As Shelby County Schools Superintendent Dorsey Hopson prepares to make his exit at year's end, another urban education leader will take the reins of a new partnership between Memphis’ public school district and its public university.

The Metal Museum proposes to spend $21 million to renovate Overton Park’s Rust Hall and make it a “world class museum and educational center." The museum board approved what it calls the “expansion plan" in September as part of its campaign to win the keys to Rust Hall. The 78,000-square-foot headquarters of Memphis College of Art becomes available after the school closes in May 2020.

For all of the planning and man-made features that went into the new Mississippi River Park and its River Garden, including people-sized bird nests, there is another new feature that park planners didn’t anticipate.

A state panel approved Memphis’ request Monday for a Fairgrounds Tourism Development Zone to help fund an estimated $150 million project complete with a youth sports and events complex that will depend on construction of a privately developed hotel.

A memorandum of understanding that will result in more than 300 temporary workers in county government being paid at least $15 an hour will be finalized by the end of the year, according to Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris.

The Tennessee Registry of Election Finance has assessed fines against three Memphis legislators for failing to file campaign finance reports, eliciting a blistering response from state Rep. Joe Towns, who contends the body is “out of control.”

Memphis Democratic Rep. Karen Camper won election Sunday within the House Minority Caucus to become the group’s leader, the first African-American caucus leader in Tennessee history.

The Memphis Area Transit Authority has changed the security company it uses at its north terminal and ordered a review of security procedures after a security guard shot a passenger near the terminal last week.

In his sixth bid for elected office in Germantown, Mayor Mike Palazzolo says he didn’t take challenger John Barzizza for granted.

Freshman state Rep. Jesse Chism is ready to ride a bit of a learning curve in his first year in the state House, yet he’s going in with strong convictions for more health care coverage and better backing of public schools.

Kevin McKenzie and Montavious Smith will be in court next month after they were arrested at a Memphis mall over an incident that centered around a hoodie.

A federal judge already has ruled the city of Memphis violated a consent decree when police officers conducted surveillance on protesters in recent years. This summer, another non-jury trial will be held after the city asked the court to modify the 40-year-old consent agreement.

Memphis police are investigating after a 22-year-old man was injured when he was grazed by a bullet during a fight outside Oak Court Mall in East Memphis Thanksgiving night.

The Memphis City Council’s deadlock over filling a vacancy on the body began to read like a political whodunit, even while the council was in the process Tuesday of taking more than 100 votes on the appointment. The usual suspects of race, political power and political deals were all mentioned and hinted at during the standoff between council members backing Raleigh Community Development Corp. executive director Rhonda Logan and Flinn Broadcasting sales manager Lonnie Treadaway.

Just under 1,000 provisional ballots cast on Nov. 6 but not counted until almost three weeks later will be the center of attention on Monday, Nov. 26, as the Shelby County Election Commission certifies the results of the last election of 2018 in Shelby County.

At least one of the spectators who watched the Memphis City Council vote more than 100 times to fill a vacant council position Tuesday will be among those vying for an appointment to one of two other open council seats.

Memphis Police Director Michael Rallings led a chorus this week of the law enforcement agencies who have an agreement with the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation to investigate fatal shootings by police: Leave the agreement as it is.

Two Memphis state legislators are vying to become leader of the House Democratic Caucus in an effort to help the minority party regain stature in the Legislature. Reps. Karen Camper of District 87 and Joe Towns of District 84, both Memphis Democrats, are running for the top leadership position in the caucus along with Reps. Johnny Shaw of Bolivar and Bo Mitchell of Davidson County, a late entrant into the race.

Gov. Bill Haslam set a special election Wednesday for the District 32 seat formerly held by Mark Norris after the Collierville Republican resigned to take a U.S. District judgeship in West Tennessee.

Dorsey Hopson announced Tuesday that he is resigning as superintendent of Shelby County Schools to take a newly created national role at Cigna in January.

Two of the three suspects accused in the fatal shooting of Greater Memphis Chamber CEO Phil Trenary waived their rights to a preliminary hearing Tuesday and now their case will be sent to the grand jury for possible indictment on the murder charges.

State Rep. Glen Casada vaulted to victory Tuesday in a three-way House Speaker race, giving Williamson County a bit more power in Tennessee politics.

Tennessee netted the nation’s highest score for child trafficking laws from a national advocacy group for the second straight year, an area state Rep. Jim Coley makes a priority in the Legislature.

Union Row, Memphis’ new nearly billion-dollar planned development, received a warm reception from members of the Memphis City Council Tuesday, Nov. 20, during the body’s Economic Development & Tourism Committee.

Memphis City Council members took more than 100 separate votes on an interim council member Tuesday in a meeting that stretched past midnight before chairman Berlin Boyd recessed the meeting and the decision until the Dec. 4 council session.