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.
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On The Daily Memphian’s On The Record Podcast, the three Democratic primary contenders for Shelby County District Attorney General discussed what happens in the prosecutor’s office on day one if they upset incumbent Amy Weirich in August.
The budget amendment also includes $10 million for the National Civil Rights Museum, $2.5 million each for the Brooks Museum of Art and the Leftwich Tennis Center and $100,000 for the Southern Heritage Classic.
Signs for the permanent street renaming were unveiled Monday for a section of Fourth Street between Union Avenue and E.H. Crump Boulevard.
The $13 million in additional funding found from a group of seven county budget line items brings the total cost of the project to around $30 million including the $3 million the county paid for the Old Getwell building that is being renovated.
As the end of the current legislative session nears in Nashville, Strickland said his long-held goal of getting a share of the sales tax revenue is “inching along.”
The County Commission Scorecard chronicles the three rounds of votes that made Charles Everett of Westwood the newest Memphis-Shelby County Schools board member representing District 6.
Downtown Memphis Commission President Paul Young talks on Behind The Headlines about saving tax incentives for Class A office space, why incentives for residential development are still necessary despite a rise in rents and an RFP on Beale Street.
More children with cancer are coming to the city from the Ukraine war zone next week. First Lady Jill Biden made the visit to St. Jude Friday afternoon and talked privately with four children and their families airlifted this past Monday from Poland to Memphis.
First Lady Jill Biden will be in Memphis Friday, March 25, for a tour of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.
Strickland’s backing of Brent Taylor in the state Senate District 31 primary follows endorsements by Tennessee Republican U.S. Sens. Marsha Blackburn and Bill Hagerty.
The Wednesday, March 23, ruling is the latest chapter in a legal saga that began in 2018 after Graceland sought to build a 6,200-seat arena in Whitehaven.
Several Memphis City Council members said Tuesday, March 22, they don’t think it is large enough or generates enough property tax increment to get much going in terms of economic development in the Soulsville area.
The three returning and two new MLGW board members breezed through City Council approval Tuesday, as a move to hire an energy consultant was put on hold.Related story:
The transactions will save the city money. The council also dealt with MLGW pay thresholds and approved a resolution calling for the cancellation of student loan debt.
Council members withdrew a resolution Tuesday, March 22, opposing the bill in Nashville after amendments were made. The bill would still limit the council’s ability to regulate convenience stores with gas pumps.
This edition of the council scorecard catches up to a council vote on President Biden’s Supreme Court nominee, another chapter in the police residency debate and rewriting the city code of ordinances for the first time in 37 years.
Longtime MLGW board members will not be reappointed by Mayor Strickland. The decision follows an investigation by the Institute for Public Service Reporting that found all five board members were serving after their terms had expired.
Charles Everett, a Tennessee PTA leader and co-founder of Uplift Westwood, is the new District 6 Memphis-Shelby County Schools board member.
Moody’s campaign to upset incumbent county Mayor Lee Harris points to letters exchanged by city and county attorneys highlighting issues between local leaders and jurisdictional lines, specifically over the city’s possible role in contact tracing.
Two former Tigers basketball players have sought elected office before with one winning and the other coming close.
The funding would provide for notices to Shelby County voters about changes to precincts and polling places. Renovation costs for juvenile detention center more than doubleRelated story:
The detention center has been a goal of the current county administration and commission since they came to office nearly four years ago.
The March 22 council day starts with the 2 new MLGW board members and three reappointees. Some on the council also want to hire an energy consultant.
Democrat Ken Moody and Republican Worth Morgan have words of criticism for incumbent Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris as they campaign for his job.
Here’s the latest on who has filed or pulled qualifying petitions for the August nonpartisan county races and the state and federal primaries on the same ballot.