There are 96 article(s) tagged Mick Wright:

• July 2023

  • Slow grand jury proceedings ‘a travesty,’ says top public defender

    Leaders discuss ongoing juvenile court problems and grand jury delays during Thursday’s County Commission public safety meeting.

    By Aarron Fleming July 28, 2023

• June 2023

  • Rare Sunday meeting leads to county wheel-tax hike options

    Four county commissioners — two from each political party — met Sunday, June 11, with Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris for four hours. They came up with a compromise that has a wheel-tax hike back in play after it was rejected by the commission earlier this month. But property tax hikes are also in play.

    By Bill Dries June 12, 2023

  • Local, state officials take ‘hard look’ at Memphis criminal justice system

    Shelby County Commissioner Mick Wright and state Sen. Brent Taylor (R-Memphis) both have pushed legislation to address bail, bail hearings, trial backlogs and more.

    By Julia Baker June 02, 2023

• May 2023

  • County Commission calls on judges to enact new release restrictions early

    The new state law requiring elected judges to make decisions about releasing defendants accused of violent felonies takes effect July 1. The County Commission is asking General Sessions judges to start doing that immediately.

    By Bill Dries May 16, 2023

  • Property tax cut and wheel-tax hike proposal is on shaky ground

    During Wednesday committee sessions, Shelby County commissioners set up later votes on a property rate that would remain the same while a commissioner’s resolution to do away with the wheel tax altogether waits in the wings. 

    By Bill Dries May 11, 2023

• April 2023

  • Harris, Wright pitch Regional One rebuild financing

    Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris takes a proposal to the County Commission next week to fund the county’s share of the $700-million capital project. Commissioner Mick Wright says he hopes that can be coupled with a property tax reduction.

    By Bill Dries April 18, 2023

  • Bartlett students shine at ‘friend-raiser’

    The Bartlett Education Foundation spotlights the suburb’s high schoolers in a fundraiser focused on student achievements.

    By Michael Waddell April 16, 2023

• March 2023

  • Halbert: ‘I’m not going anywhere ... Nobody asked anybody else to quit’

    Wanda Halbert met March 29 with county commissioners who pressed for specifics on a lease at Poplar Plaza and an opening date for the Riverdale Road office. One commissioner pushed his call for her to resign.

    By Bill Dries March 29, 2023

  • Registry, commercial taxes possible for rental investors

    Concerns about rental properties in the Bartlett area have drawn the attention of officials in the suburb, in the county and at the state legislature.

    By Michael Waddell March 01, 2023

• January 2023

  • Bartlett, Lakeland officials look ahead to 2023

    Lakeland and Bartlett have challenges they will encounter in 2023 and the suburbs need to address those as growth continues in Northeast Shelby County.

    By Michael Waddell January 03, 2023

• October 2022

  • Shelby County grant boosts Choices’ nurse midwife program

    Officials said the grant is intended to reduce maternal and infant mortality, particularly among the county’s Black population.

    By Aisling Mäki October 17, 2022

• September 2022

  • Blackburn and Hagerty cite Memphis crime in new call for federal funding

    The proposed “Restoring Law and Order Act” would include federal grant programs for more police and detectives focused on violent crime as well as a General Accounting Office examination of delays in processing rape kits.

    By Bill Dries September 15, 2022

• June 2022

  • New ordinance lets ex-offenders serve on Shelby County boards

    The ordinance, sponsored by by Republican Commissioner Mick Wright and Democratic Commissioner Van D. Turner Jr., allows people with criminal histories to volunteer to serve. 

    By Julia Baker June 14, 2022

• February 2022

  • County mayor’s race set with four candidates

    At the noon Thursday, Feb. 17, filing deadline to get on the county primary ballot, there was only one contested Republican primary. But every incumbent Democratic official holding countywide office had challengers in the May primaries.

    By Bill Dries February 22, 2022

  • County Commission Scorecard: COVID tests, CHOICES playground and Juvenile Court

    The County Commission Scorecard finds basic ideological differences remain on the 13-member body, as it moves into the home stretch of its four-year term.

    By Bill Dries February 03, 2022

• January 2022

  • In split vote, Shelby County decides to distribute COVID test kits

    Three county commissioners voted against the $1.44 million purchase of 180,000 tests in 90 kits with two tests a piece. One cited comments by Dr. Ben Carson on Fox News earlier this week complaining that more tests would mean a rise in COVID cases.

    By Bill Dries January 20, 2022

• December 2021

  • County Commission approves Tom Lee Park redesign funding

    Shelby County Commissioners approved $6.7 million in capital funding Monday, Dec. 20, for the Tom Lee Park redesign.

    By Bill Dries December 20, 2021

  • Pay raises approved for next elected commission, mayor and sheriff

    The commission being elected in August with at least six new members will get a 19.9% pay raise. The mayor and sheriff elected on the same August ballot will get 21% raises.

    By Bill Dries December 20, 2021

• October 2021

  • County Commission races show activity ahead of new district lines

    District 3 commissioner Mick Wright opened his re-election campaign over the weekend. Races where the incumbent commissioner is term limited are also showing signs of life.

    By Bill Dries October 18, 2021

• September 2021

  • Consolidation proponents try to convince suburbs of benefits for them

    The world has changed drastically in the past 11 years, especially since the COVID-19 pandemic surfaced nationally in March 2020. That does not mean minds have changed on consolidation or that people are necessarily more open to even exploring the idea.

    By Omer Yusuf September 06, 2021

• August 2021

  • Opinion: The virus is not political, but our policy choices are

    We’ve all seemingly decided that virtual instruction is a sub-optimal policy choice, and that classroom instruction is worth the additional risk.

    By Mick Wright August 23, 2021

  • Wright wants legal opinion on Health Department authority

    Shelby County Commissioner Mick Wright says even with recent changes in state laws this year, it’s unclear where the health department’s authority to issue mask mandates and require other measures ends and where decisions by elected officials begin.

    By Bill Dries August 11, 2021

• July 2021

  • New voting machines rejected as County Commission moves to rebid

    Shelby County commissioners Monday voted down a new touch-screen voting system that includes a paper trail and moved to cut the Election Commission out of the process by taking new bids on a system that primarily uses hand-marked paper ballots.

    By Bill Dries July 26, 2021

• June 2021

  • How precautions and protocols have changed during the pandemic

    Messaging about COVID-19 precautions still isn’t keeping pace with evolving information about the virus, including that it readily spreads via smaller airborne particles. 

    By Don Wade June 20, 2021

• April 2021

  • Health Department gets $11.5 million in federal pandemic funding

    The funding is to maintain 171 Health Department positions specifically for the pandemic.

    By Bill Dries April 12, 2021