Chancellor sets hearing date for Memphis gun-control case
The Memphis City Council’s lawsuit to vote for citywide gun-control measures in November pushes on as the September deadline for the ballot approaches.
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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.
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The Memphis City Council’s lawsuit to vote for citywide gun-control measures in November pushes on as the September deadline for the ballot approaches.
A midcentury building in Midtown is undergoing a transformation to become the new gallery and studio space for one Memphis museum.
How do groups who disagree work together? They go to court, if the lawsuit filed by the City Council against the Election Commission about not including a gun-control referendum on the ballot is any indication.
The current path of the legal dispute over a multi-part city ballot referendum on gun control is expected to hinge on the outcome of the payroll tax ballot question’s 2004 controversy.
He said the city council’s lawsuit to get the referendum on the ballot could hurt efforts to work with Republican leaders of the legislature. Memphis City Council sues Election Commission over gun-control voteRelated content:
“We won’t back down and d--n sure won’t be bullied,” Memphis City Council Chair JB Smiley Jr. said, as council members announced the lawsuit.
The former county commissioner and a set of 15 appointed staff members formally take office Sept. 1 in the office that administers the day-to-day business of the largest court in the state.
“No law or rule that allows Shelby County to utilize taxpayer funds to circumvent the will of the people,” reads a memorandum defending Halbert from ouster. “The people voted for Ms. Halbert.”
The Election Commission’s decision could set up a legal battle a day after the state’s Republican leadership came out against Memphis’ vote on gun control.
Commissioners approved a design contract for the proposed mental health center on a second vote. The commission also redistributed the 6% pay raise budgeted in June.
Coletta’s tenure running the group that manages 6 miles of the city’s riverfront saw the $61 million redesign of Tom Lee Park and a push to better connect the riverfront to the rest of Downtown.
State reps. John Gillespie and Justin J. Pearson were some of the Memphis-area legislators pushing for local gun-control measures on the Nov. 5 ballot after a threat from state Republican leadership.
“Common sense says local governments can’t override state law to give a 12-year-old a driver’s license, and they can’t override other state laws either,” Hargett said in a statement emailed to The Daily Memphian. TN Repubs threaten to withhold sales tax over Memphis gun votesRelated content:
The incoming and outgoing chairs of the Shelby County Board of Commissioners talked on “Behind The Headlines” about new Cordova and Frayser schools funding and rebuilding Regional One Health’s campus.
The commission meeting also marks the last for Miska Clay Bibbs as chairwoman of the body. Michael Whaley becomes chairman next month.
Democrats rallied in Memphis and three other cities across the state Saturday, Aug. 24, to kick off a get-out-the-vote effort for Vice President and Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris and other down ballot races in the Nov. 5 elections.
The Memphis Library Foundation wrapped up a series of brainstorming sessions Friday, Aug. 23, at the Central Library meeting rooms that are the center of the discussion about an expansion of the library.
Memphis Democrat Justin J. Pearson, along with Gloria Johnson of Knoxville and Justin Jones of Nashville, had been scheduled to take the national stage just before the balloon drop during the Democratic National Convention.
Founding executive director Tina Sullivan announced in June she was leaving the leadership role she has held since 2012.
“This was a winnable race. This was a ridiculously winnable race,” Lisa Arnold told Shelby County Republicans of her loss.
The final vote on the referendum allowing the County Commission to hire its own independent attorney failed by one vote.
The issue for the multi-use development is adding another set of drive-thru lanes to an area already dominated by fast-food restaurants.
The council also gets an update on the Memphis Area Transit Authority, finalizes city charter change amendments for the Nov. 5 ballot, and votes on a Whataburger restaurant on Union Avenue.
Some vote totals changed in the certified Aug. 1 election results for Shelby County. Meanwhile, the Shelby County Election Commission certified the list of candidates in five sets of suburban races on the Nov. 5 ballot.
A Parkway Village rally for the Memphis delegates showed the challenges Democrats face in turning out the votes in the November election.