The Memphis mayor also announced he is closing access roads to and in city parks, including Riverside Drive by Tom Lee Park, to discourage large crowds like those that gathered last week during two sunny days. The move stops short of closing city parks outright, but Strickland said he is willing to consider that too.

Some local golf courses are open but imposing social-distancing precautions. 

Abuses of social-distancing restrictions at city parks could force the city to close them.

“We’re building an airplane in the air and doing it on a stopwatch. We’ve got a minute to build it.” 

The online vote changed the City Council’s method of debating items and rounding up votes. But the issue remains a constant in council deliberations whether in person or online.

No one was at City Hall for the meeting which was all on-line except for roll call votes by voice on matters for an institution that has had electronic voting for nearly 40 years.

Health professionals agree social distancing is the primary strategy to bring the pandemic under control in Memphis. But there are differences on who should be tested. The civil emergency decree that goes into effect Tuesday at 6 p.m. is also a porous set of restrictions that has to rely on the public taking the potential to spread the disease seriously.

Here is everything you need to know to watch Tuesday's meeting of the Memphis City Council -- a rare online-only session of the city's legislative body during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Tuesday council session includes setting aside $2 million in the city budget for pandemic responses like reducing transit fees and better funding the Mid-South Food Bank.

Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland said the impact on the economy from the civil emergency measures is being felt but can't be avoided as the city tries to stop the spread of the virus to keep hospitals from being overwhelmed.

A historic state of civil emergency from Mayor Jim Strickland Tuesday shuts down restaurants, bars, gyms and urges a suspension of services at places of worship. The move represents an action last used by a Memphis mayor during the 1978 police and firefighter strike.

The festival is looking at dates in the fall for the series of events that cover a month.

The declaration doesn't close any businesses or force the cancellation of any events at this point. Strickland says it unlocks federal assistance to the city and allows the city to make quick buys of emergency equipment and supplies. 

This week was to have been a critical point in the grant process, with grant-writing and administration workshops that are required for getting a grant from the City Council.

So far, organizers of the month-long festival say they are sticking with the May schedule but more talks are to come with the city.

The city's Office of Youth Services has 9,200 children and young adults who have signed up for the Youth Summer Experience Program. But the program now has 2,000 funded slots. The goal is to raise private money to expand, and it is proving difficult.

For now, the city council will keep its ground rules for dispensing $2.6 million in grant money at $200,000 per council member. But the council continues to battle what is a longer line of organizations seeking a limited amount of money. 

Joseph Otting said the Community Reinvestment Act is overdue for revisions that reflect 21st century banking. But some of those at the Memphis forum were skeptical that it would increase bank investment in low-income areas given other changes on other fronts from the Trump administration.

The two city measures reflect larger debates about criminal justice reform and the increasing use of cameras in public settings.

From canceled school trips and congregation precautions to ships that didn't sail, the Mid-South deals with a virus far off only in actual contagion.

Strickland told city council members Tuesday that the referendum isn't binding on the city and that most voters would support such a use of extra revenue beyond a restoration of benefits cut by the city six years ago. The idea is still in the talking stage, with Strickland to take his plan to the council in April when he presents his city budget proposal.

All of the kits from the backlog that first came to light in 2012 have been tested, Memphis Police say. About 6,000 cases in which DNA was found are awaiting investigation.

The tax hike and restoration was approved by city voters in 2019. But there are doubts that the revenue from the extra half-cent is enough to pay for the return of benefits the city cut in 2014. 

Three of the six new Memphis City Council members talked about the larger issues on "Behind The Headlines." They are the latest council members in more than a decade to take up the topic of residency.

Those who will make a recommendation on whether the Memphis utility supplier should cut ties with the TVA want a scenario on switching to Midcontinent Independent System Operator included in the research.