New coalition protests a possible state school takeover, Germantown gets a first look at First Watch and we say sew long to a chain craft store.

The evening went off without violence, with about 30 people attending Kyle Rittenhouse’s second attempt at a speech on the University of Memphis campus. 

Eighty-six members of the Greater Memphis Chamber traveled to Nashville to meet with state legislators, officers and cabinet heads to advocate for issues relevant to the local business community.

Speaking outside of the National Civil Rights Museum, a group of business and community leaders launched a coalition, arguing a state takeover would strip Memphians of the ability to govern their schools and make decisions for students.

More than 100 Memphians gathered at Poplar and Highland Wednesday afternoon to protest the current administration and its recent decisions supporting Russia in that country’s invasion of Ukraine.

Two groups want to open the first charter schools for at-risk students under a new state law.

A mom sues Shelby County over her son’s jail death, the Chelsea Greenline is finally moving along and Japan comes to Germantown. 

Updates to the calendar aim to improve participation in parent-teacher conferences and align schedules with nearby municipal school districts. 

North Memphis residents met Tuesday night to hear the latest on the long-delayed plan for a pedestrian and bike pathway stretching from Chelsea and Evergreen to Washington Park. 

The inmate, Ramon McGhee, 42, died in the hospital Jan. 12, 2024, two days after being found in his cell at 201 Poplar unresponsive and covered in bedbugs.

Controversial talk-radio host and blogger Thaddeus Matthews died at 67 after a heart-related illness.

Memphis Mayor Paul Young took his town hall approach to a corner of the internet this week, responding directly to Reddit users’ top concerns. 

The Shelby County Health Department recommends local hospitals adopt the “opt-out” approach, in which an HIV test will be part of a patient’s medical visit unless they decline. 

A woman has pleaded guilty to a federal charge accusing her of concocting a plot to defraud Elvis Presley’s family by trying to auction off Graceland and property before a judge halted the mysterious foreclosure sale.

Brian Kelsey is now an inmate at FCI Ashland in Kentucky, according to a federal Bureau of Prisons database.

A fired federal worker is back on the job, the next sheriff may get a pay raise and there’s a new way to have a cozy afternoon in Germantown. 

Memphis is now one of six cities nationwide that is home to two public universities with the Carnegie R1 designation. 

Author Jared Sullivan wrote a book critical about TVA but he doesn’t think the state should give up on the federal power provider. 

The commission approved more money to buy the property that goes with the old Commercial Appeal buildings. Deals on the three remaining adjacent parcels for the 16-acre site are still pending.

County commissioners are considering a raise for the whoever is elected Shelby County sheriff in 2026. Meanwhile, a proposal to give the next group of commissioners a pay raise was withdrawn.

The new General Sessions Criminal Court judge was chosen by Shelby County Board of Commissioners on Monday, Feb.24, on the third ballot. She takes office March 1.

Related content:

County Commission moves forward on sheriff’s pay raise, but not their own

Kendra Lawler was one of the federal workers recently laid off as part of a large-scale reduction in force. Many of those affected were classified as probationary. 

DeSoto County officials have adjusted the wording of legislation in hopes of Mississippi law enforcement assisting with detaining illegal immigrants.

The ethics complaint against Memphis’ fire chief is dismissed, a police reform task force is named and Arlington parents get calls from AI Dolly Parton. 

Former federal Judge Bernice Donald will lead a team of nine local task force members, including Toney Armstrong, former director of MPD.