There are 178 article(s) tagged Van Turner:
The Memphis Branch NAACP and other organizations say problems at an early voting location ahead of the May county primary election day have prompted their push for paper ballots as a backup.
At a meeting Tuesday, local residents in favor of a split from the Tennessee Valley Authority criticized MLGW’s bid process — and learned who submitted at least one of the power proposals.
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.
The commission voted to fund a new voting system with both touch-screen machines with a paper trail as well as hand-marked paper ballots.
The vote could settle a nearly 20-year debate between a Democratic-majority Board of County Commissioners, which favors hand-marked paper ballots, and a Republican-majority Shelby County Election Commission, which believes ballot marking devices should be implemented.
Some Memphis Democrats in the Legislature say they want a replacement appointed even though the Legislature is out of session. The commission put off a decision on the matter until its May 23 meeting.
Incumbent Mayor Lee Harris wants to continue a sea change in what issues the county mayor focuses on. His challenger in the May Democratic primary, Ken Moody, says that focus isn’t immediate or local enough.Related story:
The Memphis Branch NAACP, along with two other organizations, has filed a lawsuit against the Shelby County Election Commission.
The Election Commission’s decision not to open early-voting sites at churches during the Easter weekend is renewing charges of voter suppression.
Election Commission Chairman Brent Taylor and Shelby County Commissioner Van Turner spoke on this week’s “Behind The Headlines.”
The commission debated Monday whether it should fill the District 33 seat Robinson was expelled from last week by fellow Senators. Part of the argument is whether it amounts to an endorsement of the Senate action.
The commission’s Democratic majority approved a $25,000 grant to fund a playground at the center in Midtown. People on both sides of the abortion issue had a lot to say before the vote.
The Shelby County Health Department reported 2,661 new cases for Thursday, Jan. 6.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
The two-term City Council member began an exploratory campaign earlier this year and formally launched his bid on Monday, Oct. 11.
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.
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.
The Forrests’ reburial ceremony on Sept. 18 in Middle Tennessee may come sooner than restoration of Health Sciences Park.
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.
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.
Shelby County commissioner’s exploratory committee for Memphis mayor is another indication that county Mayor Lee Harris will seek re-election next year.