In recent years, spending has begun to exceed revenue — a structural imbalance that is unsustainable over time without property tax increases.

So, yes, I do not care about whether a college basketball player stands up for an anthem. To complain about such a thing in this moment seems to me pointless, trivial, a kind of profanity.

I would like to dedicate the prom White Station didn’t have in 1967 to our classmates — the students of T.W. Patterson High — and to their quiet courage and inner strength. 

The death count is dramatically lower than early warnings, but no less tragic, as coronavirus precautions left many victims to die alone, isolated from their spouses and children, dear friends and clergy.

If this does not create sustained national outrage from the halls of government to the smallest police force in America, if this does not convince you that the Black Lives Matter movement had it right all along, nothing will.

When the Memphis/Shelby County Joint COVID Task Force moved from daily to twice-weekly briefings this week, I saw it as a sign that living with the virus, and accepting that you’re living with it, means not being gripped by a crisis report day after day after day. 

The experts are "optimistic and hopeful" about the trajectory of COVID-19 in Memphis. So you can be, too.  

To date, four independent studies – including one also financed by MLGW – have come to the same conclusion that if Memphis would leave TVA and join MISO, the city could save up to $450 million a year.

And if the lottery board were less greedy, the state would actually make more money.

The ceremony was small, it was held outdoors, and everyone was wearing masks – masks that did nothing to dampen the beautiful and poignant sentiments occupying this space.

If we want Tennessee to be one of the fastest growing states for business and have the best patient outcomes in the country, reforming — or, better yet, completely scrapping — certificate of need laws is an excellent and essential first step.

We must not allow social distancing to lead to dangerous social isolation. The recovery community is aware of the challenges created by COVID-19, and making sure resources are available for those who need them.

If America wants to contain the coronavirus, it is necessary to avoid creating a revolving door of aggravating conditions, such as homelessness. Displacing renters amid the coronavirus outbreak could intensify the transmission of the disease.

The general footprint of the plan to renovate the park – three “stages” with separation and a smaller covered venue – mimics the footprint of Memphis in May's Beale Street Music Fest, but in a way that would make a good park even without it. 

Much as I miss you, Memphis, I don’t want to see you up close for a while yet. And I’m going to keep finding ways to spend time without most of you so that I can see a lot more of you later.

On Memphis’ most visible 31 acres, the redesigned park “will be the stunning centerpiece of five miles of riverfront.”

Renaming Health Sciences Park after Ida B. Wells would honor one of the city’s most underappreciated historic figures.

The renovation of 495 Union Ave. is a feat of will, but it doesn't soften the concern about what kind of shape we'll be in if we need it.

Easy access to guns has brought on an epidemic that has injured or taken the lives of more citizens, including children, than the COVID-19 pandemic.

The mother wanted to reschedule her son’s appointment from May to July or August. 'Why did she want to do this? I knew the answer. Fear resonated in her voice – fear of getting out. She and her family had been isolated at home since March.'

The elevation of mask-usage into a kind of political symbol is a drag — it’s flat-out dumb — but it’s happened, and I’d worry that a government requirement, even a loosely enforced one, would increase the political strife around the issue without a commensurate increase in compliance.

It’s hard to imagine many places of Memphis’ size with history and culture so rich and a sense of place so profound.

When we get into buying big stuff, like $20 billion to $25 billion worth of electricity, there are laws and rules, conventions, traditions and common sense that apply. One of these is getting competitive bids from more than one capable bidder.

Even though Corinth was a small town of about 1,200, its location made it the key to controlling the western half of the Confederacy and its most important city, Memphis.

'Despite our financial soundness, everyone in Shelby County soon will be paying more in property taxes unless my colleagues on the County Commission embrace a serious reality check regarding the shortfall in the county’s general fund.'