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. 

The three ordinances are scheduled for the first of three votes on Monday. And still to weigh in on the proposals is Shelby County Sheriff Floyd Bonner.

Shelby County commissioners will consider distributing $3.4 million for the local suburbs in their meeting Monday.

The proposal would ban the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office from getting camouflage uniforms and bayonets from surplus federal military stocks as well as militarized and weaponized vehicles or aircraft.

When the county’s lease originally ended in January, the clerk’s office was not ready to leave, so the lease was extended four months. When the pandemic hit, more time was given.

Plus, Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris on Tuesday announced $5,000 in funding for Senior Tech Connect, a new county program that will connect long-term care facilities with technology so residents can see their families.

After weeks of planning and device distributions, Shelby County Schools rings the bell for the first day of virtual school and will stay that way until further notice.

The latest edition of our scorecard looks at several moves in the hiring freeze and what the rejection of a convenience store on East Holmes Road could mean for similar businesses in the rest of the county.

Shelby County commissioners approved a waiver to the freeze Monday for county firefighters but put off another waiver for 78 more positions in other departments. 

Milton's argument comes as the head of information services for county government says his lean budget could exacerbate problems hiring tech employees. The commission votes Monday on a set of exceptions to the county's hiring freeze totaling 104 positions and nearly $7 million.

Memphis and Shelby County will sacrifice hundreds of millions of dollars worth of support in economic development if Memphis Light, Gas & Water Division splits from TVA, chief executive Jeffrey Lyash tells the EDGE Board.

Mayors Strickland and Harris and U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen were quick Monday to draw parallels to the national debate about various forms of voting and problems with the U.S. Postal Service when it comes to mailing in votes or Census forms.

Our scorecard of commission votes includes a possible swap of some CARES Act funding as well as the first rejection of a move to get past county government's hiring freeze.

Shelby County Commissioners want to try a swap out of federal CARES Act funding similar to one city council members did a week ago. But tensions left over from a rough county budget season that ended in June are hanging around.

County commissioners vote Monday on a waiver of the county's hiring and pay freeze, and nearly 100 more waivers requested by officials are waiting in the wings. Commissioners say they need a budget book with specific line items and dollar figures to know whether the waivers would put the county in the red.

The health department reported 235 new coronavirus cases Thursday. That’s the fifth consecutive day with fewer than 300 new cases, and the third consecutive day testing results were below 2,000.

Weekly averages tone down bumps that show up when tests come from a high-impact area or are delayed in being processed and are reported all at once.

First-term Republican Commissioner Brandon Morrison became chairman pro tempore of the commission with the votes of six of the eight Democratic commissioners and none of the votes of her four Republican colleagues on the body. While it's controversial, the political move is also a common feature of commission politics.