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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.
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On "Behind The Headlines," Dr. James Downing talked about the gap between public health and health care as well as the research hospital's $20 million effort to keep the virus off its campus through weekly testing. Data from the testing regimen is also part of a global research effort and St. Jude is participating in clinical trials for a vaccine.
On The Daily Memphian Politics Podcast, the city's Democratic Congressman also talked about his recent primary win on the August ballot, the political benchmark it maintained and gave his thoughts on who might succeed him down the political road.
Our scorecard of commission votes includes a possible swap of some CARES Act funding as well as the first rejection of a move to get past county government's hiring freeze.
The city has also signed a letter of intent with Capstone Development for two hotels on the Central Avenue frontage. The founder of Capstone sees a different kind of recovery from the pandemic for the hospitality industry — one led by the families that travel regionally to the sports tournaments that are the financial engine for Liberty Park's public and private uses.
Tennessee Department of Human Services Commissioner Danielle Barnes said 450,000 kids have been approved to receive EBT as part of pandemic food insecurity programs.
The Congressmen, in their respective districts during Congress’ recess, say they are prepared to return to Washington if Democrats and Republicans can reach an accord on pandemic relief and stimulus funding.
The suspension does not affect the two other scooter operators, Spin and Explore Bike Share, which has a fleet of OjOs.
Shelby County Commissioners want to try a swap out of federal CARES Act funding similar to one city council members did a week ago. But tensions left over from a rough county budget season that ended in June are hanging around.
County commissioners vote Monday on a waiver of the county's hiring and pay freeze, and nearly 100 more waivers requested by officials are waiting in the wings. Commissioners say they need a budget book with specific line items and dollar figures to know whether the waivers would put the county in the red.
The Daily Memphian Politics Podcast features a 10-minute roundup of what the Thursday vote count means.
The Shelby County Election Commission got requests for nearly 20,000 absentee ballots and about 17,000 of the mail-in ballots were cast in Thursday's election. Some voters anxious about waiting for the ballots to come instead voted in person on election day or during early voting. And some ballots were disqualified because of specific state laws.
On “Behind the Headlines,” the president of the University of Memphis says some students have been living on campus through the pandemic, in part because of the digital divide and because some students will have the flexibility to remain off campus after the return with hybrid classes.
It's Hagerty versus Bradshaw in the November general election Senate race on the statewide ballot. And the winners of Thursday's Republican and Democratic primaries came with some surprises for pollsters on the Republican side and for Democrats looking at the primaries campaign bank accounts.
The unofficial results arrived relatively late in Shelby County compared to the rest of the state and reflected statewide results in the Senate primary and a good night for all but one incumbent on the ballot. The number of absentee ballots also reflected some didn't make it to the Election Commission or that those voters may have abandoned the mail-in ballots to vote provisional ballots.
A year out of the City Council, Joe Brown returns to elected office as General Sessions Court Clerk over Paul Boyd, who left the Probate Court Clerk's office two years ago.
Polls opened in Shelby County at 7 a.m. Thursday, Aug. 6, and close at 7 p.m. The ballot is a mix of state and federal primary and local races for a clerk's position and five school board seats. Early voter turnout was almost as high as the total turnout in the same election cycle four years ago but low through the morning rush hour.
Here’s what to expect if you are voting today, from pandemic preparations to what to do if your absentee ballot didn't arrive. And what to expect on your ballot.
The scorecard highlights a pivotal vote in the police reform debate and why both sides in the discussion still have separate paths to pursue.
On the eve of election day, the state's highest court rules the expanded access to absentee ballots for the August elections means all of those votes will be counted. But for November, absentee ballots will not be open to all who have general concerns for their health if they vote in person instead of by mail. There was a dissenting opinion on the court.
Memphis Police Director Michael Rallings says the City Council decision to take residency off the Nov. 3 ballot leaves voters out of a critical decision. The vote is a challenge to Mayor Jim Strickland’s core philosophy on fighting crime after he dramatically upped the number of new officers he believes is necessary.
Two proposals with common political ground were before the council Tuesday.