Latest COVID case numbers remain high
The Shelby County Health Department reported 2,661 new cases for Thursday, Jan. 6.
Topic: Van Turner
RSSThere are 141 article(s) tagged Van Turner:
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January 2022
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Taylor warns of packed hospitals even with less severe effects of Omicron
Shelby County Health Dept. Director Dr. Michelle Taylor told Shelby County commissioners Wednesday, Jan. 5, that state health officials are also watching the strain on hospitals and public health institutions closely.
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December 2021
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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.
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November 2021
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County Commission makes last-minute moves, approves final district map
The redistricting map approved Monday keeps a new Cordova-based district, restores the Collierville 7 precinct to District 2 and Germantown 4 to District 4. It also separates two incumbents expected to run again.
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County Commission approves redistricting plan, but must vote again
Democrats voted for it and Republicans voted against it. But the party line was not enough to make it the final vote on the redistricting plan that creates a new commission district built around Cordova, where most of the growth was in the 2020 Census.
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Shelby County Commission to take final vote on new district lines
It might be a long day at the county building Monday, Nov. 1, when Shelby County commissioners are scheduled for the final vote on the once-a-decade process of drawing new district lines.
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October 2021
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Council member Morgan launches bid for Shelby County mayor
The two-term City Council member began an exploratory campaign earlier this year and formally launched his bid on Monday, Oct. 11.
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Two new county redistricting maps start to show changes
The county’s redistricting effort is on its third and fourth proposed maps of what the new boundaries could look like for the 13 County Commission districts going into the 2022 elections. A “Poplar-Midtown corridor” in the East Memphis district caused a lot of debate.
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September 2021
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County redistricters take ‘first pass’ with first maps
The Shelby County Commission’s ad hoc group on the new district lines got its first look at some proposed maps for the redistricting plan this week. The group makes recommendations to the full commission, which decides on how to deal with shifts in population within its 13 districts.
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Rubble from Forrest exhumation mars Health Sciences Park
The Forrests’ reburial ceremony on Sept. 18 in Middle Tennessee may come sooner than restoration of Health Sciences Park.
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August 2021
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Regional One starts getting ARPA dollars to reopen 21 needed beds
The CEO of the region’s trauma center and safety net hospital said national competition among hospitals for the skilled specialists needed to put 21 beds back in use at Regional One is intense and costly.
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Commission overrides Harris veto of county ethics advisory panel
The veto override by the commission is the latest chapter in an ongoing dispute between County Commissioner Edmund Ford Jr. and Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris.
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Van Turner weighs 2023 bid for mayor
Shelby County commissioner’s exploratory committee for Memphis mayor is another indication that county Mayor Lee Harris will seek re-election next year.
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July 2021
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Commissioner warns ethics advisory group might clash with Ford probe
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.
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Ida B. Wells statue unveiling spotlights new issues
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.
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County property tax hike stirs opposing commission views
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.
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June 2021
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State wary of continued county budget negotiations
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.
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County Commission drops one-cent hike in property tax rate
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.
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Announcement on Forrest remains set for Friday in Health Sciences Park
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.
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Commission Republicans take back votes opposing critical race theory ban
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.
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Opinion: With Confederate monuments gone, racist diatribes follow
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.
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April 2021
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Health Department gets $11.5 million in federal pandemic funding
The funding is to maintain 171 Health Department positions specifically for the pandemic.
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Medical contract for county prisoners, detainees extended again
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.
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March 2021
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Released emails show early vaccine questions between Memphis, county health officials
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.
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Opinion: Vaccine blunders make Harris vulnerable in 2022 reelection bid
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.
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