The new state law, which prohibits drag shows where children might be present, would have gone into effect Saturday, April 1. 

Wanda Halbert met March 29 with county commissioners who pressed for specifics on a lease at Poplar Plaza and an opening date for the Riverdale Road office. One commissioner pushed his call for her to resign.

Approximately 31% of the 1,279 bonds set between Feb. 15 and March 15 resulted in the release on recognizance, or release without bail, according to a report presented during a Shelby County Commission Law Enforcement, Corrections & Courts Committee meeting Wednesday, March 29.

The Shelby County Health Department shared the results of its first-ever cancer incidence study on Tuesday, March 28. It found no evidence of cancer clusters near a South Memphis facility that emits a cancer-causing chemical called ethylene oxide, or EtO. 

Shelby County Clerk Wanda Halbert goes before county commissioners Wednesday, March 29. Here are some of the basics of the controversy that has been ongoing for about a year.

An email chain indicates representatives from Poplar Plaza have been asking Shelby County Clerk Wanda Halbert since at least September 2022 about relocating the clerk’s office space in the shopping center.

Related story:

Your questions about Wanda Halbert’s office, answered

Cary Vaughn was re-elected Shelby County Republican chairman at the local party’s biennial convention, with a call for new blood and a focus on common ground.

The Memphis Anti-Hunger Conference offered local nonprofits an opportunity to learn more about how hunger impacts the region, hear from partners working to address food insecurity and find ways to partner with the goal of ending hunger in Memphis. 

Shelby County Clerk Wanda Halbert says she has a back-up plan to move the clerk’s office now at Poplar Plaza to an old bank branch at Quince and Perkins.

The main line of storms will roll in around 8 to 10 p.m. for Memphis, or 9 to 11 p.m. for Fayette County, according to a forecaster with the National Weather Service.

In May, Tennessee will stop accepting HIV prevention funding from the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention, stripping local nonprofits of dollars they rely on to serve high-risk populations.

If Wanda Halbert does not move the Poplar Plaza office location, Mayor Harris could make the case that she is derelict in her duty.

County commissioners approved the “Tyre Nichols Transparency in Policing Policy” resolution, delayed votes on two other police-reform ordinances, and approved TikTok use limits for county employees. 

A $350 million Regional One financing plan can move forward, but the county will need to get a committed funding match from either Tennessee, Mississippi or Arkansas. 

The Shelby County Health Department commissioned the cancer cluster study last fall to learn about historical cancer rates in a South Memphis neighborhood. 

“The female driver, who was the only individual in the vehicle, was pronounced deceased at the scene.”

A majority of the commission could greenlight a restructuring of the proposed capital budget County Mayor Lee Harris takes to the commission in April.

The Daily Memphian’s County Commission Scorecard looks at the Feb. 22 commission meeting that was moved and covered two controversial topics, racial reparations and a special adviser for County Clerk Wanda Halbert.

County government celebrates its “MLGW independence day.” 

The special election to fill the vacancy for the state House seat held by the late Barbara Cooper was decided with the January primary. Democrat Justin J. Pearson is running unopposed on the Tuesday, March 14, ballot. He’s already serving in Nashville by appointment.

A small, but patient, group of South Memphis residents concerned about a cancer-causing pollutant in their neighborhood waited five hours to address the Shelby County Board of Commissioners yesterday. 

During its committee sessions, the Shelby County Commission sent the resolution to come up with a $350 million county funding plan for a Regional One campus rebuild to a March 20 vote without a recommendation.

Little more than a month after rolling blackouts and a precautionary boil water advisory, severe winter weather hit Shelby County again. 

Shelby County received $60 million for climate resilience projects in 2016 and work is ongoing in Raleigh, Frayser and Millington. A project along South Cypress Creek is just beginning. 

The Shelby County mayor wants to know if the current commission has the “political will” to support options that would also pay for new Frayser and Cordova high schools.