Memphis’ streetlights to be converted to LED
All 77,330 of the city’s high-pressure sodium streetlights will be replaced with LED lighting in a project that includes an automated management system that notifies MLGW when the lights are out.
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 3663 articles by Bill Dries :
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August 2022
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City of Memphis -
Elections MATA to offer free rides as early voting steams toward Friday peak
Also Friday, the Memphis Area Transit Authority will offer free service on all fixed routes to encourage early voting ahead of the Aug. 4 election day.
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Elections Memphis mayor potentials recalculate after Strickland announces possible third term
Reaction to a third term bid by Mayor Jim Strickland was muted Wednesday, with a lot of questions about whether Strickland will even get the chance to run.
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Elections Early voter turnout tops 86,000 in Shelby County
The 86,637 early voters for the 14-day period ending Saturday, July 30, turned out in force for the last two days.
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Premium
Public SafetyTim Dwyer leaves the bench and a lifetime of politics
General Sessions Court Judge Tim Dwyer is not seeking another term in the Aug. 4 election ending a family journey in politics that began in the early 1950s.
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July 2022
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Elections Early voting ends with clouds, lines and questions
Numbers for Saturday’s final day of early voting aren’t out yet. But turnout is expected to top 80,000 for the two-week period. The final day also saw nonpartisan poll parties in two parts of town to boost overall turnout. Election Day is Aug. 4.
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State Government Gov. Bill Lee says 2,000 families in Memphis, Nashville have applied for school vouchers
Lee said Friday, July 29, at Knowledge Quest’s Teen Tech Center that more than 2,000 families in Memphis and Nashville have applied for school vouchers and 40 schools have expressed interest in accepting those vouchers.
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State Government Kevin Ritz nominated as new U.S. Attorney for West Tennessee
Ritz’s nomination by President Joe Biden goes to the U.S. Senate for confirmation.
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Elections Last days of early voting could bring ballots cast to 80,000
Almost 65,000 had voted early or absentee through Thursday according to the latest figures from the state. The next-to-last day of the voting period on Fridays is usually the highest.
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Shelby County County Clerk says license plate backlog cleared, blames Harris administration
“In the four years that we have been here, something suddenly happened in May,” Shelby County Clerk Wanda Halbert said during a Thursday press conference.
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Behind The Headlines TVA rival says MLGW savings estimate too low, transmission estimate too high
MISO CEO John Bear says savings for MLGW from switching its electric power supplier from TVA to the rival power network are at least $100 million a year, which is nearly double the estimate of the power consultant MLGW is using.
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City of Memphis City Council redraws district lines in case Swearengen, Morgan elected to county jobs
Council chairwoman Jamita Swearengen and council member Worth Morgan are running for county positions. The possibility of either or both winning is behind a scramble by the council to draw new district lines.
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Elections Harris, Morgan clash again at Memphis Rotary mayoral debate
The two contenders for Shelby County Mayor clashed for the second time in a week, this time at the Memphis Rotary Club’s traditional mayoral debate.
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City of Memphis City Council to expand One Beale ‘backstop’ debate
Among other topics, the discussion of the city’s capacity for bond debt will come into play during Tuesday morning committee sessions.
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City of Memphis How Memphis’ debt could impact One Beale financing
Some City Council members think the city could take on more risk with One Beale’s Grand Hyatt, while some say other projects come first.
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Metro County Clerk’s license plate backlog stands at 5,200
The Shelby County Clerk’s office will implement a callback system beginning Tuesday, July 26, in an effort to eliminate the long lines of people waiting to renew auto license plates in person.
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Elections Political Roundup: Early voting’s first full week, the county clerk’s race, and Latino voters
Shelby County’s early voter turnout so far is higher by far than any other county in the state and mostly Democratic with an estimated 35,000 in the first week once numbers from Friday and Saturday are posted Monday. Meanwhile John Rich campaigns for Brent Taylor and Republicans shuffle their endorsement ballot to highlight the county clerk’s race.
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Elections Electing the Clerks: A voter’s guide to eight races in the middle of the big ballot
These eight county general election races aren’t the contests many voters are watching. Still, the offices control some basic yet complex business operations within county government. Here’s what the races look like.
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Behind The Headlines Harris goes on the offense in first face-to-face clash with Morgan in county mayor’s race
In their separate campaigns, Worth Morgan and Lee Harris have offered vastly different visions of what the county mayor should prioritize. Each has criticized the vision of the other.
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Elections More than 7,700 cast ballots in first 2 days of early voting
Most of the votes were cast on Friday, which was opening day. A coalition of nonpartisan groups called Shelby County Voters Alliance are planning poll parties for next Saturday at two of the early polling sites.
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Shelby County County Commissioners give Halbert three weeks ‘to see results’ in car tag backlog
Shelby County commissioners delayed taking a “no-confidence” vote on County Clerk Wanda Halbert until Aug. 8.
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Shelby County County’s minority business vote delayed for six amendments
A series of amendments to the potential program would set percentages for contracts awarded by Shelby County government.
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Shelby County Criminal Court Clerk gets five new full-time employees
Heidi Kuhn had sought seven positions but the commission worried it could trigger budget amendments from the other clerks.
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City of Memphis Strickland talks about using federal funds to break chain of violence
Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland says workforce development and a longer-term violence-intervention program are priorities for the use of the federal funding.
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Shelby County County Commission considers asking state to take over license plate distribution
The move comes as the County Commission also considers a “no confidence vote” on Shelby County Clerk Wanda Halbert.
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