As the Memphis City Council considers whether to raise property taxes, Memphis mayoral candidates were split on whether they want to do so. 

The D.C. Scorecard shows partisan lines still intact among the city’s four representatives on the espionage indictment against Donald Trump. Also, Cohen talks Memphis to Nashville Amtrak service, while Kustoff talks workforce at Le Bonheur.

The long-awaited and discussed office of the Shelby County Clerk at 3785 Riverdale Road opened this week after many delays. 

“There is no reason to squander the cultural and social equity that Memphis has invested in the Coliseum when we can reimagine it as a thriving, revenue-generating, multi-purpose venue that serves as a beacon for all that Memphis has to offer.”

The conservancy is the latest in efforts to return the Coliseum to use after it was mothballed by the city 16 years ago. It is the first proposal since Mayor Jim Strickland called for the Coliseum’s demolition to make way for a new $52 million, 10,000-seat soccer stadium.

Related story:

Opinion: Don’t destroy the Coliseum, re-create it

Since 2005, all MLGW employees have been required to live in Shelby County within six months of being hired. The board has voted to change that, and the utility also is looking at signing bonuses that could range from $1,500 to $15,000 for new employees. 

The field for Memphis is a contrast in terms of how the candidates are pacing themselves. The trick is not let rivals determine how you run. Meanwhile, lots of petitions in the mayor’s race and council races are out but few are filed at this point.

Council Chairman Martavius Jones has proposed a $0.29 increase to the city’s current $2.71 property tax rate, which would raise about $40.6 million in new revenue for the city if it passed. 

The Downtown Memphis Commission kicked off its free beginners’ bike class series in the Raymond James parking lot, starting with the basics. 

Memphis Lift broke ground on an expansion of a resource center honoring North Memphis resident Brenda Rogers. Rogers was affectionately known as the “Cake Lady” for baking homemade cakes for friends and family.

The number of available lifeguards has dropped, forcing organizations like Memphis Parks and YMCA to “be creative” with their public swimming pool schedules. 

Paper cups are mostly made from a fiber that’s desirable to recycling mills, and there are a growing number of mills that accept plastic-coated paper cups included in bales of other paper materials. 

A new Memphis mayoral poll showed former Mayor Willie Herenton leading the crowded field but with almost half of the voters undecided four months ahead of Election Day.

A man has been detained after two 4-year-olds, a 6-year-old and a 2-year-old were killed in a fire in South Memphis. 

The original service zone of Downtown and New Chicago was expanded to include Presidents Island and areas of South Memphis.

The City of Memphis pushed back the opening of its public pools a week this summer, partly due to a nationwide lifeguard shortage. 

The council scorecard looks at two key votes at the May 16 council session, both on issues connected to the October Memphis ballot.

“That’s an entitled bunch there,” Bruce McMullen said to U.S. District Judge Mark Norris. “That holds no credibility at all. One person is on Earth, and the other is on another planet.”

Mayoral contender and Downtown Memphis Commission president Paul Young drew a crowd of around 150 Saturday, May 27, to his campaign headquarters at Poplar Plaza — the first among the contenders.

A call to the Memphis Police Department resulted in the arrests of four men after what the family said was a case of mistaken identity that led to a physical altercation with police.

MPD leadership is developing a “robust plan” to address the “myriad of crime issues in our neighborhoods and business corridors this summer and beyond.”

The Federal Bureau of Investigation served a court-authorized search warrant at an address associated with Shelby County Commissioner Edmund Ford Jr. Thursday morning.

“We must continue to let our state representatives know how their gun laws have completely upended our city and that we demand Tennessee’s urban cities be given the authority to impose their own firearm laws. It won’t be a quick or easy road.”

“Memphis has very large parks, but those large parks are not dispersed in a way that they can benefit the majority of residents.”

If the last two city elections are any guide, the opening day total for qualifying petitions will be about a third of those who ultimately file for the 15 city offices by the July 20 deadline.