Also happening: The Memphis Tigers take a trip to the Bahamas, and we’ve got your guide to mastering Thanksgiving with recipes, music and more.

Memphis City Council Chairman Martavius Jones is proposing a pay raise from the current $170,817 Mayor Jim Strickland makes to $210,000 a year starting Jan. 1 when Mayor-elect Paul Young takes office.

The winners of the three races make a majority of seven women on the city council that takes office in January — the first majority of women on the 13-member body in the 55-year history of the mayor-council form of government.

Memphis Police Chief Cerelyn “C.J.” Davis talked about the leadership changes — as well as guns, crime rates, hiring and recruitment, technology and more — at a recent Memphis Rotary Club meeting.

The Downtown Memphis Commission and the Downtown Mobility Authority plan to host a kick off event at the end of the month to start exterior work. 

MLGW President and CEO Doug McGowen said underground power line improvements show the benefits of MLGW’s 2020 rate hike. 

The clerk’s office is the only countwide office on the March 5 primary ballot and with Sawyer’s entry the Democratic primary has three candidates. The filing deadline for the Democratic and Republican primaries is Dec. 14.

Ting Internet could start serving Memphis customers late next year.

For the first time ever, the City of Memphis is also looking for a composting service who could also compost biosolids — the sludge created by treating domestic wastewater — to save local landfill space. 

Also happening this week: A verdict is expected on whether Ja Morant can use the state’s self-defense immunity statute in a lawsuit over a fight at a pickup basketball game.

Those who wish to help with the Nov. 18 giveaway for area agencies that provide food for the hungry must register in advance.

As the City Council nears the end of another term, they’re being asked to increase power rates — again.

Riverside Drive will reopen to traffic on Monday, Nov. 13, with some restrictions.

“We are talking about nearly a $37 million increase — either we put all of that on the utility bill or we put it on the property tax rate,” said Council Chairman Martavius Jones. “We can’t do it in November.”

Related Story:

City Council pushes final votes on primary elections, mayoral runoffs

Final votes on the two 2024 ballot questions are now set for the Nov. 21 council session. The city council also approved the first increase in city tow rates in 16 years.

The monthly city solid waste fee for residential properties would rise 37% — from $29.96 to $41.05 — under a proposal from Mayor Jim Strickland’s administration.

“With this group of mayors, I’ve never been more optimistic about our metro area,” said Shelby County Chamber Alliance and Bank of Bartlett President Harold Byrd.

Michael Stengel argued that prosecutors in the federal criminal case against the officers should not be allowed to call upon experts as witnesses to speak about the alleged use of excessive force against Nichols.

Renter Victoria Williams is thankful for the pilot program that keeps her landlord informed when police are called to rental homes in her neighborhood. But critics say it gives landlords too much power.

The city’s Liberty Park bonds are underwater. Documents show just how busy the Midtown Kroger and nearby Chick-fil-A are and how much they mean to the Liberty Park Tourism Development Zone. 

What’s ahead this week? Leftwich Tennis Center will reopen, Downtown Dining Week is happening, and Mississippi voters are headed to the polls.

“These first two early appointments show our commitment to excellence and my commitment to creating an administration staffed with problem-solvers who are ready to work on day one,” said Memphis mayor-elect Paul Young.

Details from the plea agreement reached in the federal criminal case against Desmond Mills Jr. shed more light on his role in Tyre Nichols’ death.

Related stories:

Plea deals reached for officer charged in Tyre Nichols’ death

Judge OKs release of additional materials in Tyre Nichols case

Beginning in February or March of 2024, work at Beale Street Landing will also render the dock there unusable for most of next year. 

More than 700 Memphians have cast early ballots in the runoffs for three city council seats through the first four days of the voting period.