County Commission keeps tax rate at $3.45, Brooks is new chairman
The commission also delayed the second of three votes on the Byhalia Connection Pipeline ordinance after it was amended.
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 3905 articles by Bill Dries :
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July 2021
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Shelby County -
Update
ElectionsNew voting machines rejected as County Commission moves to rebid
Shelby County commissioners Monday voted down a new touch-screen voting system that includes a paper trail and moved to cut the Election Commission out of the process by taking new bids on a system that primarily uses hand-marked paper ballots.
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Shelby County Commissioners approve Taylor as health director, Mitchell-Sims for judicial vacancy
Shelby County commissioners chose Dr. Michelle Taylor as the new head of the county’s Health Department Monday, and they picked Judicial Commissioner Danielle Mitchell-Sims to fill a General Sessions judge vacancy.
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On the Record Cohen discusses meeting Hagerty, and more
He also blasted the disqualification of U.S. sprinter Sha’Carri Richardson from the Olympics after she smoked marijuana. “It’s only performance-enhancing if you are in the Coney Island hot dog-eating contest.”
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Shelby County County Commission returns from five-week break
Monday’s commission agenda includes confirming a health director whose nomination is in trouble, possibly reopening the contentious question of a property tax hike, a long-delayed decision on a voting system for the county, and appointing a new judge.
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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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.
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Council approves centerpiece of Downtown parking reconfiguration
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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 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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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.
Related stories:
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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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