The Daily Memphian Politics Podcast highlights "Behind the Headlines" moments from 2018; what County Mayor Lee Harris is doing ahead of the new year; and Lamar Alexander’s book "Six Months Off" as the senator prepares for retirement.

Sen. Brian Kelsey of Germantown is losing his post as chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee but picking up a leadership job as chairman of the Investigations and Oversight Subcommittee of Finance.

Lee exiting as Lee Company chairman and putting stock in a blind trust during term as governor.

Memphis City Council members back the general plan for sports betting on Beale Street, but they want to see what kind of split of revenue is proposed when it comes down to a specific bill in Nashville.

House members will consider giving committee chairs five extra bills on top of the 15-bill limit while also mulling a new system combining some committees and creating extra subcommittees.

The Tennessee Registry of Election Finance dismissed or reduced penalties against three Memphis lawmakers for failing to file election finance reports on time.

Sherman Greer, an administrator at Southwest Tennessee Community College, is the new District 1 member of the Memphis City Council.

Research has shown that when students have more “familiar faces” around them in class, they’re less likely to be chronically absent, so nonprofits like Communities in Schools are sending staff members into local schools to combat absenteeism.

The 111th General Assembly takes the oath of office Tuesday to prepare for a session in which it will attack numerous issues ranging from health care to sports betting and education vouchers.

Shelby County Juvenile Court staff members will no longer select defense attorneys for juvenile detainees, Mayor Lee Harris’ office announced Tuesday.

The House of Representatives elected Glen Casada as speaker on the first day of the 111th General Assembly with Democratic Rep. John DeBerry of Memphis backing the Franklin Republican instead of Memphis Rep. Karen Camper, leader of the Democratic Caucus.

The Shelby County Commission will reconvene for the first time in 2019 during its committee session Wednesday. 

After a break for the holidays, Memphis City Council members try again Tuesday to fill three vacancies. If the council is still gridlocked, the next move could be to put the three council seats to voters in a special election.

A new website will give the public a chance to weigh in on the city's progress in meeting court-ordered reforms resulting from its violation of the 1978 consent decree over political surveillance.

Memphis reported 184 homicides in 2018, eight more than in 2017. The 5 percent increase is less than the record number of homicides in 2016, but authorities said one homicide is too many. 

For the third time in seven years, Memphis and Shelby County are mounting a tire redemption and recycling drive that has some strict rules of the road based on the first two tries.

Again and again, prior to the launch of The Daily Memphian, people would say to me, “You’ve got to have obituaries.”

Like the University of Memphis, the University of Tennessee Health Science Center will now operate under its own board of trustees and its inaugural meeting is slated this week.

Lt. Gov. Randy McNally says the state’s new law designed to avert sanctuary cities could need alterations, although he believes its intent is “fairly clear” as Shelby County challenges its constitutionality.

The first Memphis City Council meeting of the new year could see a second look and some revisions to proposed rate hikes from MLGW the council rejected at year's end.

Gov. Bill Haslam commutes the life prison sentence for a woman convicted of killing man when he picked her up for prostitution at age 16.

An Eads family has been working to secure the return of their father to the United States after they say he was permanently banned from re-entering in August after a scheduled immigrant visa interview at the U.S. Consulate in Juarez, Mexico.

House Majority Leader William Lamberth calls the Shelby County Schools board's lawsuit against the state for more funding a "waste" and says the system should work with the state instead for a solution.

Almost four months after it closed because of a rat infestation, Kirby High School reopens Monday to students who spent most of their first semester spread across three other campuses. The school returns with some new features and technology it didn't have before.

A new Tennessee immigration law on the books for two days is already facing a challenge from Shelby County officials, who say the new measure is “unenforceable and unconstitutional” because of its “vagueness” and would not be applied locally.