Madden has been with Mayor Jim Strickland since he took office in 2016. She leaves City Hall next week to work with Ford’s BlueOval City joint venture.

“There’s a need for training to help our riders take advantage of the technology through our Go901 app ... ,” said MATA chief of staff Bacarra Maudlin. 

The council discussion is the second since a series of violent crimes earlier this month that have raised new questions about how police and the community are battling violent crime.

The 10 reappointments were voted on individually Monday. There was only one no vote against any of the nominees.

Only three bidders — NextEra Energy, the Tennessee Valley Authority and the Franklin L. Haney Company — submitted full-requirement proposals to MLGW during its RFP process for a new energy provider. 

Neighbors of the park generally supported the new playground and picnic pavilion planned, but voiced concerns about a rendering from earlier this month that appeared to show the park’s lake as part of the golf course expansion. The city’s parks director says the rendering wasn’t accurate.

Gordon Food Service opens in Midtown on Thursday and it’s a new kind of grocery for Memphis, a wholesale and retail combination complete with a big produce section and a deli.

The city is adding a convenience dumpster site soon at Collins Yard and next year, plans to roll out artificial intelligence tracking to address blight and illegal dumping.

MLGW has failed its fiduciary duties to its ratepayers. The ratepayers deserves a fair RFP. City Council should vote against the TVA contract until all questions are answered, even if it takes a few years.

The ongoing discussion and debate were also present Wednesday, Sept. 21, as commissioners interviewed 30 attorneys who have applied to fill three vacant positions for judicial commissioners.

Several citizens publicly objected to a long-term contract between MLGW and the TVA, saying the utility shouldn’t lock itself into a deal that diminishes its negotiating power in a rapidly changing energy market. 

The voter registration deadline for the Nov. 8 ballot gives a sense of urgency to the latest canvassing forays into the city to increase not only voter registration but voter turnout. 

The MSCS board chairwoman, who in August won a second four-year term, referred to the board’s $480,000 severance package for superintendent Joris Ray as a “challenge” in which the school board showed leadership.

The owner of Paula & Raiford’s Disco in Downtown Memphis was charged with misdemeanor assault Thursday, Sept. 15, according to Shelby County Criminal Justice records.

The Commission Scorecard tracks votes on an attempt to change who investigates ethics complaints and selection of a new chairman and chairman pro tempore at the first meeting of the term.

Michelle McKissack is currently chairwoman of the Memphis-Shelby County Schools board and is looking at a potential run for Memphis mayor.

Kelly’s attorney, Jennifer Case, also asked to subpoena juvenile records for the suspect in the shooting rampage last week that left six people shot, including three who died.

The Audubon Park golf course will change dramatically with the redesign; every hole will be part of the project and the course itself will be expanded. 

In wide-ranging discussion about violent crime, the Memphis City Council voted to ask the state for at least 50 more state troopers for at least six months and a digital messaging system similar to Amber Alert.

The council’s monthly crime update from Memphis Police brass could be more than a regular check-in. Last week’s violence has renewed a long-running civic discussion. And it has moved swiftly to questions about the criminal justice system.

The scorecard looks at two special meetings this month that filled an open council seat, shut down another city charter change ballot question and approved a compromise on One Beale.

Federal and state funds for local prevention efforts, including comprehensive sexual and reproductive health education in schools, began drying up before the pandemic.

Cars overflowed from the Second Presbyterian Church parking lot onto Central Avenue as the community gathered Saturday, Sept. 10, for the funeral of Eliza Fletcher. 

A young mother, a community educator and a new social development firm work to unpack and defy grim teen birth statistics, build healthy families and ‘redesign’ the community.

In September 2021, a woman told police Cleotha Abston abducted and raped her at gunpoint, yet Abston remained free until he was arrested earlier this week for Eliza Fletcher’s murder.