City Council Scorecard: Crushing the Raleigh car lot
A proposed used-car lot in Raleigh has become symbolic of a much larger change in the council’s consideration of what development goes where and under what conditions.
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 4091 articles by Bill Dries :
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August 2021
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City of Memphis -
City of Memphis State delays considering change in property reappraisal
The delay comes after all seven city mayors in Shelby County came out against the switch from a four-year reappraisal cycle to the two-year cycle approved earlier this year by the Shelby County Commission.
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Shelby County County Commission delays action on mask mandate, funding
The delays to the Aug. 23 commission meeting followed a rancorous debate among commissioners and between commissioners and anti-maskers who taunted one commissioner online before Monday’s session.
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Shelby County Commission overrides Harris veto of county ethics advisory panel
The veto override by the commission is the latest chapter in an ongoing dispute between County Commissioner Edmund Ford Jr. and Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris.
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County Commission delays resolution mandating masks
The Shelby County Commission delayed action Monday, Aug. 9, on a resolution requesting a countywide mask mandate.
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Shelby County County commission takes up mask mandate
The commission is the latest body to take up a call for a countywide mask mandate that would come from the Shelby County Health Department. The health department amended its latest health directive Friday to require all K-12 students in all schools – public and private – across the county to wear masks as the school year begins. Also on Monday’s agenda is a veto override.
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On the Record Carlisle looks for votes to get consolidation charter drafted
City Council member Chase Carlisle distinguishes between the case for consolidation and the case for drafting a consolidation charter. He also acknowledges getting the votes to form a charter commission will not be easy.
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Metro MLGW takes another step toward possible break with TVA
Memphis Light, Gas and Water Division has issued the second of three RFPs — requests for proposal — in its process of determining whether to stay with the Tennessee Valley Authority or leave it for another electric power wholesaler.
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Elections Van Turner weighs 2023 bid for mayor
Shelby County commissioner’s exploratory committee for Memphis mayor is another indication that county Mayor Lee Harris will seek re-election next year.
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Business Medical District demolition to give way to new housing, less ‘pass-through’
The demolition work now underway on a block of Jefferson Avenue west of Manassas Street is one of several changes to the Medical District landscape toward that end.
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Shelby County Latest Ford-Harris clash could be over proposal for ‘special counsel’
The attorney advising the Shelby County Commission would be separate from the county attorney’s office under a proposal on which the commission is expected to take its first vote Monday.
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Update
MetroTaylor says she’d have no problem with mask mandate
County commissioners will vote Monday, Aug. 9, on a resolution urging the Shelby County Health Department to require masks be worn in public. Some on the commission are trying to avoid the politics of the county’s first mask mandate.
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Metro County Commission Scorecard: Crossing party lines and a new chairman
The Commission Scorecard also looks at a possible compromise to the stand-off over a new voting system that may be beyond reach.
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City of Memphis Council calls for return of mask mandate
The resolution is not binding and the council cannot enact a mask mandate as it did previously because the state has blocked the ability for local governments to do so.
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Business Raleigh used car lot controversy takes another turn
The Memphis City Council members changed their minds about a used car lot in Raleigh. And, the council will vote on a pair of resolutions asking the TVA to avoid moving coal ash from the old Allen Fossil plant.
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City of Memphis Council presses TVA for details of coal ash disposal
Council resolutions to call for no coal ash disposal within the city and over aquifers that supply the city’s drinking water will be voted on in two weeks.
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Shelby County Harris considering weekly COVID testing for some county employees
The Shelby County mayor says a survey of county employees found that 70% had already been vaccinated.
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City of Memphis Strickland outlines plan for spending federal ARPA money
The outline includes major funding for an expansion of broadband to parts of the city where connections were a problem as schools went to virtual learning last year.
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Elections Gov. Bill Lee faces six possible challengers in 2022
Dr. Jason Martin of Nashville, a likely contender in the Democratic primary for governor, campaigned in Memphis this past weekend.
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City of Memphis Hernando DeSoto Bridge reopens fully
The Hernando DeSoto Bridge reopened to all traffic — eastbound and westbound — 84 days after is was closed when Arkansas bridge inspectors noticed structural damage to a box beam on the north face of the span.
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City of Memphis Council to consider moving coal ash dumping out of Memphis
Two resolutions come up in council committees Tuesday, Aug. 3. One urges TVA to keep coal ash from the old Allen Fossil plant out of the city, another seeks to have the ash taken outside the eight-state region where a system of aquifers provides water for Memphis and other cities.
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Public Safety A tale of two crime discussions
A common presence at the two July town hall meetings within two days of each other was the city’s new police chief, who is feeling her way through different discussions on what is the most effective response to violent crime.
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Elections COVID gets political as fired state health official visits Memphis
Dr. Michelle Fiscus spoke Saturday, July 31, at a local forum in Binghampton following a state Democratic party rally nearby. Democratic party leaders say Republican Gov. Bill Lee’s handling of the COVID pandemic will be an issue in 2022 state elections.
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Elections Election commission chief says Democrats want ‘cloudy elections’
Shelby County Election Commission Chairman Brent Taylor said on The Daily Memphian Politics Podcast, that local Democrats want disputed election results, referring to the push for paper ballots, which he believes will lead to chaos.
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Elections Harris re-election speculation and ‘People’s Summit’ stir political pot
Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris says it is too early to announce whether he will run for a second term. But local Democrats are anxious for an answer. Meanwhile the local Democratic party has a two-way race for a new chairman next month and the coalition for a “Moral Budget” talked about tax rate regrets at the “People’s Summit” in Whitehaven.
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