Council delays Graceland vote, warns EPE against changing terms
Memphis City Council members delayed a vote Tuesday setting up Tourism Development Zone funding to partially finance an $80 million expansion of Graceland.
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 3805 articles by Bill Dries :
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June 2019
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City of Memphis -
City of Memphis City Council returns to stalled Graceland development deal
Memphis City Council members return Tuesday to Graceland’s expansion plans, specifically a delayed development plan outlining the terms of the expansion in Whitehaven.
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City of Memphis City Council challengers make Juneteenth campaign stops
With several Juneteenth observances in different part of the city Saturday, candidates in the October Memphis elections were moving among them and other events on their summer political calendars.
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City of Memphis Stand for Children continues to push for city funding of SCS beyond pre-K
Returning some amount of city government funding to Shelby County Schools would not necessarily mean a return to state requirements to keep that funding level.
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City of Memphis Universal Life city service center renamed for Fred Davis
The city's minority business service center in the recently renovated and reopened Universal Life Building has been renamed the Fred L. Davis Innovation Center.
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Public Safety Shooting details emerge after police, demonstrators clash in Frayser
A day after protesters clashed with police over the fatal shooting in Frayser of a 20-year-old man by U.S. Marshals, new details began to emerge and the victim's family began seeking answers.
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Arlington Arlington election races take shape a week ahead of filing deadline
Arlington Mayor Mike Wissman has made official his bid for a third term, filing his qualifying petition Tuesday with the Shelby County Election Commission.
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City of Memphis Lee pushes re-entry programs amid reaction to violent crime
A two-day visit to Memphis by Gov. Bill Lee included signing a bill dropping state fees for expungements. The move comes against a backdrop of reaction to the weekend slaying of financial executive Glenn Cofield and a rise in homicides compared to this time last year.
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City of Memphis Diocese of Memphis bishop orders review of church files on abuse allegations
Memphis Catholic Bishop David P. Talley has ordered a review of church files on allegations of child sexual abuse made against priests.
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City of Memphis People’s Convention highlights different approaches to achieving goals
The People’s Convention over the weekend offered indications that different points of view remain on how to blend protest with conventional political involvement.
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City of Memphis Criminal justice reform part of Gov. Lee’s Memphis itinerary this week
Gov. Bill Lee is in Memphis Tuesday into Wednesday morning for a series of stops, including signing the bill that eliminates the state fee to expunge criminal records.
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Metro People’s Convention endorses Tami Sawyer for mayor
The convention at the Paradise Entertainment Center in South Memphis Saturday drew no city council incumbents before a group of 600 to the nightclub, with about 200 participating in the process that stretched over six hours.
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Metro People’s Convention gauges impact of new generation of activism
The Saturday gathering in South Memphis will include endorsements in the October Memphis elections. But its organizers hope the platform will be just as strong as the appeals from different candidates.
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City of Memphis MICAH organizer says quest for equity larger than who wins elections
Rev. Ayanna Watkins says on The Daily Memphian Politics Podcast the group is working on its own and within the political process toward change that is part evolution and part disruption.
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City of Memphis Short-term aquifer effort moves to long-term objectives
As a University of Memphis effort to better map the Memphis aquifer's breaches gets underway, others calling attention to threats to the underground water source want to see a groundwater authority for the region.
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City of Memphis List of contenders in Memphis elections nears 100
With six weeks left to file qualifying petitions, the number of likely candidates in Memphis elections is on par with four years ago, with a dozen contenders having pulled petitions for the city mayor's race so far.
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Arlington Arlington elections field light 2 weeks from being set
The race for Arlington mayor has three prospective contenders so far, with incumbent Mike Wissman facing at least two challengers on the Sept. 19 ballot.
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City of Memphis Greenspace taking wait-and-see approach to sell Forrest statue in wake of court ruling
There is no immediate move to sell Confederate monuments removed from two Memphis parks until all appeals by Sons of Confederate Veterans, which is contesting the sale of the parks and the statues' removal, are exhausted.
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City of Memphis Budget votes breeze through City Council, Beale Street cover charge extended
The City Council stuck with a compromise 4% pay raise for police and firefighters and kept the city property tax rate at $3.19, but also extended a controversial cover charge for Beale Street on summer weekends.
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City of Memphis Appeals court sides with Memphis over sale of Confederate monuments
The Tennessee Court of Appeals has ruled the Sons of Confederate Veterans organization has no case to preserve two Memphis parks and the Confederate monuments removed from them in 2017.
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Metro Memphis 3.0 federal lawsuit dismissed
The legal challenge to the Memphis 3.0 plan has been dismissed in Memphis Federal Court.
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City of Memphis People’s Convention gets RSVP from 18 candidates for Saturday gathering
Two mayoral contenders are among those confirmed for the South Memphis gathering built around a platform and endorsements in some, if not all, of the races on the Oct. 3 Memphis ballot.
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City of Memphis City Council could finalize 2019-2020 budget Tuesday
Two council members expressed concerns last week about the Strickland administration's "brilliant at the basics" philosophy, but that probably won't affect votes on a 4% raise for police and firefighters.
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Metro Memphis’ month-long party a backdrop for park dispute
As a successful Memphis in May International Festival unfolded in Tom Lee Park, there was plenty of symbolism and drama building in the controversy over what happens next to the30-acre Downtown Memphis park.
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May 2019
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Metro Malone: County funding for new voting machines should come with no strings attached
The president of the city's longest running civil rights organization commented on The Daily Memphian Politics Podcast about the funding, voter registration lawsuits and leaving her post this fall.
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