The Daily Memphian invited the top Memphis mayoral contenders to tell us more about themselves and their candidacy in their own words.

Campaigns are anticipating a voter turnout of around 100,000 voters when all of the votes are counted Oct. 5. Some candidates believe one of them could win the mayors race with as few as 25,000 votes. 

New Memphis hosted “Spillit: Baggage Claim,” an event honoring local teachers with its 2023 Educators of Excellence awards and providing them with an open forum to share their stories.

“We believe that places for people to connect – safely, healthfully and happily – are more than simple amenities; they’re critical to our community.”

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Riverfront group, including Overton Heirs, sues to stop new Brooks construction

The board of the Tennessee Valley Authority, which provides MLGW with electricity, approved a 4.5% rate hike Thursday. The increase will equal about $3.50 more each month for TVA’s 10 million customers across seven states.

Citizens at the meeting said issues they face include lack of accessibility, long wait times, lack of communication and broken-down buses.

The videos show some of what occurred the day of the encounter, but they don’t answer a number of key questions. 

“To wear my son’s cremated ashes around my neck this morning, I want justice for my son. My son was murdered. He wasn’t killed,” said Charlotte Haggett, Jarveon Hudspeth’s mother.

Horton Jr. will bring “a wealth of experience” to his new role, according to MSCS interim superintendent Toni Williams.

Special session will be continued, Southaven is closing its doors and we take a deep dive on busing 50 years later.

The Memphis in May International Festival was founded to promote foreign business investment in the city. The tradition will continue with the Greater Memphis Chamber announcing the 2024 honored country next week.

Half a century ago this month, 39,000 Memphis children — about a third of the then-Memphis City Schools system — were told to board school buses and continue their education at new schools in an effort to racially integrate them.

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Chapter One: Before the buses

Court-ordered busing began in the Memphis City Schools system in 1973, 19 years after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Brown v. Board of Education that racially segregated public schools should be integrated with “all deliberate speed.” But MCS had tried other methods at integration before busing.

The Chancery Court lawsuit seeks to stop construction on the new riverfront Brooks Museum, charging violations of the terms of the “public promenade” established when the city was founded in 1819.

In an effort to curb crime in Southaven, Mayor Darren Musselwhite is directing the police department to increase patrols on north-south access streets into Memphis.

Portions of video footage from Jarveon Hudspeth’s fatal encounter with a Shelby County Sheriff’s Office deputy were released by the Shelby County District Attorney’s Office on Thursday, Aug. 24.

If estimates hold true, TVA will experience the highest demand for electricity of the summer Thursday; it would also be the highest power demand during any August in more than a decade. 

The General Assembly’s special legislative session will not end this week. The state Senate on Thursday, Aug. 24, adjourned for the weekend with the intention of returning Monday afternoon, after a meeting that lasted just a few minutes.

Senate passes four bills that do “nothing,” Lichterman breaks ground on a new play forest and Ja faces competition for his throne.

Memphis-Shelby County Schools scored a Level 5 distinction on the Tennessee Value-Added Assessment System for the second consecutive year. 

The Tennessee Valley Authority’s board of directors will vote on a proposal to replace local combustion turbines with aeroderivative turbines, which are more modern, and help integrate renewable energy into the grid.

The bills seek to improve background checks, create an awareness campaign about free gun locks and require a report on human trafficking; they mostly continue things the state government already does.

Herman Hollins-Brown, 41, is charged with two counts of first-degree murder, two counts of abuse of a corpse and being a convicted felon in possession of a handgun.

Michael Oher, the lineman portrayed in “The Blind Side,” pushes Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy to disclose financial information from his 19-year conservatorship. 

The amount is a record high for the program and comes as Moore Tech plans to start a new weatherization training program in November.