A $5.8 million contract for a new voting system in Shelby County failed Monday, Oct. 12, in a 6-5 vote by the Shelby County Commission.

Shelby County commissioners voted down an ordinance that would have required the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office to decertify deputies who use excessive force and to keep a record of officers who are fired or resign because of an excessive-force complaint. 

The Monday County Commission agenda also includes a return to a $5.8 million contract to buy a new voting system for Shelby County and a moratorium on delinquent tax sales on property in South Memphis.

The county Health Department loosened some of the restrictions regarding COVID-19 precautions, moves that will benefit sporting events and restaurants.

After six months of coronavirus, the resulting losses are profound, but the stories these people tell are about going on, a process they find central to living with the unknown. 

Shelby County Commissioner Mick Wright said Friday he’d recently tested positive for the coronavirus and had just completed an isolation period. His wife was the only person exposed and has since tested negative for the virus.

The set of four ordinances cleared second reading this week on the Shelby County Commission with some shifts in votes and declarations since first reading. The third and final vote is in two weeks.

Suburban mayors are waiting on Shelby County Health Department following Gov. Bill Lee’s most recent order, hoping for some consistency between the state and local regulations.

The County Commission Scorecard sorts out a quartet of items from this week’s session — some that have been on the commission’s plate for some time. 

Record homicide, overdose rates are a sign of inordinate stress, the health department director says and qualify as public health issues for region.

A set of four ordinances affecting the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office and the county corrections division advanced through second reading Monday, Sept. 28, at the Shelby County Commission. And the use of electric shields by deputies at a Downtown demonstration last week was part of the commission’s discussion. Final votes are scheduled for Oct. 12.

Shelby County commissioners put off a vote Monday, Sept. 28, on $5.8 million to buy a new voting system, a move that election officials say could mean it will take days to count all the votes in the presidential general election.

A TIF would allow tax dollars generated by the community to be reinvested in the community.

“Limited-service (restaurants) are not riskier than others if measures are followed,” said Dr. Bruce Randolph, Shelby County health officer.

Ordinances that address use of force, the purchase of military equipment and the use of tear gas will go to the full commission without a second reading committee vote.

Shelby County commissioners will get opinions from the county’s other elected officials as they work through problems with the county’s hiring freeze resolution.

It’s probably not even possible to measure the full impact Pat Lawler has had in the 40 years he has been running Youth Villages. But the nonprofit’s growth, while insisting on tracking the effectiveness of programs, has led to a national model. 

ServiceMaster’s We Care Day has morphed into We Care Week because of COVID-19. The company will donate money to charities for each “Caring Step” logged by employees.

Even with declines in the poverty rate for Memphis and Shelby County, there is not much movement on who is poor and where they live.

From Sept. 5 to Sept 19, the Health Department reported an average of 148 new coronavirus cases each day. That’s similar to the 146 new-case average from the preceding 14-day period.

Three police reform measures cleared the Shelby County Commission on the first of three readings this week. But it amounted to a test vote with more votes in play than were committed. Our commission scorecard shows where the division is on the specific issues.

A total of 78 positions in various parts of county government are the latest exceptions to a hiring freeze. But as they approved the waivers Monday, county commissioners signaled they are about to make a decision on the hiring freeze’s viability possibly by the end of this month. 

The trio of ordinances affecting the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office and corrections officers advanced automatically in Monday’s first of three votes on the measures. A second reading will be held in two weeks and a third is tentatively set in October. 

SWAT team deputies with Shelby County Sheriff's Office fatally shoot man barricaded in home in Fayette County. 

It is the first reported death from the coronavirus at the facility.