Alexander exits Senate with defense of filibuster, call for change
The senator from Tennessee told colleagues on the Senate floor Wednesday that being a senator is like “joining the Grand Ole Opry and not being allowed to sing.”
Bill Dries
Reporter
Bill Dries covers city and county government and politics. He is a native Memphian and has been a reporter for almost 50 years covering a wide variety of stories from the 1977 death of Elvis Presley and the 1978 police and fire strikes to numerous political campaigns, every county mayor and every Memphis Mayor starting with Wyeth Chandler.
There are 4091 articles by Bill Dries :
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December 2020
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Elections -
City of Memphis Council bottled water resolution bobs back to surface
A voting miscue Tuesday was reversed Wednesday with the passage of the resolution that directs the mayor to draw up a plan to end the use of any city money to buy bottled water.
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Health Care City Council unites on statewide mask mandate
The council voted unanimously Tuesday to urge a statewide mask mandate, and several council members said their earlier vote against the city’s mask ordinance was wrong.
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City of Memphis City lobbying disclosure voted down by City Council
The measure by council member Chase Carlisle was one vote short of the seven needed. It failed after a council debate that included one council member remembering his own brush with corruption charges. Others argued the proposal was arbitrary and cumbersome.
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City of Memphis Decorum guide gets modest tweaking as council discovers limits of disciplining one of its own
Council Chairwoman Patrice Robinson said council members who behave badly, as council member Edmund Ford Sr. did two weeks ago, can’t be removed or suspended. And restoring order is “a question of judgment” by the chairperson.
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City of Memphis Task force recommends Memphis police number of 2,500
The number is smaller than the ranks of 2,800 previously pushed by Mayor Jim Strickland and Police Director Michael Rallings.
Related story: Survey seeks community input on next Memphis police director
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City of Memphis Council ethics complaint against Ford to be dropped
The outburst by City Council member Edmund Ford Sr. two weeks ago still raises questions about how to apply rules of conduct to elected council members. And it’s a discussion past councils have had about Ford and others on the body.
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November 2020
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Food Restaurateurs seek data and dialogue from Health Department
The Memphis Restaurant Association wants to know why the Health Department rules continue to change for restaurants, and calls for better communication from health officials.
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Shelby County Shelby County Commission Scorecard: Monterey Estates, reserves and Shelby Farms Park
The Commission Scorecard looks at three votes by the body on issues that were more complex than the vote totals might reflect, starting with four new homes in Capleville.
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Elections Certified vote count changes no outcomes, reflects 65% Shelby County turnout
The two closest races on the Nov. 3 ballot got a bit closer but with nearly 80% of the votes cast during early voting, Election Day was a mere 14% of the countywide turnout.
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Shelby County Health officials: New restrictions a compromise to head off holiday surge
A group of two dozen business owners were critical of the new restrictions, telling county commissioners they will destroy businesses already on the edge. Some argued they are worse than the problems posed by the virus. Meanwhile, the first vaccine shipments could arrive in mid-December.
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Elections Alexander to Trump: ‘People remember the last thing you do’
The Monday, Nov. 23 appeal to Trump is Alexander’s second in four days and came hours before the Trump administration signaled it will begin work on the transition with President-elect Joe Biden and his team.
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Shelby County County Commission may offer first reviews of pandemic restrictions
The Monday commission session also features a move toward a new disparity study in awarding county government contracts and a decision on increasing county funding to the conservancy that operates and maintains Shelby Farms Park on county land.
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Podcast
ElectionsVoter alliance uses familiar political tools for nonpartisan outreach
The Shelby County Voter Alliance is working after its debut effort in the presidential general election cycle to hold the interest of voters through 2021.
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City of Memphis Motion filed to begin process of moving Forrest remains
No location has been decided on for the re-interment, according to SCV leader Lee Millar. But court documents suggest the remains and equestrian statue of Forrest removed from Health Sciences Park could be bound for a new National Confederate Museum in Columbia, Tn.
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Elections Alexander says presidential transition should begin
The U.S. Senator from Tennessee says there’s a “good chance” Biden is the next president.
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VIDEO
Shelby CountyPush for broader state mask mandate bridges the gap to a vaccine
The mayors of Bartlett and Germantown are pushing Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee for a statewide mask mandate. Short of that, they’re working to create a county-by-county mandate among West Tennessee mayors.
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State Government Harris: Pitch for West Tennessee mask mandate will be ‘a slog’
Mayors from the West Tennessee counties outside Shelby County heard a pitch from Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris and others Thursday for a regional mask mandate. Harris says Gov. Bill Lee is unlikely to order a statewide mask requirement. The regional effort will move to one-on-one talks.
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Shelby County New COVID restrictions coming as numbers rise
Increased restrictions designed to curb the rising COVID-19 numbers are likely coming soon, mayors were told Thursday.
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City of Memphis Smiley files ethics complaint over Ford outburst at council meeting
Council member JB Smiley is also seeking a change in council rules that would allow the chairman of the body to bar a council member who does what Ford did twice during Tuesday’s council meetings.
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City of Memphis City Council Scorecard: Chairman undercurrents, lots of gas
The Council Scorecard dives deeper into the political winds blowing in what turned into a race for council chairman and the mixed results in a set of proposed convenience stores with gas pumps.
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Shelby County Harris order begins county green fleet pilot
With $500,000 in federal grant money, the small-scale pilot includes electric vehicle chargers as well as a broader reconsideration of how county government makes the decision of which vehicles to purchase.
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Metro Convenience stores with gas pumps get split council verdict
A trio of proposed convenience stores before the Memphis City Council Tuesday, Nov. 17, went one for three. -
City of Memphis Council discusses violent crime task force, change in MPD leadership
The task force is among the recommendations in a violent crime blueprint touted by council member Jeff Warren for the past year. Meanwhile, the city should have a new police director by the spring and the head of the MPD is a key player in such a task force.
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City of Memphis Frank Colvett elected City Council chairman, followed by heated discussion
Frank Colvett won election as City Council chairman Tuesday over Martavius Jones. But Colvett’s selection did not come without some controversy.
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