Four suburban school districts opened for a new academic year Monday morning like none they have ever encountered.

Engineered Medical Systems has already more than doubled the size of its facility from 40,000 to 92,000 square feet.

The health of 33 assisted living residents is being monitored after a COVID-19 outbreak in Bartlett. In Shelby County as a whole, there have been five new coronavirus deaths in the past 24 hours.

The first challengers have emerged for alderman and Board of Education seats in Bartlett’s fall elections, as Kevin Quinn and Bradford Ratliff filed petitions with the Shelby County Election Commission.

Changes to the bonding formula for new projects in Bartlett should result in savings for developers.

President and CEO Wardell Seals Jr. says, "I want people to know how to save a life versus perform CPR.”

Lowering the bond requirement will significantly lower the amount of money a developer would need to finance on the front end for any given project.

American Paper Optics – best known for its solar eclipse and special effects glasses – is now making and marketing face shields as an added layer of protection, especially for students.

A new medical clinic in Bartlett is focused largely on COVID testing for now but hopes to provide a broad range of services for the surrounding community in the future.

David Glover isn’t just rescuing as many bees as he can, he’s also training the next generation of pollinator protectors. 

Hulet and Jackie Gregory this week bought the 85,000-square-foot Bartlett Station Plaza shopping center. Gregory Realty now has about 30 commercial properties and is hunting for more.

Bartlett City Schools Supt. David Stephens hopes to have a plan in place by mid-July for fall reopening, he told school board members this week.

The Bartlett Station Farmer’s Market has returned for the summer season Saturday, June 13, at a temporary location in the Bartlett Public Library’s overflow parking, 5980 Stage Road.

Jim Atkinson, former planning director and city manager with the City of Lakeland, has announced he plans to run for a seat on the board of commissioners this fall.

The vice principal at Bartlett High School will take over the reins at the academy beginning July 1. 

School, hospital and government leaders in northeast suburbs are hopeful businesses will be able to see phase 2 reopenings next week.

Housing inventory and interest rates remain very low in the Memphis MLS, providing plenty of fuel for more new-home construction. 

Distancing requirements force operational changes to maintain safety, but give stylists more access to clients. 

Not every business will be willing or prepared to reopen Monday even if allowed to under the Memphis and Shelby County "Back to Business" plan. 

Bartlett is moving ahead with a couple of long-planned projects, a new multi-purpose pavilion at W.J. Freeman Park and a Bartlett First Responders Monument.

A $2 million strip center and gas station are under development at the busy intersection of U.S. 70 and Germantown Road in Bartlett.

Two Bartlett financial institutions – Bank of Bartlett and First South Financial Credit Union – say they have all hands on deck to assist local businesses and individuals impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and economic crisis.

Bartlett is breaking ground this spring on a new, bigger City Shop at Yale Road and Brother Boulevard. 

“There wouldn’t have been a Select-O-Hits had Jerry Lee not married his 13-year-old first cousin,” Johnny Phillips said of the family-run business that has transitioned from vinyl to cassettes to CD's to digital production. “Who would’ve thought that?”

With a number of large commercial spaces sitting open along the busy U.S. 64/Stage Road corridor in Bartlett and the Wolfchase area, and new commercial development underway at the southwest corner of Stage and Germantown Road, the race is on as property representatives search for the right fit for those empty spaces.