Owens sentenced to three years in federal heroin case
The son of one-time topless nightclub kingpin Danny Owens drew a sentence below federal guidelines for drug conspiracy.
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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July 2021
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Public Safety -
Metro What’s next for the Memphis water movement
The short answer is more complexity and more ambition and probably more litigation.
Related stories:
Out of the pipeline: The city's water movement and how it evolved
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Business TVA’s connection to a more complex water movement
The Tennessee Valley Authority supplies electric power to Memphis Light, Gas and Water Division. But the possibility of MLGW leaving TVA is also a part of the issue with the city’s water supply and its safety.
Related stories
Out of the pipeline: The city's water movement and how it evolved
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City of Memphis MLGW begins proposal process for possible TVA break
Memphis Light, Gas and Water Division began the process Monday, July 12, of soliciting proposals for possibly cutting ties to the Tennessee Valley Authority, its electric power provider for the past 80 years.
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City of Memphis City loses appeal of City Hall blacklist damages
The city’s list of those allowed in City Hall only with a police escort grew to 81 in a wave of protests in 2016 and 2017.
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Public Safety MPD chief meets with Biden to talk violent crime
During the Monday meeting at the White House with Chief Cerelyn “C.J.” Davis and other police chiefs, President Biden said federal, state and local coordination is essential to his violent crime strategy.
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Spirit of Memphis Out of the pipeline: The city’s water movement and how it evolved
The Byhalia Connection Pipeline is over but a burgeoning environmental movement, with the city’s underground water aquifer at its center, remains. The road to that movement began with the rise of the city’s new activism several years ago, with some unexpected twists and turns along the way.
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Transportation & Logistics More repairs needed on I-40 bridge
The Tennessee Department of Transportation originally identified nine spots beyond the damage spotted in May that shut down all traffic on the Hernando DeSoto Bridge, but that has increased to 16.
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City of Memphis City Council Scorecard: Car lot challenges unspoken rule
The council’s discussion last week about a car lot in Raleigh could be about some larger changes in zoning. Normally the representative of a district gets final say on the zoning, but that’s not how this is going.
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Metro Blackburn’s views on China echo senator’s from the past
Blackburn’s recent speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Dallas was all-China, echoing some of the concerns made by then-Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson during his tenure.
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Shelby County Shelby County models collaborative with nonprofits on COVID response
The collaborative with more than 150 local nonprofits is to tackle long-terms needs and problems in the same rapid and sustained way the countywide COVID task force has handled the local response to the pandemic.
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City of Memphis Ida B. Wells statue unveiling spotlights new issues
A new monument on Beale Street honors the 19th century school teacher, journalist and anti-lynching figure. The recognition comes 130 years after Wells left the city just ahead of a mob that ransacked her newspaper office.
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Metro Ida B. Wells returns to city with new statue
The author of the definitive 2008 biography of the anti-lynching crusader and NAACP cofounder says the statue of Wells defines the city as well as honors her in a city whose leaders once talked of killing her.
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Behind The Headlines Vaccinations join masks in pandemic politics
If masks have been the face of the nation’s political divide during the pandemic, what are COVID vaccinations?
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City of Memphis City Council gets more details on federal ARPA funding
The council also takes up the vote delayed two weeks ago on the sale of the old Union Avenue police station in Midtown, a car lot in Raleigh and takes the first of three votes on restrictions of future oil pipelines within the city.
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City of Memphis Council approves centerpiece of Downtown parking reconfiguration
The council also gave final approval Tuesday to new historic overlay districts in Crosstown and Vollintine-Evergreen, took its first vote on a pipeline infrastructure review board and passed an ordinance banning landlords from putting the belongings of those they evict on city rights of way.
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City of Memphis Council approves sale of old Union police precinct land
The precinct site sold for $3.5 million after being appraised at $6 million, setting up a council debate about whether to take the best offer now or wait for a better one.
Related stories:
Council approves centerpiece of Downtown parking reconfiguration
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City of Memphis Coal ash from old Allen plant would go to airport area
TVA officials outlined remediation plans that include trucking treated coal residue to a private landfill near Memphis International Airport.
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Shelby County Ford-Harris bad blood renewed over county pay bonuses
Shelby County Commissioner Edmund Ford Jr. wants the county to get the bonuses to county workers in the next pay period. County Mayor Lee Harris says the county needs to be sure the use of federal American Rescue Plan Act funds is allowed before it cuts checks.
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Elections New voting machine issue is moving again in County Commission
A vote Monday by the Shelby County Commission on a new voting system could mean new voting machines by the May county primary elections.
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City of Memphis Army Corps gives permit for Tom Lee Park redesign to begin
The long awaited permit clears the way for the park’s redesign to begin moving dirt and creating new features in Tom Lee Park after a three-year planning process that has seen the plans change over time.
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Update
Shelby CountyHealth Department panel recommended Harris pass on Taylor as new director
The nomination of Dr. Michelle Taylor as the new Shelby County Health Department director drew fire Wednesday, July 21, with distribution of a May memo to Mayor Lee Harris that said a search panel recommended not picking Taylor and continuing the search.
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Elections Morgan appoints treasurer in possible 2022 bid for county mayor
Morgan is in his second term on the City Council, which has a limit of two consecutive terms. Contenders for county offices in the May Democratic and Republican primaries can’t begin pulling petitions to get on the ballot until Dec. 20.
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City of Memphis Raleigh used car lot controversy takes turn toward kayaks and bike rentals
Car lots and gas stations are getting more scrutiny from the Memphis City Council. But the idea of a proposed used car lot on Old Austin Peay Highway becoming a bike and kayak rental business instead is a new twist.
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Transportation & Logistics Bridge won’t reopen until early August
The initial estimate was a late July reopening for the Hernando DeSoto Bridge. TDOT officials also upped the number of replacement plates to be installed aside from the damage that prompted the closing of the interstate bridge from 16 to 17.
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