Strickland signs mask ordinance
Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland has signed the ordinance that requires masks or face coverings inside public places within the city.
Bill Dries
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 4420 articles by Bill Dries :
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June 2020
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City of Memphis -
Shelby County Harris: New budget means layoffs, cuts in vital services likely
The county mayor also said in a "Behind The Headlines" interview that he has no regrets about his budget proposal that the commission rejected, which included a wheel tax hike with some budget cuts and an ambitious five-year plan to fund new school construction.
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Metro City Council, County Commission return to in-person meetings after 4th
The Shelby County Commission is planning to install plexiglass barriers when it returns to its chambers next month. The Memphis City Council is making arrangements to find a new temporary meeting place. Its City Hall chambers are still undergoing a renovation that began before the pandemic.
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Public Safety Strickland outlines MPD changes including seeking subpoena power for CLERB
The press conference comes after a month of private discussions with community and religious leaders and a move toward police reforms by the Memphis City Council as well as the Shelby County Commission.
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Elections Early voting sites are set, with one change
Bellevue Baptist Church in Cordova is replaced by Briarwood Church among the 26 locations that open for July 17 for the early voting period in advance of the Aug. 6 election day. State and federal primaries as well as county general elections are on the ballot. And more than 5,000 citizens have applied so far to vote by absentee ballots in the election.
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Shelby County Burgess knocks ‘Bluff City Law’ tax incentive
Shelby County Property Assessor Melvin Burgess Jr. said the $1.4 million tax abatement Comcast received wasn't what such incentives were intended for. It’s the second time Burgess has criticized EDGE tax incentives.
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City of Memphis TVA says savings estimates off in MLGW Integrated Resource Plan
The federal agency’s formal response to the draft report released last month says Memphis Light, Gas and Water Division could lose $260 million a year if it drops TVA to go with another electric power supplier.
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Shelby County County Commission passes first police reform resolutions
The nonbinding resolutions approved by the Shelby County Commission call for adoption of “8 Can’t Wait” use of force measures for law enforcement and call racism a pandemic with associated health issues for people of color.
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Shelby County County Commission cuts use of reserves in approving budget and stable tax rate
What was already a challenging budget year was complicated in county government by the pandemic's economic damage and a decision by the County Commission to reject the budget proposal by County Mayor Lee Harris. The commission rejected a proposed 8-cent property tax rate hike.
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Coronavirus Mayors: Return to Phase 1 of ‘Back to Business’ plan can be avoided
In Whitehaven to launch a mask distribution effort and social media campaign, Mayors Harris and Strickland said the local effort has waned since Memorial Day. Harris says possibly going back to Phase 1 is about more than "raw numbers." Strickland says despite an increase in hospitalizations, a field hospital is a long way from being activated.
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Analysis
Shelby CountyRoad to new county budget remains rocky and uncertain
The commission takes up the budget again Monday, June 22, at its regular meeting, a week after voting to use $16.5 million in the county reserves to balance expenditures and revenues. But since then, questions have emerged about the changes the commission made.
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Analysis
Shelby CountyShelby County Budget: The email trail
Internal emails show disagreements between the county administration and some of the countywide elected officials outside the administration of Mayor Lee Harris about budget cuts and other changes to the consolidated county budget for the fiscal year that begins July 1.
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Podcast
City of MemphisLong-term problems drive protests, nonprofit leader says
On The Daily Memphian Politics Podcast, Sarah Lockridge-Steckel talked about the frustrations that prompted local nonprofits to issue a call for action.
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Elections Ballot Basics: Absentee voting for beginners
Exploring the possibility of voting absentee for the first time? Here's a guide to what to expect and the new qualification added to the application by court order.
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City of Memphis George Floyd’s death leaves police and fire residency ballot question in new light
A city task force on public safety started its work this week with several calls for hiring local in the police and fire ranks. Meanwhile, an effort to remove from the Nov. 3 election ballot a proposal for allowing the city to hire police and firefighters who live outside the county may be picking up momentum.
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Metro Local DACA recipients say Supreme Court ruling is not permanent solution
The U.S. Supreme Court ruling Thursday that re-established the program the Trump administration tried to rescind affects 1,800 Memphians, many of them considered “essential” workers in the current pandemic.
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Metro Mask ordinance gets boost as way to promote business
Enforcing the ordinance requiring face coverings at indoor public places relies on business owners' participation, says sponsor of city council measure.
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Public Safety Strickland talks with protesters camped outside City Hall
The encounter was the same day Strickland met for a third time with a group of religious leaders on possible police reforms. There wasn't much agreement in the discussion on the mall outside City Hall.
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Premium
ElectionsAugust ballot contenders and Capitol Hill rhetoric catch up to George Floyd protest
Memphis Congressman Steve Cohen says "defunding" police isn't what Democrats want and, in endorsing Tennessee Republican Senate contender Bill Hagerty, Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton says protesters were exercising Constitutional rights
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City of Memphis City working out enforcement of mask rules
The citywide mask requirement approved Tuesday takes effect immediately, but enforcement will probably take longer and there could be a legal challenge in Nashville.
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Shelby County SWAT team used tear gas after protesters threw bricks and bottles, Bonner says
Shelby County Sheriff Floyd Bonner said the sheriff’s office SWAT team used C.S. gas, or “tear gas,” in a May 31 protest Downtown after bricks and bottles were thrown at them as they blocked some protesters from trying to get on the Hernando DeSoto Bridge.
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Elections No new election machines in August balloting
Supply chain problems are affecting the move to get Shelby County funding approved for a specific vendor.
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City of Memphis City mask requirement clears final hurdle
The Memphis City Council approved the requirement Tuesday by a 9-4 vote on its third and final reading. But questions remain about enforceability as county health officials still only recommend wearing masks.
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City of Memphis Council asks Strickland to hold up valet parking contract with Flight
The action came with word that owners of the restaurant were buying out their partner in the business venture. The council also passed three resolutions on law enforcement that are the first acts by the group in the discussion about the role of police and use of force policies.
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Premium
City of MemphisProtest and activism grow to include restlessness with local status quo on race
Memphians joining the past 21 days of protests are becoming more vocal about changing the city's traditional method for dealing with racial issues.
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