Could AI help shut down party houses?
A Memphis City Council member is pushing the city to crack down on short-term rental problems.
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 4251 articles by Bill Dries :
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March 2026
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City of Memphis -
Elections Two Democrats eye August state primary for chance to challenge Brent Taylor
All 13 state House incumbents and three state senators representing Shelby County have checked out qualifying petitions for the August ballot. The filing deadline for primary challengers is March 10.
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Behind The Headlines Crime has dropped in Memphis. ‘Why’ is a question that still divides.
The Memphis Safe Task Force was among the topics discussed in a Behind The Headlines reporters roundtable.
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Shelby County Data-center tax estimates lift County Commission gloom
When Shelby County commissioners began their budget retreat, the outlook for tough financial decisions in the upcoming budget season was as gloomy as the persistent rain and overcast skies outside the Memphis Zoo’s Teton Trek lodge.
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Shelby County County Commission will pick 13th commissioner
A group of 10 applied for the six-month appointment to Edmund Ford Jr.’s former seat. One withdrew and another was a no-show for interviews last week. Here is who’s left.
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ElectionsPrimary ejections and the county clerk candidate who survived
How are candidates booted from primary ballots? Also in the political roundup, heads butt on the Memphis Safe Task Force, where Lee Harris and Edmund Ford Jr. agreed and recent D.C. votes on Iran air strikes.
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Shelby County County Commission fills Ford’s former seat
The Shelby County Commission returns to 13 members after the body named its newest member to serve the six months remaining in the term of Edmund Ford Jr.
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State Government‘Homes not Hedge Funds’ passes state senate
Republican supermajority passes Nashville Democrat’s bill banning individuals and corporations from owning more than 100 single-family homes in most Tennessee counties.
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Elections State Rep. Hardaway not on August ballot according to state list
The deadline to file qualifying petitions to get on the August state and federal primary ballot was noon Tuesday, March 10.
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Elections Four Tenn. Legislature incumbents win reelection at filing deadline
Here’s what the 16 races for seats in the Tennessee legislature representing Shelby County looked like at the Tuesday deadline to get on the Aug. 6 ballot. Check out the full list for all of the races via a link in the story.
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Behind The Headlines Spring sprung early — and with it, so does heightened Downtown security
Downtown Memphis Commission CEO Chandell Ryan talked on “Behind The Headlines” about an early spring on Beale Street and the city’s plan for enhancing safety.
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MetroA flub on qualifying petition limits G.A. Hardaway’s options
Also in the political roundup, make that five unopposed incumbents and scratch one of Cohen’s challengers. Plus, school board seats and the newest County Commissioner.
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OpinionSkateland fire stirs memories, hope in Frayser
When the old Skateland Frayser burned in January, it was the latest change in a part of the city that has seen a lot of them over the decades. The neighborhood is still changing in the plans its residents are making and by the events that mark new opportunities.
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Arts & Culture Immersive museum on Mud Island sets new May opening date
Following some water damage delays, Baron Von Opperbean and the River of Time has now scheduled an opening date for the first phase of the three-part project.
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Metro New approach to tidier Memphis interstates starts rolling
The state has a five-year $60 million contract with a Pennsylvania company to maintain the city’s interstate system, including fixing potholes and removing snow and ice.
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Behind The Headlines Changes to how sales tax revenue is divvied up will take effect in July
The new formula and its links to the city’s quest to create 10,000 new and renovated units of housing by 2030 is among the topics discussed on “Behind The Headlines.”
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MetroTrump coming to town 6 months into Memphis Safe Task Force
The backdrop for President Donald Trump’s visit to the city is complex and has everything to do with the Memphis Safe Task Force. What Trump will say, if anything, about the task force is anyone’s guess.
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MetroDries: Looking back before Trump’s visit at memorable presidential stops in Memphis
Barack Obama addressing Booker T. Washington High graduates, Bill Clinton delivering one of his best speeches, George H.W. Bush touting “a thousand points of light” only to return four years later to a hostile crowd during his ill-fated attempt for a second term and more are on the list of memorable presidential visits to Memphis.
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City of MemphisReality check? Dropping crime numbers meet the first spring weekend on Beale Street
A violent Friday night Downtown stokes the ongoing debate about the Memphis Safe Task Force’s effectiveness.
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MetroNoem touts Memphis Safe Task Force on her way out at DHS
Kristi Noem’s last appearance as Department of Homeland Security Secretary came at a Nashville law enforcement conference.
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Public SafetyAnalysis: To Trump, rise in crime is political, foreign and enabled by Democrats
As President Donald Trump touts the Memphis Safe Task Force as proof that tough immigration policies and aggressive enforcement are restoring “law and order,” Mayor Paul Young argues Memphis’ long-term safety depends more on tackling poverty, disinvestment and other root causes.
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City of Memphis City Council approves big changes to city impasse procedure
The rewrite of the impasse procedure is the most significant change in a process drafted in the wake of 1978 strikes by Memphis police and firefighters.
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City of Memphis Case dismissed in lawsuit to stop Brooks’ Downtown museum
The 2023 lawsuit, filed by Friends for our Riverfront and others, challenging the new Memphis Art Museum Downtown has hit another barrier.
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NeighborhoodsAs Frayser celebrates 200 years, this group wants to make their neighborhood a place people stay
“You didn’t have to leave Frayser. Now you have to leave. That is our fault.”
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Behind The Headlines Changes to county juvenile detention include uniforms and toothbrushes
The change in who runs the detention center on a daily basis began this past October — about the time the Memphis Safe Task Force began operations locally.
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