Lunch hour trivia: Memphis city elections fun facts
How much of this Memphis mayoral history do you know? Here are some fun facts as we near midday on Election Day 2023.
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 4041 articles by Bill Dries :
-
October 2023
-
-
How rain could affect Election Day turnout
Shelby County elections administrator Linda Phillips spoke at the Election Operations Center in Shelby Farms Park about a half hour before the polls opened.
-
free access
Memphis Election Day coverage begins
The Daily Memphian’s live blog coverage of election day in Memphis will take you through the morning and afternoon rushes, the downtime between them, the vote totals to the very end and the thoughts of the winners and losers.
-
Free Access
ElectionsBallot basics: Election Day Oct. 5, 2023
If you are going to vote on the city’s Thursday, Oct. 5, election day, here are the basics — what to expect and how to prepare to cast your ballot.
-
Elections D.C. Scorecard: Ousting the House Speaker
After agreeing on the short-term spending bill last week that lead to the Tuesday, Oct. 3, vote on ousting House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, Congressmen Steve Cohen and David Kustoff parted company on McCarthy’s political fate.
-
City of Memphis Memphis in May reports record $3.48 million loss
Attendance figures for the Beale Street Music Festival hit a 30-year low, according to the report released Tuesday, Oct. 3. The festival’s annual report promises further word on the 2024 festival’s future in the coming days.
-
Free to readers
ElectionsEarly voting total highest since 2007 Memphis elections
The 2007 Memphis elections saw Willie Herenton elected mayor for the fifth time and the largest turnover of Memphis City Council seats in the 55-year history of the mayor-council form of government.
-
Elections Ballot Basics: Early voting is Sept. 15-30
Here is everything you need to know about early voting in the Memphis elections and links to the ballot as well as a locator to figure out what council districts you live in.
-
Shelby County Ban on pretextual traffic stops comes up one vote short on County Commission
The Shelby County Commission gave final approval Monday, Oct. 2, to a pair of ordinances calling on the Shelby County Sheriff to collect data on specialized units as well as traffic stops, use of force and citizen complaints. It rejected an ordinance asking the Sheriff’s Office to ban pretextual traffic stops.
-
State Government D.C. Scorecard: Cohen, Kustoff vote for spending stop-gap while Hagerty, Blackburn vote no
U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen was among the Democratic majority voting for the bill, and Rep. David Kustoff was among the 126 Republicans who voted for it.
-
Downtown MIM survey: Most barbecue teams want to move to Liberty Park
More than three-fourths of those who participated in an email survey said they want to move Memphis in May’s annual barbecue contest to Liberty Park.
-
City of Memphis City Council considers bringing back runoff provision in mayor’s race
The council is still considering partisan city primaries for the 2024 ballot, but did not vote on any proposal Tuesday. Here’s a rundown of other council matters.
-
Shelby County County Commission to take final votes on police reform measures
Also on the commission agenda Monday, Oct. 2, are locations for a group of 30 surveillance cameras in the district of commissioner Edmund Ford Jr. One of the cameras is to be placed across the street from where he lives.
-
-
September 2023
-
Behind The Headlines Behind the Headlines: Program pushes pre-K for 2-year-olds from high-poverty areas
A year-old program to get children in poverty into pre-kindergarten classes earlier is part of a discussion on “Behind The Headlines” that took in larger questions.
-
Elections Four mayoral candidates spent $1.76M combined over summer
None of the other 13 Memphis mayoral candidates on the ballot were in six figures, but these four spent six-figure sums on their campaigns throughout the summer.
Related story:
Election season’s final act starts as curtain goes down on early voting
-
Elections Election season’s final act starts as curtain goes down on early voting
The last day of early voting is Saturday, Sept. 30, at 18 sites across the city. Next, the Oct. 5 election day will close out the campaigns for Memphis mayor and all 13 seats on the Memphis City Council.
-
Downtown Memphis 1968 glows in stained glass at Clayborn Temple
An ongoing renovation of the historic church was paused Thursday, Sept. 28, for a look at new stained-glass images of the city’s turmoil in the 1968 sanitation workers’ strike.
-
Premium
EducationChapter Six: The legacy of Plan Z busing that integrated Memphis schools
The sixth and final chapter of The Daily Memphian’s series on the 50th anniversary of court-ordered busing within Memphis City Schools looks at the end of busing for integration, the legacy of Plan Z and its impact on Memphis in the 21st century.
-
Premium
EducationChapter Five: The effects of Plan Z busing roll across Memphis
The latest chapter in The Daily Memphian’s oral history on the 50th anniversary of busing in Memphis City Schools moves into the years of the late 1970s and early 80s.
-
Elections Political Roundup: Early voting is up, as heat rises in mayoral, council races
More than 31,000 Memphians had voted early through Tuesday, Sept. 26, passing the totals for the same period during 2015 and 2019 city elections.
-
City of Memphis Memphis unveils $750 million fiber plan with goal of covering low-income areas
City would chip in $7 million to help low-income residents afford fiber — plus $15 million over 40 years to own part of the fiber’s capacity.
-
Premium
EducationChapter Four: Busing’s turbulent first year comes to a close
Memories of that first year under Plan Z still linger for those who lived through it.
-
Premium
EducationChapter Three: Plan Z busing begins
The third chapter of The Daily Memphian’s oral history marking the 50th anniversary of busing in Memphis City Schools covers the arrival of Plan Z, the comprehensive plan to bus 39,000 children to racially integrate most of the city’s public schools.
-
Premium
EducationChapter Two: Busing begins
This second part of The Daily Memphian’s oral history series marking the 50th anniversary of Plan Z begins with prophetic words from McRae’s December 1971 ruling that set the stage for Plan A’s implementation.
-
Premium
Education50 years after busing began, the area’s early school integration efforts are still shaping modern Memphis
Half a century ago this month, 39,000 Memphis children — about a third of the then-Memphis City Schools system — were told to board school buses and continue their education at new schools in an effort to racially integrate them.
Related story:
-