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.

With a proposal to extend City Council term limits rejected, the stage is set for the first significant change on the 13-member council since nine new members were elected in 2007.

Three Memphis nonprofits will be part of a two-year trial program to make up the gap between what it costs to build or rehab a house in some parts of the city and what the appraised value is.

Memphis River Parks Partnership eliminated the full-time positions of five to six employees at Mud Island River Park as the organization moves to more centralized management of the riverside and prepares for significant changes in the park this spring.

Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland told 120 hospitality industry leaders Wednesday he would like to see more agreement among them before he commits to anything like an increase in the city hotel-motel tax to fund Memphis Cook Convention Center improvements beyond its coming $175 million overhaul.

At $1 billion, the new TVA Combined Cycle plant has been described by Tennessee Valley Authority president Bill Johnson as a “Rolls Royce Lamborghini” and “the most technically advanced plant in the world.”

State and local officials gathered Thursday morning in South Memphis for the ceremonial opening of the Tennessee Valley Authority’s new Allen Combined Cycle Natural Gas Plant.

The head of Latino Memphis and the former Shelby County Probate Court clerk top a list of eight citizens who have applied to fill a vacancy on the Memphis City Council.

Tennessee Valley Authority’s leader told the Memphis City Council Tuesday that the cost of activating the Bellefonte nuclear plant in Alabama as a source of electricity for Memphis Light, Gas and Water Division would be “incomprehensible” and come with significant risks.

At his next-to-last campaign stop in his bid for the U.S. Senate Monday evening, former Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen had trouble getting in the door of Jim Neely’s Interstate Barbecue in South Memphis.

Polling places at 166 Shelby County precincts are open Tuesday from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

The Memphis City Council will be down two members when it meets Tuesday in an Election Day session.

Three of eight former Roman Catholic priests connected to the Catholic Diocese of Nashville accused of child sexual abuse and dismissed from the priesthood had church assignments in Memphis.

The remade Mississippi River Park with its own “River Garden” opens in a week. The River Line trail running along the east side of Wolf River Harbor to Big River Crossing will debut the same day. Mud Island River Park is closed until the spring after a season of experiment and minor tweaks.

Shelby County Republicans tabled a move Thursday evening to censure Republican county commissioner Mark Billingsley for showing support for Democratic state Senate nominee Gabby Salinas.

Early voting in advance of the Nov. 6 Election Day ended Thursday evening with Shelby County turnout expected to remain below 200,000 and below the early voter turnout for the November 2016 presidential general election.

The Tennessee Valley Authority will conduct comprehensive research on coal ash from its Allen Fossil Plant in southwest Memphis as part of a look at waste from coal plants across the TVA system.

The Tennessee Court of Appeals stayed Wednesday, Oct. 31, the effect of most of a ruling last week by Chancellor JoeDae Jenkins governing how the Shelby County Election Commission handles a backlog of voter registration forms.

The Memphis City Council can spend $30,000 to $40,000 of city funds on a “public information campaign” about the three city charter amendment referendums on the Nov. 6 ballot, a court ruled Tuesday, Oct. 30.

Following a mass shooting that killed 11 people at a Pittsburgh synogogue Saturday, six Memphians are inviting the local community to not necessarily feel better, but to get better at feeling. Rabbi Micah Greenstein of Temple Israel was already scheduled to lead the October experience that uses music, stories, silence and dialogue to take attendees into “The Mystic” when he got wind of the attack.

The Memphis City Council will begin accepting applications Thursday to fill the District 1 council seat that becomes vacant that day with the resignation of council member Bill Morrison.

A group working on changes to the local approach to economic development is recommending a larger role for the Greater Memphis Chamber.

The Memphis City Council cannot spend any money publicizing the three city charter referendums on the November ballot until Chancellor Jim Kyle holds a hearing Tuesday on a lawsuit filed Friday by members of the group Save IRV, which is among those campaigning for the defeat of all three amendments.

After years of preparation, the city of Memphis on Thursday, Oct. 25, will formally open the new city maintenance yard it has been planning through two administrations.

Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland’s administration has a proposal for changing the city’s approach to economic development that is making the rounds with other organizations involved in attracting businesses.