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 3992 articles by Bill Dries :
Commissioners will discuss putting all nine Memphis-Shelby County Schools board seats on the ballot. Some say this amounts to a voter recall of the board.
Also in our political roundup: Mick Wright says he won’t seek office in 2026. And a top administrator to Shelby County Clerk Wanda Halbert promises to run for office next year.
The pastor of The Blvd talked about the project on “Behind The Headlines,” with the CEO of Crosstown Concourse and the Meharry Medical College official who’s leading the Nashville college’s reach into Memphis.
The D.C. Scorecard tracks the votes of U.S. Reps. Steve Cohen and David Kustoff in the Friday, July 18, final vote on the $9 billion spending-cut bill that the Senate approved Thursday.
The One Big, Beautiful Bill of tax and spending cuts cleared the U.S. House of Representatives in a 218-214 vote.
Tennessee’s senators voted against amendments from Democrats that failed in the run-up to approval of $9 billion in federal-funding cuts to public television and the U.S. Agency for International Development programs.
A court ruling determined these coin-operated mechanisms seen in some local convenience stores are, in fact, slot machines.
“And I don’t just plan to run — I plan to win,” she said.
Our political roundup also looks at a push to pretty up Plough Boulevard; a possible contender for Shelby County mayor, and reactions to the Jeffrey Epstein sex trafficking investigation.
One of the three confirmed city directors is in charge of a completely new division to tackle garbage and trash collection. Plus, the City Council approved a bonus for retired city employees.
When it comes to revitalizing the historic theater, settling a 10-year old legal dispute is a first step.
Mayor Paul Young has tapped a Memphis native who is returning to the city after working similar jobs in Oakland and Pasadena, California.
The City of Memphis could soon have a faster path to the demolition of blighted properties. And neighbors will have a louder voice in calling attention to nuisance properties.
The Shelby County Election Commission chairman and the elections administrator talked about low voter turnout and election off year mechanics on “Behind The Headlines.”
The City Council Scorecard tracks how the 13 council members voted on the critical events of the budget season.
When searching for a new leader of the Tennessee Department of Transportation, Gov. Bill Lee didn’t have to look far.
The D.C. Scorecard tracks the votes of Tennessee’s two U.S. senators on the spending bill and its several dozen amendments now bound for a House reconciliation process.
Dunavant was the chief federal prosecutor for West Tennessee during the first Trump administration.
A special meeting of the Shelby County Commission Monday was delayed for two hours in a dramatic rewriting of a key budget provision.
The Political Roundup looks at some sparks in the early field for Shelby County in the 2026 county elections and examines the political divide over what kind of a relationship a majority Democratic or blue city should keep with leaders of a red state.
The County Commission Scorecard tracks the set of seven votes on a new county property tax rate that brought the county’s budget season to an end.
The Commission meets in special session Monday, June 30, to vote on a budget amendment that would undo some of the $23.4 million in amendments it made to Mayor Lee Harris’s budget proposal. County Commission Scorecard: Tracking budget and tax-rate votesRelated content:
“Here in Memphis, anywhere from seven to 10 people every day at least are arrested by ICE in these quiet operations,” an attorney said.
Memphis City Council member Chase Carlisle called the the Memphis Area Transit Authority’s budget “underwhelming.”
A majority of Shelby County commissioners favored some kind of small property tax hike in the new budget, but ultimately couldn’t get seven votes on how to split up the additional revenue.