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 3895 articles by Bill Dries :
U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen of Memphis reacted to Attorney General William Barr's no-show before the House Judiciary Committee Thursday by bringing a ceramic chicken and a bucket of KFC. The reaction of the city's Republican representatives in Washington has been decidedly different.
The mansion that Berry Brooks built atop a hill in Raleigh is coming down along with the hill for a new subdivision of affordable houses.
Two contenders for Memphis mayor called for change in the city's leadership during a lunch hour rally outside City Hall that featured competition from a rain storm and an active shooter scare.
Incumbent Mayor Mike Wissman is seeking his third term and has a challenge from one of the town's aldermen in early moves toward setting the Sept. 19 Arlington ballot.
Joris Ray's public campaign to go from interim to permanent superintendent was different, but the push to keep the school system's leadership local and from within the system has been a constant feature of choosing a superintendent.
The process for getting neighborhood speed humps and their distribution, and the cost of a modernized traffic intersection were among detailed line items City Council members reviewed on the first day of budget hearings Tuesday.
A 20-member advisory group on the idea of Memphis Light, Gas and Water Division changing its relationship with the Tennessee Valley Authority meets Tuesday for the first time.
A “People’s Convention," designed to develop a ticket of candidates in the 2019 Memphis elections around a particular agenda, is back on the calendar for June 8.
As board members of Shelby County Schools consider making interim Superintendent Joris Ray permanent, here's a look at superintendents who have lead Memphis schools over the past half century and how their selections altered the process.
Mayor Jim Strickland says city's challenges are the reason for his re-election bid. Challenger Tami Sawyer said white supremacist threats won't stop her campaign and the race for City Court Clerk grows.
The Raleigh segment of the Wolf River Greenway formally opened Saturday as the nearby estate house that once looked out on 200 acres of land that went all the way to the Wolf River is about to be demolished.
Making his second bid for elected office in a year, J.B. Smiley Jr. says his city council campaign this year is a mix of millennials and local political veterans.
Verizon announced Thursday Memphis is one of 20 cities across the country that will receive 5G Ultra Wideband service this year. Mayor Jim Strickland has been hinting at the announcement for several months as he’s talked about road and utility work underway across the city.
The city of Memphis has hired Extreme Networks Inc. of San Jose, California, to provide support for city government’s use of cameras and routing systems for transportation and logistics as well as the security of the city’s digital and computer network.
District 1 City Councilman Sherman Greer comes from a political background of detailed constituent services and keeping an eye on the Tennessee Legislature as he prepares to run for a full four-year term on the council.
A letter of intent signed Tuesday replaces one being pursued for a joint development by Loews and THM. THM wants to build the second convention center hotel at a restored 100 North Main Building.
The Memphis Branch NAACP honored three leaders of the efforts to remove Confederate monuments from two local parks and in the process Saturday reflected the balancing act that is a feature of the race for Memphis mayor.
Shelby County Elections Administrator Linda Phillips says some changes in voter registration rules are necessary after her experience with organized registration drives in the 2018 midterm elections.
Mayor Jim Strickland said Memphis 3.0 is "where it needs to be" a day after a showdown in North Memphis between planning and development leaders and critics of the 20-year land use plan.
Gov. Bill Lee is putting $10 million of his $66.8 million supplemental budget into a Memphis riverfront development grant, though the scope of the funding is unclear. Mayor Jim Strickland said the money is specifically for Tom Lee Park.
City council members start budget hearings next month and there are still a few more details to come about how much revenue the council will have as it considers amendments or changes in Mayor Jim Strickland's proposal.
The latest meeting on the Memphis 3.0 plan demonstrated the lingering confusion – and some suspicion – about what the long-range development plan recommends and how it works.
A new kayak and paddle board rental service in the Memphis harbor opens for business May 4, the Memphis River Parks Partnership announced Wednesday.
Veteran Shelby County Election Commissioner Steve Stamson is the new chairman of the five-member body.
Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland’s fourth budget proposal, totaling $709 million, includes an Affordable Housing Trust Fund to accelerate the development of new and rehabbed multifamily and single-family housing.