The second phase of reopening the Memphis area economy began Monday, May 18. It will go for 21 days before a much more ambitious third and final phase of the reopening plan.

'Despite our financial soundness, everyone in Shelby County soon will be paying more in property taxes unless my colleagues on the County Commission embrace a serious reality check regarding the shortfall in the county’s general fund.'

A rundown of what's included in Phase 2 of the new Shelby County Health Department directive.

The resolution urges Health Department officials to require Shelby County residents and visitors to wear masks when out and about.

Superintendent Joris Ray said a plan to return to school could be a mix of in-person and online instruction. It’s still not clear when the 2020-21 school year will start, but Ray said he expects to present a school re-entry plan in early July.

FedEx and Microsoft have formed a strategic alliance that company leaders believe will "revolutionize" commerce by giving businesses more visibility into and control of inventories and supply chains.

At least three prisons in West Tennessee and the Shelby County jail top the list of correctional facilities with inmates and detainees who have tested positive for the coronavirus. 

The elevation of mask-usage into a kind of political symbol is a drag — it’s flat-out dumb — but it’s happened, and I’d worry that a government requirement, even a loosely enforced one, would increase the political strife around the issue without a commensurate increase in compliance.

The $26 million in red ink is mostly from drops in sales tax revenue because of the closing of "nonessential" businesses in the pandemic. The plan for the current fiscal year, including more use of the city's reserves, was presented to city council members Monday with a vote possible at Tuesday's council session.

Shelby County saw 42 new cases of coronavirus from only 688 tests reported Monday. The county's positivity rate overall is 7.2%.

The Memphis Tigers plan to add a kicker in the class of 2021 — two of their targets find their successful special teams history appealing.

Memphis plans to hold a "simulation showdown" between two historic Tiger teams.

The hospital will open when numbers of COVID-19 patients make it necessary; they will arrive by ambulance in a drive-up bay off Beale Street.

Count Hopdoddy in Overton Square among the restaurants in town that closed because of the COVID-19 pandemic and will not reopen.