County Commission has several hitches on way to ending budget season
The Shelby County Commission is unlikely to wrap up its budget season Monday, June 3, despite having an agenda with final votes scheduled on the budget and the property tax rate.
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 2024
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Shelby County -
Metro Political Roundup: Pearson’s first regular election; Taylor on Trump; McKinney opens school board campaign
Justin J. Pearson opens his third campaign for the state House in a year and a half. State Senator Brent Taylor reacts to the Trump conviction, and Natalie McKinney opens her challenge of MSCS board chairman Althea Greene.
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May 2024
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Update
Shelby CountyHalbert ouster trial set for August, move to suspend gets June hearing
A judge set a trial date for Wanda Halbert during the first court appearance in her ouster suit. She’ll also be back in court in June for a hearing on whether she should be suspended pending the outcome of the August trial.
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Metro Senators and Congressmen react to Trump conviction
The city’s two U.S. senators and two congressmen had very different reactions to the former president’s conviction Thursday, May 30, in New York on all counts of falsifying business records.
Related content:
New York jury finds Donald Trump guilty on all 34 felony counts
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Shelby County County Commissioners add $10.7M for education, homelessness and more
Most of the amendments to the budget approved in committees would be funded out of the county’s general fund and throw Mayor Lee Harris’ proposal out of balance if the full commission approves them.
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City of Memphis City Councilwoman resigns parks job amid ethics complaint
Amid an ethics complaint into her employment, Memphis City Councilwoman Michalyn Easter-Thomas has resigned from her job at Memphis River Parks Partnership.
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City of Memphis Southwest Memphis center reopens, re-anchoring community
The Riverview Community Center got a $2.3 million renovation that includes more natural light in the gym and rooms for exercise, games and computers along with a new exterior.
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City of Memphis Memphis mayor talks crime ‘suppression’ at One Memphis town hall
Paul Young said the city’s strategy for crime suppression includes “criminal activity disruption” along with focusing police and city blight efforts in high-crime areas.
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Shelby CountyHalbert ouster case tests boundaries of ‘willful neglect’
The attempt to oust Shelby County Clerk Wanda Halbert from office is in Circuit Court for a preliminary hearing May 31. The arguments filed by both sides in the suit show the case will be about legal definitions of willful neglect.
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Shelby CountyThe colorful history of Tennessee’s ouster law
Here’s a history of previous local ouster cases including the one that ousted E.H. Crump from the mayor’s office in 1916, a Shelby County Sheriff shortly after that and a Shelby County commissioner in the 1960s.
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City of MemphisPolitical Roundup: Camp GloJo and gavels drawn at City Hall
Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Gloria Johnson campaigns in Memphis over the long holiday weekend and hopes Democrats throw national support behind her effort to upset incumbent Republican Senator Marsha Blackburn.
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Behind The Headlines Church Health founder discusses complexity of organization’s goal
Church Health founder Dr. Scott Morris talks on “Behind The Headlines” about the 37-year-old institution he founded and how complex it has become in an era of big medicine and big health-care institutions.
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Public SafetyCity responds to state legislator’s questions about MPD policies
John Gillespie questioned MPD’s policies in a Thursday news release. He and Brent Taylor sponsored the law that bans police departments from not pulling someone over when they have reasonable suspicion the person violated the law.
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State Government State Sen. Brent Taylor urges schools to stay mum on lack of guns
Republican state Senator Brent Taylor told a group of 50 at the Whitehaven Republican Club that school leaders should “keep quiet” about not using a state law that allows for teachers to carry guns at schools.
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City of Memphis Council weighs traffic-ticket amnesty to lower property-tax hike
The Memphis City Council looked at alternatives to Mayor Paul Young’s proposed 75-cent city property-tax hike Tuesday, as well as an assortment of other issues.
Related story:
‘A tough push:’ Council skeptical of adding suburban votes to MLGW board
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City of MemphisCity Council Scorecard: the road to a 75-cent property-tax hike proposal
The City Council Scorecard looks at the April surprise that scuttled plans by Mayor Paul Young for a budget proposal with no property-tax hike.
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Shelby County County Commission wrestles with property-tax rate as July 1 deadline looms
The ordinance that sets the county property tax rate still has a blank where the rate goes. But commissioners approved Tuesday where the pennies on the tax rate go based on keeping the $3.39 rate the same.
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City of Memphis City council moves toward budget wrap up, reviews terms for Liberty Park
The council takes the second of three votes Tuesday, May 21, on raising the city’s monthly solid-waste fee and decides six wages disputes between the city administration and labor unions.
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Shelby County County Commission to get legal advice on cutting unfilled Sheriff’s Office positions
The County Commission has several Shelby County Sheriff’s Office items to vote on Monday, from emergency money for new jail door locks to calling for collaboration on what happens next at the juvenile detention center on Old Getwell Road.
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City of Memphis Alternatives to 75-cent property-tax hike kicked around at town hall
City Council members talked Thursday, May 16, about at least whittling down the tax hike proposed by Mayor Paul Young, with discussing other revenue sources, during a town hall forum at New Salem Baptist Church in South Memphis.
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Shelby County Sheriff Bonner talks about taking county to court over budget proposal
“We consider it to be defunding police,” a Shelby County Sheriff’s Office official said of a proposed budget that cuts 441 vacant positions from the Sheriff’s office, a $31.4 million impact.
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Shelby County Halbert says corrective-action plan underway in clerk’s office, but...
Wanda Halbert says she’s working on a plan, but she said her reports may still be late or inaccurate, the software auditors recommended doesn’t work for her office and the county is not funding her enough.
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Shelby CountyHarris wants Baptist and Methodist involved in Regional One project
Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris told the Memphis Rotary Club he has asked leaders of both of the city’s health care giants about becoming involved in the rebuild of Regional One Health. But he also admitted the discussions haven’t gotten very far yet.
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Shelby County ‘Mere negligence’ not enough for ouster, Halbert’s lawyer says
Asked about Halbert’s statements, Mayor Lee Harris told The Daily Memphian: “I’m shocked by everything you just said. The rabbit hole has gotten deeper.”
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Behind The Headlines City and county navigate difficult budget seasons
Memphis City Council members weigh a 75-cent tax hike as Shelby County commissioners have to make some decisions about change to the funding for a Regional One Health rebuild.
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