Douglas Emhoff and Labor Secretary Marty Walsh are among a blitz by the administration to promote President Joe Biden’s $4 trillion “American Jobs Plan.”

As Durham Police Chief Cerelyn “C.J.” Davis awaits confirmation from the Memphis City Council as the new leader of MPD, city leaders, former colleagues and activists from her past weigh in on her law enforcement career. 

The retreat Saturday, May 1, marks the first in-person council meeting in more than a year. It included new details of $16 million in bonuses to city employees in Mayor Jim Strickland’s $716 million budget proposal and a flap over whether team-building exercises and a tour of the Renasant Convention Center were open to reporters.

City Council budget committee Chairman Worth Morgan said that the drop of the city property tax rate below $3 as appraised values have increased could set the stage for a tax rate hike.

Memphis Police Chief nominee Cerelyn “C.J.” Davis met the public on a limited basis Friday, April 30, during a one-hour online Q&A session with screened written questions. 

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.