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 :
The Shelby County Election Commission found the problem Monday and did a review of the other 25 early voting sites before determining it was an isolated incident involving the wrong Congressional race.
A seat on the Memphis City Council and one of three divisions of Memphis City Court are the special election races on the November ballot. The council race will also determine if there is a runoff in December.
Over the years, possible solutions have included a new parking garage as well as shuttle services as two city mayors, multiple community leaders and even the police have joined the fray.
Terence Patterson says on “Behind The Headlines” that a national search is essential to choosing the next MSCS superintendent.
Collierville was the last stop on the governor’s three-day campaign bus tour. Lee’s supporters, plus some opponents of the “Right to Work” amendment to the state constitution, came out to greet him.
Thursday is the last day to vote early ahead of next Tuesday’s election day, as congressmen David Kustoff and Steve Cohen predict who will control the House. Plus: Notes on school funding, MLGW and the first mayoral forum.
Before his confirmation by the Memphis City Council this week, Doug McGowen indicated MLGW will move closer to Memphis’ day-to-day operations. He also said the city-owned utility could expand to include broadband and has to improve its responsiveness to Memphians.
The Memphis Zoo, Overton Park Conservancy and the City of Memphis are soon to sign off on precise terms that will end overflow parking on the greensward.
City leaders broke ground Thursday, Nov. 3, on a new 20,000-square-foot Frayser Branch Library on James Road that replaces the existing 60-year-old facility.
The NIH grant will provide services for pregnant women trying to overcome substance abuse addiction. The director of Serenity Recovery Centers says she hopes it can end the practice of incarcerated women with such issues giving birth in prison and immediately losing custody of newborns.
A challenge to a six-month residency rule by a Mason, Tennessee, mayoral candidate came with a ruling last month that could revive a five-year residency requirement in the Memphis mayoral race.
The item returns to the Memphis City Council for discussion at its Nov. 15 session.
The council also confirmed Chandell Ryan as the city’s new chief operating officer — the first woman to hold the No. 2 post in city government.
The trust fund for city and county property taxes earmarked for the redevelopment area cleared the first of three votes before the Shelby County Commission.
The compromise announced by Memphis City Council members Ford Canale and Chase Carlisle Monday, Oct. 31, does away with a hole in the expanded golf course by the park’s lake.
A new ordinance gives the appointment of a chief ethics officer to the county mayor, to be voted on by the County Commission. The county attorney’s office will still have some input.
The funding is for a marketing firm to work with the Election Commission to not only explain the new voting system to voters, but also chart the areas of low voter turnout across the county.
County chief administrative officer Harold Collins says the office is fully equipped, but Shelby County Clerk Wanda Halbert says the office won’t open until early December, missing a deadline set by Shelby County commissioners.
The council also takes preliminary votes Tuesday, Nov. 1, on a plan and financing arrangements for an ambitious remake of the Klondike community in North Memphis.
The Monday, Oct. 31, commission meeting sees a final vote on a change to how a county ethics officers is chosen. So far, there has been little public discussion by the body of the measure.
At a Shelby County Young Democrats forum, Joe Brown, Van Turner and Paul Young talked about name recognition, experience, crime, Black business ownership and, in one case, how women have no place in the mayor’s race.
Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris said the grant from the county’s reserve fund is likely the first of several for a full restoration of the 137-year old church.
After the General Assembly gave the Tennessee Titans $500 million earlier this year to build a new stadium, local lawmakers are optimistic that the state will be as generous to Memphis in the interest of fairness.
Shelby County elections administrator Linda Phillips and Ian Randolph of the Shelby County Voter Alliance talked about the low turnout on The Daily Memphian’s “On The Record” podcast.
After the Tennessee Legislature adjourned for the year, Brian Kelsey continued to tweet his views on national and state political issues with no reference to the criminal charges he faced. As of Thursday, it appears his Twitter account has been deleted.