People behind the COVID pressure-valve facilities in Shelby County are ready to go to work if the surge overwhelms hospital capacity.

Mayors are concerned about rising cases, with at least one, Bartlett Mayor Keith McDonald, joining the call of local health officials for a statewide mask mandate. 

Data shows transmission happening in suburbs where athletic events are frequent and masks are fewer. 

Budget committee chairman Edmund Ford Jr. amended his resolution to stick with the county’s policy of keeping its financial reserves at 20% of general fund revenues. He has suggested a 15% to 20% guideline.

The commission will vote Oct. 26 on setting new parameters for the spring budget season. And the county’s CFO says it could be dangerous to lower the percentage of reserves on hand. 

The Shelby County unemployment rate is back in single digits for the first time since COVID-19 hit in March, according to the state’s September jobs report.

The County Commission Scorecard tracks the final stand of a set of four police reforms applying to county law enforcement and what may be the last stand of the $5.8 million contract to buy a new voting system for the county.

The contract stirred the political embers of a recent budget season in county government as well as some spirited debate among commissioners about mask requirements.

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.