Just City's clients report higher wages, more stable hours and healthier families because they were able to get better jobs after expungement of their records.

Every college student in Memphis should have bus access provided by their college or university – just like they get parking. Our hospital systems should encourage employees to take mass transit. Our corporations located on decent bus routes should adopt equitable policies toward bus ridership versus car ridership.

Serving community lunch, judging a student oratorical contest, riding the bus, picking up tires – all expanded a Leadership Memphis Executive Program participant's experience.

What happens at Music Fest in Memphis feels like a frantic cash-grab to break even on the massive production costs of creating a miniature city at Tom Lee Park every May. New Orleans’ Jazz Fest and Austin’s South by Southwest do a better job of dispersing throughout the city cores, which boosts businesses while drawing tourists.

Children may witness an adult paying for most items with a credit card or a mobile phone service without recognizing this as money spent. And often children don’t connect your work with income; they may not realize that adults work and are paid for that work.

Through programs such as Share the Pennies, EnergySmart Memphis and Conservation Days, MLGW educates customers on lowering their costs, says the utility's president.

About 100 years ago, two murders in South Braintree, Massachusetts, captivated our nation and the world. Two Italian immigrants – Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti – were accused, convicted of the crimes and executed in a Massachusetts electric chair in 1927.

'I intentionally moved my family to Uptown to give my children an experience of the best of both worlds; a safe, decent and affordable neighborhood with access to a vibrant downtown and beautiful riverfront.'

'The truth for me is I love struggling through long work hours. I love making tough decisions about which one of multiple priorities to focus on today. I love pushing the limits of my body and mind.'

What happens with a reliance on the market to revive neighborhoods? We will see more of the haves in neighborhoods. But we will also see more of the have-nots.

After nearly 20 years as senior pastor of Idlewild Presbyterian Church, the Rev. Dr. Steve Montgomery leads his last service before retiring on Sunday, May 5. The Daily Memphian asked him to summarize his thoughts as he steps away from the pulpit. He replied with a list of "12 things I have learned in the ministry."

Let’s not lose valuable green space to concrete structures before determining this is what citizens want, as well as the impact on tourism, traffic flow and celebrations. 

There are two reasons low-income families are over-burdened by energy costs: First, much of our housing stock is in poor condition. And second, residents are not well-informed about keeping energy costs down. Heating to 85 degrees in winter while cooling to 68 in the summer is a recipe for bankruptcy.

As the opioid epidemic continues to rage nationwide, the human faces behind it demand we keep looking for answers.

More than 40 years ago, as the Memphis in May International Festival was getting off the ground, the organization's first president was told that he could “tank MIM” and “nobody would care.”

"You’re wondering how I can lead at full capacity battling such a persistent mental challenge. Three things: medication, unwavering purpose and a rigorous schedule."

Angel investing is our way of helping Memphis (and ourselves) continue to prosper. It is incredibly risky, yes, but it is incredibly rewarding in ways that don’t show up on a monthly statement.

The parole board was blown away when a woman who had spent 25 years behind bars, and who was a member of the great books group at West Tennessee State Penitentiary, quoted Herodotus in answer to a question about how she now defined success.

The students we most want to help are often the ones most intimidated by this federal form. The former president of Southwest Tennessee Community College in Memphis said he believes that he lost 1,500 students each semester because the complicated FAFSA discouraged students and their families from applying.

Memphis 3.0 is not a one-size-fits-all approach, and for very good reason. Communities across Memphis are unique places with their own assets that are vital to support future prosperity.

Unlike Atlanta, we live in a city with a mayor who offered police a 3% raise, and when we told him that wasn’t enough, he said that was all he had to give.

In police and prison culture, vulnerability has a bad rap. Not only are you not allowed to express your feelings (except anger), you are not allowed to even have feelings. But isn’t the capacity for tenderness what makes us human? 

Peel back the fancy ribbon-cutting ceremonies and press conferences for new jobs and all you’re left with is handouts to big, connected companies and higher taxes for the rest of us.

Companies want to locate in communities that will work with them long after the ribbon-cutting and headlines are done. We know that our local firms are constantly being courted by other communities looking to grow their economies.

In the late 1960s, African-American students at Memphis State would not settle for second-class citizenship, especially when they paid tuition like their white counterparts, and their parents’ tax dollars supported the institution like the parents of their white counterparts. So they organized.