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 3942 articles by Bill Dries :
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February 2019
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Metro The city’s image and its reality, 200 years after its founding sometimes part company in how the narrative of Memphis is told. -
Shelby County Dozier named in Richmond list of priests accused of child sexual abuse
The late Carroll T. Dozier, the first bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Memphis, is among 42 priests named this week by the Catholic Diocese of Richmond, Virginia, as having a "credible and substantiated" allegation of child sexual abuse against him.
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City of Memphis Tennessee elections coordinator rules out instant-runoff voting for 2019 Memphis elections
Tennessee Elections Coordinator Mark Goins ruled Friday the Shelby County Election Commission cannot use instant-runoff voting in this October's city of Memphis elections. -
Education Schwinn tours Douglass and Millington Central
Tennessee education commissioner Penny Schwinn makes stops at two Shelby County High Schools just days after taking the state's top education post.
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City of Memphis HUD wants Memphis to return or ‘de-obligate’ $17M in affordable-housing funds
The federal Housing and Urban Development wants Memphis to pay back millions spent in one of the biggest take-backs ever proposed by HUD.
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City of Memphis Essays on Memphis ‘Black Struggle’ offer counter-narrative
A collection of essays on the African-American struggle in Memphis by 17 historians is seen by its editors as a “powerful counter-narrative” to a more compressed history of the city.
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Real Estate Extended tax freeze, reimbursable grant sought for FedEx Logistics’ Downtown Memphis HQ
The first of what is expected to be a multifaceted incentive package for FedEx Logistics' planned Downtown Memphis headquarters is a $2 million reimbursable grant.
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City of Memphis City Hall pushes coexistence of Tom Lee Park redevelopment and Memphis In May festival
City Hall says a redeveloped Tom Lee Park can be done in coexistence with the Memphis In May International Festival and that the festival will likely have to move out of the park temporarily in 2020.
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Governor’s first Memphis economic development announcement expected Tuesday
Gov. Bill Lee is scheduled to be in Memphis Tuesday, Feb. 12, for what's expected to be his first economic development announcement in the city.
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Shelby County Local Republican Party leadership changes, looks for bigger tent after disastrous 2018 county elections
The only contender so far for the leadership of the Shelby County Republican Party said the local party needs candidates who are more representative and the party needs to seek out African-American and Hispanic voters.
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City of Memphis Council rules change draft ruffles feathers anew
Memphis City Council members are reviewing changes to their rules after the two-month stalemate in filling three open council seats. And some of the proposed changes are prompting renewed debate.
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City of Memphis City-county recycling drive rounds up 50,000 used tires
More than 50,000 used tires were recycled over two days last month in a $100,000 city-county tire drive.
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City of Memphis Strickland: City, county ‘overpaid’ for Electrolux
Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland says a month ago, Electrolux executives assured him their Memphis plant would stay open and even expand to include new product lines. With word of the plant closing in 2021, he told The Daily Memphian Politics Podcast the city, county and state "overpaid" in terms of incentives.
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City of Memphis Memphis 3.0 plan seeks to change development concepts
Putting together the comprehensive 20-year Memphis 3.0 development plan required trying to change some ideas about what it means to encourage development in very different parts of a diverse city.
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City of Memphis City Council financial disclosures to go on city website
With just enough votes, the Memphis City Council approved a resolution that will post the financial disclosure reports of each council member next to his or her bio on the city's website.
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City of Memphis New ‘People’s Convention’ planned in April for 2019 city elections
A new "People's Convention" is being organized to run a slate of candidates in the 2019 Memphis elections. It shares some features of the 1991 gathering that backed Willie Herenton's historic bid for mayor, but there are some significant differences as well.
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City of Memphis City Council resolution on second convention center hotel answers Sheraton lawsuit claim
A city council resolution on the financing of a second convention center hotel added to Tuesday's agenda is an answer to changes in a lawsuit filed by the owners of the city's original convention center hotel recently.
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City of Memphis Council delays action on MLGW rate hikes as utility takes case to the public
Memphis city council members again delayed approval of Memphis Light, Gas and Water rate increases Tuesday, instead urging the utility to make its case to the public for an infrastructure overhaul before the council tries again later this month.
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Shelby County Special state Senate primary results certified
The Shelby County results in the special primary elections for state Sen. District 32 are certified and dates for early voting in the special general election are set.
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City of Memphis Council weighs MLGW rate hikes, reviews rules for vacancies
Memphis City Council members are expected to vote Tuesday on a set of gas, electric and water rate hikes that would raise the average residential utility bill 10.5 percent over a five-year period with no rate hike until January 2020.
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Metro MLGW to take closer look at alternative electricity providers
Memphis Light Gas and Water Division president and CEO J.T. Young said the utility will move ahead with a more detailed “integrated resources plan,” following Friday's presentation of the results of a study conducted by GDS Associates Inc.
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City of Memphis MLGW to get report on alternatives to TVA electricity
The MLGW board gets its first look at a report on possibly buying electricity from someone other than TVA at a special meeting Friday.
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January 2019
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City of Memphis Strickland proposes catalyst for development outside Downtown and Midtown
Breaking the city's development boom outside of Downtown and Midtown is the goal Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland outlined Monday in his election year state of the city address -- a difficult goal shared by Strickland's predecessor in the mayor's office.
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Education SCS board votes to close Gateway charter, delays superintendent search committee
The Shelby County Schools board unanimously voted Tuesday to close Gateway University charter school at the end of the current academic year. -
City of Memphis City Hall’s recurring marble problem a sign of age and times
More than 50 years since City Hall opened for business, the marble slabs that define its seven-story exterior are again a problem. It's just one of the challenges facing the aging building that houses city government.
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