The Memphis 200 Chapter 3: Alice Mitchell, Overton Square, Piomingo and the Memphis Chicks
The third of our four-part survey of the 200 people, places and events that have made Memphis what is was, what it is and what it could be.
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 4152 articles by Bill Dries :
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December 2019
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Metro
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November 2019
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City of Memphis Southwest president says failure of Early College program requires rigor to try again
Southwest Tennessee Community College is willing to try again when it comes to hosting an early college high school after it and Shelby County Schools pulled the plug on a charter school approach.
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Podcasts Politics Podcast: City Council member-elect J.B. Smiley Jr.
The new City Council that takes office in January and the transition from candidate to elected official, along with Smiley’s views on residency requirements, MLGW rate hikes and “scare tactics.”
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Metro Story of Shelby County’s founding shows familiar themes 200 years later
Shelby County was formed 200 years ago Nov. 24 by an act of the Tennessee Legislature. The county took in more territory than it does today. The official designation touched off controversies that saw the county seat moved out of Memphis four years later as the city struggled before beginning to grow.
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City of Memphis Smiley emerges from campaign to new role as one of 13 on new City Council
On The Daily Memphian Politics Podcast, incoming City Council member J.B. Smiley Jr. said he would like to have a voice in the current council's decision about residency requirements. But he said he accepts if the referendum on the matter is approved by the current council before members leave office. He also said concerns about reliability if MLGW breaks ties with TVA might be a "scare tactic."
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MetroColetta: Tom Lee Park redesign a matter of some boundaries for planners
On Behind The Headlines, Memphis River Parks Partnership President Carol Coletta offered few clues about what the mediation over the redesign of Tom Lee Park will mean.
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City of Memphis Strickland unveils Renasant as convention center naming partner
Mayor Jim Strickland officially unveiled plans Thursday for the naming rights of the Renasant Convention Center. The 10-year deal with renewals clauses should pay about half of the $2 million in the red that convention center operates at annually, according to Strickland.
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City of Memphis Residency proposal changes, new members at City Council
The council approved a November 2020 referendum on a residency requirement for police and fire fighters Tuesday on the first of three votes.
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City of Memphis Pinch developer talks about ‘critical mass’ for investors in Downtown Memphis boom
Tom Intrator, 18 S. Main developer, took the concept of aligned development to City Council members Tuesday as they reviewed a unique tax incentive for the $1.1 billion project that is a PILOT used like a TIF.
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City of Memphis Busy City Council agenda features Loews, Union Row and Pinch decisions
Memphis City Council members have paperwork on their agenda Tuesday for the second convention center hotel project, changes to the Union Row project incentives and a supplement to the Pinch District redevelopment.
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Metro MATA begins long push for public buy-in of ‘innovation corridor’
A public comment session Monday at the Central Library drew several dozen people and plenty of reminders of the city's long-running debate about the bus system run by the Memphis Area Transit Authority. The corridor has almost all of the $74 million to build the Union and Poplar corridor that would start operations in 2024.
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Metro No more late fines at Memphis Public Libraries
Memphis Public Libraries are doing away with one of the basics of public libraries -- fines for books that are returned past their due date.
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Metro St. Peter marks 180 years since the city’s first Catholic Mass
The Sunday afternoon Mass recalled the 1939 milestone at the neighboring Magevney House and the ecumenical spirit that led to the city's first Catholic parish that followed. St. Peter's pastor also reminded parishioners that faith is not without divisions and controversy but is also about unity.
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Public Safety Owens drug case is latest in 25-year arc of federal charges
An October federal indictment of Blake Owens and four others for allegedly dealing heroin and fentanyl is a major drug case. It's also part of a 25-year saga that includes real estate, strip clubs, kidnapping, racketeering, wiretaps and a plea by Owens in 2006 for federal prison officials to release him somewhere other than Memphis.
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City of Memphis Stanton marks end of clerk’s term and tenure with changes, goals, paper
General Sessions Court Clerk Ed Stanton Jr. has a little less than a year left in office and will not seek re-election next year. Before his exit, Stanton says he has a few goals to accomplish.
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City of Memphis Conrad prepares to show new council members the ropes, pushes for residency vote
On The Daily Memphian Politics Podcast, outgoing council Chairman Kemp Conrad discusses Memphis Light, Gas and Water Division rate hikes and a recent visit to Hungary.
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Podcasts Politics Podcast: City Council chairman Kemp Conrad
Memphis City Council chairman Kemp Conrad talks about the new council that takes office in January, the current council’s end-of-term agenda, why the new CLERB proposal can wait and a sobering moment during his recent trip to Hungary.
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Elections Logan, Easter-Thomas claim city council seats in low turnout runoffs
Michalyn Easter-Thomas upset incumbent District 7 council member Berlin Boyd by a wide margin in runoff elections Thursday. And In District 1, challenger Rhonda Logan upset incumbent Sherman Greer.
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Public Safety McCalla rules no changes to 1978 consent decree on police political surveillance
A federal judge has denied the city’s motion to modify the 41-year old consent decree barring political surveillance by the Memphis Police Department.
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City of Memphis MLGW’s Young talks ‘end game’ in utility’s coming decision on TVA
MLGW brass, TVA leaders and Memphis City Council members met Wednesday at City Hall for the latest discussion in a decision the utility and the city are expected to make in 2020.
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Elections Runoff election day in two City Council districts
The races in District 1 and District 7 close out the 2019 election year in Memphis politics with hard fought contests reflecting political combat before the election season started.
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Elections Ballot Basics: The Last Election Day of 2019
Here is everything you need to know about participating in the last election day of 2019 – the dos and don'ts, what to expect and what's next.
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Metro The Chickasaw Nation’s role in the founding of Memphis
As the city of Memphis prepares to mark its 200th anniversary, the Chickasaw Nation is finding the story of its origins in a part of the city Native Americans left 500 years ago.
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Metro City Council moves toward car cellphone ban ordinance
Memphis City Council members are moving toward an ordinance banning hand-held cell phone use in cars that will mirror state law on the matter.
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Metro Strickland campaign post mortem shows tightening of mayor’s race in summer months
On The Daily Memphian Politics Podcast, Jim Strickland campaign consultant Steven Reid talked about the blip in polling and said challenger Tami Sawyer never split the African American vote as rival and former Mayor Willie Herenton repeatedly charged during the campaign.
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