The Daily Memphian examined city consulting contracts executed in 2025, which focus on technology, improving the police department’s efficiency and more.

For more than 35 years, buffalo have been a part of Shelby Farms. In the latest installment of “Ask the Memphian,” we take a look at their past and future as symbols of the park.

Also happening this week: James Beard Award finalists will be named, and pickleball is popping up.

MATA’s Bacarra Mauldin has been fired, three weeks after she was placed on administrative leave following the discovery of questionable charges on her company credit card.

Memphis Mayor Paul Young also heard more concerns about xAI at the One Memphis forum Wednesday, but promised to devote its tax revenue to specific public projects in Southwest Memphis.

MAS to remain closed to the public indefinitely as distemper outbreak still hasn’t been controlled.

The City Council also approved a task force Tuesday, March 25, to make recommendations on how to deal with Wolf River bottomland that, for decades, has been an illegal dumping site and a popular area for off-road vehicles.

Could recreational uses come back to McKellar Lake? Or a dock of paddle boats in the Wolf River Harbor? 

If 75% of the property owners in a defined area sign a petition, parking on their streets would be allowed only with a $50 permit with some exemptions.

The belief that the bluffs in Downtown Memphis somehow protect the city from tornadoes “is not a real thing,” experts say.

Also happening this week: Memphis in May brings barbecue to Collierville, and renters can learn their rights. 

Environmental advocates are looking to stop Elon Musk’s xAI from receiving an air-emissions permit for the natural turbines that partially power its data center in Southwest Memphis.

Leaders of Girls Inc. and city officials cut the ribbon Friday, March 21, on a new greenhouse to go with the 20,000-square-foot building opened in 2023. It is part of a storied Frayser landscape.

The Flyway, a boardwalk and observation deck off the river, continued Tuesday, March 18, when work crews dug two 50-foot holes and filled them with reinforced concrete. 

The council also voted on a slate of ordinances, including a $300 fee to go with the tax bill of owners of blighted properties the city has to clean up.

Memphis Animal Services staff have euthanized more than 200 dogs so far this year in attempts to control a distemper outbreak that has plagued the shelter since January.

The renovations to FedExForum and a second long-term lease for the Memphis Grizzlies inched closer to reality Tuesday. 

The Memphis City Council voted again Tuesday to approve a land sale for Elon Musk’s xAI to build a wastewater facility in Southwest Memphis.

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City Council sets early start to budget season in return from spring break

At its Tuesday, March 18, session, the City Council also takes first votes on the Cleveland Street redevelopment plan and a $300 a year blight fee on owners of abandoned and vacant properties.

For the second time in less than two months, Memphis Animal Services is shutting down its shelter after a distemper outbreak this week has led to the euthanasia of several more dogs.

The Mud Island monorail was thought to be a sleek and futuristic attraction when it was first considered and opened in 1982, but it proved to be trouble for those responsible for its maintenance.

Also happening this week: Germantown aldermen consider eliminating holiday-decor rules, and Tony Allen’s jersey is retired.

In all, nearly one-third of MATA buses weren’t showing up where or when they were scheduled to.

While most Memphians were still oblivious to a virus spreading overseas, those charged with keeping the Bluff City safe were already alarmed in January 2020.

Baptist employee Marilyn Davis was the area’s first-known COVID-19 patient, collapsing at work on her way to the ER: “I was so sick, and I really thought I was going to die.”