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 4215 articles by Bill Dries :
A referendum ordinance on a two-year residency requirement cleared the Memphis City Council, which left open the question of the residency requirement for this year’s race for mayor.Related story:
“Who’s to say there’s not going to be a hot tub rolling down the road next month,” said Ashley Coleman, owner of the pedal-powered bar Sprock and Roll.
Meanwhile, some city council members are calling in city chief legal officer Jennifer Sink to take a stand on what the residency requirement is for those running for mayor.
The Monday debate at Halloran Centre, presented by The Daily Memphian, is about crime and criminal justice. The race to be the next mayor, however, is still a struggle largely taking place out of public view.
Watch five mayoral candidates discuss local crime and criminal justice issues during last night’s Daily Memphian mayoral debate.
During a Monday, April 24, visit to Memphis, Sen. Marsha Blackburn talked about her endorsement of former President Donald Trump and took to Twitter to offer supporters a “Marsha, Marsha, Marsha pizza cutter.”
Late Monday evening, a resolution on the city’s residency requirement for mayoral candidates was added to the council’s executive session. Council chairman Martavius Jones wants the city’s chief legal officer to take a stand on just how long a candidate for mayor must have lived in the city.
MATA CEO Gary Rosenfeld talked on “Behind The Headlines” about the balance between plans and what they cost to stay on the road.
The first-term Memphis City Council member will lead implementation of a new environmental curriculum in the city’s riverfront parks.
Five of the 11 declared mayoral contenders will debate crime, policing and criminal justice at the April 24 event at The Halloran Centre at the Orpheum, which will also be live-streamed on The Daily Memphian site.
Citizens pushing for police reforms wanted quick action after the death of Tyre Nichols. Some on the council say they pushed too hard.
The city administration has declined to take a side on whether it believes the five-year residency requirement is in effect. That puts the city between the Election Commission, which wants some kind of court ruling on what the requirement is, and two mayoral candidates whose attorneys say they will pursue who raised the residency issue in the first place.
Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris takes a proposal to the County Commission next week to fund the county’s share of the $700-million capital project. Commissioner Mick Wright says he hopes that can be coupled with a property tax reduction.
The bill requires trial court and general sessions court judges to set bail for certain violent felonies.
Nine years ago this month all trolleys stopped running following a fire on the Madison line. Nine years later, the Riverfront loop and Madison Avenue line are still down.
MATA president and CEO Gary Rosenfeld called for a regional transit authority that could raise its own funding across a larger area and possibly move into street repairs and other “mobility” issues. Trolleys missing from two Downtown lines for nearly a decadeRelated story:
The commission took action on the two project as part of a light agenda Monday, April 17. Meanwhile, the county continues to search for another fire station site in southeast Shelby County.
The Shelby County Commission votes Monday, April 17, on a contract for a new county fire house in a part of Corova de-annexed by the city of Memphis in 2021.
"$450 Million for Memphis" wants Memphis Light, Gas and Water Division to end its ties with TVA and start the move with a specific look at how much it would cost to sign on with the MISO network, the best known competitor for the city-owned utility that is TVA's biggest customer.
Two leaders of the civic group backing an end to TVA ties say on "Behind The Headlines" that they want to hear more about how much it would cost MLGW to go with another electric power supplier without having to generate its own power as well.
The civic group calling for MLGW to cut ties with TVA says TVA's estimate this week of hundreds of millions of dollars in expenses in the switch is wrong. And it says the draft report's recommendation of local power generation by MLGW is wrong too.
The group “$450 Million For Memphis” says the bids from rival power suppliers should be redone to include proposals that are outside the basic requirements set up by MLGW management.
The leaders of the group “$450M For Memphis” talk on Behind The Headlines about their problems with the ongoing RFP process and why they are phasing out the group.
“I’ve got more influence than I’ve ever had,” said Steve Cohen, who says he will seek reelection in 2024.
Mayoral contender Paul Young has the largest campaign war chest across the last six months of campaigning. He also raised the most money in campaign finance reports covering the first three months of 2023.