Shelby County Commissioners have approved a resolution creating a county board of health.

Under a compromise, Mayor Lee Harris and other county leaders will be allowed to fill positions in their budgets after a committee review.

The Shelby County Health Department reported 71 new coronavirus cases on Tuesday, Sept. 29.

Memphis has set a grim milestone with three months to go in 2020, as the city recorded a record-setting 229th homicide for the year with the death of a 12-year-old during a drive-by shooting in the Westwood area Monday night, Sept. 28.

Related story: Haushalter hopes COVID effort is model for other chronic city problems

Father Nicholas Vieron, a towering figure in the work to bring the races and faiths of Memphis together, has died.

It’s Tuesday, Sept. 29, and we’re talking about our rent-to-own ratio, a real estate mystery and how we’re prepping for peak in the Golden Triangle. 

A set of four ordinances affecting the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office and the county corrections division advanced through second reading Monday, Sept. 28, at the Shelby County Commission. And the use of electric shields by deputies at a Downtown demonstration last week was part of the commission’s discussion. Final votes are scheduled for Oct. 12.

Shelby County commissioners put off a vote Monday, Sept. 28, on $5.8 million to buy a new voting system, a move that election officials say could mean it will take days to count all the votes in the presidential general election.

The city’s mix of housing has flipped in recent years, with renters now making up the majority as investors continue to buy single-family homes.

Rhodes College President Marjorie Hass urges the college to rise to the “great challenges” of Judge Amy Coney Barrett’s nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court, and others praise the the Notre Dame law professor’s commitment to equality and women’s rights.

Recent back-to-school test results from Tennessee students were not the basis for state projections that proficiency rates will drop by 50% or more for third-grade reading and math due to schooling disruptions during the pandemic.

About 18% of area ICU patients were either COVID-positive or suspected of having the virus.

September is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month.

The pandemic is affecting us in expected — and unexpected — ways while our coronavirus data gets a little better. And a rescue operation hits a bump in the road. 

MIFA has organized a “community conversation” on evictions in Memphis. The organization is encouraging everyone to read “Evicted,” and to register for the Our City, Our Story online event at mifa.org.

Nearly every weekend, Laura Elliott picks up a collection of rescue dogs that can’t find a home in Memphis and drives them to Illinois, where there are families waiting to adopt.

Is the COVID-19 pandemic responsible for a so-called baby boom? At least one large Shelby County OBGYN practice has seen a significant uptick in prenatal visits since the lockdown began in March. 

After her son was shot and killed during a robbery outside his family’s apartment complex in 2018, Tameka Talley started a mentoring group for his friends. 

Shelby County Health Department reported 183 new cases Sunday bringing the county-wide total to 31,227 since early March.

On Memphis campuses, dozens of international students have deferred their arrival because they could not get visas, a factor of the pandemic and immigration politics.

Research shows Americans’ depression levels have risen during the pandemic while the CDC reports that suicide among young people increased 57% from 2007 to 2018 -- suggesting there is now enhanced risk. 

Republican lawmakers such as state Rep. Kevin Vaughan are irritated by a state report about “learning loss” among K-12 students statewide, with schools on inconsistent footing and different health department directives during the COVID-19 pandemic.

From Sept. 12 to Saturday, Shelby County recorded an average of 154 new coronavirus cases a day. In the preceding two weeks, the county averaged 116 new cases a day. 

If confirmed by the U.S. Senate, Barrett would become the second Rhodes College graduate to hold a Supreme Court seat. The first, Justice Abe Fortas graduated in 1930 when the school was called Southwestern.