Memphis is hoping to expand ways state money can be used. 

“The state of our beloved state is prosperous, hopeful, and unrivaled,” Lee said. Doctors stood outside the state House chamber protesting a bill that bans gender-affirming care for transgender youth.

The proposed funding, part of the governor’s budget, still needs to pass the Tennessee General Assembly.

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Bill Lee’s State of the State highlights his priorities despite vocal opposition

“I wish you could understand what these kids go through, what it’s like to be forced to live in the wrong body,” one Memphis physician told lawmakers.

The Tennessee Emergency Medical Services Board voted unanimously Friday, Feb. 3, to suspend the licenses of former Memphis Fire Department EMTs JaMichael Sandridge and Robert Long, effective immediately.

Gov. Bill Lee’s decision to reject federal funding for HIV prevention is a “debilitating and destabilizing move for our organization,” said OUTMemphis’ executive director. 

Tennessee’s Republican-dominant Legislature has advanced a handful of proposals that would ban gender-affirming care for transgender youth and severely limit where drag shows can take place. 

“The state has determined right now that it’s in the best interest of Tennesseans for the state to assume direct financial and managerial responsibility for these services,” Health Commissioner Ralph Alvarado told Tennessee lawmakers.

What’s at stake in the case is the federal jurisdiction over the nation’s most valuable natural resource: water. 

In the absence of more protective trotline regulations from the Tennessee Fish and Wildlife Commission, the American Canoe Association is sponsoring a bill in the state legislature to help prevent aquatic accidents.

In his first race for elected office, Pearson easily beat attorney and former Shelby County Commissioner Julian Bolton in the Democratic primary. Pearson will be running uncontested in the general election.

The County Commission will vote Wednesday on a move to make the primary winner of the District 86 special election the appointee until the uncontested March election results are certified.

With an empty Republican primary on Tuesday’s ballot and no independent candidates, the winner of the 10-candidate Democratic primary will be the de facto winner of the seat after the token March special general election.

After the phone number for the national hotline for emergency mental health crises changed to just three digits — 988 — in July, about more 500 Tennesseans called every month.

“The halfway point of any endeavor is a good time to reflect, but it’s an even better time to plan — to focus on the work still ahead,” the governor said.

The Germantown Republican pleaded guilty on Nov. 22 to two counts related to his unsuccessful run for Congress in 2016; about two weeks later, the Tennessee Supreme Court suspended his license to practice law.

The late state Rep. Barbara Cooper always stayed at the same hotel when she was in Nashville. She grew close to one worker, who saw her as a mother figure and knew exactly what she wanted for breakfast and dinner.

About a third of Tennessee foster children are placed in three or more homes in their first year in state custody, according to a Tennessee Commission on Children and Youth report, putting children at greater risk of compounding trauma.

Members of the LGBTQ+ community show concern as proposed Tennessee legislation targets drag shows and transgender issues.

State lawmakers have arrived in Nashville for the start of the annual legislative session at noon on Tuesday, Jan. 10, and they are expected to focus on a big, car-centric infrastructure package, penalties for violent crimes and transgender people’s rights. 

Once again, state dollars didn’t flow to Shelby County. But this time it wasn’t an example of the state disinvesting in Memphis. MLGW says it can complete all the needed infrastructure upgrades with the funding it already has.

After 17 years as an assistant U.S. Attorney here, Memphis native Kevin Ritz now has the top job. He is more than prepared, but it is also a different challenge: “It’s hard to be in this chair. But you put the facts and the law together, and you do the right thing.” 

Gov. Bill Lee granted Oscar Smith a reprieve after finding TDOC failed to properly test lethal injection chemicals, then retained a former federal prosecutor to investigate why it happened.

The Daily Memphian’s D.C. Scorecard tracks votes and positions by the city’s four representatives in Washington on two large spending bills and the ongoing saga of Title 42.

State Sen. London Lamar’s bill has widespread support among leaders in Shelby County, but it is unlikely to become law.