Reporter
Bill Dries covers city government and politics. He is a native Memphian and has been a reporter for more than 40 years.
There are 1881 articles by Bill Dries :
A new monument on Beale Street honors the 19th century school teacher, journalist and anti-lynching figure. The recognition comes 130 years after Wells left the city just ahead of a mob that ransacked her newspaper office.
The collaborative with more than 150 local nonprofits is to tackle long-terms needs and problems in the same rapid and sustained way the countywide COVID task force has handled the local response to the pandemic.
Blackburn’s recent speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Dallas was all-China, echoing some of the concerns made by then-Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson during his tenure.
The council’s discussion last week about a car lot in Raleigh could be about some larger changes in zoning. Normally the representative of a district gets final say on the zoning, but that’s not how this is going.
The Tennessee Department of Transportation originally identified nine spots beyond the damage spotted in May that shut down all traffic on the Hernando DeSoto Bridge, but that has increased to 16.
The Byhalia Connection Pipeline is over but a burgeoning environmental movement, with the city’s underground water aquifer at its center, remains. The road to that movement began with the rise of the city’s new activism several years ago, with some unexpected twists and turns along the way.Related stories:
During the Monday meeting at the White House with Chief Cerelyn “C.J.” Davis and other police chiefs, President Biden said federal, state and local coordination is essential to his violent crime strategy.
The city’s list of those allowed in City Hall only with a police escort grew to 81 in a wave of protests in 2016 and 2017.
Memphis Light, Gas and Water Division began the process Monday, July 12, of soliciting proposals for possibly cutting ties to the Tennessee Valley Authority, its electric power provider for the past 80 years.
The Tennessee Valley Authority supplies electric power to Memphis Light, Gas and Water Division. But the possibility of MLGW leaving TVA is also a part of the issue with the city’s water supply and its safety. Out of the pipeline: The city's water movement and how it evolvedRelated stories
The short answer is more complexity and more ambition and probably more litigation. Out of the pipeline: The city's water movement and how it evolvedRelated stories:
The son of one-time topless nightclub kingpin Danny Owens drew a sentence below federal guidelines for drug conspiracy.
National Civil Rights Museum President Russell Wigginton said on The Daily Memphian Politics Podcast that he hopes state education officials will consult with the museum as they set the guidelines for school systems to navigate the new state law banning teaching about systemic racism and how the history of race impacts the present.
An attorney for Plains All American Pipeline told City Council members Tuesday the proposals are “anti-industry” and will be overturned if approved by the council and County Commission.
Funding includes $2.5 million to buy the 17-acre site and the rest for conversion of space to Liberty Bowl parking spaces and city maintenance facilities.
Council members had questions about the land sale coming in below the $6 million appraised value of the property.
Memphis Police Chief Cerelyn “C.J.” Davis briefs City Council members on the opening weekend of the new law.
Also on the council’s agenda Tuesday is a first look at the “Union Station” development on Union Avenue east of McLean, buying the Coke bottling plant property by the Fairgrounds and votes on two historic overlay districts in Crosstown and Vollintine-Evergreen.
Here’s a review of some of the new state laws and changes to state law that took effect July 1 after approval by the Tennessee General Assembly and the signature of Gov. Bill Lee.
The summit comes during an off-election year in Shelby County politics, which Rev. Earle Fisher said is useful to emphasize the coalition’s focus on issues and policy.
The announcement comes ahead of the end of a two-month truce on the controversial project as well as efforts by local leaders to slow it down and stop it.
The County Commission Scorecard tracks the second in a series of votes on a county property tax rate. But the votes probably don’t close out the county’s budget season with four of the 13 commissioners absent.Related story:
On “Behind The Headlines,” county commissioners Van Turner and Mark Billingsley clashed over whether the commission should reopen its budget season later this month to consider a one-cent property tax hike.Related story:
The Invest in America Act passed Thursday, July 1, in the House on a 221-201 vote.
Meanwhile, Cohen was named co-chair Wednesday of the Helsinki Commission on European affairs that he has served on for the past decade. Cohen also linked the commission’s concerns about democracy in Europe to concerns in the U.S.