There are 2100 articles by Bill Dries :

• December 2018

  • City of Memphis

    Robinson and Morgan say council discord has broader context

    Memphis City Council members say there were some indications of discord before the rift over filling three vacant council seats. But when the rift settled in for the rest of the year it was a surprising turn.

    By Bill Dries December 22, 2018
  • Shelby County

    Harris pushes for new juvenile detention center funding

    Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris presses the case for funding of a new juvenile detention center ahead of a key County Commission vote next month.

    By Bill Dries December 21, 2018
  • City of Memphis

    Confederate monument anniversary reveals a work in progress

    One year to the day that Confederate monuments were removed from two city parks, the anniversary revealed the controversy still has some unexpected life left in it among those pursuing the removal of the monuments by different methods.

    By Bill Dries December 20, 2018
  • City of Memphis

    Confederate monuments anniversary blends with coming city elections

    Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland won’t officially announce his re-election bid until next month.

    By Bill Dries December 20, 2018
  • City of Memphis

    Memphis 3.0 draft includes area anchors and ‘degree of change’ ratings

    The city’s long-range development plan for the next 20 years begins with what is already there, gauges the market and public sentiment and builds from there. A draft of the Memphis 3.0 plan debuted Wednesday on a city website, www.memphis3point0.com.

    By Bill Dries December 19, 2018
  • City of Memphis

    City Council votes down MLGW rate hikes, approves Union Row TIF

    Memphis City Council members have rejected gas, water and electric rate hikes proposed by Memphis Light, Gas and Water Division. On three separate 3-7 votes Tuesday, the council voted down the rate hikes to take effect in 2019 and again in 2021 across all three divisions of the publicly owned utility.

    By Bill Dries December 19, 2018
  • City of Memphis

    Graceland says it’s willing to delay arena plans to get money for other attractions

    There are plans to make two more Hallmark movies in Memphis next year, according to the managing partner of Graceland Holdings LLC.

    By Bill Dries December 18, 2018
  • City of Memphis

    City Council rejects Logan, punts filling vacancies to new year

    Memphis City Council members put off filling three empty seats on the council Tuesday at their last meeting of the year.

    By Bill Dries December 18, 2018
  • City of Memphis

    Bond bid for council seat sidelined by diagnosis

    Theryn Bond got some bad news in her quest to get the appointment to the open City Council District 6 seat.

    By Bill Dries December 18, 2018
  • City of Memphis

    City Council’s 3 empty seats take center stage

    The Memphis City Council has three empty council seats to fill Tuesday. And if the 10 council members can’t break the gridlock that has delayed the appointment to the first of those vacancies, there will be more calls for special elections to fill all three.

    By Bill Dries December 18, 2018
  • City of Memphis

    Change is constant in newly published Overton Park history

    Brooks Lamb was making final edits on his book about Overton Park when he found out the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art was planning a move out of the park to Downtown Memphis.

    By Bill Dries December 18, 2018
  • City of Memphis

    Candlelight vigil to mark one year since removal of Confederate monuments

    A candlelight vigil Thursday in Health Sciences Park will mark the one-year anniversary of the removal of Confederate monuments there and from Memphis Park.

    By Bill Dries December 18, 2018
  • City of Memphis

    TDZ expansion approved for second convention center hotel

    The Tennessee Building Commission's executive committee has approved an expansion of the Downtown Tourism Development Zone for a second convention center hotel in Memphis.

    By Bill Dries December 17, 2018
  • City of Memphis

    Parks Partnership keeps River Garden active in first month

    The River Garden at Mississippi River Park has a few unexpected additions. Since the park at the Wolf River Harbor was revamped as a more active setting about a month ago, a hawk and a bobcat have taken up residence.

    By Bill Dries December 16, 2018
  • City of Memphis

    Burson campaign photos show new political reality

    Charles Burson began with the certainty that he was taking pictures of what would be Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign march to the presidency. That belief and his political experience influenced how and where the Memphis attorney and former Tennessee attorney general framed what he shot.

    By Bill Dries December 16, 2018
  • City of Memphis

    City Council fields narrow for appointments

    Ten citizens have applied for one of the two latest vacancies on the Memphis City Council, and 16 have applied for the other.

    By Bill Dries December 15, 2018
  • City of Memphis

    NAACP concerned about ‘attempt to racially gerrymander’ council

    The Memphis Branch of the NAACP says the Memphis City Council should have consistent rules for filling vacancies on the body and suggests a special election if the council remains at an impasse in filling the three open seats at its Tuesday meeting.

    By Bill Dries December 14, 2018
  • City of Memphis

    Nonprofits see conflicting dynamics in city’s need

    For the last 20 years, First Baptist Church on Broad has celebrated Thanksgiving with a dinner at the church that includes the homeless. A group of men from the church deliver hot Thanksgiving meals to around 1,000 more people that day as well.

    By Bill Dries December 14, 2018
  • City of Memphis

    Council contenders: Who’s in the mix for three open city council seats

    All three open positions on the Memphis City Council are in play starting Thursday at noon, the deadline for those interested in the District 6 seat and the Super District 8 Position 2 seat to file their applications with the council office.

    By Bill Dries December 13, 2018
  • Education

    Ray named interim Shelby County Schools superintendent

    Joris Ray, Shelby County Schools' chief of academic operations and school support, is the school system’s interim superintendent starting with the departure of SCS superintendent Dorsey Hopson next month.

    By Bill Dries December 12, 2018
  • City of Memphis

    Lamar to lead new city solid waste division

    A former joint staff doctrine planner at the Pentagon and Williams Sonoma executive will run the city’s newly formed Solid Waste Division and carry out Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland’s bid to improve the city’s garbage pickup services.

    By Bill Dries December 12, 2018
  • Metro

    Memphis attorney named chief deputy of Tennessee attorney general’s office

    Jonathan Skrmetti, a partner at the Butler Snow LLP law firm and former federal prosecutor in the Memphis office of the U.S. Attorney for the Western Division of Tennessee, is the new chief deputy of the Tennessee attorney general’s office.

    By Bill Dries December 12, 2018
  • City of Memphis

    City Council calls six a quorum, as four hire attorney

    Six Memphis City Council members on Tuesday, Dec. 11, approved 39 resolutions from the delayed Dec. 4 agenda as the four members not present sent their lawyer to the special session at City Hall.

    By Bill Dries December 12, 2018
  • City of Memphis

    Pleasant led Election Commission through changes, challenges

    In three decades on the Shelby County Election Commission, 24 of them as chairman, O.C. Pleasant oversaw changes from lever voting machines to electronic machines to touch-screen machines and dodged an attempt to introduce punch-card voting in local elections.

    By Bill Dries December 12, 2018
  • City of Memphis

    Ballot Basics: The Elections of 2018

    The last vote count of a busy election year is certified and in the books.

    By Bill Dries December 12, 2018