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 1540 articles by Bill Dries :
With six weeks left to file qualifying petitions, the number of likely candidates in Memphis elections is on par with four years ago, with a dozen contenders having pulled petitions for the city mayor's race so far.
The race for Arlington mayor has three prospective contenders so far, with incumbent Mike Wissman facing at least two challengers on the Sept. 19 ballot.
There is no immediate move to sell Confederate monuments removed from two Memphis parks until all appeals by Sons of Confederate Veterans, which is contesting the sale of the parks and the statues' removal, are exhausted.
The City Council stuck with a compromise 4% pay raise for police and firefighters and kept the city property tax rate at $3.19, but also extended a controversial cover charge for Beale Street on summer weekends.
The Tennessee Court of Appeals has ruled the Sons of Confederate Veterans organization has no case to preserve two Memphis parks and the Confederate monuments removed from them in 2017.
The legal challenge to the Memphis 3.0 plan has been dismissed in Memphis Federal Court.
Two mayoral contenders are among those confirmed for the South Memphis gathering built around a platform and endorsements in some, if not all, of the races on the Oct. 3 Memphis ballot.
Two council members expressed concerns last week about the Strickland administration's "brilliant at the basics" philosophy, but that probably won't affect votes on a 4% raise for police and firefighters.
As a successful Memphis in May International Festival unfolded in Tom Lee Park, there was plenty of symbolism and drama building in the controversy over what happens next to the30-acre Downtown Memphis park.
The president of the city's longest running civil rights organization commented on The Daily Memphian Politics Podcast about the funding, voter registration lawsuits and leaving her post this fall.
A member of the advisory group to MLGW on such a plan says on "Behind the Headlines" the complex undertaking could hold several changes beyond who supplies wholesale electric power to the local utility.
A proposed 4% public safety raise goes to the full City Council Tuesday for a final vote as part of an amended budget with no property tax hike for the fiscal year that begins July 1. There could be more budget changes at the council session.
Ten of the 13 City Council members are expected to seek a return to the body on the Oct. 3 ballot. Eight incumbents already have their petitions circulating ahead of a July 18 deadline to file.
The vote at a special party meeting Tuesday evening in Hickory Hill marks what amounts to the second confidence vote in Michael Harris since he ran unopposed for chairman at the April local party convention.
The marker south of Beale Street marks the site of a Chinese association founded in Memphis in the 1920s. It is also a testament to the impact of the Chinese Exclusion Act that remained in place for 60 years in America.
The city council still has some difficult decisions to make. But past budget seasons show there is also still some compromise possible between what the mayor proposed and what the council decided last week.
Mayor Jim Strickland wants the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to study planned changes to Tom Lee Park, adding contour to the mostly flat park. But Strickland said he remains committed to the idea of a park that is more active year-round.
In a "Behind The Headlines" interview, the managing partner of Graceland says the Memphis Grizzlies front office is blocking the deal over 80,000 square feet of new soundstages that it contends could be used as a new arena competing with FedExForum.
Local leaders cut the ribbon Wednesday on a new social media icon on Mud Island, and Orange Mound celebrated Memphis' bicentennial day by marking 100 years since it was annexed by the city.
The decision by the council to side with unions over the administration in impasse proceedings is hardly unprecedented. But finding the money in the budget sometimes takes the council and mayor around the impasse procedure.
The Memphis City Council has tentatively approved a bigger raise for police and firefighters than the 3 percent Mayor Jim Strickland proposed for public safety employees.
A series of events will mark the founding of Memphis, which is technically 200 years ago Wednesday.
City council members Tuesday will vote on the recommendations of seven council impasses committees concerning pay raises for city employees.
A new historical marker at FedExForum plaza will mark the site of the Lung Kong Tin Yee Association of the 1920s.
Monday was the first day for contenders on the October ballot to pull qualifying petitions, and 34 hopefuls began gathering signatures on opening day. They have until July 18 to get on the ballot, led by what promises to be a spirited race for Memphis mayor.