of Memphis corridor promises to change the image of public transit in the city.
The five voting locations in two runoff city council races open Saturday for the last day of early voting. Election day is Nov. 14.