Shelby County commissioners have inaugural session of their ad hoc redistricting group.

Shelby County commissioners gave final approval Monday, Aug. 30, to $26 million worth of bonuses to full- and part-time county employees.

The Sarwars traveled to St. Lucia, a country with a Level 3 advisory warning during the pandemic, despite being unvaccinated.

The state argues that parents should seek remedy with the school on a case-by-case basis, as outlined in a federal special education act.

MLGW and Memphis Public Works crews are prepared to work overtime if the hurricane still has a lot of wind and rain left on its path north. 

The Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights sent letters to education chiefs in Iowa, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Utah.

SCS and Nashville schools were remote for longer than all other districts. State leaders withdrew the flexibility for districts to keep all students at home, stressing the impact of “learning loss.”

City Council member JB Smiley began telling local officials last week he was considering a bid for governor next year, starting with the August 2022 Democratic primary. The field for the race is already forming to challenge Republican Gov. Bill Lee.

Marcus Hamilton, husband of HGTV figure Carmeon Hamilton, died in a weekend motorcycle crash. 

We have breakthrough data on breakthrough cases, a local family sues Tenn. Gov. Bill Lee and there’s 100% chance of rain. 

County Commissioners stalled on the tax rate for one-time bonuses at their last meeting and decided to give county employees pay raises.

A Caribbean paradise turned bad for Angela and Tony Sarwar when they found out they had COVID just before they were to return home.

When an ailing Black Episcopal priest needed a kidney, his friend, a white businessman, didn’t hesitate.

Buying a 675,000-square-foot office tower for just $55 a square foot in a prime, East Memphis location gives the new owners latitude to spend a lot more money improving the building and adding tenant amenities.

Hurricane Ida hit Louisiana Sunday with approximately 150 mph winds, making it a Category 4. Category 5 hurricanes start at 156 mph. Only four Category 5 hurricanes have made landfall in the U.S.

Ida quickly gained strength as it moved into the northern Gulf, going from top winds of 115 mph (185 kph) in a 1 a.m. update to 145 mph (230 kph) a few hours later. The system was expected to make landfall Sunday afternoon.

In Shelby County, about one in five (23%) or 1,185 of the daily cases reported in the last month have been breakthrough cases. 

On The Daily Memphian Politics Podcast, City Council member Martavius Jones says he intends to propose doing away with council super districts and also will call for partisan primaries in advance of city general elections. 

The National Hurricane Center warned that super-warm Gulf waters could rapidly magnify Ida’s destructive power, boosting it from a Category 2 storm to an extremely dangerous Category 4 hurricane in just 18 hours or less. Landfall was expected Sunday afternoon.

Gabby Salinas emerged as the new local party chair at an online party convention Saturday, Aug. 28, after former party chairman Corey Strong withdrew from the balloting.

20% of children in global cancer registry developed serious disease; in 4% of cases, COVID was fatal. 

The director of Hospitality Hub and the head of its fundraising and awareness partner Dragonfly talked on “Behind The Headlines” about the decision to move away from the tent cities and encampments that are part of the approach to homelessness in other cities.

Developer Franklin Haney’s plan to buy the Bellefonte Nuclear Plant and sell the electric power it generated to Memphis Light, Gas and Water Division started the ongoing exploration of MLGW possibly leaving the Tennessee Valley Authority.

A class-action lawsuit filed today alleges disabled students can’t get a proper education without universal masking to slow the spread of COVID-19, and therefore that Lee’s order is unlawful.

The opt-out order on masks is one of many times in recent years that the state government has preempted local governments, negating laws passed by mayors and city and county councils.