The Calgary Zoo is having to return its two giant pandas to China because of pandemic-caused logistics problems in getting enough bamboo. But the Memphis Zoo has its own bamboo farm as well as bamboo donors. 

Cheryl Patterson says the utility board makes the first decision on whether MLGW stays or leaves TVA.

Wearing a mask or facial covering, and whether it should be mandated or suggested, is one of the ongoing debates as people emerge into the public arena as part of the COVID-19 recovery.

The call for an executive order by Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee is the latest, including three lawsuits pending in Nashville. Lee has said he will not issue an executive order dropping state law's present restrictions on the mail-in ballots.

The city council approved a resolution that asks the mayor to seek specific information on what it would take for MLGW to break ties with TVA and pursue another electric power supplier. But the effort will wait at least until a first draft of a comprehensive report commissioned by MLGW is released May 29.

The testing money would come from the city's $113.6 million allocation of federal CARES Act funding. Strickland's proposal, presented Tuesday to the Memphis City Council, also includes an immediate $2.7 million to beef up health department contact tracing and long-term city funding of the health department beyond that.

Up for discussion Tuesday is a move to get a proposal from a specific TVA competitor and a legal opinion that could put off an electric rate hike scheduled to take effect July 1.

The latest edition of our tracking of Memphis City Council votes includes May council moves on an ordinance that would require masks for face covering to be worn in public and some larger issues that showed up in votes on Memphis Light, Gas and Water Division bond issue votes.

The new concept for the park's $60 million transformation will be revealed live today at 3:30 p.m. on The Daily Memphian's site. 

The $26 million in red ink is mostly from drops in sales tax revenue because of the closing of "nonessential" businesses in the pandemic. The plan for the current fiscal year, including more use of the city's reserves, was presented to city council members Monday with a vote possible at Tuesday's council session.

City hopes self-reporting figures continue to rise as the Census Bureau prepares to resume field activities on June 1.  

The $2 million “Develop901” system was in the works before the COVID-19 pandemic. Planning and Development division Director John Zeanah talked about the extensive overhaul on The Daily Memphian Politics Podcast and a slight drop in permits that may be cyclical and not pandemic-related.

Patrons will be asked to wear masks, practice social distancing and may have to wait to get in. 

There are lots of acronyms and plenty of names being dropped in the MLGW-TVA debate. Here's an ongoing guide to some of both along with our coverage of them.

Two leaders of the civic group backing an end to TVA ties say on "Behind The Headlines" that they want to hear more about how much it would cost MLGW to go with another electric power supplier without having to generate its own power as well.

The federal lawsuit seeking her inclusion in notices of press conferences by the mayor and administration was filed on her behalf by the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press.

A final lawsuit over the grave site of the Confederate General, slave trader and Ku Klux Klan Grand Wizard was dropped this week and legal filings toward moving the remains of Nathan Bedford Forrest and his wife should be filed in Chancery Court soon.

Rallings said Monday that Shelby County 911 has an agreement with the Tennessee government to get the names and addresses of those diagnosed with COVID-19, but only addresses will be used when dispatching officers, not the patients' names. The agreement has been in place since mid-March.

A statement on TVA's website says the estimates by a set of studies independent of Memphis Light, Gas and Water Division's process on the issue are "a distraction from the truth."

"$450 Million for Memphis" wants Memphis Light, Gas and Water Division to end its ties with TVA and start the move with a specific look at how much it would cost to sign on with the MISO network, the best known competitor for the city-owned utility that is TVA's biggest customer.

The MLGW contract with TVA to supply all of its electric power goes back to the Great Depression. The contract is in play with some concerted lobbying efforts that have drawn the ire of at least one City Council member and some interesting filings in two federal courts.

City council member Martavius Jones, on The Daily Memphian Politics Podcast, said a proposal to cut MATA funding by $10 million is the first item in the city budget book that got his attention.

Two Memphis CRE executives talk on "Behind The Headlines" discuss the challenges, opportunities and changes behind the pandemic.

The pandemic may be delaying the city's process for selecting the next users of Rust Hall and the Brooks Museum of Art building in Overton Park.

Sarla Nichols has stopped receiving chemotherapy and radiation treatments and begun hospice care. On Saturday, more than 300 cars lined her block to celebrate her life.