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Bill Dries covers city and county government and politics. He is a native Memphian and has been a reporter for more than 40 years.
There are 3663 articles by Bill Dries :
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.
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 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.
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 indictment follows a second-degree murder charge filed in August against Gregory Livingston.
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.”
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 Health Department director Dr. Michelle Taylor told Shelby County Commissioners Monday, Dec. 20, that caution is recommended for holiday gatherings.
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.
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 first-reading vote to put the item on the August 2022 ballot comes at the last council meeting of 2021.
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 delay came after some council members opposed to the ballot question pushed for a separate vote on first reading Tuesday, Dec. 21.
The Memphis City Council approved the property transfer for a token $1 payment Tuesday, Dec. 21, on a unanimous vote.
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 latest contenders in the May county primaries to pull qualifying petitions include a Democratic challenger to County Mayor Lee Harris.
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 last council scorecard of 2021 looks at two decisions that will likely be on the first scorecard tracking critical city council votes in 2022.
Local hospitals and fire departments are met with challenges due to the recent spike in COVID cases.
Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris expects numbers at six public COVID-19 testing locations to remain high going into New Year’s.
So far, 43 contenders have pulled qualifying petitions to get on the May 3 county primary ballot. Three have also filed their petitions with the Shelby County Election Commission.
The Anglican archbishop who died Sunday, Dec. 26, came to Memphis in 1992 to receive the National Civil Rights Museum’s Freedom Award.
The Shelby County Commission Scorecard tracks the votes at the final meeting of 2021 that approved pay raises for the commission, county mayor and sheriff. Also approved: Giving $6.7 million toward the redesign of Tom Lee Park.
The plaintiffs, known collectively as “Tom Lee Park for All,” claim the park’s $61-million redesign violated a mediation agreement with Memphis in May.