County commissioner urges National Guard intervention for vaccine effort
The County Commission will discuss the call by Commissioner Mick Wright during Wednesday, Feb. 17, committee sessions. Wright said the current system needs to be reworked.
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 3904 articles by Bill Dries :
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February 2021
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Shelby County -
City of Memphis City Council session postponed
The Memphis City Council meeting scheduled for Tuesday, Feb. 16, has been postponed for a week as the city recovers from a Monday deluge of snow and sleet.
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Podcast
City of Memphis‘We have to be intentional’ about getting vaccines to all, councilman says
On The Daily Memphian Politics Podcast, City Council member JB Smiley Jr. says the Health Department needs “boots on the ground” in Black communities to remedy a racial disparity in who is getting the COVID-19 vaccines.
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State Government Senate votes to acquit Trump; here’s how Tennessee’s two Senators voted
The state’s two Republican Senators telegraphed their votes for acquittal in former President Trump’s second impeachment trial days ahead of the Saturday vote to acquit that ended the trial.
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Metro Bone-chilling cold, ‘significant’ snow and ice headed toward Mid-South
Dangerously low wind chill readings and possibly significant snowfall forecast over next several days.
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Shelby County County Commission Scorecard: Vaccinating teachers, budget prep, bigger mail
The County Commission Scorecard takes a look at votes from the Feb. 8 session.
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City of Memphis City proposes inclusion of 100 North Main Building in Downtown parking plan
The resolution from Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland going to City Council next week would include the city’s tallest building in the use of a PILOT extension fund and also include a parking garage in the “Snuff District.”
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City of Memphis ‘Snow day’ brings ice, keeps public works crews busy
The coating of ice arrived just before dawn Thursday, after a night of rain and followed by a light snow by afternoon. It is expected to hang around into the weekend.
Related gallery:
Have an ice day – images from Memphis' winter weather -
City of Memphis City Council letter criticizes lack of vaccination sites in Frayser and Raleigh
The letter to pastors and congregations from seven council members points to a racial disparity in the virus and death rates from the virus as well as testing that is now surfacing in vaccination numbers for the county.
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City of Memphis Giant river otters planned for Tom Lee Park playground
Plans for the interactive sculpture were among several new riverfront developments, including Mud Island renovations, reviewed Tuesday, Feb. 9, by the Memphis River Parks Partnership board.
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Shelby County County Commission approves first phase funding for Big Creek resilience project
The project will widen a floodplain north of Big Creek for use as a recreational area with trails when the creek is low.
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Shelby County Sale of two lots on Weaver Road for Byhalia Connection pipeline delayed
The delay by the Shelby County Commission also shows there may be a rift between commissioner Edmund Ford Jr. and his father, City Council member Edmund Ford Sr., on the issue.
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Shelby County County Commission urges state to move up teacher vaccinations
The resolution, approved Monday, Feb. 8, in a unanimous vote, isn’t binding on the state. But it calls on the state to move teachers up in the vaccination line as a condition for reopening the state’s largest school system.
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City of Memphis Memphis Police Super Bowl commercial part of $17,000 ad buy
The recruitment ad was part of a series of ads planned as the department seeks to increase its force size.
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State Government Lee to deliver State of the State, with focus on economic recovery
Gov. Bill Lee’s third State of the State address Monday evening, Feb. 8, is already getting reaction from Democrats in the Legislature who say his response to the pandemic has been “too late, ended too early and did too little.”
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Shelby County Big Creek project nears first phase of construction funding
Shelby County Commissioners vote Monday, Feb. 8, on first-phase funding of $5.9 million to start a Millington project that creates a broader flood plain for Big Creek and doubles as a recreational area when flood waters are low.
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Podcast
City of MemphisWanted: Better paying jobs to attract talent to Memphis
‘We haven’t gone after those jobs ... that would make people drop everything and move to Memphis,' City Council member Martavius Jones said.
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City of Memphis MLGW change in debt policy could help with TVA split
A proposed change in the utility’s debt policy could allow it to build a power generating plant, which would be key if MLGW cuts its ties to TVA, and pay for the plant with the savings to come from it.
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Elections Vote-A-Rama and how the city’s representatives in Washington voted
Several dozen non-binding budget amendments were suggested in the Senate to make political statements. Meanwhile, there was a House vote on Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene.
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City of Memphis Find out if your garbage pickup day has changed in city shuffle of solid waste
The link to city information on the “rebalance” includes a map to find your home as well as an app with reminders of the pickup schedule.
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Education SCS increasingly isolated as state’s only district without in-person classes
The state’s largest school system – Shelby County Schools – becomes the only school system in the state to have no in-person classes as Metro Nashville Schools resumes some in-person classes Thursday, Feb. 4.
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City of Memphis Hickory Hill and Cordova to get new solid waste pickup schedule
Both areas of the city are part of Area E on the city’s solid waste map, an area that has had problems with solid waste service even before the pandemic.
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City of Memphis Fairgrounds, Cobblestones funding approved
The Fairgrounds conversion to Liberty Park got a $4 million boost Tuesday, Feb. 2, to begin some ground work in May as well as to start designing buildings.
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City of Memphis City nonviolence initiative partners with national nonprofit
Memphis City Council members Tuesday approved a new office designed to intervene and prevent violence in the city.
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City of Memphis Puppy-sales ban passes first of three council votes
A city ordinance that would ban cat and dog sales at pet stores within Memphis passed the Memphis City Council Tuesday, Feb. 2, on the first of three readings.
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