After a 20-year stint at the Memphis Zoo, Ya Ya returns to Shanghai, China, accompanied by the zoo’s senior veterinarian and chief zoological officer.

A referendum ordinance on a two-year residency requirement cleared the Memphis City Council, which left open the question of the residency requirement for this year’s race for mayor.

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The idea’s benefits could be many: It would allow people to build equity, and it would lessen the backlog of the city’s renter program. It could also bring a new steel frame manufacturer to the city.

The $792 million proposal is $42 million larger than the current city budget. Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland is not proposing a property tax increase but said the increase is funded by sales tax revenue, economic growth and the performance of the city’s investments. 

New evidence should be considered in a dismissed lawsuit with ties to the death of Eliza Fletcher, according to recent court filings.

“Who’s to say there’s not going to be a hot tub rolling down the road next month,” said Ashley Coleman, owner of the pedal-powered bar Sprock and Roll.

Meanwhile, some city council members are calling in city chief legal officer Jennifer Sink to take a stand on what the residency requirement is for those running for mayor.

During a Monday, April 24, visit to Memphis, Sen. Marsha Blackburn talked about her endorsement of former President Donald Trump and took to Twitter to offer supporters a “Marsha, Marsha, Marsha pizza cutter.”

Late Monday evening, a resolution on the city’s residency requirement for mayoral candidates was added to the council’s executive session. Council chairman Martavius Jones wants the city’s chief legal officer to take a stand on just how long a candidate for mayor must have lived in the city. 

Bartlett continues to work on its sewage flow and release of it to the Memphis system with holding tanks designed to deliver the sewage during off-peak times.

The Monday debate at Halloran Centre, presented by The Daily Memphian, is about crime and criminal justice. The race to be the next mayor, however, is still a struggle largely taking place out of public view.

The first-term Memphis City Council member will lead implementation of a new environmental curriculum in the city’s riverfront parks.

Citizens pushing for police reforms wanted quick action after the death of Tyre Nichols. Some on the council say they pushed too hard.

U.S. District Judge Mark Norris asked the parties in a dispute over the treatment of wastewater in northwest Mississippi to try and reach an accord before the decision fell to him.

The funding, which is part of Gov. Bill Lee’s budget for the coming year, was approved with an amendment to allow the cash to be used for all city-owned stadiums.

Babs Feibelman and Bill Craddock, who started the support system for nonprofits from their band of mostly retired friends, are turning their endeavor over to New Memphis.

Visitors to the renovated Tom Lee Park will have their choice of ice cream, coffee, cocktails or a “Mac Daddy” brisket macaroni and cheese as they explore the park’s new pathways, play areas and shaded pavilions. 

The city administration has declined to take a side on whether it believes the five-year residency requirement is in effect. That puts the city between the Election Commission, which wants some kind of court ruling on what the requirement is, and two mayoral candidates whose attorneys say they will pursue who raised the residency issue in the first place.

Memphis Light, Gas and Water Division took steps Wednesday, April 19, toward becoming what its CEO describes as a more “agile” organization. 

“It is not safe, and it is against the law, for children to be out at midnight without an adult. As every coach will say, ‘nothing good happens after midnight,’” Memphis mayor Jim Strickland said. 

MATA president and CEO Gary Rosenfeld called for a regional transit authority that could raise its own funding across a larger area and possibly move into street repairs and other “mobility” issues.

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The campaigns for several would-be Memphis mayors as well as close observers of the crowded race believe it’s going to take between $800,000 to $1.2 million to win the city’s highest office.

On Friday and Saturday, April 14-15, these firefighters who are part of the department’s Bluff City Combat team, were to compete in the Pensacola Beach Firefighters Challenge, the first event in a six-month season that will include national and world competitions.

Two of the men charged in connection to the recent shooting at the Prive restaurant in Hickory Hill had their bail set in court Thursday, April 15.

A five-year, $5 million study of the Memphis aquifer is nearing completion; it already has identified 23 previously undetected breaches in the aquifer’s protective clay layer.