Early voting opens in Arlington elections
The Arlington ballot is topped by a challenge of Mayor Mike Wissman's bid for a third term. It includes three races for aldermen and two for the Arlington school board.
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 3123 articles by Bill Dries :
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August 2019
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Elections -
Metro Norris finds questions and comparisons in new life as a federal judge
Former state Senate Majority Leader and Shelby County commissioner Mark Norris said Tuesday he finds some parts of his work as a judge idyllic. Other parts make him question whether the solutions legislators attempt are working on a large scale.
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City of Memphis TVA proposes new transmission line between Freeport substation and Allen plant transmission lines
The Tennessee Valley Authority is proposing to build 2.7 miles of new transmission line on the Memphis side of the Mississippi state line.
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Elections Herenton’s Long Legacy
Former mayor Willie Herenton is the city's longest-serving mayor and its first elected African-American mayor, with a colorful legacy. His bid to return after a decade away is the next chapter in that legacy.
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Shelby County Lee touts ‘conservative values’ at Lincoln Day gala, Kustoff calls impeachment ‘giant time suck’
The local Republican party will win elections again, the chairman of the Shelby County GOP vowed Friday at the party’s annual Lincoln Day Gala.
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City of Memphis Herenton calls on supporters to win mayor’s race with early vote dominance
Former Memphis Mayor Willie Herenton told a women's rally that he wants to guard against election fraud. Meanwhile, contender Tami Sawyer rips Herenton and Mayor Jim Strickland for attending the local GOP's Lincoln Day Gala.
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City of Memphis Calvo and Smiley council campaigns reflect unique setting for council races
Mauricio Calvo, on the Daily Memphian Politics Podcast, said last year's council deadlock on filling a council vacancy prompted him to run on the Oct. 3 ballot. J.B. Smiley Jr. is making his bid for a different council seat after a bid last year for the Shelby County Commission.
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City of Memphis Mayoral incumbent, challengers paint different portraits of city’s future
Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland has a full calendar of groundbreakings and openings as an incumbent campaigning on his record. Challenger Tami Sawyer, meanwhile, is appealing to fellow millennials to resist the call of other cities as well as the momentum Strickland is claiming.
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City of Memphis Zoo parking lot reconfiguration to begin Monday
Work on the Prentiss Place parking lot is the first of three phases and sets the stage for the next two phases starting this fall or winter. The work also begins as the new president of the zoo talks about a change in the zoo's direction.
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Metro Council approves $3M part of Leftwich Tennis Center expansion
City council members Tuesday approved the city's $3 million portion of the $19 million Leftwich Tennis Center expansion project.
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City of Memphis Union and Fourth hotel approved by council with parking in back, hotel on corner
The city council Tuesday approved expanding a program to pay fines and fees to restore driver's licenses to include criminal court. And the city is checking on the status of 14 works of public art at the city's old Cordova auto inspection station before the council votes on selling the station.
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Business Latest installment of South City funding approved
The city's fourth installment of $6 million for the South City development was approved Tuesday by the Memphis City Council.
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City of Memphis Dispute between Lausanne, neighborhood could move from courtroom to City Hall
An ongoing dispute between Lausanne Collegiate School and its residential neighbors is headed to court but made a stop at the City Council along the way.
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City of Memphis City Council motors through car-centric agenda items Tuesday
The council agenda Tuesday includes discussions about selling the old Cordova auto inspection station, allowing temporary closure of an Overton Square street and expanding a program that helps those with suspended drivers licenses pay fines and fees once they have met other terms.
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Elections Sawyer blazes five-year path from protest to mayor’s race
Memphis Mayoral contender and Shelby County Commissioner Tami Sawyer is mounting a complex challenge of incumbent mayor Jim Strickland. The challenge combines promises of disruption with national issues as Sawyer seeks to fuse activism with electoral politics.
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Metro Rally kicks off sales tax hike campaign
The storefront opening Saturday in the Poplar Corridor begins a campaign to the Oct. 3 election day. It also featured more of the clash of priorities among the major candidates for mayor on the same ballot.
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Metro City Council campaigns an unusual mix of full-term incumbents, newcomers and those in between
Council member Ford Canale is seeking a full four year term after being appointed to the body and winning a special election last year. On The Daily Memphian Politics Podcast, Canale talks about his bid for a full term and council contender Jeff Warren offers "throwback" campaign paraphernalia.
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City of Memphis Moses denied place in race for Memphis mayor
Pamela Moses represented herself in a Chancery Court hearing Thursday, Aug. 15, unsuccessfully seeking to stop the printing and mailing of Memphis election ballots that go to city absentee voters starting Monday.
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City of Memphis Sawyer says Strickland is not ‘an anti-racist’
The mayoral contender and county commissioner commented on a "Behind The Headlines" recording Thursday when asked about comments made by CNN commentator Angela Rye in Memphis last week labeling Mayor Jim Strickland a "racist' and "Dixiecrat."
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Arts & Culture W.C. Handy House museum reopens after 6-month standoff
The shotgun house at Beale and Fourth has a new commitment by the city to promote W.C. Handy's music more than a century after he puts the blues on sheet music and spread the music form around the world.
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Metro The Memphis 200
The first installment of our – and your – collection of 200 memorable Memphians.
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Metro Strickland, Sawyer differences on police and protests are personal and political
The incumbent and challenger Tami Sawyer have a complex history on what is arguably the most volatile issue of the mayor's race.
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City of Memphis Leaders of sales tax hike push vow citywide campaign
Leaders of the “Memphis Campaign for Public Safety” said on The Daily Memphian Politics Podcast they think the wording of the Oct. 3 ballot question is clear although Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland has said if it is approved, it would still have to go to the City Council for approval.
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City of Memphis MATA chief says referendum on bus funding source could follow city elections
On "Behind The Headlines," Gary Rosenfeld said a revenue source, possibly from a sales tax hike or gas tax hike, is needed to implement a two-year-old plan to increase the frequency of bus trips in the core city and to find ways to connect areas outside of the core.
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Metro Plastic bag ban voted down by City Council
A citywide plastic bag ban that would have tested a state law forbidding such limitation by local governments was voted down by the Memphis City Council.
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