A proposal by Commissioner Tami Sawyer to require County Commission approval for any sheriff to acquire surplus federal military equipment was postponed.

Republican commissioners said their “no” votes were because of concerns about the use of county reserves to create the $2.5 million fund. Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris is asking Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee to reimburse the county funding with state money.

A man from Nashville was charged Sunday for being part of the mob that stormed the U.S. Capitol, federal prosecutors said.

State representatives from Shelby County want to clarify that authority for school operations lies with local district’s elected leaders. 

Through January, the Shelby County Health Department will be vaccinating in a drive-thru line at the Pipkin Building. 

It wasn’t much of a snow but it beautified the January landscape for a few hours as it fluttered across Shelby County and neighboring sections early Monday.

But the mayor says he is willing to work with the City Council and says the conflicting wording in two resolutions the council approved last month could “work together” to get more funding to public transportation, mobility and parking projects.

“It will give us the fuel to move our vision research forward,” said the director of the Hamilton Eye Institute. 

Jealousy might have been the motive in a slaying for which Memphis Police officer Patric Ferguson is accused, according to the brother of the victim. 

Victoria Robinson, spokeswoman for the Tennessee Department of Education, said the job won’t be filled “at this time due to budget and other uncertainties.”

Watt’s up on Germantown Parkway, a model home in Binghampton, vaccines are back (if you can get an appointment) and snow no! 

Delivery and administration of the COVID-19 vaccine is just another step on the long road toward herd immunity. Getting there will require a level of effectiveness apart from the vaccine itself. History will judge leaders’ success as we all pursue a return to the “old” normal. 

The commission votes Monday, Jan. 11, on a $1.2 million relief fund for restaurant workers. The fund’s fate could point the way toward a greater change in the priorities of county government called for by the Democratic county mayor and majority on the commission.

Variant doesn’t appear to be more virulent but could ramp reproduction rate here from 1.07 to 1.57 and dramatically increase deaths. 

Shelby County Health Department reported 639 new cases from more than 4,300 tests. Eight deaths were reported, bringing the total to 1,024.

A Memphis police officer has been relieved of duty after being arrested and charged with kidnapping and killing a man.

Groups such as the Gangster Disciples, Crips, Bloods and Latin Kings are splintering into neighborhood cells with names like the Choppa Gang in Hickory Hill, Concrete Cartel in East Memphis, 4 Corners in Orange Mound, and Dixie Homes Murder Squad, Major Frank Winston of MPD’s Multi-Agency Gang Unit said.

SCS Superintendent Joris Ray and his counterparts in Nashville, Knoxville and Chattanooga appeared virtually for an hourlong panel discussion with members of the House Democratic Caucus ahead of this year’s legislative session.

From Dec. 26, 2020 to Jan. 9, 2021, the Health Department reported an average of 601 cases and 3,870 test results a day yielding a 15.5% positivity rate.

The 552 coronavirus cases reported Saturday came from 4,752 test results, yielding a 11.6% positivity rate. The health department also announced that all vaccine appointments for January have been filled.

The Daily Memphian’s City Council Scorecard opens the new year with two council decisions — one on a familiar issue in council discussions. The other is a close vote on a lower speed limit.

As of Wednesday, 40% of Tennessee’s 95 counties had moved into the priority group that includes teachers. Those areas have smaller populations and fewer health care workers to inoculate after years of rural hospital closures.

Appointments may be made online, now. People without internet access may call 901-222-SHOT to schedule an appointment beginning Monday at 8 a.m.

Former local Democratic party Chairman Corey Strong, on The Daily Memphian Politics Podcast, says the Georgia model of bringing activists and organizers into the state party machinery will take time — probably six to 10 years to take Tennessee from red to purple.