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.

The April 6, council session includes a vote on $75 million in revenue bonds for the Fairgrounds renovation as well as a vote on the $520,000 contract to explore alternatives to TVA as MLGW’s electric power supplier. And council members review a month of vocal complaints about trash pickup.

Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland announced Monday, April 5, that he is appointing police Deputy Director Mike Ryall as interim director effective immediately.

Memphis River Parks Partnership has city administration approval for a plan to slow traffic on Riverside Drive while keeping it open to auto traffic.

The river park’s closing last year due to the pandemic allowed Memphis Parks Partnership to save some money that is going into improvements, such as repairing the Riverwalk and resodding the south lawn. 

Social justice group seeks to be part of the discussion and decisions about police reforms and the selection of the next Memphis Police director.

Churches moving outdoors, broadcasting and inching up on pew capacity for Easter.

Rev. Keith Norman of Baptist Memorial Health Care and Meritan CEO Melanie Keller talked about the vaccine outreach to the homebound and homeless on “Behind The Headlines.” 

The Thursday, April 1, press release from the company is the latest salvo in an exchange between the city and the company that went public last week.

Six Cordova homeowners have filed a civil lawsuit against the city and MLGW seeking $38.8 million in damages for a group of 35,000 households.

The COVID-19 task force is targeting certain populations with the single-shot vaccine. 

The $520,000 consulting contract is a close but not exact match of the one the City Council rejected last October. The rejection stalled the process of considering an exit from TVA by six months. The new contract goes to the council for approval next week with price estimates due by the end of this year.

If approved by the Memphis City Council, Carolyn Watkins would fill the vacancy created by the January death of City Court Judge Teresa Jones.

Better weather and a relentless barrage of complaints about garbage piling up seem to have been the breaking point in the city’s relationship with Waste Pro USA. The chairman of the City Council said it felt like the private waste company was “stringing us along.” 

Nearly $60 million in development projects are at various stages of completion in Frayser addressing neighborhood issues such as early childhood education, recreational activities and affordable housing.

The bill in the Tennessee General Assembly seeks to allow the open carrying of handguns in the state.

MLGW President and CEO J.T. Young on “Behind The Headlines” says the new contract with a consultant involves Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland as a mediator between the utility board and the council. 

The four-hour online joint meeting of the two legislative bodies Thursday, March 25, was mostly questions and answers. The group agreed to start talking about proposals to change incentives at the second April 15 session with plans for a third joint meeting.

Waste Pro, the company at the center of sanitation complaints in Cordova, is looking to end its contract with the City of Memphis. Meanwhile, Mayor Jim Strickland said there’s been no formal notice to the city and the city moved to end the contract with a 20-day notice last week to either fix the problems or consider the contract ended.

New numbers reported March 25th gave the day a positivity rate of 3.6%.

Terminating the city’s contract with Waste Pro USA to pick up garbage in Cordova, Hickory Hill and parts of East Memphis would be a pretty straightforward process based on the last trash contract the city terminated.

Waste Pro is the second private contractor in three years to have the solid waste contract for parts of Cordova, Hickory and East Memphis, known on solid waste routes as Area E.