Political Roundup: Sugarmon opens for Juvenile Court Judge as races heat up
Candidates who won’t be on the ballot until August are actively campaigning along with those in partisan races whose first hurdle is the May county primaries.
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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.
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Candidates who won’t be on the ballot until August are actively campaigning along with those in partisan races whose first hurdle is the May county primaries.
On Tuesday, Jan. 18, District Attorney General Amy Weirich will talk about how her office prosecutes reckless driving and drag racing cases.
Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris said the raises approved this month for 200 corrections center guards are being funded in part by fees the Justice Department is paying the county as it closes down a privately run federal prison. And he said more raises and bonuses are coming for others.
Josh Spickler, of the criminal justice reform group Just City, said on WKNO’s Behind The Headlines that there is another side to allegations the county’s criminal justice system is a ‘revolving door.’
A nine-page letter from Capitol Hill questions a central tenet of TVA’s pitch for Memphis Light, Gas and Water Division to remain the federal agency’s largest customer for electric power.
The Judiciary Committee scrap over Mathis’ nomination was part of a larger issue about blue slips used to express support or opposition by Senators on federal appeals court nominees when the home-state Senators are not of the president’s party.
The former county commissioner has pulled petitions to seek a return to the County Commission or to run for Juvenile Court Clerk.
Edmund Ford Jr. said he was “sort of offended” after an executive from The Commercial Appeal complained to the commission over Ford’s treatment of a reporter.
Shelby County Health Department director Dr. Michelle Taylor also complained about employers requiring a test for workers who have quarantined for the recommended five days to return to work after initially testing positive for COVID.
The first Council Scorecard of the new year chronicles a rare defeat of an appointment from the city court clerk’s office and a few notes about the start of the second half of the current council’s four-year term.
The money will mean raises of up to 20% for guards working at prisons run by the county administration.
The Tennessee Housing Development Agency begins taking applications online Monday, Jan. 10, for $168 million in federal American Rescue Plan Act funding for those behind on their mortgage payments specifically because of the pandemic.
Republican mayoral contender Worth Morgan emphasized his differences on crime with Democratic incumbent Lee Harris. The three Democrats seeking to challenge Republican District Attorney Amy Weirich in August said the prosecutors office would change profoundly if any of them upset Weirich.
County commissioners will get their second briefing from the Health Department in a week about the effect the new Omicron variant is having on local hospital capacity.
The Daily Memphian compares top pay and pay ranges for the county’s six law enforcement agencies and finds that the area’s smaller police departments pay more.
The top five votes by the Memphis City Council include what happened after a crude oil pipeline plan was withdrawn and the council’s do-over on the work toward a possible MLGW split from TVA.
The MPD has gone from 2,449 officers a decade ago to slightly more than 1,900 today. The problem is national but also unique to Memphis in some ways.
“Behind The Headlines” features a discussion of the year’s major events. The reporters’ roundtable found the long shadow of the COVID-19 pandemic crossed even those events that seemed unconnected to the global public health crisis.
Shelby County Schools board member Bibbs is seeking a County Commission seat. Meanwhile Commission Chairman Brooks is aiming for the Shelby County Register’s job.
Strickland asked Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee, in a letter dated Thursday, to list the bridge project as one of the state’s long-term infrastructure priorities. He cited the three-month shutdown last year of the Hernando DeSoto Bridge as well as the advanced age of other bridges at Memphis across the Mississippi River.
The top five include property taxes, redistricting, pay raises, a takeback on critical race theory and the strategic battle for a new commission chairman.
Ken Moody opened his challenge of County Mayor Lee Harris Thursday in Overton Square with an attack of Harris’ leadership, similar to how Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland campaigned in his 2015 upset of incumbent AC Wharton Jr.
The plaintiffs are taking the city and Memphis River Parks Partnership to court over the $61 million Tom Lee Park redesign.Related story:
Shelby County Health Dept. Director Dr. Michelle Taylor told Shelby County commissioners Wednesday, Jan. 5, that state health officials are also watching the strain on hospitals and public health institutions closely.
Memphis City Court Judge Tarik Sugarmon will run against incumbent Juvenile Court Judge Dan Michael. Meanwhile, Marcus Mitchell is running for Juvenile Court Clerk County Commissioner Brandon Morrison is running in a new district.