The last vote count of a busy election year is certified and in the books.

Rinisha Wright, the 16-year-old girl charged in connection with the death of former Greater Memphis Chamber CEO Phil Trenary, will be released from custody, but details surrounding her situation are unknown because a hearing Tuesday at Shelby County Juvenile Court was closed to the public.

Having to wait until noon on Sunday before buying beer may soon be a thing of the past in several local jurisdictions. 

Before he leaves his position as superintendent of Shelby County Schools at the end of January, Dorsey Hopson said he will have some “food for thought” for the SCS board on the size of the school system – the number of schools in the city of Memphis and unincorporated Shelby County, including charter schools and schools run by the state through the Achievement School District.

In three decades on the Shelby County Election Commission, 24 of them as chairman, O.C. Pleasant oversaw changes from lever voting machines to electronic machines to touch-screen machines and dodged an attempt to introduce punch-card voting in local elections.

On the inaugural Daily Memphian Politics podcast reporters Bill Dries and Omer Yusuf look ahead to the 2019 Memphis elections and review the first three months of the new Shelby County administration as well as the eight-vote Democratic majority on the county commission past the last election of 2018. And a bit about what to expect on the podcast.

Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris is scrapping the previous administration’s multimillion-dollar sewage plan for unincorporated parts of the county – citing concerns the new system would not be cost-effective and could lead to outmigration and urban sprawl.

Senate Minority Chairman Raumesh Akbari, with an eye toward passage of a Florida referendum on felon voting rights, is planning to sponsor legislation automatically restoring the right to vote for people with low-level felony convictions.

Gov.-elect Bill Lee made another round of cabinet appointments Monday, announcing Williamson County Sheriff Jeff Long, a former police officer at the Veterans Administration Hospital in Memphis, will serve as Safety and Homeland Security Department commissioner.

On the fourth consecutive day of what Memphis City Council chairman Berlin Boyd calls “the situation,” the council again could not muster a quorum of seven members to transact business.

The Memphis Sands Aquifer isn’t in danger of drying up, but it remains in federal litigation, and Tennessee leaders say a long-term look at water needs statewide will help prepare for growth and updated systems. State officials say the aquifer produces the purest drinking water in the nation — 159 million gallons daily for public water supplies.

The Episcopal Diocese of West Tennessee's newly elected bishop didn't find her calling until late in life, having pursued careers in research, auditing and law before being ordained at age 41.

The Tennessee Black Caucus of State Legislators is putting together a legislative agenda that could fit with one of Gov.-elect Bill Lee’s priorities — keeping felons from going back to prison.

As Gov.-elect Bill Lee works at disentangling himself from the family-founded Lee Company, state lawmakers say he must take steps to avoid even the appearance of conflict with government contracts the company holds.

Tennessee Gov.-elect Bill Lee says his first budget proposal will focus on capping growth in state government and shifting funds toward criminal justice reform and to more vocational, technical and agricultural education in public schools.

In January, deputies with the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office are slated to be equipped with 300 body cameras the department purchased earlier this year. 

Germantown alderman John Barzizza is contesting the results of the Germantown mayoral race he lost to incumbent Mike Palazzolo by 120 votes in the certified election results the Shelby County Election Commission approved last week. 

Three girls explode into laughter and cheers as they roll a small cart across the table, successfully getting a rubber band to launch the cart just fast enough to knock a washer off the back of the cart, but not quite fast enough to knock over two washers.

After the Bluff City’s political and business dignitaries filled the Grand Ballroom at The Peabody, the music died down and the mood became slightly somber, as attendees knew the Greater Memphis Chamber’s president and CEO would not be there.

Tennessee Gov.-elect Bill Lee talked with The Daily Memphian at Muddy’s Bake Shop + Coffee in Cooper-Young before he spoke at the Greater Memphis Chamber’s annual luncheon Thursday, Dec. 6. Here is a transcript of the conversation, edited for clarity.

Even after working in city and county government for more than a decade, Patrice Thomas is still grateful for the opportunity to serve a community she said has done so much for her.

Freshman Sen. Raumesh Akbari will serve as chairman of the Senate Democratic Caucus in the 111th General Assembly, taking the post Tuesday by acclamation. Though the group is small in number, with five members compared to 28 in the Senate Republican Caucus, Akbari said the “energy is undeniable” and she believes the group can “kick it up another notch for 2020.”

Education Commissioner Candice McQueen says she’ll recommend that Tennessee’s Achievement School District take over more low-performing schools in Memphis and Nashville unless the state sees “dramatic changes” this school year.

The polar bear, shrunken head and miniature circus are back in the Pink Palace mansion as it prepares to reopen to the public Sunday, Dec. 8. The reopening follows a five-year rethinking of space at the mansion, which closed for two years for the physical transformation.

Memphis City Council members assembled at City Hall for about 10 minutes Thursday in an attempt to get a quorum of seven members to transact business.