Carter claimed the chairmanship in the most Democratic county in the state Saturday, April 1, by three votes over rival Jesse Huseth.

Clean-up efforts are underway in Covington after long-track supercell storms pushed through Arkansas, crossed the Mississippi River and hit the city.

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Tornadoes kill at least 11 across US Midwest and South

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Tornadoes that tore through parts of the South and Midwest killed at least 11 people. Damaging winds and severe thunderstorms hit Shelby County, leaving more than 34,000 Memphis Light, Gas and Water customers without power.

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Tornado warnings expire, damage reported in Covington area

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Two history professors, looking at the city’s Civil Rights Movement since Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination 55 years ago, talk about Tyre Nichols, police reform and where today’s movement is headed on “Behind The Headlines.”

As of March 30, there had been 78 murders in Memphis this year compared to 54 murders at the same point in 2022, according to Memphis Police Department data.

The new state law, which prohibits drag shows where children might be present, would have gone into effect Saturday, April 1. 

For the first time in more than two years, NOAA’s Storm Prediction Center issued a rare “high risk” forecast for Memphis Friday afternoon.

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Schools, MATA closing in advance of severe weather

Tornado slams Little Rock, smashes rooftops, flips vehicles

A tornado plowed through Little Rock and surrounding areas on Friday afternoon, reducing rooftops to splinters, toppling vehicles and tossing debris on roadways as people raced for shelter.

The race for chairman of the Shelby County Democratic Party is set against the backdrop of turmoil this week in the state House. Two of the three contenders say Democrats in the House aren’t being vocal enough.

“In the past, most bar fights ended up being just that — a bar fight,” Memphis Police Chief Cerelyn “C.J.” Davis said. “Now everybody has a weapon, and we’re seeing more and more simple arguments turning into gun battles.”

Council attorney Allan Wade says council rules forbid special meetings to vote on ordinances, like the redistricting plan an ad hoc group is sending to the council for a vote in special meetings April 5 and April 12.

During an appearance on The Daily Memphian’s On the Record podcast, Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland declined to say whether he thought the police department had issues with its culture. 

Shelby County Chancellor JoeDae Jenkins denied a motion to make the city of Memphis part of the lawsuit. But he consolidated two legal challenges to the City of Memphis’ five-year mayoral residency requirement Friday. 

Friends of George’s, a Memphis LGBTQ+ theater company, recently filed a First Amendment challenge to Tennessee’s new “drag ban” in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Tennessee.

And MATA announced it would suspend services beginning at 5 p.m. Friday, March 31.

A man has been charged in the Whitehaven shooting that resulted in the gunshot injuries of two Memphis Police Department officers Thursday, March 30.

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TBI investigating Whitehaven shooting that hospitalized two officers

TBI investigates officer-involved shooting, lawmakers are open to red flag gun laws and a Binghampton man has a light bulb moment.

The National Civil Rights Museum hosted “The Reckoning: Community Policing and Accountability,” the first in a three-part series to examine historical connections of systemic racial violence.

A three-plus hour mayoral forum Thursday night at First Congregational Church in Cooper-Young featured Daniel Abston, Frank Colvett, J.W. Gibson, Reginald Hall and Paul Young. 

At the request of Shelby County District Attorney Steve Mulroy, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation is looking at the Whitehaven shooting where two officers and a suspect were injured.

“That’s what this festival can really highlight: the healing power of the arts, and the significant impact the U of M arts program has on this city to impact change,” said Ryan Fisher, interim dean at the University of Memphis College of Communication and Fine Arts.

The Memphis Police Department gave updates on the shooting at Prive, a Memphis restaurant, that left two dead and several injured.

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Two dead, five injured following shooting at Memphis restaurant

Tennessee Republicans said they are open to red flag laws like Florida’s, but they were largely unmoved by the biggest protest at the State Capitol in recent years. “I thought it would be more than just talking to a door,” one student protester said.

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Protesters in Nashville demand Tennessee legislators ‘do something’ on guns

The state-funded Healthy Smiles Initiative will tackle Tennessee’s shortage of dentists and work to make dental care more readily available.

Protesters filled the Tennessee State Capitol on Thursday, March 30, to demand tougher gun safety laws in the wake of the shooting deaths of three children and three adults at The Covenant School in Nashville.