Pickleball at Pipkin could save taxpayers more than $3K a month
If Bluff City Pickleball moves into Liberty Park, it could save the city up to $40,000 a year in operating costs.
Samuel Hardiman
Reporter
Samuel Hardiman is an enterprise reporter who focuses on government and politics. He began his career at the Tulsa World where he covered business and K-12 education. Hardiman came to Memphis in 2018 to join the Memphis Business Journal, covering government and economic development.
There are 741 articles by Samuel Hardiman :
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October 2026
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City of Memphis -
City of Memphis City Council business paused after data center discord
The Memphis City Council abruptly stopped business during its regular meeting after the hundreds gathered at Memphis City Hall erupted in displeasure.
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City of Memphis 100 N. Main has $13M to $14M money gap, developer says
The businessman painted a stark, dire picture of Downtown.
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Shelby County Assessor says SpaceXAI, data centers need new tax code
New Shelby County Assessor Javier Bailey said he and other county assessors are working on legislation to tax data centers differently than they’re currently assessed.
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City of Memphis Why was your September MLGW bill so high?
The jump in electric bills is directly tied to customers using much more electricity during the September “heat dome” that hovered over Memphis and Shelby County for days.
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City of Memphis ‘There’s plenty of room’ — MLGW says Memphis is ready for growth
MLGW CEO Doug McGowen told the Memphis City Council that the utility’s electric distribution system has enough capacity to accommodate nearly double the residential customers.
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Health CareWhere the money stands on Regional One’s new hospital
Taxpayers have paid for land, demolition and a project manager, but most of the county money tied to Regional One’s new hospital hasn’t been approved yet.
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September 2026
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City of Memphis ‘What an honor’: Loren Roberts emotional as work starts on clubhouse named for him
Gifts from the Martin and Rhodes families, along with $1 million from First Horizon, are helping fund the clubhouse and a new six-hole short course.
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City of MemphisMemphis Land Bank fires CEO after questionable credit card spending
The City of Memphis-funded nonprofit fired its head after he allegedly used the corporation’s credit card for personal expenses.
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Shelby CountyAt street renaming, Lee Harris said he doesn’t know how much Regional One has cost
As the ceremony honoring the former county mayor got underway, demolition work continued at the former Commercial Appeal building less than half a mile west.
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Real EstateA data-center moratorium in Memphis won’t stop SpaceXAI from growing across the border
Build-out and activity is bustling at SpaceXAI’s DeSoto County operation, less than a mile from Memphis and unperturbed by the political winds blowing to the north.
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City of Memphis Could Memphis ban data centers? Maybe.
On Tuesday, the Memphis City Council discussed potential zoning changes that would impact data centers.
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BusinessWhat we do and don’t know about TVA’s data center rate hikes
When the TVA Board of Directors approved the new rate class for data centers in Memphis on Aug. 20, it held back some important information.
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City of MemphisFight about data center pause builds at City Hall
As the Memphis City Council prepared to take the second of three necessary votes on the moratorium ordinance, efforts emerged to find middle ground. The council’s longtime attorney also openly questioned whether the proposed moratorium was legal.
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Data centers looking to expand in Memphis but are months away
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City of Memphis Data centers looking to expand in Memphis but are months away
Memphis Light, Gas and Water CEO Doug McGowen told the Memphis City Council on Tuesday, Sept. 1, that two companies plan to build significant data centers in Memphis.
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Shelby CountyRegional One commits to new $1B hospital with no plan to pay for it
It is unclear how much the work currently underway at 495 Union Ave. is costing Shelby County taxpayers or where the money to pay contractors’ invoices is coming from.
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Business SpaceXAI planning data center on land bought from Southaven
When completed, the data center would join the company’s three other known nearby data centers on its sprawling campus.
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City of Memphis Storm cleanup could cost $18M, MLGW says
Memphis Light, Gas and Water shared a time lapse of the recovery efforts — and an estimate of how much it would cost ratepayers — with the Memphis City Council on Tuesday.
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Downtown MLGW to keep chipping in on FedExForum costs
Memphis City Council’s Memphis Light, Gas and Water committee gave the utility the green light to keep paying the city $2.5 million a year towards the arena.
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August 2026
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Metro SpaceXAI removes 11 controversial turbines from Southaven
At its peak, the company’s non-permitted turbine count was 69, according to federal court documents and Mississippi state records.
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Metro Saturday’s storm ‘wreaked havoc’ on the MLGW system
Memphis Light, Gas and Water CEO Doug McGowen said the storm that blew in Saturday evening was the 7th most destructive by outage minutes in the utility’s history.
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600 employees and contractors working on power restoration, MLGW says
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Metro TVA hikes electric rates on Memphis data centers
Data centers across the Tennessee Valley, including SpaceXAI’s sprawling Memphis operations, will soon face steeper electric bills and must pay far more to access the broader electric grid.
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City of Memphis Data centers could soon pay full cost of power infrastructure, TVA CEO says
Tennessee Valley Authority CEO Mike Skaggs said the change would, in his opinion, put TVA ahead of other utilities in the country in charging data centers for their costs.
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MetroSpaceXAI asks for more power — this time from TVA
SpaceX’s artificial intelligence division asked TVA to directly supply more electricity to its Colossus II campus, which stretches between Memphis and Southaven.
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City of Memphis Piece of Grizzlies’ funding moves forward
Memphis Light, Gas and Water has amended an agreement to send funds annually to the City of Memphis.
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