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 3660 articles by Bill Dries :
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November 2018
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Germantown In his sixth bid for elected office in Germantown, Mayor Mike Palazzolo says he didn’t take challenger John Barzizza for granted. -
City of Memphis Election Commission sorts provisional ballots on way to certifying Nov. 6 election
Just under 1,000 provisional ballots cast on Nov. 6 but not counted until almost three weeks later will be the center of attention on Monday, Nov. 26, as the Shelby County Election Commission certifies the results of the last election of 2018 in Shelby County. -
City of Memphis Council opens applications to fill two more vacant seats
At least one of the spectators who watched the Memphis City Council vote more than 100 times to fill a vacant council position Tuesday will be among those vying for an appointment to one of two other open council seats. -
City of Memphis MATA changes security service, orders review after shooting at north terminal
The Memphis Area Transit Authority has changed the security company it uses at its north terminal and ordered a review of security procedures after a security guard shot a passenger near the terminal last week. -
Shelby County Election Commission certifies November election results, concerns remain
Shelby County election commissioners put the last election of 2018 to rest Monday evening, but not questions and concerns about the conduct of the Nov. 6 elections. -
City of Memphis Interest high in two Memphis City Council vacancies
Former Memphis City Council member Edmund Ford Sr. is among six applicants for the District 6 seat held by his son Edmund Ford Jr. -
City of Memphis St. Jude Memphis Marathon expects 70,000 runners, spectators
Memphians will see the first totems of the St. Jude Memphis Marathon around 10 p.m. Friday, when road closures begin Downtown in preparation for Saturday's races. Organizers expect approximately 70,000 people – from runners to well wishers – to attend the annual fundraiser for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. -
City of Memphis Bellefonte backers make MLGW switch to MISO a priority
The development company with a plan to supply Memphis Light, Gas and Water Division with electrical power from the Bellefonte Nuclear Plant has put that plan on the back burner. -
City of Memphis Boyd says deals, partisanship, race are factors in council standoff
Memphis City Council chairman Berlin Boyd says the council was on its way to a partisan and racial divide when it tried to appoint someone to fill the vacant District 1 seat last week.
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December 2018
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City of Memphis Mason Homes development prepares for December move-in
The first renters at a new set of townhomes on E.H. Crump Boulevard south of Mason Temple Church of God in Christ begin moving into their new units in about a week. -
Business TVA says Bellefonte purchase misses closing date
Tennessee Valley Authority officials have called off the sale of the Bellefonte Plant in northeastern Alabama at Friday’s deadline for Nuclear Development LLC to close on the purchase. TVA officials confirmed they called off the sale of the mothballed electricity-producing plant because Nuclear Development, owned by Chattanooga developer Franklin Haney, did not have the necessary approval from the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission to transfer construction permits. -
Metro Bush remembered locally for start of ‘thousand points of light’ effort
Former president George H.W. Bush was a frequent point man in Memphis for Reagan administration policies during his two terms as Ronald Reagan’s vice president. Bush began his “thousand points of light” volunteerism initiative in Memphis less than a year into his presidency. -
City of Memphis Council Confidential
Just before his last meeting on Nov. 20 as a Memphis City Council member, Edmund Ford Jr. was feeling good about his 11-year tenure at City Hall. -
Metro City Council tries again to break appointment deadlock
Memphis City Council members resume Tuesday their attempt to fill one of three vacancies on the 13-member body. -
Germantown Barzizza contests Germantown mayor’s race results
Germantown alderman John Barzizza is contesting the results of the Germantown mayoral race he lost to incumbent Mike Palazzolo by 120 votes in the certified election results the Shelby County Election Commission approved last week. -
City of Memphis City Council standoff continues with walkout, potential lawsuit
The Memphis City Council’s impasse over appointing a new member is on its way to Chancery Court after four of the 10 council members walked out of Tuesday's meeting, leaving the body without the necessary quorum to vote on anything. -
City of Memphis Council Chronicle
Since the turnover of nine of the 13 Memphis City Council seats in the 2007 elections, the council has charted a new path at City Hall. The largest change on the body in the 50-year history of the mayor-council form of government was followed by the largest return of incumbents four years later and changes in the mayor’s office. -
City of Memphis Treadaway out of City Council appointment standoff
One of the contenders for the appointment to the open District 1 Memphis City Council seat withdrew from consideration Wednesday, opening the possibility for a compromise among council members on the deadlocked appointment process and a return of a quorum for the council to transact other city business. -
City of Memphis Pink Palace mansion reopens with new outlook on Memphis history
The polar bear, shrunken head and miniature circus are back in the Pink Palace mansion as it prepares to reopen to the public Sunday, Dec. 8. The reopening follows a five-year rethinking of space at the mansion, which closed for two years for the physical transformation. -
City of Memphis No quorum on third day of city council stalemate
Memphis City Council members assembled at City Hall for about 10 minutes Thursday in an attempt to get a quorum of seven members to transact business. -
State Government Lee points to criminal justice reform, shift of public education as budget priorities
Tennessee Gov.-elect Bill Lee says his first budget proposal will focus on capping growth in state government and shifting funds toward criminal justice reform and to more vocational, technical and agricultural education in public schools. -
State Government The Daily Memphian Conversation: Tennessee Gov.-Elect Bill Lee
Tennessee Gov.-elect Bill Lee talked with The Daily Memphian at Muddy’s Bake Shop + Coffee in Cooper-Young before he spoke at the Greater Memphis Chamber’s annual luncheon Thursday, Dec. 6. Here is a transcript of the conversation, edited for clarity. -
City of Memphis Week ends without City Council quorum as District 1 stalemate continues
On the fourth consecutive day of what Memphis City Council chairman Berlin Boyd calls “the situation,” the council again could not muster a quorum of seven members to transact business. -
Education Hopson says still too many older schools at his exit from SCS
Before he leaves his position as superintendent of Shelby County Schools at the end of January, Dorsey Hopson said he will have some “food for thought” for the SCS board on the size of the school system – the number of schools in the city of Memphis and unincorporated Shelby County, including charter schools and schools run by the state through the Achievement School District. -
City of Memphis City Council gives quorum call another try Tuesday
Within minutes of each other and just a few yards apart at City Hall last week, council members Joe Brown and Berlin Boyd each told reporters the vacant and hotly contested council District 1 seat is “the people’s seat.”
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