Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris announced five new hires to his administration Thursday.

Shanynthia Gardner, charged with killing her four young children at her Shelby County apartment in 2016, will go to trial next summer, but whether it will be heard by a jury or the judge has not been decided.

Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland's administration will take its Tourism Development Zone plan for the Fairgrounds to the Tennessee Building Commission for approval next month.

A “drafting error” in the city referendum that would extend city council and mayoral term limits from two consecutive terms to three would bar former Memphis mayor Willie Herenton from running for mayor again in 2019.

Four early voting sites lost connectivity with electronic polling books Wednesday morning, the Shelby County Election Commission confirmed, but all of those issues have since been resolved.

The man shot and killed by Shelby County Sheriff’s deputies early Wednesday was wanted in connection with one of several recent interstate shootings, authorities confirmed Wednesday.

Tens of thousands of Tennesseans whose licenses were suspended because they were too poor to pay court debt won a major victory this week when a judge ruled in their favor against the state.

Former Vice President Joe Biden told several thousand people at the National Civil Rights Museum Freedom Awards Wednesday, Oct. 17, that the gains made by the movement honored in the museum are “under siege.” “Once again, we need your energy,” Biden said as he accepted the award at the Orpheum theater.

Two weeks ago in this space, I suggested The Memphis 10 would be taking a two-week hiatus, one for some fall break family travels and a second for an NBA/Grizzlies opening-week workload.

Former governor Phil Bredesen, finding common ground with Trump Republicans, is proposing a method for reducing pharmaceutical prices by using the president’s negotiating skills to cut a deal with drug companies.

Memphis teachers will soon have the opportunity to change compensation, work hours, health benefits, and how they teach if they vote to negotiate a new agreement with Shelby County Schools.

The Shelby County Election Commission won’t finish entering a flood of approximately 24,000 voter registration applications onto voter rolls by the time early voting starts Wednesday, Oct. 17.

Shelby County voters begin casting ballots in the last election of 2018 Wednesday, Oct. 17, as early voting opens before the Nov. 6 election day. The 27 early voting sites across Shelby County are all open from Wednesday through Nov. 1. The midterm general election cycle typically sees a higher turnout than the August county general and state and federal primary elections.

Alexis Singleton is one of thousands of Tennessee teachers in their early years of teaching. She’s one of 14 new teachers at her Memphis elementary school, and she’s seen firsthand the effect high teacher turnover can have on students.

Rev. Jesse Jackson knows the National Civil Rights Museum well. The two-time Democratic presidential contender, close associate of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and leader of the merged civil rights groups Rainbow-PUSH has been there often since the museum opened in 1991.

Additional parking along Riverside Drive, better access to the riverfront and improved safety are more important than keeping the Downtown thoroughfare at four lanes, a new survey for the Memphis River Parks Partnership shows.

Senate Majority Leader Mark Norris, newly appointed to a U.S. District Court judgeship, confirmed Tuesday he won’t be able to resign his legislative seat before the Nov. 6 election, a situation that will lead to a special election for the District 32 seat and potential temporary replacement.

Republican gubernatorial candidate Bill Lee didn’t exactly shock anyone by saying he would fight legislative efforts to legalize sports gambling in Tennessee.

A Hickory Hill club closed down as a public nuisance following two homicides is reopening under court supervision and will no longer be a strip club.

The Memphis Police Association is advising police officers not to talk to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation when the state agency is investigating officer-involved shootings, the TBI was told Sunday. The advice includes police officers who witnessed shootings but are not involved. 

Thousands of people issued misdemeanor citations each year in Memphis and Shelby County will now have to make one trip instead of two to 201 Poplar to be processed for their initial court date.

The U.S. Senate race between former Gov. Phil Bredesen and U.S. Rep. Marsha Blackburn is deadlocked, according to an internal Bredesen poll, even though outside groups are spending heavily against the former Tennessee governor.

Shelby County’s elections administrator is guaranteeing her office will process some 33,000 new voter-registration applications before early voting starts Wednesday, after being queried by U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen.

When Jess Gaughan spoke last month at the start of an aborted debate that became a forum for Democratic Senate nominee Phil Bredesen at Rhodes College, the leader of Rhodes' Democrats didn’t get the same attention she might have.

New Memphis has launched its first Educators of Excellence Awards this year and announced this week the five local educators who are the inaugural 2018 honorees.