Memphis Zoo parking lot expansion into greensward back on
The city is moving ahead with plans to expand the Memphis Zoo parking lot and take part of the Overton Park greensward in the process, the zoo and the city announced Friday, Oct. 1.
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 3972 articles by Bill Dries :
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October 2021
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Metro
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September 2021
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City of MemphisWare remembered for ability to put together council votes
Barbara Swearengen Ware died Thursday, Sept. 30, 11 years after she resigned from the Memphis City Council after a plea deal on an official misconduct charge. She served 17 years on the council representing the North Memphis area that included the Douglass community.
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City of Memphis Former Memphis Councilwoman Barbara Swearengen Ware dies
Former Memphis City Council member Barbara Swearengen Ware has died at the age of 82.
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State Government Allen coal ash cleanup ‘one document away’ from start
The second of two online public hearings hosted by the Tennessee Valley Authority is Thursday at 6 p.m. After pausing the process following City Council opposition, TVA is again talking about a detailed plan to move the waste by truck from southwest Memphis to a landfill in Capleville.
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Coronavirus Anti-vaxxers hold ‘Freedom Rally’ in Civic Center Plaza
An anti-vax “Freedom Rally” Downtown Wednesday drew several dozen people including a candidate for Tennessee governor and two congressional candidates.
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Metro Highland by Treadwell Middle gets up to $25K from Bloomberg Philanthropies
Highland Avenue by Treadwell Middle School, north of Sam Cooper Parkway, will become more pedestrian and bicycle friendly with a grant of up to $25,000 from Bloomberg Philanthropies.
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Business The long drive to making cars closer to Memphis
Memphis and the surrounding region lost out when the state’s original auto corridor was established in Middle Tennessee almost 40 years ago. But the new Ford plant in Haywood County comes with lessons from that pursuit as well as doubts and the prospect of more change beyond the electric vehicles powered by batteries made at the megasite.
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Shelby County Chairman’s new committee causes rancor in County Commission
When chairman Willie Brooks created a study group Monday on possible local government changes without a vote, some commissioners call it a consolidation committee in all but name, causing chairman Reginald Milton to quit.
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Ford Megasite Ford to invest $5.6B in Memphis Regional Megasite
Ford Motor Company has selected the Memphis Regional Megasite for an electric vehicle and battery manufacturing campus, investing $5.6 billion and creating 5,800 jobs. Gov. Bill Lee said it was “the largest single investment in this state’s history.”
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Shelby County Ford out as County Commission budget committee chairman
After two contentious budget seasons, commission chairman Willie Brooks has changed up what is the most critical committee assignment in county government.
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City of Memphis Elected officials react to Collierville shooting
Some of the reaction called for an immediate look at the causes of such violence as part of a national debate while others called for supporting those grieving from the loss of life, at least for now.
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Shelby County County Commission takes up proposed consolidation compromise
The second part of the City Council-County Commission move toward a consolidation charter proposal showed up unexpectedly in committee session last week on the county side. And it was panned by most of the seven commissioners present even after a compromise to consider steps short of a merger of the two governments.
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Elections Salinas sets goals for local Democrats in 2022 elections
Shelby County Democratic Party Chairwoman Gabby Salinas says a new political action committee approved for the local party is a start toward a better-organized Democratic effort in the state’s bluest county.
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BusinessFederal funds trigger new type of budget season for city and county
The Memphis City Council and Shelby County Commission are already getting requests from groups that want a share of the money.
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Behind The Headlines ‘Behind The Headlines’ talks education, pipelines
The WKNO Channel 10 program features a reporters’ roundtable discussion on a variety of topics, including passage of the first of three city ordinances out of the controversy over the Byhalia Connection crude oil pipeline project.
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City of Memphis Violence intervention program gets new director in Strickland shake-up
The head of the city’s Office of Business Diversity and Compliance is also leaving her position.
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Elections Bonner kicks off re-election bid for sheriff as others open 2022 campaigns
Sheriff Floyd Bonner says the COVID-19 pandemic has made his job more difficult but touted low crime rates in unincorporated Shelby County.
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City of Memphis County redistricters take ‘first pass’ with first maps
The Shelby County Commission’s ad hoc group on the new district lines got its first look at some proposed maps for the redistricting plan this week. The group makes recommendations to the full commission, which decides on how to deal with shifts in population within its 13 districts.
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Shelby County Consolidation charter commission proposal gets mixed reviews from commissioners
The resolution to form a commission to draft a consolidation charter showed up in Wednesday committee sessions without notice. Like the City Council, county commissioners amended it to stop short of beginning to draft a charter and to include looking at changes to local government short of consolidation.
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Business City Council makes it more difficult to build pipelines near water wellheads
The measure is one of three proposals to limit and require local government approval and regulation of new oil pipeline projects. It’s broader than the other two measures delayed Tuesday over lingering legal questions.
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City of Memphis City government’s low vaccination rate spotlights larger solid waste issues
A low vaccination rate is just one of the problems the city faces as it wrestles with chronic problems surrounding solid waste disposal.
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City of Memphis Pipeline ordinances come to council crossroads
Also on the Tuesday, Sept. 21, Memphis City Council agenda is more discussion of how to spend the council’s $20 million share of the city’s federal ARPA funds and a minimum wage for getting EDGE tax incentives.
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Public Safety Juvenile Court reform issue returns to County Commission
A Juvenile Justice Consortium says the U.S. Justice Department should at least take another look at Memphis-Shelby County Juvenile Court and consider returning to some form of federal oversight of the court.
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City of Memphis Strickland has breakthrough COVID case
Strickland said he had been experiencing mild symptoms including congestion that prompted him to get tested with the results being positive Friday.
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Shelby County County Commission Scorecard: Missing votes, fixing ethics and a bonus vote
The Commission Scorecard recaps critical votes at the Aug. 23 meeting and an overtime vote at a special Aug. 30 session. The special meeting may have been the last word on bonuses for county employees. But it is far from the last word on the underlying issue that drew out the final vote across two meetings in one week.
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