Daily street homicides and highly publicized mass shootings have several things in common, and the easy access of guns is just one of them.

A total of 328,495 people are vaccinated in Shelby County. The number of people fully vaccinated is 241,933 and those partially vaccinated at 86,562.

Some businesses, churches and other organizations feel paralyzed with how to provide a safe, potentially mask-less environment without knowing people’s vaccination status.

The Daily Memphian Politics Podcast runs down recent political events including sorting out what became of the idea of a “Super Chancery Court” proposed in the Tennessee General Assembly.

For the first time, a class of 17 Shelby County Sheriff’s deputy recruits and two Collierville police officers, toured the National Civil Rights Museum and wrote essays about the experience before taking their training to the streets. 

New rule goes into effect at 12:01 a.m. Saturday, May 15.

A Tennessee Department of Health report on Shelby County vaccine distribution problems recommends more training and establishing a clear chain of command but concluded no one needs to get revaccinated. 

Before they left, barges stuck on either side of the Hernando DeSoto Bridge received a delivery of Rendezvous ribs to see them on their way.

The Shelby County Health Department reported 159 new coronavirus cases and two new deaths.

The Mississippi River reopened to boat and barge traffic this morning, the United States Coast Guard said Friday, May 14.

Local task force talks about COVID-19 and kids, we go inside a midcentury modern gem and how the bridge has cracked our supply chain. 

City Council budget committee Chairman Worth Morgan and city Chief Financial Officer Shirley Ford talked about revenue estimates and the impact of federal American Rescue Plan funds as well as restrictions during “Behind The Headlines.”

Shortly after the CDC announced vaccinated Americans could ditch the masks in most situations, Shelby County government said Health Directive No. 21, set to go into effect Saturday, may be in for a rewrite.

To date about 154 million Americans, more than 46% of the population, have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccines.

Shelby County children as young as 12 were starting to be vaccinated against COVID-19 on Thursday, May 13.

On Thursday, May 13, the Shelby County Health Department reported 143 new coronavirus cases and three new coronavirus-related deaths.

After two days with fewer than 100 new coronavirus cases reported in Shelby County, the number is more than 100 again.

We’re clapping back at that ‘crack,’ and Lakeland is looking for something it currently lacks. 

Meanwhile, both of the state’s Republican U.S. Senators have been critical of the Democratic bill that would change election laws. One of the few Tennessee Republicans dissenting on Cheney’s ouster, former Congressman Zach Wamp, says it represents a split in the Republican Party that could have implications in next year’s mid-term Congressional elections.

Local health officer Dr. Bruce Randolph has said that the new rules will allow people to vote with their feet.

After damage was discovered on the Hernando DeSoto bridge, Twitter users made some cracks, too.

Elizabeth Rouse of ArtsMemphis joins Eric Barnes on The Sidebar.

Bobby White, chief public policy officer for the Greater Memphis Chamber, said the I-40 bridge closure may help bring discussions of a third bridge across the Mississippi to the forefront of the community’s consciousness.

Attorneys for Pervis Payne have filed a petition in Shelby County Criminal Court, asking the court to recognize that Payne has an intellectual disability and under a new state law cannot be executed. 

The area’s seven-day moving average stands at 129.