The attorney advising the Shelby County Commission would be separate from the county attorney’s office under a proposal on which the commission is expected to take its first vote Monday. 

Attorney Ralph Gibson said in a letter that Christopher Rowland did not participate in the meeting: “While the meeting was happening, Mr. Rowland had dinner with his children, took an important phone call, and dealt with the dogs which needed to be let out during the meeting.”

Federal investigations are ongoing and concerns have been raised over the transportation agency’s lack of protocols and transparency. 

Shelby County is now 60% of the way to the goal of vaccinating 700,000 residents against COVID-19.

County commissioners will vote Monday, Aug. 9, on a resolution urging the Shelby County Health Department to require masks be worn in public. Some on the commission are trying to avoid the politics of the county’s first mask mandate.

Haslam will also autograph copies of his new book.

We’re making sense of the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational tournament change, welcoming a gold medalist from the Tokyo Olympics and worrying about COVID cases in kids. 

Shelby County had 1,051 active pediatric cases as of Tuesday, Aug. 3. The largest contingent is among 15- to 17-year-olds, who account for more than a fifth of cases.

Frayser Community Schools officials are hoping a new initiative will create a better atmosphere leading to higher academic performances this year when students fully resume in-person learning.

The Commission Scorecard also looks at a possible compromise to the stand-off over a new voting system that may be beyond reach.

As Shelby County Schools students gear up for in-person school Monday, Aug. 9, the district is revving up a new fleet of buses. 

The resolution is not binding and the council cannot enact a mask mandate as it did previously because the state has blocked the ability for local governments to do so.

The Memphis City Council members changed their minds about a used car lot in Raleigh. And, the council will vote on a pair of resolutions asking the TVA to avoid moving coal ash from the old Allen Fossil plant.

DeAndre Brown has been tapped to be the acting head of the county’s re-entry program. 

The Shelby County mayor says a survey of county employees found that 70% had already been vaccinated.

Council resolutions to call for no coal ash disposal within the city and over aquifers that supply the city’s drinking water will be voted on in two weeks.

Germantown will mandate vaccines for city employees with termination a possibility if they don’t comply. 

Dr. Jeff Warren believes it’s time for mandatory masking; Deni Reilly worries restaurants are going to bear the brunt of high COVID numbers once again.

The outline includes major funding for an expansion of broadband to parts of the city where connections were a problem as schools went to virtual learning last year.

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.