Hollywood splash pad marks fifth for Memphis Parks system
The splash pad opened Wednesday, July 5, to dozens of children in North Memphis putting it through its paces.
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 3904 articles by Bill Dries :
-
July 2023
-
North Memphis -
Public Safety Strickland says juvenile curfew violation pilot program is underway
Strickland said children caught violating curfew are being detained at the Downtown precinct until a parent or guardian comes to pick them up. He also said the numbers of those detained are low.
-
Premium
ElectionsPolitical Roundup: Summer strategies and council races take shape
The Political Roundup looks at campaigning in the summer heat, the most active council races and a growing field of possible contenders for Memphis mayor.
-
Shelby County County Commission Scorecard: Resurrecting and passing the wheel-tax hike
The Shelby County Commission Scorecard follows the complex four-month path of the $25 wheel-tax hike, with a mix of the roll call votes and developments outside commission meetings that shaped the compromise.
-
Premium
Shelby CountyWheel-tax compromise points to broader shift on County Commission
The $25 wheel-tax hike compromise approved by the Shelby County Commission broke a polite form of dysfunction on the body that could give way to a working majority crossing party lines on other issues.
-
-
June 2023
-
Shelby County Judge names special prosecutor to investigate Wanda Halbert
The Shelby County District Attorney General’s Office requested an outside prosecutor “due to the need to avoid a conflict of interest and any appearance of impropriety.”
-
Shelby County County Commission gives final approval to $25 wheel-tax hike
The wheel-tax hike’s approval on a 9-4 vote ends the county’s budget season with the financing in place for three landmark capital projects.
-
City of Memphis Council redistricting scrap overshadows end of city budget season
The council ultimately approved a new set of district lines because of the closeness of October city elections. The council also took the race for City Court Clerk off the same ballot.
Related story:
-
Shelby County Wheel-tax hike makes comeback in marathon County Commission meeting
The $25 a year increase in the wheel tax was a last-minute compromise that funds the three major projects it is aimed at, but does not build funding for future schools projects. The commission takes a second crucial vote on the tax hike Wednesday.
-
City of Memphis City Council weighs budget amendments, possible property-tax hike
The council has a series of budget amendments and what could be several property-tax hike proposals between it and the end of the city’s budget season.
-
Shelby County Reinflated county wheel tax hike proposal faces new road test
The Shelby County Commission meets Monday, June 26, with a new version of the wheel tax hike that failed earlier this month on the agenda.
-
State Government D.C. Scorecard: The Schiff censure, the Durham probe, TVA
This D.C. Scorecard includes the censure of the Democrat who made the House’s case for former President Donald Trump’s first impeachment and a grilling of the special counsel who investigated the FBI’s handling of allegations of Russian interference in the 2016 election.
-
Education Shelby County funding new high school in Frayser
Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris will include a $10 million ask to restart work on a new Memphis-Shelby County Schools high school in Frayser when he presents his fiscal year 2024 budget proposal to county commissioners on Wednesday, April 26.
-
North Memphis After renovation, sunlight streams into Gaston Community Center again
The windows surrounding three sides of the city’s first and oldest community center were boarded up nearly 50 years ago. The $4 million renovation formally opened Wednesday, June 21, bringing natural light back to the gym, while adding other uses to the center.
-
City of Memphis Memphis City Council Scorecard: How a redistricting plan died
The Daily Memphian’s City Council Scorecard looks at how a significant change in council district lines ahead of the October city elections came to an abrupt halt earlier this month.
-
City of Memphis Bonner and Gibson file qualifying petitions for October election
Mayoral contender Frank Colvett has pulled his petition, making him the last of the declared contenders to take the first step toward getting on the ballot.
-
Elections Pearson easily wins state House District 86 Democratic primary
In the low-turnout contest, Justin J. Pearson got better than 94% of the vote across 19 precincts, compared to 5% for challenger David Page.
-
Shelby County Juvenile Court wants almost $5M for ‘rapid engagement’ strategy
The new county funding would be for 40 new counselors with the goal of preventing a “cross over” of children coming to the court for child welfare issues and then moving to delinquent behavior.
-
Shelby County Wheel-tax hike is back on County Commission agenda
Shelby County commissioners are still considering a hike in the wheel tax or the property tax to complete their budget season.
-
Shelby County Shelby County Clerk’s office will stay in Poplar Plaza
Janet Hooks, the county commission’s special adviser to Clerk Wanda Halbert, also says the commission should restore $1 million in funding to Halbert’s office that it cut earlier so she can fill positions with new employees instead of moving existing employees around.
-
Memphis election 2023: How to keep up with who’s in the race
Here are a few ways to track who is running for which office during this busy campaign season.
-
City of Memphis Memphis City Council rejects plan to create Cordova-centric district
The plan voted down would have created a Cordova-centric council district. The defeat leaves in place a set of minimal changes ahead of the October Memphis ballot where nine of the 13 council members are seeking re-election.
-
City of Memphis Tax hike, competing redistricting plans top busy City Council day
The council also takes a final vote on “party bus” regulations and gets a look at a long-term lease of the new Leftwich Tennis Center with the University of Memphis.
-
Shelby County Rare Sunday meeting leads to county wheel-tax hike options
Four county commissioners — two from each political party — met Sunday, June 11, with Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris for four hours. They came up with a compromise that has a wheel-tax hike back in play after it was rejected by the commission earlier this month. But property tax hikes are also in play.
-
Metro D.C. Scorecard: Trump’s indictment, Cohen on Amtrak; Kustoff at Le Bonheur
The D.C. Scorecard shows partisan lines still intact among the city’s four representatives on the espionage indictment against Donald Trump. Also, Cohen talks Memphis to Nashville Amtrak service, while Kustoff talks workforce at Le Bonheur.
-