Former mayor Willie Herenton is the city's longest-serving mayor and its first elected African-American mayor, with a colorful legacy. His bid to return after a decade away is the next chapter in that legacy.

Former Memphis Mayor Willie Herenton told a women's rally that he wants to guard against election fraud. Meanwhile, contender Tami Sawyer rips Herenton and Mayor Jim Strickland for attending the local GOP's Lincoln Day Gala.

Owners of 70 Downtown businesses signed off on a June 26 letter to Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland supporting Tom Lee Park transformation, but critics are keeping the heat on.

Mauricio Calvo, on the Daily Memphian Politics Podcast, said last year's council deadlock on filling a council vacancy prompted him to run on the Oct. 3 ballot. J.B. Smiley Jr. is making his bid for a different council seat after a bid last year for the Shelby County Commission.

After confirming the death of two local dogs shortly after a visit to Shelby Farms Park, park officials say they are closing the lakes in the area where the dogs swam. Officials haven't confirmed the cause of the dogs' deaths.

The murder trial for Billy Ray Turner, accused in the fatal shooting of former NBA star Lorenzen Wright, has been delayed after prosecutors introduced new information Thursday, Aug. 22.

Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland has a full calendar of groundbreakings and openings as an incumbent campaigning on his record. Challenger Tami Sawyer, meanwhile, is appealing to fellow millennials to resist the call of other cities as well as the momentum Strickland is claiming.

Work on the Prentiss Place parking lot is the first of three phases and sets the stage for the next two phases starting this fall or winter. The work also begins as the new president of the zoo talks about a change in the zoo's direction.

The city council Tuesday approved expanding a program to pay fines and fees to restore driver's licenses to include criminal court. And the city is checking on the status of 14 works of public art at the city's old Cordova auto inspection station before the council votes on selling the station.

An ongoing dispute between Lausanne Collegiate School and its residential neighbors is headed to court but made a stop at the City Council along the way.

The council agenda Tuesday includes discussions about selling the old Cordova auto inspection station, allowing temporary closure of an Overton Square street and expanding a program that helps those with suspended drivers licenses pay fines and fees once they have met other terms.

Memphis Mayoral contender and Shelby County Commissioner Tami Sawyer is mounting a complex challenge of incumbent mayor Jim Strickland. The challenge combines promises of disruption with national issues as Sawyer seeks to fuse activism with electoral politics.

With the new kitchen, Agricenter is helping children learn to cook with produce from a farmers market, surrounding fields.

Pamela Moses represented herself in a Chancery Court hearing Thursday, Aug. 15, unsuccessfully seeking to stop the printing and mailing of Memphis election ballots that go to city absentee voters starting Monday. 

The mayoral contender and county commissioner commented on a "Behind The Headlines" recording Thursday when asked about comments made by CNN commentator Angela Rye in Memphis last week labeling Mayor Jim Strickland a "racist' and "Dixiecrat."

Leaders of the “Memphis Campaign for Public Safety” said on The Daily Memphian Politics Podcast they think the wording of the Oct. 3 ballot question is clear although Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland has said if it is approved, it would still have to go to the City Council for approval.

Leaders of the police and fire unions talk about the referendum on a half-cent sales tax hike this October to restore benefits for public safety employees.

On "Behind The Headlines," Gary Rosenfeld said a revenue source, possibly from a sales tax hike or gas tax hike, is needed to implement a two-year-old plan to increase the frequency of bus trips in the core city and to find ways to connect areas outside of the core. 

Memphis City Council members take final votes Tuesday on the Memphis 3.0 land use and development guidelines, a new set of rules for public art projects funded by the city and a ban on plastic bags.

Breaches in the Memphis aquifer means some of our drinking water comes from heavily polluted Nonconnah Creek, but filtration still yields excellent water quality.

Nonconnah Creek, along with the Wolf River, is one of the two major sources of drainage for the Memphis area, yet many people aren't familiar with it. But understanding Nonconnah and the potential consequences of man-made changes to it, as demonstrated on a terrifying night in 1980, could be important to our future.

Tami Sawyer charges patriarchy. The Jim Strickland campaign says Willie Herenton left a "mess" with tax hikes and service cuts during his 17-year tenure at City Hall.

While teachers, students, faculty members and parents across Memphis are gearing up for the school year, City Year, a nonprofit powered in partnership with AmeriCorps, is also getting into gear.

Memphis City Council contender Frank Johnson is connecting with some supporters with his concerns about gentrification and displacement as parts of the city prosper and other parts don't.

Memphis City Council candidate Frank Johnson talks about the summer campaign, South Memphis and distrust in economic development.