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 2645 articles by Bill Dries :
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September 2018
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City of Memphis Memphis police brass were about four minutes into Power Point slides at a Tuesday, Sept. 25, City Council committee session before council members shut down the presentation that tallied the hours of police camera recordings and number of cameras in patrol cars. -
City of Memphis Dulberger says EDGE small part of economic development
The leader of the city-county Economic Development Growth Engine says EDGE is willing to change, but Reid Dulberger was quick to add that changes to the formal approach to growing the Memphis economy won’t address the dominant challenges. -
Metro Early-voting sites, hours set
All of Shelby County’s 27 early-voting sites will open on Oct. 17, the first day of the early-voting period before the Nov. 6 election. Early voting runs through Nov. 1. -
City of Memphis City working group looks for direction on EDGE
The city’s working group on economic development is about to compare notes on the attributes of a “perfect” economic development organization. -
City of Memphis Council approves de-annexations of Rocky Point, Southwind/Windyke
The Memphis City Council gave final approval Tuesday, Sept. 25, to the de-annexations of the Rocky Point and Southwind/Windyke areas of the city. -
Education Burt named new SCS chief academic officer
Antonio Burt, principal at one of Shelby County Schools’ first Innovation Zone schools and leader of priority and I-Zone schools, is the new chief academic officer for SCS. -
City of Memphis New South City homes begin rising on site of Foote Homes
The last of the brick two-story apartment buildings that were the Foote Homes public housing development are down to a few slabs of concrete overgrown by grass and bushes. And new wooden frames are starting to rise near the corner of Lauderdale Street and Vance Avenue. -
City of Memphis City Council to discuss bus lanes on Second and B.B. King, vote on de-annexations
Second Street and B.B. King Boulevard between Union Avenue and A.W. Willis Boulevard would each have a lane just for buses and other mass transit under a proposal to be discussed by a Memphis City Council committee Tuesday, Sept. 25. -
City of Memphis Facebook finds, removes more fake Memphis Police Department accounts
Facebook has deactivated six fake accounts connected to the Memphis Police Department, according to the nonprofit Electronic Frontier Foundation, and sent a letter to police brass last week warning them that the fake accounts violate Facebook's terms of service. -
City of Memphis City ready to re-institute Beale Street Bucks cover charge for security
The first weekend the Downtown Memphis Commission and Memphis Police Department considered reinstituting a cover charge on Beale Street did not occur. -
Shelby County Four potential new voting systems for Shelby County get road test
Three of the four voting systems certified by the state of Tennessee for use in elections would enable voters to get a printed copy of their choices and then complete the voting process by running that printed copy through a scanner. -
Second convention hotel set for Civic Center Plaza
The city’s second convention center hotel will be constructed on Civic Center Plaza across from City Hall and next to the Downtown Memphis Commission offices, Jonathan Tisch, the chairman and CEO of Loews Hotel & Co., said Friday. -
Criminal Justice Strickland pledges to get to bottom of officer-involved shooting
Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland addressed the city Friday morning, saying there have been 40 incidents in which the Memphis Police Department investigated and disciplined officers for violating policies surrounding the use of body and vehicle cameras, vowing to get “to the bottom of this” shooting of 25-year-old Martavious Banks. -
Education Suburban school system leaders say students must go beyond academics
Two months into his job as superintendent of Millington Municipal Schools, James “Bo” Griffin goes into all four schools in the system at least once a week. -
City of Memphis Airways Middle School zoning change leads with billboard
Few items to be voted on at City Hall kindle controversy like the prospect of a new billboard. The controversy usually pits council members who see billboards as blight and oppose any proliferation of them against members who see them as a money-maker for property owners who lease their land for billboard use. -
Shelby County Summers out, Morris in as new Juvenile Court coordinator
Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris is making a change in who runs the county’s memorandum of agreement with the U.S. Justice Department for changes in Memphis-Shelby County Juvenile Court. -
City of Memphis Ford, Fisher on different sides of instant-runoff voting
Most of the 50 citizens at a Hickory Hill town hall meeting Monday, Sept. 17, came to talk and complain about city garbage and trash pick-up. There were so many complaints the host, City Council member Patrice Robinson, began setting up a meeting just to talk about the city’s solid waste services, which are in the process of changing. -
Metro Blackburn removes photo with U of M spirit squad after request from athletics officials
Republican Senate nominee Marsha Blackburn removed a picture Monday, Sept. 17, of her with the University of Memphis Spirit Squad posted on her campaign Facebook page. -
State Government Bredesen defends his wait-and-see stance on Supreme Court nominee Kavanaugh
Democratic U.S. Senate contender Phil Bredesen met a crowd of 500 at Rhodes College Thursday, Sept. 13, that consisted mostly of supporters on what was originally planned as a debate with Republican rival Marsha Blackburn. Blackburn would not commit to the debate. -
The Daily Memphian Q&A: Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland
In an exclusive interview with The Daily Memphian, Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland recently discussed a variety of topics, including police surveillance of protesters, economic development and his “brilliant at the basics” strategy.
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