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.
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On the WKNO program “Behind The Headlines,” Natalie McKinney and Terence Patterson also called for a move away from the idea that school choice for parents involves getting students to schools in other parts of the city.
As the Shelby County Commission nears a final vote on a new set of district lines, here is how to find out what commission district you live in, who is your commissioner and whose district you might be in depending on which map the commission approves at its Monday, Nov. 1, session.
Meeting in special session Wednesday, Oct. 27, Shelby County commissioners set the stage to approve a redistricting ordinance on third and final reading at their regular Monday meeting. They also increased the recommendations from the ad hoc group on redistricting to a total of four maps.
Clay Bright will head operation and development of the Haywood County Megasite. He has been the Tennessee Transportation Commissioner since 2019.
Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland talks with The Daily Memphian about national inflationary concerns and the longer-standing need for more quality affordable housing in the city ahead of the summit.
The commission meets in special session Wednesday, Oct. 27, to advance a redistricting ordinance through the second of three votes.
The ad hoc group, made up mostly of county commissioners, included in its top 3 a map that drew the ire of commissioner Brandon Morrison last week for endangering her re-election prospects last year.
The Council Scorecard tracks two key votes from the Oct. 19 Memphis City Council session — one on how to approach redistricting, another blocking a higher minimum wage to qualify for economic development tax breaks.
The Republican state Senator responded hours after he was indicted on federal campaign finance charges in a brief online press conference.
Republican state Sen. Brian Kelsey has been indicted on federal campaign finance charges, according to the U.S. Attorney’s office in Nashville.
Two economic development veterans with experience in the state’s Middle Tennessee auto corridor talked on Behind The Headlines about the coming ‘gold rush’ of growth related to the Ford plant that they say will reach Memphis.
An ad hoc group is drafting recommendations on new district lines for the Shelby County Commission.
County Commissioner Mark Billingsley has decided not to run for county mayor next year — another piece in a political puzzle still taking shape less than a year from May county primary elections.
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission ruling confirms MLGW’s belief that if the city-owned utility leaves the Tennessee Valley Authority it would not be able to use TVA transmission lines but would have to create a new transmission system.
Tennessee’s two Republican senators voted against the procedural motion this week that would have brought a Democratic voting rights bill to the Senate floor for a vote.
The new district lines will reflect a drop of 16,000 Memphians by the U.S. Census count and populations gains in three of the seven single-member City Council districts as well as drops in the head count in the other four districts.
The higher minimum wage for EDGE tax break incentives was well short of seven votes Tuesday, Oct. 19, on the Memphis City Council. Opponents of the measure defeated a move to delay the outcome but there may still be some life left in the call for higher pay for tax breaks.
In other action Tuesday, Oct. 19, the council delayed a final vote on a comprehensive downzoning plan and approved funding for the start of the next phase of construction on the South City development.
The council tabled a move to put an ad hoc working group in place, similar to what the Shelby County Commission already has up and running. The delay came after a discussion about motives, snakes, the city’s method of redistricting and protecting incumbents.
Most of the early proposals for the council’s share of ARPA funding took a cut in their dollar figures in the compromise worked out by Chase Carlisle and Edmund Ford Sr.
Commissioners approved the plans for using $58 million in American Rescue Plan Act funding, but several challenged Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris’ plans for the remaining $10 million.
The SCS sub-contract with Porter-Leath for Head Start services was abruptly terminated this summer with each entity going its own way in providing the services. But county commissioners heard a lot of opposition from SCS about Early Head Start funding to the nonprofit Monday.
The Tuesday, Oct. 18, City Council session also includes a vote on further commercial uses of the Annesdale Mansion and a vote on raising the minimum wage to qualify for economic development tax break incentives.
Rep. Antonio Parkinson tweeted: “The passing of Secretary Powell is a huge loss to Black America... He was a hero at every turn.”
District 3 commissioner Mick Wright opened his re-election campaign over the weekend. Races where the incumbent commissioner is term limited are also showing signs of life.