There are 178 article(s) tagged Van Turner:
The County Commission will soon have a panel of five to advise on ethics. One commissioner warns it could be seen as conflicting with the ongoing special prosecutor’s investigation into a 2019 grant proposed by Commissioner Edmund Ford Jr.
A new monument on Beale Street honors the 19th century school teacher, journalist and anti-lynching figure. The recognition comes 130 years after Wells left the city just ahead of a mob that ransacked her newspaper office.
On “Behind The Headlines,” county commissioners Van Turner and Mark Billingsley clashed over whether the commission should reopen its budget season later this month to consider a one-cent property tax hike.Related story:
The state comptroller commented Tuesday during a visit to the county on the idea of reopening county government’s tax rate after the July 1 start of the fiscal year. But the county commissioner who vowed Monday to do just that next month says there is wiggle room in state law.
The absence of four county commissioners, including three of the “yes” votes for the $3.45 property tax rate set two weeks ago, was crucial to undoing the tax hike. However, the issue is likely not over.
The announcement comes 11 days after work began on removing what is left of the monument. The work was also to include the reinterment of the remains of Forrest and his wife.
Republican county commissioners who voted two weeks ago in favor of a resolution urging Gov. Bill Lee to veto a ban on teaching critical race theory took back their yes votes Monday. The resolution still passed.
An incident at Health Sciences Park goes beyond one opportunistic racist hothead with more Confederate flags than he has sense. It’s emblematic of the growing white resentment to America’s reckoning with race.
The funding is to maintain 171 Health Department positions specifically for the pandemic.
Short-term extensions to the Wellpath contract have been a constant for the current commission since the group began their current term in September of 2018.
Transfer of vaccine distribution will likely leave some Shelby County Health Department vacancies unfilled, county leaders say, as email trails from last month show those now in charge of vaccine distribution had questions that weren’t being answered as vaccine miscues piled up.
The vaccine distribution debacle on Mayor Lee Harris’ watch will figure prominently in the GOP campaign to retake his office, the party’s Shelby County executive director says.
County leaders also talked about battling social media misinformation that is crowding testing sites and leading some to book appointments at multiple sites.
The delay in the final vote on requiring County Commission approval for the sheriff to acquire surplus military hardware came after Sheriff Floyd Bonner complained he hadn’t been consulted. County Mayor Lee Harris disputed that assertion.
Former NBA players and a host of volunteers helped give out food and protective items to community members. The players are traveling the country to help those in need and continuing to fight for social justice.
Shelby County commissioners called on Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee Monday, Dec. 7, to enact a statewide mask mandate, but the vote wasn’t unanimous. It was among a series of COVID-related measures.
A new Shelby County Election Commission report shows nearly 15,000 more voters on the rolls counytwide in the last two months leading up to the Nov. 3 Election Day. Meanwhile, the Shelby County Voter Alliance says its effort got 2,500 of those voters on the rolls. The alliance of 18 organizations has now set its sights on the 2022 countywide ballot.
A variety of community voices spoke out on police reform during two discussions last week.
The latest hiccup is a higher-than-expected contract for the University of Tennessee Health Science Center to run the county’s forensic center for the region, with the county dipping into its reserves for the difference.
The contract stirred the political embers of a recent budget season in county government as well as some spirited debate among commissioners about mask requirements.
Ordinances that address use of force, the purchase of military equipment and the use of tear gas will go to the full commission without a second reading committee vote.
Shelby County Sheriff Floyd Bonner is forming a civilian committee to offer input on hiring of deputies as part of police reform efforts.
A total of 78 positions in various parts of county government are the latest exceptions to a hiring freeze. But as they approved the waivers Monday, county commissioners signaled they are about to make a decision on the hiring freeze’s viability possibly by the end of this month.
Shelby County Commissioner Van Turner has seen first hand the impact of violent crime on his commission district which includes Hickory Hill. But Turner says it’s possible to back law enforcement and be opposed to a militarization of the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office and Memphis Police Department.
The three ordinances are scheduled for the first of three votes on Monday. And still to weigh in on the proposals is Shelby County Sheriff Floyd Bonner.