Since March, it has received 3,341 applications for emergency financial assistance with 80% of the requests citing COVID-19 as the reason for applying.

Two local leaders in the pandemic fight said on "Behind The Headlines" there would be a stronger-than-usual push for flu vaccinations. Shelby County Health Department Director Alisa Haushalter also said the role of schools in the pandemic makes reopening them – virtually or in person – an important part of battling the virus.

The council's Glenview cell tower vote and a series of Black Lives Matter proposals setting the stage for some renamings of public places are the latest entries in our ongoing scorecard of council roll call votes.

MATA has had nine employees test positive from the coronavirus since April.

The Poplar Avenue name change to Black Lives Matter Avenue will be among the items the renaming commission considers. The trio of related measures met with mixed results at Tuesday's Memphis City Council session. An ordinance to give the council final approval of any names changes of streets, parks and public places may get some legal rewording before its first of three votes next months.

Two proposals on the city council agenda Tuesday would change the rules for naming and renaming streets, parks and other places. It's part of a slate of council proposals that has grown larger than police reform to include changing city government priorities. The effort is being led by a renaming of one of the most well-known addresses in the city. 

The restored columns of the circa 1840s Pillow-McIntyre House at Adams and Orleans were reinstalled last week, signalling at turn in fortunes for a sometimes forgotten house with some secrets.

Memphis City Council member talks on The Daily Memphian Politics Podcast about her push to remove from the November ballot a residency referendum that would allow police and firefighters to live outside the county.

Critics of TVA contend the Friday meeting is “highly improper.” MLGW says the meeting is part of due diligence on the way to a final version of the report that will play a large role in determining whether the city-owned utility stays with or leaves TVA. 

The CEOs of Regional One Health, Baptist Memorial Health Care, and Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare talk on "Behind The Headlines" about their contingency plans for the surge in COVID-19 cases locally and the numbers they look at to activate surge plans.

Next year’s festival is slated for Saturday, Sept. 11, 2021.

Dick Williams has died at age 92. He and his wife Virginia hosted a television magic show for children and families each week for 23 years, a record.

The spending plan or budget was reconstructed several times in bargaining and changes in federal rules for how the grants could be used. Along the way, there was talk of animals moving out of the zoo and how to fund laptops and tablets for Shelby County Schools students.

Questions surface as city officials limit access to police brutality files and sidestep requests for comment regarding excessive force.

North, a 1-year-old golden retriever, wears a bright yellow cape as he makes the rounds at the Memphis Zoo where curator Courtney Janney is training him to be a Canine Companions assistance dog.

The annual fundraiser of the Memphis Branch NAACP was held online Saturday and featured appearances by the national president and CEO of the nation's oldest civil rights organization as well as recent Democratic presidential contender Julian Castro. 

On The Daily Memphian Politics Podcast, City Council member Worth Morgan talks about his possible move to take police out of the city's civil service system and calls a move to cancel the November referendum allowing the city to hire police from outside Shelby County "the ultimate hypocrisy."

The proposed discount would be in "Area E" – parts of Cordova and Hickory Hill where Waste Pro, the contractor for the city, has been falling behind in garbage collection.

Memphis City Council members also got their first look Tuesday at how much police have spent in the past four years on overtime and riot gear as well as other preparations to handle protests.

The offer by CEO Jeff Lyash at a Tuesday City Council presentation includes investments and money over a 20-year period. Meanwhile, there was more reaction from other parts of the issue on a final version of the Integrated Resource Plan on the matter commissioned by MLGW.

While critical of the first draft of the IRP by Siemens consulting, the environmental group says it still makes a case for more renewable energy to generate electric power. The Sierra Club response also stops short of recommending cutting ties to TVA, saying the cost of transmission lines to rival MISO should be fully explored.

Memphis City Council members to discuss removing police from the city’s civil service system.

The Memphis Zoo cites the pandemic's effects on the local restaurant industry as a factor in cancelling this year's Zoo Rendezvous event.

The Corps of Engineers took a wait-and-see attitude on some questions about how much Tom Lee Park can be changed by new park design, suggesting ongoing dialog ahead.

There's no doubt costs of maintaining and operating Tom Lee Park will increase after a planned $60 million overhaul of the riverfront park. How much is an open question.