Memphis gets another $50M for Downtown Memphis safety
The Tennessee General Assembly included a $50 million grant for Downtown Memphis Public Safety in the state budget passed this week.
Samuel Hardiman
Reporter
Samuel Hardiman is an enterprise reporter who focuses on government and politics. He began his career at the Tulsa World where he covered business and K-12 education. Hardiman came to Memphis in 2018 to join the Memphis Business Journal, covering government and economic development.
There are 714 articles by Samuel Hardiman :
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April 2026
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City of Memphis -
Public Safety Five former MPD officers dismissed from Tyré Nichols civil suit
The plaintiffs filed to dismiss them so that the planned November 2026 trial could continue as scheduled.
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2026 elections
ElectionsFundraising picture for May county primary election remains unclear
The lack of financial forms makes it difficult to see how key candidates have fared with donors in the past three months.
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City of Memphis Memphis Art Museum tour ends with $6 million
Memphis City Council members got a peek inside what will be the new Memphis Art Museum before voting to repurpose city funds for public infrastructure outside the Front Street museum.
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Metro XAI sued because of alleged Clean Air Act violations
The NAACP, represented by the Southern Environmental Law Center, filed a lawsuit against Elon Musk’s xAI.
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Public Safety A week before MPD officers beat Tyré Nichols, MPD shot a 17-year-old. The incident is part of reams of new evidence to be introduced in Nichols’ civil case.
New documents and witnesses announced in Nichols' civil trial will aim to show use-of-force culture in MPD.
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2026 elections
ElectionsOne Shelby County candidate has more cash than all his opponents combined
Newly filed campaign finance forms show two Shelby County Democratic mayoral candidates with far more financial resources than the rest of the crowded primary.
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2026 elections
ElectionsWhat should be done about 201 Poplar? Democratic county mayor candidates share their ideas.
For most of an hour at Springdale Baptist Church in North Memphis, six of the Democratic candidates for Shelby County mayor displayed few differences. Then, the prospect of a new jail to replace the dilapidated and struggling 201 Poplar brought them to life.
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Metro XAI Mississippi air permit appealed by SELC
Last month, the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality Permit Board approved an xAI subsidiary’s application to erect 41 natural gas turbines.
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City of Memphis Elon Musk gives timeline on water recycling plant
The Daily Memphian reported the water recycling facility, a key promise the company made to local leaders and residents, was “on an indefinite pause.” Without it, xAI uses fresh drinking water to cool its Colossus data center.
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City of MemphisXAI promised it would save billions of gallons of fresh drinking water every year by recycling wastewater. Now, that’s in doubt.
Ahead of SpaceX’s IPO, it would stand to reason the cost of a water-recycling plant may be essential to the long-term health of the Memphis Sand Aquifer, but it might not be essential to a company whose books could soon come under broader public scrutiny.
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Update
MetroXAI water recycling plant on indefinite pause
Without the plant’s completion, xAI and TVA could continue drawing billions of gallons of freshwater from the aquifer, which also supplies the region’s drinking water.
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Public SafetyCan a new approach convince people to put the guns down?
The city has quietly reorganized its gun violence intervention program, part of a longer-term effort to prevent shootings before they happen.
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City of Memphis Memphis Mayor Paul Young responds to LeBron James comments
The mayor reacts to the NBA superstar’s suggestion that the Memphis Grizzlies relocate to Nashville.
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March 2026
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Shelby CountyHow a tweak to Tennessee law signals Grizz lease momentum
A Shelby County Board of Commissioners vote signaled the subtle progress local governments are making toward a long-term lease with the Memphis Grizzlies.
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City of Memphis Officers who beat Tyré Nichols could be excused from civil suit
Attorneys for RowVaughn Wells, Nichols’ mother, filed a motion to dismiss the five officers from the nearly 3-year-old civil rights lawsuit.
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Shelby County XAI properties appraised at $3.5 billion, documents show
The appraisals for the two data centers help to determine how much Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence company will pay in property taxes.
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Public Safety After Downtown shootings, Memphis police chief is looking at youth curfew
The city is still searching for a space where teenagers, once picked up by MPD, would spend time waiting for their parents.
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Public Safety ‘We still have work to do,’ Young says as Trump claims credit for Memphis crime
Memphis Mayor Paul Young says the city is moving in the right direction on crime, but didn’t credit President Donald Trump or the Memphis Safe Task Force for that.
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Metro Trump visits Memphis to talk Task Force
During his visit to Memphis, President Donald Trump said that Memphis is a different place because of his Memphis Safe Task Force, praising the city’s leadership along with the Task Force while noting the declining homicide rate.
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Metro US to hold off striking Iranian power plants, Trump says in Memphis
“I directed the Department of War to temporarily postpone land strikes against major energy and electricity targets in Iran,” President Donald Trump said during his Memphis visit Monday, March 23.
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City of MemphisMemphis’ lack of population growth could soon hurt budget
For years, people choosing to move outside Memphis’ city limits have reshaped neighborhoods and changed spending patterns. But now, continued population loss could start to compound in the city budget.
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Metro Mississippi regulators approve xAI turbines in Southaven
The vote followed widespread community outcry about the turbines’ impact on the quality of life for neighbors and residents.
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North Mississippi Mississippi moving too fast on xAI permit decision, NAACP says
Mississippi is rushing plans to make xAI’s request for permanent natural gas turbines in Southaven, according to the NAACP.
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MetroTax revenue from xAI projected to double
In the past year, xAI has built out a second Memphis data center campus in Memphis’ Whitehaven neighborhood.
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