Memphis Public Libraries did away with monetary fines in November 2019, and library leaders say that is here to stay.

MPD will lead security, with augmentation from other agencies, including the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office and the Tennessee Highway Patrol.

The almost 20-year difference between estimated life expectancies across Shelby County is a product of differences in food, education, crime rates and access to all sorts of resources. 

Mayor Lee Harris is proposing dropping the rate, but the votes weren’t there. Meanwhile, another effort to take a possible step toward ouster proceedings against County Clerk Wanda Halbert came up short.

A corrections officers brought the inmate to Jail Medical for breathing difficulties at 5:45 a.m. Monday. 

Business owners and residents who suffered damage during recent tornadoes in North Mississippi are eligible to apply for long-term, low-interest loans from the Small Business Administration.

The study will consider how much waste enters landfills compared to recycling, composting or other waste-processing facilities over the course of at least two seasons.

The Monday commission meeting has a short agenda with votes toward a new solid waste plan and funding for a new prekindergarten classroom in Millington.

The county is looking for nonprofit attractions to participate in the 901 Student Passport Program, which returns this summer. Beyond free museum admission, activities for local youth will be coordinated with the YMCA and other organizations.

Harris also outlined the funding and timetable for historic county capital projects — the rebuilding of the Regional One Health campus and new high schools in Cordova and Frayser.

The Wednesday, April 26, presentation by Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris includes a multi-year $350 million funding commitment toward a rebuild of the Regional One Health campus and money for new high schools.

Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris takes a proposal to the County Commission next week to fund the county’s share of the $700-million capital project. Commissioner Mick Wright says he hopes that can be coupled with a property tax reduction.

The commission took action on the two project as part of a light agenda Monday, April 17. Meanwhile, the county continues to search for another fire station site in southeast Shelby County.

The Shelby County Commission votes Monday, April 17, on a contract for a new county fire house in a part of Corova de-annexed by the city of Memphis in 2021.

My Sistah’s House provides housing, advocacy and resource assistance for the Memphis area’s LGBTQ community with an emphasis on Black transgender women, who are reported to experience homelessness at a rate of more than five times the national average.

The new special adviser to Shelby County Clerk Wanda Halbert says she has some “concrete ideas” about how to end lines outside the office locations.

However, it could take years for the proposed regulations, which would govern emissions of a cancer-causing chemical, to be finalized and enforced. 

The long wait ends with more than 10,000 books, an upstairs performance space, digital studios for podcasts and a cafe.

Justin Pearson, D-Memphis, and former State Rep. Justin Jones were expelled from the Tennessee House of Representatives last week. 

The wrongful death lawsuit was filed April 4 in the United States District Court for the Western District of Tennessee by Gershun Freeman’s wife, Nicole Freeman, on behalf of herself, their child and other wrongful-death beneficiaries. 

The Shelby County Commission postponed indefinitely a plan to buy the Metro Shopping Plaza, which is on the northwest corner of E.H. Crump Boulevard and Danny Thomas Boulevard.

Last summer, the Shelby County Health Department’s air monitoring branch was operating with only two employees, and the State of Tennessee gave the local program until June of this year to resolve the issue. 

The Shelby County Commission chose former city council member Janet Hooks to be Wanda Halbert’s special adviser.

Also on the commission’s Monday, April 3, agenda is funding for more prosecutors and a return to a plan to buy the old Metro Plaza Shopping Center in South Memphis for up to $3.5 million.