Shelby County
‘Snow Day’ has different meaning for essential services
From clearing roads to holding court, snow days come with some serious considerations and lots of detail for local government services.
Bill Dries
Reporter
Bill Dries covers city and county government and politics. He is a native Memphian and has been a reporter for more than 40 years.
There are 3661 articles by Bill Dries :
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January 2024
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Behind The Headlines Police Chief Davis’ showdown with the City Council: What it means
A reporter’s roundtable on the WKNO-TV program “Behind The Headlines” included a discussion of the rough reception MPD Chief Cerelyn “C.J.” Davis got at the year’s first city council session.
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Food News The Memphis in May barbecue contest rival has a name
Forward Momentum announced details Thursday, Jan. 11, of its barbecue contest this May in Tom Lee Park.
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City of Memphis City Council punts health insurance benefits extension for itself
The ordinance that would apply to four council members who left the council just last month would extend city health insurance to city elected officials who serve two terms or eight years in office.
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Mayor Young confident police chief will gain support of MPD rank-and-file
Young administration has three confirmed appointments on board
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City of Memphis What Mayor Young’s appointees have planned
The Memphis City Council wanted Young’s appointees to come to them with plans for the next four years. Here are some of those plans and goals from some of the city’s divisions.
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Shelby County Minerva Johnican Building honors ‘trailblazer’ in earlier era of change
The former county commissioner, city council member and Criminal Court clerk who died in 2013 was remembered Thursday, Jan. 11, as the marker bearing her name was unveiled outside the 99-year-old building.
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City of Memphis Sweat, Gibson among Young’s first confirmed directors
Memphis Mayor Paul Young has three confirmed directors for his administration and three interim leaders.
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MPD chief loses council test vote on reappointment
Mayor Young confident police chief will gain support of MPD rank-and-file
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City of Memphis MPD chief loses council test vote on reappointment
The grilling was part of the reappointment process for Cerelyn “C.J.” Davis, whom Mayor Paul Young is recommending to continue in her role. The council returns to the matter in two weeks when the vote will determine whether she stays.
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Shelby County City Council to take final vote on health insurance for themselves
The extension of health insurance coverage for city council members would apply to four council members who left office at the end of 2023.
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City of Memphis Police chief tops list of mayoral appointments coming before City Council
The council questions 17 appointees by Mayor Paul Young to his administration in Tuesday committee sessions. Council chairman JB Smiley Jr. says the process will not be the swift confirmation process with few questions that it has been in the past.
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Shelby County Review board for sheriff’s office moves ahead
The first Shelby County Commission meeting of the year saw a first step toward a review board to hear misconduct allegations against the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office.
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City of Memphis County Commission to start 2024 by diving into parliamentary procedure
Shelby County commissioners start the new year Monday, Jan. 8, with a short agenda and a deeper dive into the details and rules of getting to votes on resolutions and ordinances.
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Behind The Headlines Shelby County mayor affirms support of new school funding
Mayor Lee Harris offered a preview of the budget proposal he will take to Shelby County commissioners in the spring and refuted speculation that the county is short of the funding needed for new high schools.
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EducationChapter One: Desegregation before the buses
Court-ordered busing began in the Memphis City Schools system in 1973, 19 years after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Brown v. Board of Education that racially segregated public schools should be integrated with “all deliberate speed.” But MCS had tried other methods at integration before busing.
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Behind The HeadlinesLee Harris on Wanda Halbert: ‘She won’t sign anything’
“I think it’s time for us to figure out a solution, and it’s hard to believe that the solution is Wanda Halbert as county clerk,” said the Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris on WKNO’s “Behind the Headlines.”
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City of Memphis‘I’m on the fence:’ City Council mixed on keeping police chief
The reappointment of Cerelyn “C.J.” Davis as police chief is among the slew of mayoral appointments that the Memphis City Council is slated to consider at its first meeting of 2024.
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‘No tolerance for the chaos:’ Young pledges unified front to fight crime
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City of Memphis One of last two surviving 1968 sanitation workers dies
In an NPR interview in 2018, Elmore Nickelberry said, “I knew I wasn’t no garbage man. I just worked in garbage.”
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City of Memphis Young takes oath with call to ‘save our city’
Paul Young and 12 of the 13 city council members took the oath of office at the Cannon Center to begin new four-year terms at City Hall. Young said the city will rise or fall depending on what happens in the next four years.
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December 2023
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City of MemphisStrickland exits as a tough political foe and dominant force in local politics
With an ability to cross racial lines, the outgoing Memphis mayor was a boss who knew how to delegate and trust experts but did not abdicate responsibility for making decisions.
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City of Memphis Paul Young projects hope at pre-inauguration parade and block party
The Saturday parade and block party on Tiger Lane is one of four events in three days that includes Paul Young taking the oath of office as mayor of Memphis Monday at the Cannon Center.
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City of MemphisA look back at the five outgoing Memphis City Council members
Four Memphis City Council members leave the body after serving eight years. Another is leaving after five years. Here’s what they accomplished and what they said.
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Shelby County Mick Wright sends 20-page complaint in Wanda Halbert investigation
The day after the special prosecutor from Chattanooga came to Memphis to hear from the public, Shelby County Commissioner Mick Wright has drafted a formal complaint against Shelby County Clerk Wanda Halbert.
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ElectionsMemphis voters to decide five ballot questions in 2024
Here’s a look at the five referendums Memphis voters will decide in 2024 that, if approved, would change future elections.
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City of MemphisA look back at the major decisions by this term’s City Council members
The four-year term of the Memphis City Council is at an end. The Daily Memphian’s Council Scorecard has chronicled 158 critical decisions by the body over that term. Here are the most critical decisions ones.
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Shelby CountyWheel-tax hike, Wanda Halbert top list of 2023’s County Commission votes
A $25 wheel-tax hike tops the annual list of significant votes by the Shelby County Commission. The vote had a ripple effect on the 13-member body from electing a new chair to a special prosecutor investigating County Clerk Wanda Halbert.
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