The Shelby County Commission is planning to install plexiglass barriers when it returns to its chambers next month. The Memphis City Council is making arrangements to find a new temporary meeting place. Its City Hall chambers are still undergoing a renovation that began before the pandemic.

This week on WKNO’s Behind the Headlines, Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris joins host Eric Barnes and Bill Dries.   

Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland has signed the ordinance that requires masks or face coverings inside public places within the city.

David Sweat, head of epidemiology at the Shelby County Health Department, said the age of those hospitalized has gone down since the pandemic started.

Josh Hammond at Buster's and other business owners, trying to do the right thing, aren’t entirely sure what the parameters are when employees test positive.

Those 294 new cases come from 2,963 tests, a 9.9% positivity rate.

The press conference comes after a month of private discussions with community and religious leaders and a move toward police reforms by the Memphis City Council as well as the Shelby County Commission. 

The FedExForum lease agreement between the Memphis Grizzlies and Memphis/Shelby County is on the cusp of a tricky new phase, even though all parties are more concerned right now with what everyone else is: Those COVID rates keep rising. 

Activists have painted Black Lives Matter on sidewalks surrounding the site where the statue of Nathan Bedford Forrest stood for decades before it was removed in 2017. 

PRSA Memphis and Memphis Association of Black Journalists emphasize in "Media and Racism" webinar how diversity at all levels in media help organizations paint a true picture.

Bellevue Baptist Church in Cordova is replaced by Briarwood Church among the 26 locations that open for July 17 for the early voting period in advance of the Aug. 6 election day. State and federal primaries as well as county general elections are on the ballot. And more than 5,000 citizens have applied so far to vote by absentee ballots in the election.

Shelby County District Attorney General Amy Weirich's office is launching a restorative justice initiative called the Community Justice Program. 

The civic group calling for MLGW to cut ties with TVA says TVA's estimate this week of hundreds of millions of dollars in expenses in the switch is wrong. And it says the draft report's recommendation of local power generation by MLGW is wrong too.

Shelby County Schools mostly relies on district-employed school resource officers as security staff. They do not carry guns but have pepper spray, the district said. 

The State Board of Education approved an emergency rule on Monday requiring districts and charter leaders to submit plans for how their school communities will teach students in 2020-21 while navigating the pandemic.

The Tennessee Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that it will not block a judge’s order offering a by-mail voting option to all eligible voters while the state continues to appeal.

Attorneys in Memphis march against racism in the community and legal system during a "unity march."

In the past two weeks, the county reported at least 100 new cases 11 times and the three highest day-over-day increases to date. The record increase being 385 new cases reported Saturday, June 20.

Superintendent Joris Ray’s lowest score was in his relationship with district staff, especially in implementing a “rigorous, accurate” employee evaluation system. 

The U of M has hundreds of students from 72 nations. Due to travel bans, many of them are unable to return home for summer break.

The 191 newly reported coronavirus cases come from 1,342 tests, a positivity rate of 14.2%.

Shelby County officials give local theaters a path for reopening, while the proposed gas station on Broad Avenue hits another roadblock. Meanwhile: Patios and masks for everyone. 

QuadJobs had been looking to get into the Memphis market for some time.

The federal agency’s formal response to the draft report released last month says Memphis Light, Gas and Water Division could lose $260 million a year if it drops TVA to go with another electric power supplier. 

Over the past eight days, Shelby County recorded its three highest day-over-day increases since the pandemic began locally in March. Saturday’s report of 385 new cases from the health department being the high point.