Outgoing mayor Lee Harris said state oversight will make Mickell Lowery’s job harder
Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris talks about his eight years as mayor on “Behind The Headlines” and the challenges facing his successor, Mayor-elect Mickell Lowery.
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 4390 articles by Bill Dries :
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August 2026
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Behind The Headlines -
Shelby County Newly elected commissioners will watch as outgoing board tackles school budget, jail plans
The two agenda items come as commissioners prepare to give way on Sept. 1 to a new commission and a new county mayor.
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ElectionsAugust elections continue turbulent history for judicial appointments
Also in the political roundup, two write-in candidates appeared to fizzle by the unofficial vote totals, the Memphis narrative moves into the general election campaign and a D.C. Scorecard going into the August recess.
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Shelby County County Commission tries one last time on new-jail study
Shelby County commissioners debated whether they should do nothing and let the new commission with a new majority start anew on the issue.
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Update
Shelby CountyCommissioner Erika Sugarmon charged with vandalism
Shelby County Commissioner Erika Sugarmon made a brief appearance Tuesday, Aug. 11, in General Sessions Court on at least four charges of vandalism under $1,000.
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Shelby CountySigns of trouble: Inside the vandalism charges against Erika Sugarmon
The chain of events chronicled in the two misdemeanor traffic camera footage, Facebook video and a chain of events chronicled in two misdemeanor citations trace the months-long path to a not-guilty plea by the county commissioner.
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ElectionsBlackburn wants to close Tennessee’s primaries. History shows why that’s complicated
A 1972 state law is receiving renewed emphasis. What the law means still depends on which party and which of its leaders you talk to.
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Shelby County Ford sentencing delayed several times as County Commission seats turn over
As eight Shelby County commissioners prepare to leave office at the end of August, the federal corruption case of former commissioner Edmund Ford Jr., who resigned earlier this year, is still on its way to sentencing.
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Metro Application open for General Sessions judicial vacancy
The County Commissioners who were elected on the Aug. 6 ballot will fill the vacancy left by the election of Judge Lonnie Thompson to Chancery Court on the same ballot.
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Elections Jerri Green sees path to victory in Tennessee governor’s race
She also talked on “Behind The Headlines” about why her call to abolish Immigration and Customs Enforcement doesn’t mean she wants to abandon enforcement of immigration laws and how she would handle the state appointed board to run Memphis-Shelby County Schools.
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ElectionsJerri Green’s game plan and Marsha Blackburn’s primary numbers
Also in the political roundup: a look at turnout in the Nov. 3 general election, Gov. Bill Lee on the mix of public and private and a possible Senate vacancy, campaign sign rules and write-ins.
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City of Memphis City Council will talk data centers and medical debt
Also on the Tuesday agenda: a move of MATA funding, money for the Mud Island amphitheater and more.
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State Government 4 Memphis attorneys nominated for 2 new Criminal Court judicial positions
The four applicants include three prosecutors and an attorney with the Tennessee Innocence Project.
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City of Memphis MPD chief looks to post-Task Force future
Memphis Police Department Chief C.J. Davis said she and other police brass have asked leaders of the federal law enforcement agencies making up the Memphis Safe Task Force to have a permanent presence in the city after the deployment ends.
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Public Safety Sawyer federal corruption case stays on track to January trial date
The Jan. 11, 2027, trial date stands in the public corruption case as defense attorneys continue to review 50,000 documents from discovery.
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