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 4394 articles by Bill Dries :
Memphis Parks director Nick Walker told a crowd at a public meeting Wednesday, “I don’t want to mislead you into thinking that it is our intention to do a wholesale change on this.”
The Wednesday, Oct. 19, opening came with some new restrictions on campaigning near several voting sites and indications that the choice to vote on new machines or vote with a hand-marked paper ballot will be watched as closely as the vote totals.
The city changed the terms of the $10 million grant/loan after running into accounting rules that would have required the city to list the amount as a long-term liability on its financial statements.
The proposal for more police enforcement backed by centers for juveniles to wait out the night drew ran into a series of questions and concerns.
With no discussion, the commission sent the ordinance back to committee for more discussion. Meanwhile, the commission set dates for appointing four more judicial commissioners.
Here’s all you need to know about voting early and the new system that offers voters a choice between new voting machines and hand-marked paper ballots.
For most of Shelby County’s voters, the most exciting thing about the ballot that opens early voting might be the new voting system.Related story:
Mayor Jim Strickland is proposing at least partial demolition of the Mid-South Coliseum to make way for a new soccer stadium. It’s part of a $684 million package of renovations and new construction at the city’s major sports venues. The city will seek roughly half of that total from the state.
Council member JB Smiley Jr. proposed that Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland appoint his pick, Doug McGowen, as interim leader of MLGW while a national search is conducted. City Council sends curfew enforcement proposal goes back to committeeRelated story:
The commission’s unanimous vote covers staffing, a job study and the opening of the clerk’s new Riverdale Road location by Halloween. But Clerk Wanda Halbert and County HR director Gerald Thornton clashed on some of the basic details of what the office has and what it needs. County Commission delays final vote on how chief ethics officer is pickedRelated story:
Mayor Jim Strickland has nominated Doug McGowen to lead the city-owned utility. But council chair Martavius Jones wants the city to do a national search for the next president and CEO of MLGW.
Johnson won the appointment to the District 7 seat over rival contender Jason Sharif. He serves the remaining two years and three months of the term of office in the seat.
The council approved the original deal of what amounted to a $10 million advance on the city’s lease of convention meeting space in the Grand Hyatt — the third of three hotels at One Beale — in September on a 10-0 vote.
Several churches rallied in support of a proposed amendment that would ban slavery in all forms in the state. A coalition of political groups is also urging voters to choose a hand-marked paper ballot.
At the Monday, Oct. 17, session, commissioners will also take a final vote on a change — proposed by a commissioner who once ran afoul of an ethics investigation — to who appoints the county ethics officers.
A member of the Memphis Police Association leadership talks on “Behind The Headlines” about the long-term strategy to reverse a 2014 city council decision to cut city benefits.
Regional One responded to a resolution approved this week by the Memphis City Council that urges the Shelby County Commission to persuade the hospital to allow the intervention program’s counselors access to the hospital and victims of violent crime.
The change in agenda items for next week’s city council session reflects the ongoing tug-of-war over council chairman Martavius Jones’ demand for a national search to pick the new leader of the city-owned utility.
Shelby County District Attorney Steve Mulroy talks about the “horrific first week” of his term as the county’s chief prosecutor on “Behind The Headlines” and the two violent crime cases still reverberating a month later in criminal justice reform discussions.
Price plans to run in Super District 8 after running four years ago in District 7. Meanwhile, other council races on the October 2023 ballot are also taking shape with a little less than a year to election day.
Shelby County Sheriff Floyd Bonner, who currently lives in Bartlett, says he will decide this month on a bid for Memphis Mayor on the October 2023 city ballot.
The November ballot features four proposed amendments to the Tennessee Constitution, which will be presented by Shelby County’s new voting machines.
An outline for the working group that could suggest deeper changes in the boundaries of council districts ahead of the 2023 elections started to form Tuesday, Oct. 11.
The council has unusual back-to-back meetings this week and next week, which might have been a factor in delaying what could be a standoff over the appointment for another week.
A nonbinding resolution asks the Shelby County Commission, which funds the county-owned hospital, to pressure the hospital to allow counselors to approach crime victims. Group Violence Intervention Program updates City Council on progressRelated story: