The new charter school policy the school board approved over the summer was the first update in eight years and significantly increased accountability.

It's Wednesday, Jan. 8. Today, Downtown's Design Review Board will look at new signage for Wiseacre and the Sugashack, and the Shelby County Commission is talking about how to fund MATA. 

MICAH is rallying behind a Shelby County Commission resolution to raise the wheel tax by $20 to increase funding for the Memphis Area Transit Authority.

Nominations are being accepted for the 36th annual Women of Achievement awards. The deadline is Monday, Jan. 13.

Feeling opposition over his decision to put Tennessee in the federal refugee resettlement program, Gov. Bill Lee defended his move Tuesday among fellow Republicans at a Nashville social gathering.

PHOTO GALLERY: CN Railway safety train "Little Obie" delivered a Memphis in May World Cargo Crate from Ghana to St. Francis of Assisi Catholic School Jan. 7. Each year the World Cargo Crate, containing items such as maps, local crafts, clothing and coins from the the MIM honored country, visits local schools so that students can learn about the honored country.

Memphis City Council members approved changes Tuesday to the Loews convention center hotel project, moving the drop-off area for the hotel closer to North Main Street and Adams Avenue.

Aramark Food and Support Service has informed the state of Tennessee it will permanently lay off 126 employees from a facility at 2838 Business Park Drive near the FedEx hub.

Memphis Light, Gas and Water Division is proposing a new electric rate hike that would be less steep than an earlier proposal in the first of three years, but about the same overall. Meanwhile, some city council members want to pair the rate hike decision with whether MLGW cuts its ties with the Tennessee Valley Authority.

The second-term slate of 13 Jim Strickland administration directors and chiefs drew some resistance from several council members in committee sessions Tuesday at City Hall. The decision to delay the vote on the slate for two weeks saw some of the new council members on different sides of the question at their first council meeting.

Applications are being accepted for the Shelby County Commission’s Summer Youth Program, which gives the county’s young people an opportunity to develop job skills and constructive work habits.

Gov. Bill Lee unveiled a new paid family leave policy for state employees Tuesday, a measure permitting up to 12 weeks of annual medical leave time for events such as child births and family illnesses. Lee admitted it will come with a cost.

Good morning; it’s Tuesday, Jan. 7, and the new Memphis City Council will hold its first meeting of the year today. The body is expected to discuss a proposed electric rate hike, but first: The Daily Memphian’s Bill Dries has compiled a quick guide to how city government works.

House Speaker Cameron Sexton was in Collierville Monday evening to attend a fundraiser for Collierville state Rep. Kevin Vaughan. The legislative session that begins next week will be Sexton's first regular session since becoming speaker this past summer.

The old council rejected a multi-year electric rate hike at its last meeting of the term last month. The new council talks compromise Tuesday in committee sessions with MLGW brass.

Commission committees will be asked to consider raising the wheel tax by $20 to fund MATA.

The Daily Memphian's primer on the ground rules, customs, proverbs and unwritten rules that keep City Hall running.

According to a copy of the proposal obtained by Chalkbeat, the transition is part of a massive reset for the embattled turnaround model known as the Achievement School District, which has fallen woefully short of its goal to improve student performance since launching in 2012. 

A Memphis Police Department homicide detective who was sleeping with a murder defendant retired last fall amid an internal investigation into his conduct, effectively allowing him to escape disciplinary action.

At stake is the education of 133 students who could need to find a new high school after May.

U.S. Department of Commerce announces grant to support Mid-South Minority Council Technical Assistance and Developmental Pool.

Former governor Winfield Dunn put a dent in a proposal to rename the Cordell Hull Office Building for him, saying he has “reservations” about the plan. He said he asked state Rep. Ron Gant not to push the idea.

Saint Francis Hospital-Bartlett has earned The Joint Commission’s Gold Seal of Approval for total hip, knee and spine surgeries.

The 60,000-square-foot, $21.5 million facility completes the final phase of a 17-year master plan to improve the campus.

Good morning; it’s Monday, Jan. 6. Comedian Bill Burr is at the Orpheum Theatre tonight, but also important: Many local schools are back in session today after their winter breaks.