The annual Juneteenth celebration is moving from Robert R. Church Park to Health Sciences Park, held on the grounds where Nathan Bedford Forrest’s statue once stood.

On “Behind The Headlines,” the incoming CEO of the Downtown Memphis Commission says federal pandemic relief funding due the city will likely make up the loss. The drop in sales tax revenue for the TDZ comes as sales tax revenues across the city have exceeded bleak projections at the outset of the pandemic.

Plains All American Pipeline is launching a full-on offensive against the proposed legislation with the help of organizations that support the oil and gas industry. 

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Existing pipeline makes Byhalia Connection unneeded, environmental groups say

Members to meet Downtown for budget retreat.

Some business leaders are expressing concern that an ordinance intended to block the controversial Byhalia Connection oil pipeline could hinder their businesses and hurt economic recruitment efforts in the city.

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Byhalia Pipeline spokesman says group interested in talking

Chase Carlisle said he plans to bring a resolution to the City Council May 4 opposing the city and TDOT’s recommendation to shut Scott Street off from Poplar.

The offer to talk came Tuesday, April 27, at a Memphis Rotary forum at which the pipeline companies and the most visible pipeline critic each spoke. Proposals are pending before the council that would require more local approval.

The City Council Scorecard focuses on a short-lived plan to give old police motorcycles to Collierville, a first vote on a pipeline measure and qualms about setting a minority business percentage.

While the city and TDOT’s recommendation to close the Scott-Poplar intersection came in June 2018, many neighborhood residents and property owners did not find out until late 2020. It’s left many eager to fight the closure.

Plans to build a 49-mile pipeline to transport crude oil from southwest Memphis to another pipeline at a connecting point near Byhalia, Mississippi, have run into delays on a couple of different fronts.

In a recent interview, Memphis’ nominee for police chief talked about officer training, violence intervention, and why she initially pulled her application from the city’s search for a new head of police. 

A nearly $3.4 million project is underway to install “mast arm traffic signal poles” at a dozen intersections along a six-mile stretch of Jackson Avenue. The city will place mast arms at more intersections as funding allows.

Meanwhile, the council delayed for two weeks a first reading vote on historic overlay district status for the Crosstown area.

Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland is proposing a $716 million operating budget and an $89 million capital budget for the fiscal year that begins July 1. It also includes 2% pay raises for firefighters and police.

The mayor has offered no clues on the specifics of the budget, but he is not expected to propose a property tax hike. However, setting the property tax rate will be more complicated this year.

Can a private oil pipeline company force private property owners to provide access to their land? The eminent domain case involving the Byhalia Connection project will attempt to answer that question.

The increase in demand for counseling services is just beginning, experts say. “The Cottage” will enable the Collierville facility to offer weekend mini-camps and workshops, not just its once-a-year camps for children and for adults.

‘Not here, not now, not ever on our watch,' said Rev. Dr. William Barber II during a rally Sunday protesting the Byhalia Connection Pipeline that would go through majority Black, poor neighborhoods in southwest Memphis. 

Around 30 people gathered outside the National Civil Rights Museum on Sunday, April 18, to demand justice in three recent police killings in Knoxville, Chicago and Minnesota. 

Although Memphis has long battled perceptions (and reality) about its crime rate, community leaders say it’s not as much of a factor in economic recruitment efforts as one might expect.

On The Daily Memphian Politics Podcast, Greater Imani Pastor Rev. Bill Adkins says the case can be made for a new director from MPD ranks or for someone from the outside. Adkins also said he sees a new indifference to violent crime that calls for new solutions as well as new ways of policing the city.

Proposals by Memphis City Council members and Shelby County commissioners emerged during a second joint meeting Thursday of the two bodies. But other elected officials expressed concern that just talking about changes in economic development incentives could put the city and county at a disadvantage.