News of the formal ask follows Mayor Young telling the public Tuesday that he plans to ask City Council to raise property taxes to fill what could a $30 million budget hole.

Bonner informed the County Commission of the change via an emailed letter Tuesday, April 16. 

“I think it’s time for us to step into a new reality,” he told a crowd of several hundred at Mount Vernon Baptist Church. “I’m going to ask for a tax increase.”

National source cites years of issues for the nonprofit charged with helping poor people get legal aid in civil cases. The vast majority of its clients are women. 

Also happening this week: T.O. Fuller State Park seeks public input on its plans to improve the park.

Because Tennessee has never regulated PFAS, it’s unknown how much of the forever chemicals are in Memphis’ drinking water.

Memphis producer Teddy Walton has worked with artists like Kendrick Lamar and has produced music for Hulu and Netflix. With his new media company, he hopes to give opportunities to others — especially young Memphians.

The person who filed an ethics complaint against Memphis City Councilwoman Michalyn Easter-Thomas is an employee of an engineering firm working on a project the council member opposed. 

Riverside Drive closes, as it has for decades, on April 22. But Tom Lee Park will be partially open between the Riverbeat and SmokeSlam events in May.

“There’s already plenty of gas stations ... That’s not what the community has asked for. They’ve asked for investment in their community in terms of supportive items,” said a board member of Uplift Westwood.

The East Memphis nature center’s new area is designed for unstructured play. Meanwhile the museum system overseeing Lichterman and several other several other city-owned attractions continues to move toward a private board and day-to-day control.

The Memphis City Council will have more direct control over Memphis Light, Gas and Water’s spending for at least six months.

Both resolutions are not binding and have little effect, but they express the body’s political will at a time when many members feel Shelby County’s autonomy is under threat from the Tennessee General Assembly.

The developers “withdrew” their application but say they only meant to postpone the vote. Council member Easter-Thomas doesn’t buy it. 

The Memphis City Council approved $10 million from the city’s rainy day fund to fill the gap, most of which — about $9.7 million — is in the Memphis Fire Department’s budget. 

Oral arguments were heard Tuesday, April 9, in an appeal of a class-action lawsuit against the City of Memphis about its alleged lack of testing more than 12,000 sexual assault evidence kits, some dating back decades.

Mayor Paul Young and Interim Chief C.J. Davis support a Memphis City Council ordinance to create a philanthropic and research foundation that would take private donations and put them toward the city’s public safety efforts.

Throughout his first 100 days, Memphis Mayor Paul Young has sought ways to get to “yes” and make Memphians feel heard by their new mayor, wielding his newfound power and spotlight to recast the city’s narrative and try to paint hope on Memphis’ self-portrait. 

But yes is not easy to come by. Listening takes hours that turn into days. Narratives don’t change in 90 days. Or 100. Already, circumstance has intervened. 

A new deal has been struck to fund the FedExForum renovations, according to a draft agreement obtained The Daily Memphian.

The council move comes as Mayor Paul Young prepares to fill the newly created position of city public safety director. Meanwhile, Young takes some changes in the current city budget to the council Tuesday, April 9, which may be clues to his budget for the new fiscal year.

But first, the Memphis Police Association says the city needs to demote 120-plus newly promoted second lieutenants.

A bill to complete the financing remains pending at the Tennessee General Assembly.

Also happening this week: Memphis City Council member Michalyn Easter-Thomas’ ethics board hearing. Plus, there’s a free Brown v. Topeka Board of Education conference at the University of Memphis.

Fifty-six years to the day of his assassination, Martin Luther King Jr.’s son stood on the balcony where his father was fatally wounded in 1968 and talked about the movement King led in the here and now.

Related story:

MLK III says current times and painful memories bring him to Memphis

The son of Martin Luther King Jr. returns to Memphis on the anniversary of his father’s assassination for the National Civil Rights Museum’s annual commemoration.