State senator charged in new federal fraud complaint
The criminal complaint alleges Robinson and two others swindled money from someone who thought he was paying tuition to attend Robinson’s health care school.
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 3902 articles by Bill Dries :
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January 2021
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Public Safety -
Elections Days before inauguration come with changing political calculations for local legislators
Here are the moves the city’s four representatives in Washington, D.C. have made in the historic gap between certifying the Electoral College vote and Wednesday’s inauguration, with a Capitol insurrection in between and plenty of political volatility still around.
Related story: Cohen draws fire for National Guard questions and Boebert sighting
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City of Memphis Kroger partners with city and second chance job program
Men and women who complete soft job skills programs backed by the city of Memphis will get a chance at jobs with the Kroger Delta Division Distribution Center.
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Metro Kustoff self-quarantines after contact with COVID-19, tests negative
Kustoff announced Tuesday he will self-quarantine and continue working remotely.
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Elections Cohen draws fire for National Guard questions and Boebert sighting
The Memphis Democrat took fire the day before the presidential inauguration for comments about the political leanings of National Guardsmen and an outspoken Republican Congresswoman from Colorado.
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Elections Tenn. Democrats’ new chairman plans ‘full assault’ on GOP
Hendrell Remus is the first Black chairman of the state party and a veteran political operative in Memphis who recently moved to Nashville. He got the votes for chairman Saturday on a pledge to shake the state Democratic Party from its traditional Nashville orientation to a more grass roots and statewide approach.
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Podcasts
ElectionsState GOP chairman says ‘redder’ Tennessee also comes with challenges for Republicans
Tennessee Republican Party Chairman Scott Golden, on The Daily Memphian Politics Podcast, says the map to winning Tennessee may have changed with some suburban areas turning purple.
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Elections Kustoff defends his electoral college challenge vote
The Congressman from Germantown told The Daily Memphian he believes Trump’s remarks just before the Capitol insurrection fueled the violence that claimed five lives. Kustoff also indicated it might be time to change the Congressional Act that allowed the electoral college challenge he supported.
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Behind The Headlines Strickland and Harris want larger share of vaccine
The two mayors, in an extended interview on “Behind The Headlines,” say new vaccines that don’t require two doses or sub-zero refrigeration could work better for meeting the need countywide.
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City of Memphis Black Lives Matter crosswalk approved at Cooper and Monroe
A crosswalk with the words Black Lives Matter would cross Cooper Street at Monroe Avenue near Hattiloo Theatre under a plan approved Wednesday, Jan. 13, by the Memphis Public Art Review committee.
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Shelby County County Commission Scorecard: Cash Policy and the Pandemic Divide
The Daily Memphian tracking of significant County Commission votes marks the first meeting of the year with more than a few looks down the road to the spring budget season.
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Metro Cohen, Kustoff split impeachment votes
The city’s two U.S. House Representatives offered different perspectives on the accusation that President Donald Trump incited an insurrection that interrupted the Electoral College vote count with violence that killed five people one week ago.
Related: Cohen, Kustoff go different ways on House 25th Amendment vote
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Elections Cohen, Kustoff go different ways on House 25th Amendment vote
Cohen, who was among the speakers during debate Tuesday, said: “It is the political equivalent of shooting somebody on Fifth Avenue and getting away with it.”
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Shelby County Commission balks at $300,000 transfer for legal bills in wrongful death suit
Shelby County commissioners will meet in special session next week to vote on a transfer of $300,000 from the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office budget to the county attorney’s office.
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Shelby County Last of county police reform measures delayed again
A proposal by Commissioner Tami Sawyer to require County Commission approval for any sheriff to acquire surplus federal military equipment was postponed.
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Shelby County County Commission approves $2.5M restaurant, hospitality workers relief fund
Republican commissioners said their “no” votes were because of concerns about the use of county reserves to create the $2.5 million fund. Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris is asking Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee to reimburse the county funding with state money.
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City of Memphis Strickland says Downtown parking profits can’t be used for council grants
But the mayor says he is willing to work with the City Council and says the conflicting wording in two resolutions the council approved last month could “work together” to get more funding to public transportation, mobility and parking projects.
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Shelby County County Commission vote on relief fund represents critical juncture
The commission votes Monday, Jan. 11, on a $1.2 million relief fund for restaurant workers. The fund’s fate could point the way toward a greater change in the priorities of county government called for by the Democratic county mayor and majority on the commission.
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State Government Feds approve state’s Medicaid block grant waiver
The $8.6 billion waiver must be approved by the Tennessee General Assembly and sets a cap on TennCare funding with the state keeping a share of any savings if its spending comes in below the cap.
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Behind The Headlines Vaccine and virus offer high hopes and worst fears at same time
Dr. Stephen Threlkeld, one of the city’s leading experts on the COVID-19 virus, says state and local officials need to figure out a vaccine pipeline that can keep the vaccine coming while not forgetting about the importance of testing.
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City of Memphis City Council Scorecard: The business border and slowing down
The Daily Memphian’s City Council Scorecard opens the new year with two council decisions — one on a familiar issue in council discussions. The other is a close vote on a lower speed limit.
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Elections Local Democrats look to Georgia model to end GOP dominance in Tennessee
Former local Democratic party Chairman Corey Strong, on The Daily Memphian Politics Podcast, says the Georgia model of bringing activists and organizers into the state party machinery will take time — probably six to 10 years to take Tennessee from red to purple.
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Shelby County Harris says restaurant workers relief aimed at those most affected
The Shelby County Commission votes Monday, Jan. 11, on the proposed $2.5 million fund drawn from county reserves.
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Elections How Tennessee’s two Senators and the city’s two Congressmen voted on the Electoral College challenges
The House and Senate kept late hours, resuming the Electoral College certification after a violent protest shut down the process into Wednesday evening. The session continued until just before dawn Thursday.
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Elections City’s elected officials in D.C. respond to protesters storming Capitol
Here is the latest from the city’s representatives in the U.S. House and Senate.
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