Mental health professionals to join sheriff’s deputies on some calls
The pairing is among the police reforms discussed nationally in the wake of the March 2020 death of George Floyd in Minneapolis Police custody.
Bill Dries
Reporter
Bill Dries covers city and county government and politics. He is a native Memphian and has been a reporter for almost 50 years covering a wide variety of stories from the 1977 death of Elvis Presley and the 1978 police and fire strikes to numerous political campaigns, every county mayor and every Memphis Mayor starting with Wyeth Chandler.
There are 3909 articles by Bill Dries :
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April 2022
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Public Safety -
Shelby County Northside and Soulsville tax incentives move to County Commission
The commission agenda also includes a call on County Clerk Wanda Halbert for a corrective plan to clear up some problems in a recent audit of her office’s financial statements.
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Behind The Headlines Youth Villages starts intervention program to reduce homicide rate
The $60 million Memphis Allies gun violence initiative is new turf for Youth Villages, which historically hasn’t worked with teens and young adults accused of violent crimes.
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Elections Huett-Garcia claims school board seat at filing deadline
Billy Orgel decided not to file the petition for re-election he pulledin February. That left Amber Huett-Garcia as the only candidate in the race and effectively elected to the District 6 MSCS board seat at the Thursday filing deadline. There were other surprises at the deadline in other races.
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Metro The return of the ‘People’s Convention’
Earle Fisher of UpTheVote 901 talks about the return of the political gathering begun in 2019 and the state of the city’s new activism that has mixed campaigning for causes with campaigning for elective office.
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Metro Blackburn and Hagerty vote against Jackson confirmation to U.S. Supreme Court
U.S. Senators Marsha Blackburn and Bill Hagerty indicated they would vote against the nomination of Ketanji Brown Jackson ahead of the 53-47 vote Thursday, April 7.
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Elections August ballot solidifies as filing deadline approaches
With some petitions still out ahead of the Thursday, April 7, noon deadline, there is a chance some contenders will have no opposition on the August ballot. Here’s a run down of the filing developments.
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Elections Morrison-Carpenter matchup draws distinctions, few sparks at Southwind
Shelby County Commissioner Brandon Morrison defends her conservatism while opponent Jordan Carpenter targets what he calls “dangerous ideologies” and “perversion.”
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City of Memphis City Council moves to hire energy consultant on MLGW-TVA issue
Should we stay or should we go? The decision still lacks a dollar figure and relies on the MLGW board agreeing to let the council’s consultant get a look at the various proposals.
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City of Memphis One Beale gets city financial backing
“This is not something we have taken lightly,” said Memphis COO Doug McGowen. “The world has changed and the Loews hotel is not coming. Those are two things that have caused us to act.”
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City Council urges early voting expansion in county primaries
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City of Memphis City Council urges early voting expansion in county primaries
In addition to the voting-expansion resolution, Council action included the Liberty Park contract, more time for Parkside at Shelby Farms and the end of the latest consolidation push.
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Update
MetroKing’s voice speaks again at Civil Rights Museum on anniversary of his death
The National Civil Rights Museum commemorated the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. on Monday, April 4. The recordings of King’s sermons resonated with the times as one of those in his inner circle returned for what has become an annual pilgrimage.
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City of Memphis City Council takes up One Beale debt, Soulsville TIF and Northside PILOT
The economic development items are part of a council agenda that could see the formal end of a city-county consolidation bid and the end of council discussion of police and fire residency requirements.
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Elections What a Democratic District Attorney’s office would look like
Each of the three Democratic primary candidates for Shelby County District Attorney General pledge to make deep reforms in the prosecutor’s office.
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Elections Political Roundup: Heading to the first election since 2020
April marks the deadline to register to vote in the May 3 elections, the filing deadline for the August ballot, and the start of early voting ahead of the May 3 election day.
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Premium
Shelby CountyBureaucratic traffic jam backs up new car tags and license plates
The Daily Memphian readers chime in to share their experiences, which sometimes involve mail delivery issues. But County Clerk Wanda Halbert says there are other problems within county government.
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Elections Lawsuit challenges limited opening of early voting sites before Easter
The Memphis Branch NAACP, along with two other organizations, has filed a lawsuit against the Shelby County Election Commission.
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March 2022
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On the Record MATA project funding included in White House budget proposal
On The Daily Memphian’s On The Record podcast, Rep. Steve Cohen talks about the proposed system, in which buses would have their own lanes and would be timed to hit green lights.
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Elections Political Roundup: Walking local party lines
As some Democrats pledge to try to censure Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland for endorsing a Republican candidate for state Senate in the August primaries, local Republicans have their own internal differences.
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Elections What change in the DA’s office could look like on first day
On The Daily Memphian’s On The Record Podcast, the three Democratic primary contenders for Shelby County District Attorney General discussed what happens in the prosecutor’s office on day one if they upset incumbent Amy Weirich in August.
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Update
State GovernmentLee proposes $20 million for riverfront dock expansion
The budget amendment also includes $10 million for the National Civil Rights Museum, $2.5 million each for the Brooks Museum of Art and the Leftwich Tennis Center and $100,000 for the Southern Heritage Classic.
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City of Memphis Fourth Street becomes Ida B. Wells Street
Signs for the permanent street renaming were unveiled Monday for a section of Fourth Street between Union Avenue and E.H. Crump Boulevard.
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Shelby County County Commission approves paying cost overruns on juvenile detention center
The $13 million in additional funding found from a group of seven county budget line items brings the total cost of the project to around $30 million including the $3 million the county paid for the Old Getwell building that is being renovated.
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City of Memphis Strickland hopeful for local share of state sales tax revenue
As the end of the current legislative session nears in Nashville, Strickland said his long-held goal of getting a share of the sales tax revenue is “inching along.”
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Shelby County County Commission Scorecard: The making of a new school board member
The County Commission Scorecard chronicles the three rounds of votes that made Charles Everett of Westwood the newest Memphis-Shelby County Schools board member representing District 6.
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