The Senate Education Committee approved Gov. Bill Lee’s education savings account initiative Wednesday, paving the way for public dollars to follow students to private schools.

City leaders will gather Thursday near the intersection of Elvis Presley Boulevard and Brooks Road to mark the beginning of construction on a $44 million streetscape improvement project that kicked off six years ago.

TVA CEO and president Jeff Lyash said during a Memphis visit on his third day on the job that the power industry will see as much change in the next 20 years as it did in the last half-century.

The city is rolling out a new curbside collection system for garbage and debris beginning May 1.

Need help but can't call? A text-to-911 service launched in Memphis April 9 that allows anyone to text for help in an emergency situation. 

CNN analyst Phil Mudd joins The Daily Memphian's Extra Podcast to talk about drinking beer with Robert Mueller, whether he was ever a secret agent, and which Memphis cupcakes are his favorite.

• Memphis Zoo announces name and gender of new baby giraffe 
• Senior-living firm acquires 10 more developments
• Le Bonheur mobile medical clinic to be supported by donation share 

Mid-South Food Bank president and CEO Estella Mayhue-Greer will retire effective Dec. 31. She has served in various roles with the organization since 1996.

A Senate committee passed legislation Tuesday penalizing voter registration drives that turn in large numbers of “deficient” forms, a bill stemming from the 2018 Black Voter Project in Shelby County.

Memphis Zoo has named a new president and CEO, native Memphian, Jim Dean.

The latest amendment would cap the voucher program at 30,000 students instead of 15,000 as approved by House committees. And it would add back homeschoolers who were stripped out of the House bill last month to appease several representatives.

The Downtown Memphis Commission is negotiating with the tour company it forced out of the W.C. Handy House in February, while the musician's family continues to push for changes after years of complaints the property is being ignored.

• Memphis Zoo announces name and gender of new baby giraffe 
• Senior-living firm acquires 10 more developments
• Le Bonheur mobile medical clinic to be supported by donation share 

Legislation enabling wagering companies to start taking bets in Tennessee for mobile online gambling passed the House State Committee Tuesday.

Prominent local defense attorney Leslie Ballin is representing Latoshia Daniels and entered a not guilty plea on her behalf Tuesday for the shooting death of Mississippi Boulevard Christian Church Executive Pastor Brodes Perry.

Two teachers from Memphis are being recognized for their teachings on the Holocaust as part of the Tennessee Holocaust Commission’s annual day of remembrance Tuesday. 

Those maintaining the city's flood counter measures said the March flooding at Memphis tested the system and the system passed. But they also said the frequency of high water requires vigilance.

Many of the student recommendations were rooted in Project STAND, a federally funded program at Carver Academy for students transitioning back to school after juvenile detention. Currently, there are 66 students in the program.

Legislation allowing unlicensed “natural hair styling” passed the House of Representatives with ease Monday night despite opposition from three Memphis lawmakers.

Board members are expected to vote on suspending the search for a superintendent at their regular meeting later this month. If that resolution fails, the board recommended that the Iowa-based firm Ray & Associates conduct the search for about $44,000.

Construction crews are building a substantial crosswalk where University of Memphis students cross a busy, five-lane street to reach the revived Highland Strip's popular hang-outs. 

The interfaith gathering came 51 years to the day of the original gathering. Rev. James Lawson, who spoke at the original Memphis Cares, said Sunday Memphis can be "a different kind of city a generation from now."

• Le Bonheur mobile medial clinic to be supported by donation share 
• Building permit filed to renovate former computer learning center into new charter school 
• Germantown Athletic Club to undergo renovations 

The effort to map breaches in the clay layers protecting the city's underground water supply will also include longer-term goals like the best placement of wells and how the aquifers move.

Shelby County Commissioners have approved committing $450,000 to the Economic Development Growth Engine over three years to hire two economic development case managers.