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.

The permit is a critical juncture in the $60 million project. In an update for donors and potential donors Wednesday, April 14, park planners said the Tom Lee statue in the park will not be moved and will be a focal point of the park. 

The second joint meeting of the County Commission and City Council includes several proposed changes to economic development incentives used locally to grow the Memphis economy.

Doug McGowen also says doses were wasted last weekend when the size of the line at the Pipkin Building site was overestimated. He says fewer than 100 doses have been lost since the city took over vaccine distribution in late February. 

No-appointment hours at the Pipkin site are from 2-7 p.m. today and 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Wednesday.

The new private contractor serving 35,000 households transitioned Monday from dealing with a backup from the past month to making daily trash pickups in Cordova, Hickory Hill and East Memphis. 

The contract cancellation comes at the end of a 20-day period to fix problems with waste pickup in Area E — Cordova, Hickory Hill and East Memphis. Residents in the area complained last month that Waste Pro not only missed scheduled trash pickup days but left trash by the curb for weeks.

The City Council Scorecard peels back the layers on the council’s April 6 vote on a $520,000 contract that put the issue of MLGW leaving TVA back on track after six months in limbo. 

No date has been set for the return to City Hall by the council but it comes as budget season approaches. Meanwhile, the city’s political scene remains active, as chronicled in The Daily Memphian Politics Podcast.

The co-leaders of the countywide vaccination distribution effort talked on “Behind The Headlines” about a move this week to no appointments for some and why the federal vaccination presence at the Fairgrounds is unique.

Ashley Cash led the team that developed the comprehensive Memphis 3.0 plan that covers residential and commercial development across the city. 

The $60 million capital campaign to remake Tom Lee Park reached the 80% mark Thursday, April 8, with $3.2 million in funding commitments from three health care corporations as well as AutoZone and First Horizon Foundation.

City Council also endorsed a general plan for athletic fields by Christian Brothers University on 7 acres at the intersection of Avery Avenue and South Hollywood.

A timetable for the Fairgrounds conversion has the new youth sports complex opening in the fall of 2022.

The City Council voted Tuesday, April 6, to approve a consultant’s contract that is the next step leading to recommendations by the end of this year. But there was some dissent on the council before the vote.

On April 10, the city could terminate its contract with Waste Pro for poor service or determine that Waste Pro has made good on dealing with the backlog of trash. The council voted Tuesday calling on the administration to cancel the city’s contract.