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 4043 articles by Bill Dries :
Those pulling petitions have until noon Feb. 17 to file their petitions with the Shelby County Election Commission and if certified go on the May 3, 2022, county primary ballot.
The latest contenders in the May county primaries to pull qualifying petitions include a Democratic challenger to County Mayor Lee Harris.
A leader of the Big River Park Conservancy and the CEO of Ducks Unlimited talk on Behind The Headlines about plans for the flood plain across the Mississippi River from Memphis that include restoring farm land to hardwood forests and native grasses.
The Memphis City Council approved the property transfer for a token $1 payment Tuesday, Dec. 21, on a unanimous vote.
The delay came after some council members opposed to the ballot question pushed for a separate vote on first reading Tuesday, Dec. 21.
The delay by the city council came after Calvin Williams said he’s paid for his mistakes but insisted he never “mismanaged anything in government.”
The first-reading vote to put the item on the August 2022 ballot comes at the last council meeting of 2021.
The votes at the last meeting of 2021 will determine if the commission itself should get a pay hike and whether the mayor and sheriff also get raises. If approved, the raises would take effect after next year’s county elections.Related article:
The commission being elected in August with at least six new members will get a 19.9% pay raise. The mayor and sheriff elected on the same August ballot will get 21% raises.
Shelby County Health Department director Dr. Michelle Taylor told Shelby County Commissioners Monday, Dec. 20, that caution is recommended for holiday gatherings.
Starting Monday, Dec 20, candidates in the May 3 Shelby County primaries can begin filing qualifying petitions to get on the ballot. And there are some changes in the partisan primaries this year.
Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris plans to offer bonuses to recruit corrections and homeland security officers in county government, he said on “Behind The Headlines.”
The indictment follows a second-degree murder charge filed in August against Gregory Livingston.
Utility workers for the city-owned utility get pay raises the next four years under the compromise that scrubbed a city council session to break the labor contract impasse.
The City Council Scorecard examines the procedural votes that brought a controversial commercial development project and a key intersection back to life after the council killed the project in November on a tie vote.
Althea Greene opened her bid for the District 7 commission seat by saying Tennessee’s new open carry gun law is meant to increase violence and killings. Candidates can begin pulling and filing qualifying petitions in the May primaries, including the commission races, starting Monday.
The council voice vote was unanimous to rename a street for Young Dolph on Tuesday, Dec. 7, but it came after some council members questioned the honor given the lyrics of some of his music.
White makes the Democratic primary race a three-way contest with the winner in May expected to challenge Republican DA Amy Weirich in the August county general elections.
Criminal Court Judge Paula Skahan took under advisement Tuesday, Dec. 14, two days of testimony in a hearing that will determine whether Pervis Payne serves two life sentences concurrently or consecutively for the 1987 murders of Charisse Christopher and her 2-year-old daughter, Lacie, in Millington
A special Memphis City Council meeting called to resolve a labor contract impasse was settled before the 3:30 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 14, start of the session.
A proposed lake off Mud Island would be north of I-40 and the Hernando DeSoto Bridge.
The seven-year-old venue beneath a manmade hill on Tom Lee Park’s north end is a separate project from the $61 million renovation of the park.
The inmate’s 1988 death sentence was set aside because of questions about his mental competency. The resentencing hearing continues Tuesday, Dec. 14.
The Tuesday afternoon meeting should be short with the labor contract impasse the only item on the agenda. The meeting technically continues last week’s meeting, which was recessed to allow for the special meeting.