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 3907 articles by Bill Dries :
A budget season compromise emerged Monday, June 24, at City Hall. The council takes votes on that and other possible changes in Mayor Paul Young’s budget proposal during the Tuesday council afternoon session.
State Senator Brent Taylor took his attempt to oust District Attorney Steve Mulroy to the local GOP’s largest annual fundraiser and found plenty of support among Republicans.
Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris breaks down how county commissioners settled amid budget season, including keeping vacant positions on the books and local opposition to the Regional One Health rebuild.
While the end of the county budget season was the centerpiece of the nearly 12-hour Monday, June 17, commission meeting, here are the nonbudget actions the commission took on a long agenda.
The honorees will be in Memphis on Oct. 17 for the 33rd annual awards presented by the National Civil Rights Museum.
Shelby County Clerk Wanda Halbert and Hamilton County District Attorney General Coty Wamp had different reactions at simultaneous press conferences Tuesday, June 18, following news a local judge had dismissed Wamp’s ouster petition against Halbert.Related content:
Shelby County Circuit Court Judge Felicia Corbin-Johnson has dismissed the lawsuit attempting to oust Wanda Halbert as Shelby County Clerk.
At a meeting that stretched past 1:30 a.m. on Tuesday, the Shelby County Commission closed out its budget season with no property-tax hike and a 6% pay raise for county employees.
The leaders of Bridges and the Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater Memphis talk on “Behind The Headlines” about how the city’s violence impacts the world of the children their programs serve.
Though MATA is expected to have a shortfall for the second year in a row, local leaders say bus service must continue to run.
Shelby County Elections Administrator Linda Phillips talks on the “On The Record” podcast about the upcoming August elections and voter turnout.
The ribbon-cutting Thursday, June 13, of a new senior-citizen apartment building at the former Foote Homes was also a look back at the longer timeline of the city’s move to mixed-income communities.
The governor also discussed education after the passage of the third-grade retention law during a Wednesday, June 12, visit to Winchester Elementary School’s summer-learning academy.
Now that five city charter referendums have moved to the November ballot, the Memphis City Council will probably consider whether it wants to spend city money on a campaign for the set of five proposals.
City Council budget committee chairman Chase Carlisle plans to push for votes on proposed amendments in a Wednesday, June 12, committee session. The fiscal year begins July 1. Final budget votes by are scheduled for June 25.
Last month, MATA acknowledged it has a $60 million deficit. A City Councilwoman tried to talk specifics, but the discussion was abruptly halted after the head of the council staff talked with her privately during a public meeting.
The five ballot questions to go on the Aug. 1 ballot didn’t make the deadline for public notice. There was no City Council vote to move them to November.
The Shelby County commissioner sued the state after learning, at age 72, that she was among the children adopted through the old Tennessee Children’s Home Society led by Georgia Tann.
South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem is coming for the GOP’s Lincoln Day Gala. She was booked when it looked like she might be Donald Trump’s running mate, but much changed between the booking and the announcement.
The known and unknown about Elon Musk’s xAI supercomputer in Southwest Memphis dominated the conversation in a reporters roundtable on “Behind The Headlines.”
The flyway is a boardwalk that will lead to a view of the Mississippi River from an overlook where Tom Lee Park becomes Ashburn-Coppock Park.
Shelby County Budget Director Michael Thompson talks about the 2024 budget season — and the savings found in vacant county positions — on The Daily Memphian’s “On The Record” podcast.
Reaction to word of an AI supercomputer coming to southwest Memphis drew bipartisan support from elected and other officials in the city and the region.
In addition to delaying the budget, Memphis City Council approved the sale of the Crosstown Mound. And it approved a management agreement for four city museums.
The County Commission delayed final votes Monday on every part of the budget process including setting the tax rate. Several commissioners are saying the three big capital projects in the budget might have to be prioritized. Commission votes down call for mediation in juvenile detention center disputeRelated story: