Judge Mark Norris’ removal of himself follows his recusal in the federal criminal case of the five former Memphis Police Department officers who were charged in relation to Tyré Nichols’ 2023 death.

It’s been 12 years since the City of Memphis ended mandatory annual auto inspections, but an effort to weed out counterfeit temporary tags could reverse that decision.

The city conducted the testing following community concern about Elon Musk-founded xAI’s use of natural gas turbines at its supercomputer in Southwest Memphis. 

The list was discovered in a storage unit the accused man, Trenton Abston, owns, according to testimony from a Memphis Police Department sergeant.

Memphis City Council member Chase Carlisle called the the Memphis Area Transit Authority’s budget “underwhelming.”

The council also talks Tuesday, June 24, about an MPD plan to install license plate readers along the city’s rights of way of state highways as a crime-fighting measure.

Also happening this week: The Shelby County Commission could finally wrap up budget season. 

“I know the conditions of the release. But he just wants to talk to him and I’m gonna ask the mayor, is he too busy?” the man’s uncle said. “(He’s) the mayor of the city. If he’s got a citizen that wants to talk to him, talk to him.”

Shelby County Circuit Judge Damita Dandridge ruled that she would not stay her ruling over the city and the police union’s fight over the controversial second lieutenant position.

After suggesting that “cats like Jimmy Butler” and other NBA stars don’t want to play for the Grizzlies because of crime in Memphis, ESPN personality Stephen A. Smith is making plans to visit the Bluff City. 

City officials made a rare move to nominate a new director of Memphis Animal Services with a background in grassroots animal-rescue work.

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The city also plans on appointing a deputy director of animal services. The city fired former MAS director Ty Coleman last year.

The new substation will help create redundancy in MLGW’s system.

In this week’s “Ask the Memphian,” we answer a reader's question: How did the city’s parkways get their names, and why are parts of them so confusing?

“So what we need to say, and we need to say clearly, is that these are measures that we cannot allow to pass.”

The pay raises and an agreement on MATA funding were the two biggest additions to Mayor Paul Young’s second city budget.

The arrangement between the state and the City of Memphis is separate from an independent crime lab for Shelby County being pursued by Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris and District Attorney General Steve Mulroy.

Council member Pearl Walker proposed the amendment that would give all city employees a flat 3% raise across all divisions, superseding the 5% raises the City Council passed in May.

Local civic leaders continue to question how Elon Musk’s xAI program will benefit the community among worries that it will potentially harm residents and drain resources. 

The Memphis City Council’s budget deadline looms, and Shelby County Commissioner Miska Clay Bibbs holds a town-hall meeting.

The expansion and ribbon-cutting at Mississippi Boulevard Christian Church follow Meharry’s acquisition of four Sanitas USA Inc. medical clinics in Memphis last month.

As it stands now, the Temple Israel building will come down to make way for Mississippi Boulevard Christian Church’s new church home.

Last year, the City of Memphis issued about $30 million in debt to buy the hotel — and is already making payments — but the sale hasn’t been finalized. 

The city wants to use the Department of Justice’s retreat from its civil rights investigation of the MPD as a tool to fight the lawsuit stemming from Nichols’ January 2023 beating and death at the hands of five now-former Memphis police officers. 

Wherever you go, be safe, watch out for others and make sure to do at least one cannonball off the diving board.