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 4212 articles by Bill Dries :
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December 2019
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Metro A Girls Inc. facility in Frayser was approved by the Memphis City Council Tuesday, Dec. 17. -
Food Council backs beer at Memphis Zoo bill
Memphis City Council members voted Tuesday, Dec. 17, to back state legislation that would allow the Memphis Zoo to sell beer during its regular business hours.
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Metro Confederate monuments sent to descendants, SCV
Two years to the week that Confederate monuments were removed from three city parks, the statues have been turned over to descendants or the Sons of Confederate Veterans, the city announced Tuesday.
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City of Memphis South Memphis apartment rehab provides new start for homeless
The eight-unit apartment building at Kansas and Waldorf from the 1950s got an extensive rehab with state funding and some donations after sitting vacant for 20 years.
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City of Memphis Last council meeting of year features final vote on residency
The City Council could also Tuesday revisit its decision two weeks ago to reject a solid waste fee hike. Mayor Jim Strickland said no fee hike could lead to laying off sanitation workers and scaling back garbage pickups of curbside trash. The combination with the MLGW rate hike proposal could cause the council to do either/or but not both.
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Podcasts Behind the Headlines Podcast: Rebuilding neighborhoods
Roshun Austin, Noah Gray, and Steve Lockwood discuss the efforts in their respective communities towards neighborhood development and revitalization with reporter Bill Dries and Behind The Headlines host Eric Barnes.
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Metro Sanders supporters plan for Tennessee Super Tuesday presidential primary
The Saturday gathering at the AFSCME union hall Downtown drew a group of 60 supporters. It follows a similar gathering Tuesday for those supporting rival Democratic contender and former Vice President Joe Biden.
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Education Aspire charter leader says let parents ‘choose with their feet’ on enrollment
Aspire Public Schools superintendent Nick Manning talked on The Daily Memphian Podcast about the move of the charter organization in Memphis for the last seven years to a local board in the new school year.
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Metro Field for General Sessions Court Clerk grows by one
Add another candidate to the March 3 Democratic primary for General Sessions Court Clerk. -
City of Memphis Archaeologists help map plantation that became Orange Mound
The tiny Deaderick family cemetery in Orange Mound was once much bigger. And this week, an archaeological effort by the city and several Orange Mound groups found evidence of more graves beyond the wrought iron fence of the cemetery along Park Avenue.
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Metro General Sessions Court Clerk primaries attract 16 by deadline
A total of 16 contenders, 12 Democrats and 4 Republicans, filed by a Thursday, Dec. 12, noon deadline to run in the March 3 countywide primary for General Sessions Court Clerk.
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Elections Petitions pulled by 18 for General Sessions Court Clerk primaries
The only countywide election of 2020 in Shelby County has drawn more than a dozen potential candidates for a position most citizens know little about. The political scramble for the office of General Sessions Court Clerk began in November when incumbent clerk Ed Stanton Jr. told his staff he would not be seeking a third full term.
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City of Memphis CDC leaders foresee less sprawl with Memphis 3.0
A trio of leaders of community development corporations on "Behind The Headlines" say the long-term Memphis 3.0 land use and development guidelines should give them and others working on nonprofit catalysts more of a voice in how the city grows.
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Metro Politics Podcast: Charter Schools and their place in Memphis education
Aspire Public Schools superintendent Nick Manning talks about Aspire’s new local control model and the relationship between charter school operators and Shelby County Schools.
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Metro Bethel Labelle Community Center to close temporarily
Bethel Labelle Community Center closed Wednesday, Dec. 11, as the city replaces the heating and air system of the center at 2698 Larose Avenue.
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Metro Local Biden supporters court undecideds in city’s Democratic base
Biden partisans locally are pushing the narrative that the former vice president is the only Democrat in a large pack of contenders who can beat President Donald Trump in the November general election.
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City of Memphis Tom Lee Park plan designs begin redraft next month
The Studio Gang design firm talked by video conference Tuesday with the board of the Memphis River Parks Partnership about meeting the specific terms of a mediated agreement announced last week. Among the results is more space for the 2006 Tom Lee Memorial in the park.
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Metro Memphis representatives in D.C. take starkly different positions on impeachment
The city’s two Congressmen, David Kustoff and Steve Cohen, have long had different views on removing President Donald Trump. Republican U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn is a vocal opponent of the process while fellow Republican U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander has avoided comment.
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Podcasts Behind the Headlines Podcast: FedEx Express’ Richard W. Smith
Richard W. Smith talks about his role at the Greater Memphis Chamber, the Memphis economy and job market, and his various roles at FedEx Express with Bill Dries, reporter for The Daily Memphian, and host Eric Barnes.
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City of Memphis Strickland signals solid waste cuts early in new year unless council reconsiders rejection of fee hike
Mayor Jim Strickland has raised the possibility of layoffs and garbage service cutbacks six days into the new year if the Memphis City Council doesn’t reconsider its decision to reject a solid waste fee hike.
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City of Memphis Orange Mound comeback won’t be easy, Burgess says
The Shelby County Assessor and his director of residential appraisal, on The Daily Memphian Politics Podcast, pointed to bringing back commercial development first in Orange Mound and working on seeding infrastructure for a later residential revival.
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Metro Barksdale Police Station and Wooten Shelter make National Register
The Barksdale Mounted Police Station in Midtown and the Whitehaven fallout shelter of broadcasting pioneer Hoyt Wooten have been added to the National Register of Historic Places.
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City of Memphis City Council addresses length of sanitation employees’ work day
The city administration lost the vote on a solid waste fee hike, but it has taken one issue with sanitation services off the table as fewer routes mean longer routes and close to an eight-hour work day for sanitation workers.
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City of Memphis City releases mediation agreement with Tom Lee Park overhaul specifics
The mediation between the Memphis River Parks Partnership and the Memphis In May International Festival ends months of mediation between the two with a detailed agreement, down to square footage and feet between stages.
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Metro Fairgrounds redevelopment plan wins council OK
City Council members, without debate, approved Tuesday, Dec. 3, the plan for redevelopment of the Fairgrounds.
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