Council debates police residency as new vote looms
Most council members abstained or didn’t vote Monday in a test vote on the new proposal to allow Memphis Police officers to live outside the county ,but within a 50-mile radius.
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 3981 articles by Bill Dries :
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December 2021
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City of Memphis -
Shelby County County Commission pay raises move to final vote Dec. 20
The commission, sheriff and mayor raises moved forward on the second of three votes Monday, with third and final vote in two weeks.
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Commission rejects Singleton Parkway convenience store with gas pumps
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Shelby County Commission rejects Singleton Parkway convenience store with gas pumps
While punting on the gas station, the Shelby County Commission did approve an appeal for a gated community on Forest Hill Irene. Also, Commissioner Edmund Ford Jr. defended his father against criticism of his behavior at a Memphis City Council meeting last month.
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City of Memphis City about to close on federal stormwater loan
The low-interest loan will finance infrastructure to protect parts of the city from flooding.
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Shelby County Second vote on Shelby County Commission pay raises on Mon. agenda
The commission could address pay raises for itself, the mayor and sheriff are on Monday’s agenda. A commission pay raise would trigger pay raises for city council members and possibly the Shelby County Schools board.
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Metro How they voted on funding to keep the federal government operating
The federal government is funded into February with the votes among the city’s representatives in Washington falling along party lines with one exception — a senator who did not vote on the continuing resolution.
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City of Memphis Council session has police, fire residency on agenda
Memphis City Council members talk about a new bid to allow police officers and firefighters to live outside Shelby County at a special committee session Monday, Dec. 6.
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North Mississippi City’s representatives in D.C. closely watching Supreme Court arguments on abortion
Reaction from the city’s two Congressmen and the state’s two U.S. Senators fell along party lines on the long-running political issue of access to abortions.
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November 2021
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Update
BusinessComcast awards $65,000 in grants to four nonprofits for Internet access
Comcast’s grants are designed to help close the access gap for low-income households.
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Health Care City tweaks streets closings for Saturday’s St. Jude marathon
After a year off because of the pandemic, the marathon returns Saturday, Dec. 4, with some changes to street closures. The changes put a priority on reopening streets in the South Main area first.
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Behind The Headlines Behind The Headlines: Thompson and Gillespie have differing views of special session
State Representatives John Gillespie and Dwayne Thompson spoke on this week’s “Behind The Headlines.”
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Memphis' Crime Crisis
Behind The HeadlinesBehind The Headlines: Strickland on crime
On “Behind The Headlines,” Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland says he hopes a city charter change on police residency is revived and put back on a ballot for a vote soon.
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City of Memphis City Council Scorecard: End of the pipeline and no gas on Broad
The Council Scorecard looks at the split decision on the last two of the pipeline ordinances and the end of a delayed plan to add a gas station to a part of Binghampton that already has a lot of gas pumps.
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Shelby County County Commission Scorecard: Pay raises and district lines
The County Commission Scorecard finds a lot of commissioners on the fence for now when it comes to raising the pay of the sheriff and mayor. The scorecard also chronicles the final series of votes on new district lines for the commission going into the 2022 elections.
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City of Memphis Ford says he meant no offense, didn’t understand ‘she/they’
Memphis City Council member Edmund Ford Sr. said Friday evening he asked about a county employee’s use of personal pronouns because he didn’t know what they meant, but “could have been less harsh in my delivery and tone.”
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City of Memphis Tennessee Equality Project calls on council to take action against Ford
The statewide group working for LGBTQ equality called a pair of tirades by council member Edmund Ford Sr. at Tuesday’s council session “bullying, trolling and abusive.”
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State Government How city representatives voted on ‘Build Back Better’
Early reaction among the city’s representatives in Washington the day of the House vote approving the $2 trillion Biden adminstration domestic agenda focused on a provision that would expand TennCare coverage that the Tennessee Legislature has refused to expand.
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Metro Strickland calls Young Dolph slaying ‘horribly tragic’
Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland spoke Thursday morning about the death of rapper Young Dolph.
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City of Memphis Jones says City Council should have intervened to stop Ford tirades
City Council member Martavius Jones is the first member of the body to react to several angry outbursts by fellow council member Edmund Ford Sr. at Tuesday’s session.
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Metro Ford’s ‘gender mess’ tirade is latest from veteran councilman
From calling a councilwoman “baby” to berating a city division director, Memphis City Council member Edmund Ford Sr. has a history of outbursts prior to Tuesday’s comments to two members of county government.
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Metro Smiley, Lamar call for curfew
Smiley called for working “together collectively to make a difference” and said a curfew would be a temporary measure.
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City of Memphis Council approves pipeline ordinance that ‘covers the universe of potential routes’
The Memphis City Council approved one pipeline ordinance but denied another that would have kept oil pipelines from locating within 1,500 feet of schools, churches and parks.
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City of Memphis Jamita Swearengen is new council chair
The council elected Jamita Swearengen as leader, rejected a convenience store with gas pumps at Broad and Tillman, gave final approval to a downzoning and approved more money for a fix of City Hall’s crumbling marble.
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Metro City redistricting process comes back to life
A move to form an ad hoc redistricing group for more public participation on the front end of drawing new district lines was tabled by the council in October. The sponsor brought it back briefly Tuesday, Nov. 16, in committee discussions.
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City of Memphis City Council to punt consolidation charter commission into new year
Also on the Tuesday, Nov. 16, City Council agenda are final votes on measures requiring more local review of pipelines, more money for City Hall’s crumbling marble problem and electing a new chairman for 2022.
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