Chronic absenteeism is up in schools, a South Memphis polluter will close and the future looks bright for Tigers football.

U.S. Rep. David Kustoff, R-Germantown, is also running unopposed in his August primary after the state GOP kicked perennial contender George Flinn out of the primary.

After decades of toxic emissions and nearly two years of community pressure on the company, Sterilization Services of Tennessee is leaving its South Memphis facility. 

For the 2022-23 school year, 28.52% of DeSoto County students were chronically absent.

For years, Memphis officials warned of a budget hole. For years, the U.S. government papered it over. This coming fiscal year appears to be a different story.

The Memphis Police Department conducted a “Sea of Blue” Sunday night, April 21, for Officer Joseph “Rusty” McKinney.

Also happening this week: Loudean’s closes in Cooper-Young and Mayor Paul Young presents his first city budget proposal to City Council.

While past votes on County Clerk Wanda Halbert’s office and its problems have been unanimous, Monday’s vote may not be. The commission also tries to take a final vote on changes to Shelby County Land Bank after delays.

Memphis-Shelby County Schools saw the percentage of its students considered “chronically absent” jump from 18.4% in the school year before the COVID-19 pandemic to 28.9% in the school year after the pandemic.

The percentage of students who are chronically absent from schools jumped dramatically in Memphis from the 2018-19 school year to the 2022-23 school year. It’s a national trend that’s also seen in the area’s suburban schools.

Related story:

Chronic absenteeism: Myriad of issues keep MSCS students home

In Munford, they knew Joseph “Rusty” McKinney as an Eagle Scout and a band kid. Saturday, the town honored him by assembling at the football stadium to form a giant, solemn M.

Lonnie Robinson, one of the artists who worked on new stained-glass images for Historic Clayborn Temple, talks on the “On The Record” podcast about bringing images of the 1968 sanitation-workers strike to the landmark’s windows.

“This morning, we are one community united by grief. We are all Orange Mound this morning,” Memphis Mayor Paul Young said Sunday morning.

DeSoto County Sheriff Thomas Tuggle, DeSoto County District Attorney Matthew Barton and DeSoto County Youth Court Judge Craig Treadway were joined by detectives and public-safety experts for the conversation at Brown Missionary Baptist Church in Southaven.

Organizations ranging from FedEx, MATA, Maximus Child Support and the Memphis Electrical Joint Apprenticeship Training Center were in attendance to promote work opportunities. 

“Contrary to what activist groups might have you think, Memphians agree about the problems of and solutions to crime. Right now, Memphians need to not only remind ourselves, but also remind our elected leaders that we are united. Memphis stands together.”

A reporters roundtable on “Behind The Headlines” talks about Mayor Paul Young’s property tax hike proposal, new figures showing a drop in crime and first moves by the new MSCS superintendent.

Had Memphis received more money under the American Rescue Plan Act, Memphis Mayor Paul Young might not be facing a shortfall in his first budget, something the mayor acknowledged in an interview Friday.

The university’s staff was notified Friday afternoon after several days of rumors.

The charges were added in light of news from the office Wednesday that MPD Officer Joseph “Rusty” McKinney was likely killed by friendly fire.

State lawmakers pass $53B budget, Sugarmon wants more time for juvie takeover and we’ve got the scoop on a Downtown gelato shop.

A number of application workshops have popped up in the wake of the U.S. Department of Education’s 2024-2025 FAFSA relaunch earlier this year.

The separate I-55-Crump Boulevard roundabout currently under construction just east of the old Memphis-Arkansas Bridge got a lot of attention at the first public hearing on the new bridge, planned for just south of the existing one.

This is the first principal appointment Superintendent Russell Dyer made since assuming his duties a month ago.

Despite a prior statement suggesting otherwise, a prosecutor with the Shelby County District Attorney’s Office did not “strongly oppose” lowering the bond for a now-deceased suspect involved in a shootout last week with Memphis Police officers.