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 4304 articles by Bill Dries :
Many of the incumbents on the August ballot showed up for the first day of the period to pull and file qualifying petitions to get on the ballot.
Memphis Light, Gas and Water officials say there have been no reported robberies of tree-trimming or utility crews during the current ice storm damage repair, although such problems have been an issue in the past.
Some elected leaders are already promising a long-term review of why outages continue to cripple the city for days at a time.
The Council Scorecard follows the latest turn in the path of a mixed-use project on prime Midtown commercial real estate on Union Avenue. The council is concerned about approving the hotel before residential or retail permits are issued.
Andre Mathis’ nomination as a federal appeals court judge advances to the full Senate as Republican U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee again opposed Mathis as “unqualified” and talked Thursday in Washington of “street talk in Memphis.”
In other action, the commission approved funding for the Shelby County Sheriff’s office to up recruiting deputy jailers, environment justice initiatives and a continuation of several pandemic initiatives.
MLGW pushes back its estimate to have all customers restored and begins looking to fix smaller outages. Related story:
The $56 million Memphis Sports and Event Center is the centerpiece of Liberty Park, which sits on the grounds of what was once the Libertyland theme park.
The utility missed its goal by about three percentage points, with more than 40,000 homes and businesses still without power as the temperature goes above freezing in the city.
The center, funded by AutoZone, has a specific goal of increasing Black representation in corporate C-suites and senior executive leadership.
Contenders seeking a place on the ballot of more than 100 races and potentially hundreds of candidates can begin pulling and filing qualifying petitions Monday in the second of three elections this year. Meanwhile, the May county primary ballot continues to take shape with its own overlapping deadlines.
The commission debated Monday whether it should fill the District 33 seat Robinson was expelled from last week by fellow Senators. Part of the argument is whether it amounts to an endorsement of the Senate action.
The push for a state request for federal aid comes as MLGW’s damage estimate from the ice storm has already exceeded the threshold for seeking assistance.
The meeting Monday will also include votes on , environmental justice funding and a transportation consultant, plus other matters linked to the county’s share of federal American Rescue Plan Act funding.
The City of Memphis plans to take 60,000 square feet of office space in 100 N. Main when it is redeveloped.
This week’s vote by the state Senate to expel Memphis Democrat Katrina Robinson based on her conviction on federal charges is among the topics on a reporters roundtable on “Behind The Headlines.”
The County Commission Scorecard finds basic ideological differences remain on the 13-member body, as it moves into the home stretch of its four-year term.
Interim city solid waste director Chandell Ryan said the citywide system has now caught up and is ready to move ahead with a new trial system in the area that includes Berclair, Chickasaw Gardens and Binghampton.
The dollar figures are among the campaign finance reports covering the past six months. They also show Republican county mayoral contender Worth Morgan has a balance of $159,540.
The council moved to bind approval for a new Midtown hotel to other parts of the project, calling for retail and residential development before a certificate of occupancy can be issued for the hotel.
Commissioner Brandon Morrison wants the county commission to rehire the lobbying firm it has used in the past and called for a “compromise to purple.” Commissioner Tami Sawyer said the call for bipartisanship “makes absolutely no sense at all.”
The ARPA funding is in place of Tourism Development Zone revenues the city pledged as part of a $10 million contribution toward the $62-million redesign of Tom Lee Park currently underway.
Council members also will meet Marvell Mitchell, the CEO of a local software company, who is the new leader of the city division that keeps track of how much business city government does with minority contractors and businesses.
The headquarters is part of a plan for a fire campus in the area where generations of Memphis firefighters have trained.
After no elections in 2021, Shelby County voters go to the polls three times this year in a series of elections with almost 200 races total and many more candidates in those races. Here is an overview of what’s ahead for voters.