The governor announced a significant boost to education funding in his State of the State Address on Monday, Jan. 31, with nearly $2 billion going to higher education.

The council moved to bind approval for a new Midtown hotel to other parts of the project, calling for retail and residential development before a certificate of occupancy can be issued for the hotel.

City officials cited unsafe conditions and the shelter not being up to code, including no working smoke detector and no sprinkler system in case of a fire. 

The ARPA funding is in place of Tourism Development Zone revenues the city pledged as part of a $10 million contribution toward the $62-million redesign of Tom Lee Park currently underway.

Council members also will meet Marvell Mitchell, the CEO of a local software company, who is the new leader of the city division that keeps track of how much business city government does with minority contractors and businesses. 

The headquarters is part of a plan for a fire campus in the area where generations of Memphis firefighters have trained.

Viking Cruises will begin traversing the Mississippi River in June, joining two other cruise lines docking in Memphis. The city plans a $62 million Waterfront District to meet the demand.

There are now five potential contenders in the Democratic primary for Shelby County mayor with about three weeks to the filing deadline to get on the ballot. Here’s a rundown of the latest filings and a few other campaign notes.

The City Council Scorecard looks at how the votes lined up on the second rejection in three months for a convenience store with gas pumps at Broad Avenue and Tillman Street.

In addition to the pay raises, Strickland again called for changes in state laws, particularly around gun crimes, and doubled down on his earlier declaration that the local criminal justice system is a “revolving door.”

Two North Memphis KIPP schools that were recommended to close will stay open, Memphis-Shelby County Schools decided in Tuesday’s board business meeting. 

Memphis-Shelby County Schools, as the board voted to be called Tuesday evening, decided on a slew of changes that will have hundreds of students start next school year somewhere different.

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Two KIPP schools narrowly avoid closure

The commission’s Democratic majority approved a $25,000 grant to fund a playground at the center in Midtown. People on both sides of the abortion issue had a lot to say before the vote.

“The longer it takes, the more expensive it gets,” one Shelby County Commissioner said of the project last week. 

MPD officer and another driver were killed in a crash on Shelby Drive and Pleasant Hill early Thursday morning. 

The elaborately designed convenience store with gas pumps and retail bays would have been built at 2977 Broad Ave. at Tillman Street and Sam Cooper Boulevard.

The name change approved Tuesday changes the street’s name on city maps and as a mailing address.

The state has lowered the percentage it expects to make on investments that finance pension funds. By state law, the city of Memphis must lower its discount rate as well in the spring budget season. 

Calling it a “terrible reality,” Memphis City Councilman Worth Morgan said that “people are not being held accountable for fleeing from police.”

Candidates who won’t be on the ballot until August are actively campaigning along with those in partisan races whose first hurdle is the May county primaries.

The “Race for Reconciliation,” a 5K walk/run, will start at noon Monday, Jan. 17 at AutoZone Park as part of MLK Day activities.

A nine-page letter from Capitol Hill questions a central tenet of TVA’s pitch for Memphis Light, Gas and Water Division to remain the federal agency’s largest customer for electric power.

Josh Spickler, of the criminal justice reform group Just City, said on WKNO’s Behind The Headlines that there is another side to allegations the county’s criminal justice system is a ‘revolving door.’

The Shelby County Schools Board is having public meetings Wednesday evening to decide whether to revoke the charters of two charter networks.