While many Republican leaders nationwide are now calling more strongly for COVID vaccinations in light of the Delta variant, Tennessee’s leading Republicans have remained more muted.

The city is on track to exceed last year’s record 332 homicides. Violent deaths are up 14.6% in 2021 compared to the same time period last year.

The next health directive will offer clearer guidance on when and where to mask, but Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris said he does not expect additional restrictions or mask mandates at this time.

Watch live as the Shelby County COVID-19 Task Force addresses the latest developments in the coronavirus pandemic.

This week Lucero frontman Ben Nichols will play a solo acoustic birthday show and septuagenarian gospel artist Elizabeth King, flanked by some ace Memphis sidemen, will perform a live score to a pioneering work of Black cinema. 

Big changes for the Liberty Bowl, a special exhibit at the National Civil Rights Museum and a hero’s welcome for the Hernando DeSoto? 

The Council Scorecard follows the saga of a used car lot in Raleigh that has come to symbolize the complexity of trying to move toward less-intense commercial development on major roads that have neighborhoods just behind them.

Decision on masking mandate rests with the county mayor’s office. Aside from a tweet endorsing the CDC guidelines Wednesday, Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris refused comment.

As of 5 p.m. July 21, there were 162 COVID-19 positive people in area hospital beds.

The National Civil Rights Museum plans to mark its 30th anniversary in late September with a “community celebration.”

Eastbound traffic will resume by Monday, Aug. 2, and westbound lanes will reopen Friday, Aug. 6. Crews will continue some work on the Hernando DeSoto Bridge even after the span across the Mississippi River resumes.

As the Tigers experienced last season, a COVID outbreak can potentially setback a season.

The Tennessee Department of Transportation is expected to announce a more specific reopening schedule Wednesday, July 28.

We’ve got trade tea and golf tees, exceptions that may prove the rules and a group of students get a Gap year. 

A comprehensive traffic study is planned for incorporated Cordova, but crime was the main topic of discussion Tuesday evening. 

The County Commission will soon have a panel of five to advise on ethics. One commissioner warns it could be seen as conflicting with the ongoing special prosecutor’s investigation into a 2019 grant proposed by Commissioner Edmund Ford Jr.

Brent Taylor says the County Commission decision to take its own bids on a new voting system “effectively bypasses” the Election Commission and “doesn’t indicate a willingness to work cooperatively.”

Arlington and Bartlett school districts have announced safety protocols for the coming year even as they watch changing federal recommendations. 

The change reflects research that shows the vaccinated can transmit the COVID-19 virus to others.

The surprise announcement last week at City Hall of a plan to truck the waste to a landfill near Memphis International Airport drew immediate criticism from City Council members. TVA isn’t pulling the plan but says will seek more public input.

We’ve got a monumental question out of Collierville, a prominent defense attorney asked to be taken off a case and a local innovator is sold. 

The commission also delayed the second of three votes on the Byhalia Connection Pipeline ordinance after it was amended.

Shelby County commissioners Monday voted down a new touch-screen voting system that includes a paper trail and moved to cut the Election Commission out of the process by taking new bids on a system that primarily uses hand-marked paper ballots.

The VA is the first federal agency to mandate vaccines. It applies to employees at the VA Hospital in Memphis. The only other Memphis hospital that mandates vaccinations is St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

Shelby County commissioners chose Dr. Michelle Taylor as the new head of the county’s Health Department Monday, and they picked Judicial Commissioner Danielle Mitchell-Sims to fill a General Sessions judge vacancy.