No firm timeline has been set for ending the “boil water” notice affecting Memphis Light, Gas and Water Division customers, MLGW officials said Monday, Feb. 22.

A group of smaller utilities that are also part of TVA want to be able to use TVA transmission lines if they break with TVA. MLGW is considering leaving TVA as well and filed along with the city to intervene in the lawsuit, saying the decision could affect its decision to stay or leave.

Potholes are popping up in the aftermath of last week’s ice and snow, but the City of Memphis has a plan in place to handle them. 

Whitehaven’s vaccination site saw an overwhelming response over the weekend. 

When the city’s water system became a crisis last week, Memphis Light, Gas and Water Division was several months underway with a five-year $142.4 million overhaul of water system infrastructure. 

Memphis Light, Gas and Water Division will suspend service cutoffs for nonpayment until further notice and extend its pandemic payment plan option. The boil water advisory remains in effect.

Long lines marked most of the eight sites the city operated Sunday, Feb. 21, to give families with no or slow-flowing water a case of bottled water per car. 

On The Daily Memphian Politics Podcast, city Parks Director Nick Walker says community centers would remain free but with fees for specific programs. He also talks about “open play areas” like David Carnes Park in Whitehaven.

The city’s street plowing operation continues at least through Monday but begins to include less busy streets this weekend. Sun and warmer temperatures will help in the effort. But snow is still the dominant feature of the cityscape.

But a cutoff to large industrial water customers is a possibility if water pressure problems persist, MLGW President and CEO J.T. Young said Friday. Related article: Street clearing effort moves beyond major thoroughfares

All vaccination locations are closed Saturday, Feb. 20, and Sunday, Feb. 21, with the exception of the Southwest Tennessee Community College Whitehaven site.

Low water pressure in Memphis Light, Gas and Water Division’s water grid prompted the utility to issue a rare boil water alert Thursday afternoon.

The EDGE Board approved an “inducement resolution,” and will later vote to authorize issuance of up to $75 million in Tourism Development Zone bonds to help pay for the $125 million Liberty Park.

Joy Touliatos, GVIP czar, is ready to get the program underway with partners involved in the plan. 

Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland declared a citywide state of emergency Tuesday, Feb. 16, because of the ongoing winter storms.

The Memphis City Council meeting scheduled for Tuesday, Feb. 16, has been postponed for a week as the city recovers from a Monday deluge of snow and sleet.

Some savored the unusual weather, including a couple having a Valentine’s Day wedding, while others stormed stores to stock up.

For a while, the good times rolled when Memphis had its own Mardi Gras. Then Yellow Fever happened. This year, as the pandemic takes a toll on Fat Tuesday, we look at 1870s images that recall a citywide celebration.

On The Daily Memphian Politics Podcast, City Council member JB Smiley Jr. says the Health Department needs “boots on the ground” in Black communities to remedy a racial disparity in who is getting the COVID-19 vaccines.

The resolution from Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland going to City Council next week would include the city’s tallest building in the use of a PILOT extension fund and also include a parking garage in the “Snuff District.”

The coating of ice arrived just before dawn Thursday, after a night of rain and followed by a light snow by afternoon. It is expected to hang around into the weekend.
Related gallery:
Have an ice day – images from Memphis' winter weather

The beleaguered Shelby County Health Department simply cannot effectively manage the monumental effort needed to distribute vaccines. We need someone to take charge and lead. Someone who will get things done, without excuses.

The letter to pastors and congregations from seven council members points to a racial disparity in the virus and death rates from the virus as well as testing that is now surfacing in vaccination numbers for the county. 

Plans for the interactive sculpture were among several new riverfront developments, including Mud Island renovations, reviewed Tuesday, Feb. 9, by the Memphis River Parks Partnership board.

The recruitment ad was part of a series of ads planned as the department seeks to increase its force size.