There are 334 article(s) tagged Lee Harris:
The measures, effective immediately, include no out-of-county prisoners into the four facilities and more access to visitation and prison programs by video livestream. They follow a testing surge for prisoners and staff earlier in June.
The county mayor also said in a "Behind The Headlines" interview that he has no regrets about his budget proposal that the commission rejected, which included a wheel tax hike with some budget cuts and an ambitious five-year plan to fund new school construction.
In Whitehaven to launch a mask distribution effort and social media campaign, Mayors Harris and Strickland said the local effort has waned since Memorial Day. Harris says possibly going back to Phase 1 is about more than "raw numbers." Strickland says despite an increase in hospitalizations, a field hospital is a long way from being activated.
Internal emails show disagreements between the county administration and some of the countywide elected officials outside the administration of Mayor Lee Harris about budget cuts and other changes to the consolidated county budget for the fiscal year that begins July 1.
The six-hour special meeting Monday sets the stage for a final budget vote in a week. But there are questions about the dollar figures approved by the Commission and how much red ink there is to be dealt with after the moves. Two social media posts during the meeting by County Mayor Lee Harris also complained that there would be layoffs and cutbacks in critical county programs.
The chief of staff to Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris talks about her son's coming transition as a young black man and worries about what will happen when he encounters police. The city's police director says his officers are not the enemy.
The "last seven days" mark long-standing issues in Memphis and a renewed public interest in them as a global pandemic and nationwide protests intertwine.
With nearly 40% of the state's COVID-19 deaths coming from nursing homes, Tennessee is ready to put sanctions on long-term care facilities if they fail to complete virus testing of staff and residents.
On The Daily Memphian Politics Podcast, Shelby County Commissioner Tami Sawyer also talked about the rift between the Democratic county mayor and the eight-vote Democratic majority on the commission.
Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris made the announcement Friday at the end of an eventful week that includes a lawsuit over COVID-19 cases at the Shelby County Jail, calls for testing at the correctional center and a sit-in by jail prisoners with the virus as they were moved out of isolation.
The plan includes at least 140 full-time employees working on the COVID-19 virus efforts locally over a long period of time. Harris also wants to fund "wrap-around" services for those isolated or quarantined, including financial support for those who can't work and some place to stay if they are isolated from those with whom they are living.
The expansion is the first allotment of nearly $50 million in federal CARES Act funding for Shelby County government and goes to the Shelby County Commission approval. County Mayor Lee Harris already has a plan for the rest of the money outside of the health department.
Barber and beauty shops can reopen as early as Wednesday in Shelby County under new health department directives announced Monday.
Shelby County Health Department Director Alisa Haushalter says businesses should begin to prepare. Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris says a countywide alliance of mayors remains intact despite some rumblings in the suburbs.
Elected leaders in Shelby County's cities were moving toward a May 1 reopening of the economy until a surge in positive COVID-19 cases last weekend, and that now has leaders debating what the numbers mean and exactly when reopening will occur.
Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris talks about his $1.4 billion COVID pandemic county budget on The Daily Memphian Politics Podcast.
The county order covers unincorporated Shelby County and follows an extension of the Memphis emergency order earlier in the week with some first steps toward an economic reopening.
Plans for a new high school, possibly in Frayser, could receive initial funds under county Mayor Lee Harris' 2020-21 fiscal year proposal. But other approvals are needed for the project to move forward.
The first two COVID outbreaks at nursing homes in Shelby County have now taken eight lives – four each as confirmed cases of the virus have spread to a total of nine assisted living facilities countywide.
The early discussions locally suggest businesses will reopen in waves and possibly with some new restrictions.
Through criticism, long days and a need for calm in the face of a pandemic, Alisa Haushalter maintains her principles while trying to provide answers for an invisible enemy
Alisa Haushalter and Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris talked about existing issues of health care coverage and the impact of no long-term expansion of Medicaid in Tennessee during an appearance on "Behind The Headlines."
Shelby County Health Department Director Alisa Haushalter and Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris join host Eric Barnes and The Daily Memphian's Bill Dries to discuss COVID-19, including testing and medical resources available at this time for hospitals and patients. In addition, Harris talks about the social and economic impacts the novel coronavirus has had on Shelby County.
Health professionals agree social distancing is the primary strategy to bring the pandemic under control in Memphis. But there are differences on who should be tested. The civil emergency decree that goes into effect Tuesday at 6 p.m. is also a porous set of restrictions that has to rely on the public taking the potential to spread the disease seriously.
Whatever you think of his policy priorities, Strickland prides himself on being a data-driven executive, and his managerial seriousness has served him, and the city, well in this unprecedented moment.