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 3763 articles by Bill Dries :
The return of the Shelby Farm Parkway proposal comes two years after it was removed from the city’s list of road projects. The Greater Memphis Chamber is pushing for its return.
City Council members said Tuesday they still need a financial accounting of how MATA spent past city funding before a new board was installed in October.
The Shelby County Board of Commissioners will vote on the resolution at its Monday, Feb. 10, meeting, authorizing $50,000 from the commission’s contingency fund to pay for the audit.
Shelby County Commissioners Mickell Lowery and Britney Thornton talked on “Behind The Headlines” about the political boundary between the commission and the MSCS board.
The commission also votes Monday on a set of three resolutions buying four more parcels on land on the new site for a rebuilt Regional One Health campus.
In a new world, Democrats are deciding how to climb back after last year’s defeat while Republicans are making their next moves across Tennessee.
A group of countywide office holders was frustrated when the Shelby County Commission again delayed a vote on changes to hiring and funding they wanted. They were told that County Clerk Wanda Halbert needed to be included in the discussions.
The resolution approved Monday, Feb. 10, calls for $50,000 in funding for the audit from the County Commission’s contingency fund.
Hagerty’s decision to seek another six-year term in 2026 is the first move in a political puzzle that will determine what the 2026 ballot looks like in other races, including the race for Tennessee governor.
The current U.S. Attorney, several judicial commissioners and more current and former assistant district attorneys filed applications by the Wednesday, Feb. 12, deadline set by the Shelby County Commission.
The TacoNGanas incident and what it means for the immigration effort President Donald Trump promised during his 2024 campaign is among the topics discussed on “Behind The Headlines.”
Also, the TacoNGanas raid is felt in the nation’s capital, Tennessee U.S. Sen. Bill Hagerty pushes back on “Face the Nation,” Mississippi U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker says Secretary Pete Hegseth made a “rookie mistake” and more.
County officials aren’t putting any dollar figures to the deficit they expect when County Mayor Lee Harris presents his budget proposal in late April. But it’s the talk of the County Commission’s early budget hearings.
The Memphis City Council will return to the proposed city sale of land to a subsidiary of xAI, and up for a vote Tuesday, Feb. 18, is a $10.5 million budget amendment, including $5 million in emergency funding for MATA.
The Memphis City Council addressed MATA funding, Uptown parking, the Cleveland TIF, a blight fee and whether or not the Mud Island amphitheater is safe to use.
“... They are not committing any other crime,” Worth Morgan said. “But they are being exploited and they are taking a job away from somebody here in Memphis that would want that job.”
Also, U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn goes to the White House with the new FBI director, U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen tracks Trump and the City Council walks the line with Elon Musk.
The affordable housing market in Memphis continues to show investors competing with first-time homebuyers for starter homes.
Commissioners could also have more to say about the forensic audit of Memphis-Shelby County Schools they approved last month. Plus, the body will vote on several millions of dollars for the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office.
County commissioners are considering a raise for the whoever is elected Shelby County sheriff in 2026. Meanwhile, a proposal to give the next group of commissioners a pay raise was withdrawn.
The commission approved more money to buy the property that goes with the old Commercial Appeal buildings. Deals on the three remaining adjacent parcels for the 16-acre site are still pending.
The new General Sessions Criminal Court judge was chosen by Shelby County Board of Commissioners on Monday, Feb.24, on the third ballot. She takes office March 1. County Commission moves forward on sheriff’s pay raise, but not their ownRelated content:
North Memphis residents met Tuesday night to hear the latest on the long-delayed plan for a pedestrian and bike pathway stretching from Chelsea and Evergreen to Washington Park.
Reginald Coopwood of Regional One Health talks on “Behind The Headlines” about alternatives for the hospital rebuild, and why the decision was made to shift the project to a new site.
Chancellor Melanie Taylor Jefferson dismissed most of the claims in the Friends for Our Riverfront lawsuit seeking to stop construction of the new museum. But she kept the central question in the case.