Freedom Award goes virtual at National Civil Rights Museum
The National Civil Rights Museum’s annual Freedom Awards Friday, Dec. 11, will be basically a “greatest hits” online moment in this year of the pandemic.
Bill Dries
Reporter
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 :
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December 2020
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City of Memphis -
Shelby County County leaders contemplate budget red ink
Last week’s budget retreat by the Shelby County Commission included word of a $27.5 million deficit and calls for the county to come up with a way to replenish its reserves and avoid short-term borrowing.
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City of Memphis Lamar Avenue leads the way in how Memphis 3.0 could change city’s look
The six-mile stretch through Orange Mound is changing, using the year-old Memphis 3.0 land use and development plan. Lots of other parts of the city want to follow the same path.
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City of Memphis Freedom Awards take stock of a rich past in virtual retrospective
The 29th awards ceremony was virtual this year because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The online video of past ceremonies covered the annual event all the way back to its 1991 origins.
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Elections Supreme Court rejects Texas suit supported by Tennessee
U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander had commented during a Friday recording of NBC News’ “Meet the Press” that he didn’t see the basis for the lawsuit.
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Metro Red Tub Day for foster families Saturday goes drive-thru
“Red Tub Day” by the Memphis Family Connection Center gathers in red tubs gifts the children request. The gifts are given out at an annual holiday party.
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Elections Kustoff among Republican House members supporting Texas election lawsuit
U.S. Rep. David Kustoff of Germantown is among 106 Republican members of the House who signed an amicus brief Thursday, Dec. 10, in support of the Texas lawsuit seeking to overturn the outcome of the November presidential general election.
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Shelby County County Commission Scorecard: Partisan issues arise
The County Commission Scorecard tracks some specific pandemic votes as well as a call for Medicaid expansion.
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Elections Tennessee joins Texas lawsuit seeking to overturn election results in 4 states
The lawsuit seeks to invalidate the 62 electoral votes in the four battleground states that would go to President-elect Joe Biden.
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Shelby County Increased ‘volatility’ is backdrop as commission calls for statewide mask mandate
Shelby County commissioners called on Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee Monday, Dec. 7, to enact a statewide mask mandate, but the vote wasn’t unanimous. It was among a series of COVID-related measures.
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Shelby County County Commission questions financing of $62M Downtown parking project
Monday’s delay by the Shelby County Commission follows a similar delay in approval by the Memphis City Council.
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City of Memphis Drag racing penalties would go up, car seizures possible under proposed bill
Drag racing would still be a misdemeanor under the legislation proposed by two Shelby County legislators. But it would be a higher grade misdemeanor. The City Council will also see some resolutions on its agenda supporting the bill.
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Metro Lee names new interim commissioner of veterans services
The deputy adjutant general of the Tennessee National Guard is the interim commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Veterans Services.
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City of Memphis City combines regular and recycled garbage pickup to deal with COVID absences
The city estimates a quarter of solid waste crews have the COVID virus and are in quarantine.
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Shelby County Statewide mask mandate and Medicaid expansion top county commission agenda
The commission also votes on funding for a public health coordinator’s position at the Shelby County Health Department as part of the ongoing discussion about the county’s pandemic response.
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Podcast
ElectionsAlexander Exit Interview: Trump’s influence on GOP will continue
Sen. Lamar Alexander also said President Donald Trump has a record to be proud of during the interview on The Daily Memphian Politics Podcast. And he said he carried Memphis in his five statewide general election wins by campaigning everywhere in the county, not just the Republican suburbs.
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Metro One lane of Riverside each way closed for start of cut-bank construction
The cut-bank bluff design is the first of the changes to Tom Lee Park and the surrounding area Downtown by the Memphis River Parks Partnership.
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State Government DeBerry to be adviser to governor
The veteran state legislator will have an office on Capitol Hill in Nashville as part of the governor’s cabinet.
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City of Memphis For Terri Lee Freeman, leaving rights museum ‘a personal decision’
National Civil Rights Museum president Terri Lee Freeman is leaving in February to lead a museum in Baltimore. She arrived at the helm of the museum just as the city’s new activism began to surface.
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City of Memphis Food Bank CEO: We’ve seen people who’ve ‘never been in a food line’
Leaders of the Metropolitan Inter-Faith Association and Mid-South Food Bank talked on “Behind The Headlines” about how the pandemic has changed their distribution models.
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City of Memphis City Council Scorecard: Masks, decorum, bottled water and lobbying
The next-to-last council meeting of the year saw some votes change, the simple become complex and the obvious spelled out. There was also a rare slip that saw an item that appeared to fail win approval after all.
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Shelby County Haushalter grilled by commissioners about Curtis Givens’ party
Commissioners questioned the Health Department’s response to the tent party in Hickory Hill Saturday that drew hundreds of people. Shelby County Health Department Director Alisa Haushalter indicated there will probably be some changes but that there are limits on what her department can do. Later in the day there were some changes in that.
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Elections Alexander exits Senate with defense of filibuster, call for change
The senator from Tennessee told colleagues on the Senate floor Wednesday that being a senator is like “joining the Grand Ole Opry and not being allowed to sing.”
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City of Memphis Council bottled water resolution bobs back to surface
A voting miscue Tuesday was reversed Wednesday with the passage of the resolution that directs the mayor to draw up a plan to end the use of any city money to buy bottled water.
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Health Care City Council unites on statewide mask mandate
The council voted unanimously Tuesday to urge a statewide mask mandate, and several council members said their earlier vote against the city’s mask ordinance was wrong.
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