Halbert is term-limited but still pulls petition for county clerk
Halbert also checked out qualifying petitions for two other countywide positions on the 2026 ballot.
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 4279 articles by Bill Dries :
-
February 2026
-
Elections -
Behind The Headlines Fixing Shelby County Jail is key to justice system, Green says
Interim Shelby County Public Defender Jerri Green talked on “Behind The Headlines” about dropping crime rates, the overflowing jail and the differing numbers used by different parts of the criminal justice system.
-
Premium
Metro‘State of the City’ stormy; Blackburn compares Jan. 6 inquiry to Watergate; Cohen says ICE is ‘running rampant’
Also in the political roundup: the art and law of qualifying petitions; August state and federal primary takes shape, and the Tennessee delegation to D.C. keeps to partisan lines.
-
Downtown Baron Von Opperbean opening may be delayed by water damage
The immersive experience, still under development, was damaged by the building’s fire-suppression system.
-
Update
ElectionsRepublican candidate emerges for county mayor
A well-known Republican candidate for Shelby County mayor has emerged after all: Former state Rep. John DeBerry of Memphis is weighing a bid in the Republican primary for Shelby County mayor.
-
Premium
City of MemphisMemphis sets goal of 10,000 units of new or renovated housing by 2030
Memphis Mayor Paul Young talked about housing goals during his State of the City address.
-
Update
City of MemphisMayor’s ‘State of the City’ speech met with hecklers
Memphis Mayor Paul Young gave a speech crammed with goals and initiatives he says are the follow-through on the city’s two-year drop in crime.
-
Shelby County Harris says county owed millions for housing state prisoners
County Mayor Lee Harris went public about a funding dispute between the county and the state over housing prisoners. Harris said the cost could lead him to propose a property tax hike this spring.
-
Shelby County Commissioners have questions even as crime dashboard contract gets approved
The criminal justice system dashboard will track cases from arrest to however the they end in the court system.
-
City of Memphis Mayor Young chooses educator with early childhood experience as new libraries director
The mayor’s choice succeeds Keenon McCloy who retired in January.
-
Arts & Culture MoSH searching for new executive director after Thompson exit
The Memphis Museums of Science and History’s former leader Kevin Thompson resigned at the end of 2025.
-
City of Memphis What did Memphis get in the appropriations bills?
Here’s a list of “community funding requests” or earmarks approved as part of the appropriations bills that cleared the House and Senate and were signed into law this week by President Donald Trump.
Related content:
Dodging another government shutdown: How local politicians voted
-
Premium
MetroYoung’s State of the City moment collides with Task Force immigration fight
Also, Steve Cohen says next step in federal government funding centers on DHS and ICE; and Bill Lee talks about childhood visits to Memphis, as well as the tragedy that shaped his entry into politics; and a Shelby County mayoral contender opened his campaign headquarters.
-
Shelby County What’s next for Shelby County Commission after Edmund Ford Jr.'s exit?
The body will set the ground rules and timeline for filling the open seat. Meanwhile, the commission will deal with two grants Ford proposed just before his resignation and another effort to activate the County Ethics Commission.
-
Behind The Headlines School board elections, superintendent contract ‘irrelevant’ with MSCS takeover looming, lawmakers say
The Memphis-Shelby County Schools board is about to decide on the district’s leadership, and candidates are campaigning for school board seats. But two sponsors of a state bill say little, if any, of that matters.
-
Premium
MetroDodging another government shutdown: How local politicians voted
The D.C. Scorecard tracks the votes of the city’s Congressmen and two U.S. Senators in the latest move to avert a federal government shutdown. Also: The latest on phone records.
Related content:
-
City of Memphis City solid waste pickup delayed again
The city has not has solid waste pickups since Jan. 24 as remnants of the winter storm stubbornly hang around.
-
Shelby County Ford resignation letter dodges guilty plea, cites ‘antagonistic environment’
Ford filed a resignation letter to the Shelby County Commission, as required by his guilty plea to federal tax-evasion charges. Meanwhile, county commissioners have a timetable for filling the vacancy.
Related content:
County Commission plows through agenda from snowed-out meeting quickly
-
Shelby County County Commission plows through agenda from snowed-out meeting quickly
The Shelby County Commission finished up a short (but delayed) slate of items in about an hour Wednesday, Feb. 4.
-
City of Memphis Should Memphis change snow strategy for smaller and school streets?
Council questions City of Memphis' street clearing. Plus, garbage service is set to resume.
-
City of Memphis A block of Downtown Memphis inches toward new name
The Memphis City Council pushed forward with plans for Hyde Square and moved swiftly through a shortened agenda in its second online session in a row.
-
City of Memphis City Council remains virtual, with MLGW, library employees on agenda
A change for Memphis library employees could end up as city charter amendment for the November ballot or the final vote on the referendum ordinance could be delayed as it was last week.
-
Shelby County A stable for the Sheriff’s Office mounted-patrol unit. A bomb-squad robot. A new county medical examiner.
These items top the Shelby County Board of Commissoners’ Monday agenda.
-
-
January 2026
-
Metro Gloria Wade-Gayles, who wrote about living near border between Black and white in 1940s and ’50s Memphis, dies
Wade-Gayles, a graduate of the LeMoyne College, died Tuesday, Jan. 27, in Atlanta. An educator, activist and author, she penned a memoir about growing up in the old Foote Homes public-housing development.
-
winter weather
MetroWinter-storm damage in Shelby County estimated at almost $5M
U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen is asking Gov. Bill Lee to amend the Tennessee’s request to FEMA to include the estimate.
-