Shelby may still be the largest of Tennessee’s 95 counties, but it long ago lost the influence and cachet that it once enjoyed statewide.

The resolution to form a commission to draft a consolidation charter showed up in Wednesday committee sessions without notice. Like the City Council, county commissioners amended it to stop short of beginning to draft a charter and to include looking at changes to local government short of consolidation.

A fraud investigator for the federal Department of Health and Human Services Office of the Inspector General testified he had a hard time finding students who attended the nursing school.

The measure is one of three proposals to limit and require local government approval and regulation of new oil pipeline projects. It’s broader than the other two measures delayed Tuesday over lingering legal questions.

A low vaccination rate is just one of the problems the city faces as it wrestles with chronic problems surrounding solid waste disposal. 

Also on the Tuesday, Sept. 21, Memphis City Council agenda is more discussion of how to spend the council’s $20 million share of the city’s federal ARPA funds and a minimum wage for getting EDGE tax incentives.

The mayor is among 23% of Memphians who got COVID despite being vaccinated. About 77% of the city’s coronavirus patients are unvaccinated; 94% who are hospitalized are unvaccinated, and 99% of fatalities are unvaccinated, said Dr. Richard Walker, interim head of emergency medicine at UTHSC.

The City Council has approved $20 million in American Rescue Protection Act funding for council-led community initiatives like fighting homelessness, providing relief to artists, and funding the Boys and Girls Clubs. 

Some of the roadways and parks that were researched include Overton Park, Lamar Avenue, Jackson Avenue, Audubon Park and Manassas Street. 

The University of Memphis desires to maintain its presence in Collierville. However, that presence has changed from what it was when the university opened its suburban campus in 2015.

“This is where the poor are. This is where the Prophet would be. So this is where we need to be.” 

Strickland said he had been experiencing mild symptoms including congestion that prompted him to get tested with the results being positive Friday.

Retired Atlanta police official to start new job in Memphis on Sept. 13.

Most of the refugees arriving in Memphis are allowed to enter the country because they fear persecution under Taliban rule. Others aided the U.S. military in Afghanistan. 

The special assistant to Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland talked about his exploratory campaign for mayor Wednesday, Sept. 8, and sounded very much like he is in the race while taking a few jabs at incumbent Mayor Lee Harris.

The redistricting process formally began Wednesday, Sept. 8, with a bipartisan state House committee hearing public input and approving guidelines. Memphis is likely to lose seats in the General Assembly.

The first-term City Council member claims the numbers are there to first win the August statewide primary and then the November general election. That’s despite no Democrat winning statewide office in Tennessee in 15 years.

Memphis Councilman JB Smiley Jr. plans to run for governor of Tennessee. 

The council delayed a decision on a retail strip center including gas pumps at 2977 Broad Ave. at Tillman in Binghampton.

Council members put ARPA spending plans on hold to talk about a compromise that could increase the council’s share of ARPA funding from $13 million to around $20 million. 

The council votes to appoint a study committee to weigh whether the city should pursue drafting a charter that would consolidate city and county governments if approved by voters. 

Judge cites need to “protect the right of the accused to a fair and impartial preliminary hearing” and to “promote public trust in the integrity of the criminal justice system.”

The Tuesday, Sept. 7, committee discussion is the second for the Memphis City Council. 

Anti-violence groups like Ride of Tears and Unity Walk Against Gun Violence continue to put in the work as a growing homicide rate plagues the city.

State Sen. Katrina Robinson was indicted last year and charged with theft and embezzlement involving government programs and wire fraud.