Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland stuck to the basics in 2018 – the “brilliant at the basics” four-word slogan of his 2015 campaign for mayor and the motto of his three-year-old administration.

City Hall is looking for mandatory jail time for road-rage convictions in the 2019 session of the Tennessee Legislature and a sports book on Beale Street as well as making it easier to get title to tax-delinquent property for tax sales.

According to 2018 TNReady test scores almost 80 percent of Shelby County Schools' third-graders are not proficient in reading. Read901, convened by Literacy Mid-South, is working to get 90 percent of third-graders reading at grade level by 2025.

There were more than votes to count in the 2018 local elections. There were voters, early voting locations and lawsuits – six of them – against the Shelby County Election Commission.

The Shelby County Commission will hold a comprehensive discussion on Juvenile Court at its next committee meeting in January. 

Former U.S. Attorney Ed Stanton is the independent monitor who will report to U.S. District Judge Jon P. McCalla on steps the Memphis Police Department is taking to end surveillance of protesters after violating a 1978 consent decree barring such surveillance.

County commissioner Tami Sawyer and activist Josh Spickler discuss flaws in the juvenile justice system and the roles a new assessment center and new juvenile detention center might play in reforming the system. 

Memphis-based Sunshine Enterprise has announced funeral service details for four executives killed when a private plane crashed Dec. 20 in northwest Atlanta.

There were only a few warning signs that something might be wrong. Dr. Robert Bolding thought he had perhaps suffered a stroke. There was the numbness on his left side, and his family said his behavior was odd. He was inclined to ignore the frequent headaches, figuring maybe it was just the weather.

One of the biggest decisions facing Shelby County government in 2019 is whether it will allocate funding for the Memphis Area Transit Authority in its 2019-2020 fiscal year budget.

Tennessee's tax-credit liability of nearly $1 billion is raising questions about economic development incentives and transparency for taxpayers. 

The Shelby County Schools board is facing some important decisions as it mulls outgoing superintendent Dorsey Hopson's latest school consolidation plan and welcomes an interim leader. 

After finding checks stuffed in desks, no payments to agencies since 2016 and other issues, Shelby County Criminal Court Clerk Heidi Kuhn calls for an audit of her office.

Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris believes it’s time for a new leader of the Tennessee Democratic Party, saying Democrats missed a great opportunity to win seats across the state this year.

Allowing sports betting on Beale Street and better implementation of the state’s standardized TNReady test are two of the Shelby County Commission's latest requests to the Tennessee General Assembly.

Local organizations getting funds for technology enhancements, personnel training through Coummnuity Foundation grants.

Cedrick Gray will start his new role as director of education in January if the County Commission approves his appointment. 

Memphis City Council members have rejected gas, water and electric rate hikes proposed by Memphis Light, Gas and Water Division. On three separate 3-7 votes Tuesday, the council voted down the rate hikes to take effect in 2019 and again in 2021 across all three divisions of the publicly owned utility.

Memphis City Council members say there were some indications of discord before the rift over filling three vacant council seats. But when the rift settled in for the rest of the year it was a surprising turn.

A developer is looking to turn the former Sigma Alpha Epsilon house near the University of Memphis campus into a privately owned and operated dormitory.

The Tennessee Valley Authority has extended the deadline for Memphians to comment on the future of coal ash at the Allen Fossil Plant in southwest Memphis.

The Knowledge Quest students helping with the reimagining of the Memphis riverfront and Tom Lee Park spent this past summer engaged in a Stanford University-style design thinking lab.

Both sides in federal lawsuit over Memphis police surveillance request a year to work out differences outside of court ruling.

Memphis businessman Wei Chen was remembered Friday as an ardent booster of his adopted hometown, which was on full display in his 2011 flight around the world.