The Shelby County Health Department has new guidance on masking.

COVID and the New Bridge are back, new cars make themselves scarce, a Tiger gets his own brand camp and a Cicada makes a move in East Memphis. 

Sunday, the situation was dire enough that Regional One Health diverted trauma cases to other emergency rooms.

Two resolutions come up in council committees Tuesday, Aug. 3. One urges TVA to keep coal ash from the old Allen Fossil plant out of the city, another seeks to have the ash taken outside the eight-state region where a system of aquifers provides water for Memphis and other cities.

Dr. Jason Martin of Nashville, a likely contender in the Democratic primary for governor, campaigned in Memphis this past weekend.

An attorney representing a former Memphis police officer charged with vehicular homicide in a fatal June crash said Monday they are studying if the case can be resolved without a trial. 

Because of the recent spike in Delta variant cases, Tennessee Health Commissioner Dr. Lisa Piercey said more vaccine-hesitant people have decided to get vaccinated. 

The Hernando DeSoto Bridge reopened to all traffic — eastbound and westbound — 84 days after is was closed when Arkansas bridge inspectors noticed structural damage to a box beam on the north face of the span.

Order runs through the end of August and may be renewed.

County Commissioner Tami Sawyer announced Monday she will not seek a second term in the 2022 county elections. Her decision means six new faces on the commission in the next election.

We’re having different conversations about crime, SRVS is working the labor shortage and could Collierville benefit from a district approach? 

A common presence at the two July town hall meetings within two days of each other was the city’s new police chief, who is feeling her way through different discussions on what is the most effective response to violent crime.

“We have an untapped resource of labor that they can get, and they probably are not aware of that,” says Troy Allen, director of employment for Shelby Resident and Vocational Services.

As the start of the school year approaches, Shelby County Schools and surrounding suburban districts are releasing guidelines on how they’ll reopen safely, amid rising COVID-19 cases and uncertainty around the Delta variant.

“I want to pay it forward, and I’m working with an organization that is doing incredible things to help children and families,” Marie Pizano said of MVP3 Entertainment Group’s partnership with Rotary-Family Youth Initiative.

The pandemic’s return to Memphis was among the topics discussed in a reporters’ roundtable on the WKNO program “Behind The Headlines.”

Riders can reserve a pick-up or drop-off ride within the designated service area by phone.

Gotta love those Redbirds, but you may prefer one of these other photos from The Daily Memphian. Cast your vote for the best one.

Stock up on school supplies, clothes and shoes this weekend. Tennessee’s tax-free holiday continues through Sunday, but Mississippi’s ends at midnight Saturday. The Volunteer State is also exempting most food items (except candy!) from sales tax.

The Tennessee Department of Transportation plans to move up the reopening of eastbound lanes of traffic on the Hernando DeSoto Bridge to Saturday evening, July 31.