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 3805 articles by Bill Dries :
Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland’s campaign war chest stands at more than $1 million in a second-quarter campaign finance report to be filed with the Shelby County Election Commission by Wednesday.
Memphis mayoral contender and Shelby County Commissioner Tami Sawyer is calling for a neighborhood council to brings concerns of communities to City Hall as well as an immigrant support services office for city government and an action plan to combat infant mortality.
Mud Island's Gulf of Mexico replica is drawing waders looking for relief, as well as a few swimmers, even though the large body of water hasn't been a pool for several decades. Meanwhile, the island's south end is pulling in bigger crowds than last summer with plans for more activities and a crop of sunflowers.
Before rejecting plans this week to reconfigure the Waste Connections facility in Whitehaven, several Memphis City Council members said the decision is probably not the best outcome for area homeowners.
The owner of 115 Union and The Pocket bar will develop city land south of Clayborn Temple. Elmington Capital of Nashville will develop the Tillman Cove apartment complex land in Binghampton.
Three of the 13 council members are term-limited. The other 10 each face potential challengers in the summer campaigns on their way to the Oct. 3 election day.
The provisions put to rest nearly five months of changing terms, distrust and behind the scenes bargaining around an $80 million expansion of Graceland.
The landmark 1962 U.S. Supreme Court ruling Baker vs. Carr, out of Shelby County, is still standing after last week’s ruling by the high court in another redistricting case — Rucho vs. Common Cause, according to Memphis attorney John Ryder.
The first Memphis City Council meeting of the new fiscal year Tuesday will feature some high dollar amounts and a couple of nonfiscal items lingering from the old fiscal year.
Although they are running for different council seats on the October Memphis ballot, Sherman Greer and Craig Littles represent a new push by candidates for city office to move city priorities more toward youth programs. Greer and Littles are basing their push on their experiences as children in similar programs.
Robert “Prince Mongo” Hodges is back as a candidate for mayor of Memphis. The candidate, who claims to be from the planet Zambodia, has been running for office since the late 1970s. He joins a field of 15 potential contenders.
The environmental group among those urging Memphis Light, Gas and Water Division to look at possible changes to the utility’s relationship with the Tennessee Valley Authority is pushing a $250 million, five-year weatherization program for Memphis. Friends of the Earth launched the “Memphis Save Energy, Save Dollars” program with a rally Saturday.
The founder of Operation HOPE was in Memphis Thursday to keynote the closing day of city government's symposium on minority business. Bryant also outlined his goals for sustaining the nonprofit that works with financial institutions and some of the world's biggest corporate names.
Mayor Jim Strickland talks about improving MATA as former Atlanta Mayor Andrew Young discusses how a mass transit system was built there beginning in the 1970's.
M&M Enterprises of Memphis will lead private redevelopment of the Fairgrounds, the city announced Tuesday.
Steven Adelman is accused of bouncing a $19,000 check for a show at the New Daisy Theatre, which has been closed since January.
Seasonal workers for the Shelby County Election Commission will be paid a minimum of $15 an hour by agreement of Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris and Shelby County Commission chairman Van Turner.
The annual political picnic in southwest Memphis might be considered an enclave of old guard Memphis politics. But picnic host Sidney Chism warns veteran politicians have to make their case to win support from the new generation of activists and voters.
Tami Sawyer talks about the Brandon Webber shooting, MATA funding and other issues on The Daily Memphian Politics Podcast.
The Sept. 19 Arlington municipal election ballot features a challenge of incumbent Mayor Mike Wissman, the return of a former mayor running for alderman and the chairman of the school board running unopposed. Another school board incumbent, meanwhile, did not file by the deadline.
Work begins this summer on the reconfiguration of Memphis Zoo parking designed to end the 30-year practice of parking on the Overton Park greensward.
The philanthropist supporting the remake of Tom Lee Park says there have been a dozen changes to plans by the Memphis River Parks Partnership since the Memphis In May International Festival raised objections to the plan this spring.
The Shelby County Election Commission will vote Thursday afternoon on adding a sales tax increase referendum to the Oct. 3 Memphis ballot.
The South's first black millionaire was remembered Tuesday, on what would have been his 180th birthday, with a Beale Street parade where the heart of his business empire once stood.
A light City Council agenda Tuesday got a bit lighter with delays in decisions on a controversial Whitehaven planned development and amendments to the Unified Development Code.