The first phase of the new, comprehensive campus plan would be a $75 million update to the zoo’s Africa exhibit, which was described in zoo documents as “dated.” 

Cleotha Abston is sentenced for rape, a local cookie lady is suing to save TikTok and the barbecue kings and queens are crowned.

In November, Memphis voters could allow the other residents of Shelby County — who all pay for at least electricity from Memphis Light, Gas and Water — to have a vote on their electric rates. 

“Bob Shirey is the only employee that was here the day that Briarcrest opened its doors and is still here,” said Caron Swatley, Briarcrest president.

Also happening this week: Memphis turns 205, and the Shelby County Commission and Memphis City Council take budget breaks for regularly scheduled meetings.

The County Commission has several Shelby County Sheriff’s Office items to vote on Monday, from emergency money for new jail door locks to calling for collaboration on what happens next at the juvenile detention center on Old Getwell Road.

The City Council Scorecard looks at the April surprise that scuttled plans by Mayor Paul Young for a budget proposal with no property-tax hike.

Her appointment to the state’s highest court marks the apex of a 15-year legal career that she’s been working toward since childhood.

In the hospital’s first ceremony since the COVID-19 pandemic, 22 patients graduated from the Imagine Academy by Chili’s, which is the hospital’s school that is accredited as a special-purpose institution.

Three new mental health facilities, which provide diversion opportunities for those struggling with mental health issues, are under development in Shelby County. 

The Weekly Crime Trend Report and the Crime Analytics Dashboard track Memphis Police Department data. Soon, the city intends on adding data from other entities, such as the court systems and the Shelby County DA’s Office.

The proposed 4% tuition hike would raise $2.7 million a year for the University of Memphis; nearly 3% increase in annual fees would net more than $575,000. 

Abston, 40, waived his right to a sentencing hearing and agreed to the 80-year sentence in Shelby County Criminal Court Division 7 Judge Lee Coffee’s courtroom Friday, May 17. 

Trenary murder suspect pleads guilty, council members suggest alternatives to a tax hike and Mexican food comes to the Nineteenth Century Club.

The YMCA needs lifeguards. The football-playing kids at PURE Academy need to learn how to swim. The two organizations hit on a creative way to solve both problems. And it’s already making quite a splash.

City Council members talked Thursday, May 16, about at least whittling down the tax hike proposed by Mayor Paul Young, with discussing other revenue sources, during a town hall forum at New Salem Baptist Church in South Memphis.

Justin Johnson and Cornelius Smith both face charges including first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit first-degree murder for the 2021 killing Memphis rapper Young Dolph.

The second defendant in the killing of Greater Memphis Chamber CEO Phil Trenary agreed to a plea deal Thursday, May 16.

The passage rates at Hernando Hill Elementary and Lewisburg Elementary School were particularly high with success rates of 92.4% and 90.4%, respectively. 

Bonner threatens to sue the County Commission, Halbert wants new software and more money, and a veg-forward eatery is planning its return.

The new Tennessee law, which goes into effect July 1, authorizes the state to pursue capital punishment when an adult is convicted of aggravated rape of a child.

Regional One Health and the Shelby County Health Department will both launch Healthy Start programs with federal funding to improve maternal and child health outcomes in high-need communities. 

Wanda Halbert says she’s working on a plan, but she said her reports may still be late or inaccurate, the software auditors recommended doesn’t work for her office and the county is not funding her enough.

“We consider it to be defunding police,” a Shelby County Sheriff’s Office official said of a proposed budget that cuts 441 vacant positions from the Sheriff’s office, a $31.4 million impact. 

The Arlington Community Schools budget includes a substantial raise in salaries for the coming fiscal year, an increase official say will make the starting salary for teachers the highest of the suburban districts.