The Memphis Police Department goes ‘Bowling’ for new officers, Ja Morant has returned to spectacular and another challenge arises for the Byhalia Connection. 

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee defended his government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic—as well as conservative principles more generally—in his third State of the State address Monday evening.

Democrats took control of the presidency and Congress in 2020. Could DeSoto County be poised to wrest leadership positions from the Republicans in DeSoto County?

Lee defends his administration’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, but Democrats including Raumesh Akbari of Memphis say the state has not invested in what is important to Tennessee families. 

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Full text of Gov. Bill Lee’s State of the State address

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee’s budget proposal for 2021-22

The project will widen a floodplain north of Big Creek for use as a recreational area with trails when the creek is low.

Proposed budget includes money for teacher and school worker raises and $63.2 million for 4% salary increases in higher education.

Gov. Bill Lee touted progress on the economy, COVID-19, the Medicare block grant and other goals of his administration.

The delay by the Shelby County Commission also shows there may be a rift between commissioner Edmund Ford Jr. and his father, City Council member Edmund Ford Sr., on the issue.

The resolution, approved Monday, Feb. 8, in a unanimous vote, isn’t binding on the state. But it calls on the state to move teachers up in the vaccination line as a condition for reopening the state’s largest school system.

According to the latest Shelby County Health Department data, close to 60,000 people in Shelby County have received at least one COVID-19 vaccine dose.

The recruitment ad was part of a series of ads planned as the department seeks to increase its force size. 

What do the changes to the state’s TennCare program mean? Here’s a breakdown of the changes. 
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Lee to deliver State of the State, with focus on economic recovery

Gov. Bill Lee’s third State of the State address Monday evening, Feb. 8, is already getting reaction from Democrats in the Legislature who say his response to the pandemic has been “too late, ended too early and did too little.”

The policy aims to address the growing mismatch between Tennessee’s increasingly diverse student population and the educators who teach them.

A pharmacy student sues over her free speech rights, volunteers talk about their work at the Pipkin and on Appling City Cove and they’re moving heaven and earth at Overton Park. 

Shelby County Commissioners vote Monday, Feb. 8, on first-phase funding of $5.9 million to start a Millington project that creates a broader flood plain for Big Creek and doubles as a recreational area when flood waters are low.

Using surrogate viruses developed by UTHSC professor, labs working on COVID vaccines and boosters can check their efficacy without using the dangerous SARS-CoV-2 virus. 

Shelby County prosecutors have seen more violence in domestic violence cases during the pandemic and they worry about the number of post-pandemic disclosures of child abuse. 
Related story: Pandemic a challenge for criminal justice system? Guilty as charged

Friends for Life opened The Haven, its larger HIV/AIDS outreach and support center, near the University of Memphis Sunday, Feb. 7, on National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day. 

The Shelby County Health Department reported 319 new coronavirus cases and 7 additional deaths on Sunday, Feb. 7.

Even under so-called normal conditions, the criminal justice system encounters delays and backlogs. The COVID-19 pandemic takes it to a whole new level. 

From Jan. 23 to Saturday, the Health Department reported an average of 325 new cases and 3,593 test results a day with a 9% positivity rate. While the case average is still higher than in most points of the pandemic, that’s a notable decline from the previous two-week period.

The Shelby County Health Department partnered with Southwest Tennessee Community College to begin administering first doses of the Pfizer vaccine Friday at the school’s Whitehaven center at 1234 Finley Road.