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 4211 articles by Bill Dries :
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January 2019
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Metro More than 400 voters in Shelby County turned out Thursday morning to vote in the state Senate District 32 special election, according to the Shelby County Election Commission. -
Shelby County Shelby, Tipton early voter turnout closer in special state Senate primaries
The early voter turnout between Shelby and Tipton Counties for Thursday's special primary election for state Senate District 32 is closer than usual in the district that crosses county lines.
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City of Memphis Council greenlights Union Row garage financing, hears new MLGW rate hike plan
The city council approves $50 million in financing for a Union Row garage with Bird Box analogies during the debate. The council also heard a new plan Tuesday for an MLGW multi-year rate hike that would delay the increase for this calendar year.
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City of Memphis King Day observances feature different interpretations of civil rights leader’s Memphis legacy
The federal holiday honoring civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. included a new grant program for neighborhoods, calls for reparations, questions about who interprets King's legacy and City Hall honors for 10 women activists.
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City of Memphis City Council delves deeper into proposed MLGW rate hike options
After rejecting an MLGW rate hike proposal in December, Memphis City Council members review three alternative options Tuesday toward infrastructure upgrades for the gas, electric and water sectors of the utility.
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City of Memphis Bellefonte backers say MLGW rate hikes ‘fork in the road’ for TVA switch
The CEO of Nuclear Development LLC said Memphis is at a crossroads for a potential shift away from TVA as the city's electrical power supplier with recent rate hikes proposed by MLGW. The coming city council decision on the rate hikes could intersect with the push by Nuclear Development.
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Shelby County Bonner says new juvenile detention center shouldn’t be ‘undersized’
Shelby County Sheriff Floyd Bonner says a new juvenile detention center shouldn't be "undersized." On "Behind the Headlines," Bonner said he is committed to a smaller number of children in such a center.
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Education Ray prepares for transition to helm of Shelby County Schools
The incoming superintendent of Shelby County Schools prepares to take the helm with a transition that includes a further move by SCS into issues of equity.
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City of Memphis Sales tax referendum has complex legal and political path
A petition drive for a city sales tax hike referendum to restore police and firefighter benefits cut four years ago has become more complex now that the petition signatures are being verified.
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City of Memphis Strickland’s re-election bid begins with soft opening
Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland says his bid for a second term as mayor seeks to go beyond the "brilliant at the basics" mantra of his 2015 campaign to get into the stubborn issues of crime and poverty.
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City of Memphis Outgoing TVA president touts authority’s role in Memphis economic development
Retiring TVA president Bill Johnson told a Memphis group Tuesday that the federal power provider is the best value for MLGW, its largest customer, beyond the electricity the utility buys from TVA.
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Shelby County Early voter turnout in state Sen. Dist. 32 dominated by Tipton Republicans
Republican voters in Tipton County make up most of the first week early voting turnout in the special primary elections for state Senate District 32.
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Metro Council changes signal start of city election year
The three newest Memphis City Council members may be a good indication of a change in who runs for the council in the 2019 city elections.
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Metro Kerner Commission update confronts questions of time, change and familiar issues
Alan Curtis, president of the Eisenhower Foundation, was in Memphis last week to talk about an update of the landmark Kerner Commission report on 1968 riots.
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State Government Norris takes oath as federal judge
State Senate Majority Leader Mark Norris became federal judge Mark Norris at a formal ceremony Friday Downtown -- part of a larger season of transition in politics.
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Metro Alexander calls for Senate action on wall
U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander wants to ditch border wall talks between the president and Democratic leaders and instead start moving toward a Senate vote with amendments. That's provided President Donald Trump agrees to reopen the federal government for three weeks while such a bill would be amended and discussed.
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City of Memphis Union Avenue block to get median, bike lanes, landscaping
The city has plans to add a median strip, bike lanes and landscaping on the block of Union Avenue between Marshall and Manassas streets. The changes will connect with a longer stretch of road on Manassas that is something of a proving ground for lots of similar features.
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Public Safety Criminal Court Clerk Heidi Kuhn explores expungement court docket
Shelby County Criminal Court Clerk Heidi Kuhn is reviewing the idea of an expungement court docket to speed the process of wiping clean the criminal records of offenders who have stayed out of trouble for five years.
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City of Memphis Transportation planning cycles endure even in federal government shutdown
The federal government is shutdown but plans continue by local transportation agencies for new federal funding starting in 2020. The projects range from repaving the roads most used by the city's heaviest truck traffic to better pedestrian crossings.
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City of Memphis Council ponders fine print of sports betting bills
Memphis City Council members back the general plan for sports betting on Beale Street, but they want to see what kind of split of revenue is proposed when it comes down to a specific bill in Nashville.
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City of Memphis Greer, Johnson and Currie appointed to City Council
Sherman Greer, an administrator at Southwest Tennessee Community College, is the new District 1 member of the Memphis City Council.
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City of Memphis MLGW tries again on rejected rate hikes
The first Memphis City Council meeting of the new year could see a second look and some revisions to proposed rate hikes from MLGW the council rejected at year's end.
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City of Memphis City Council tries again to fill three vacancies
After a break for the holidays, Memphis City Council members try again Tuesday to fill three vacancies. If the council is still gridlocked, the next move could be to put the three council seats to voters in a special election.
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City of Memphis Tire redemption program learns rules of the road
For the third time in seven years, Memphis and Shelby County are mounting a tire redemption and recycling drive that has some strict rules of the road based on the first two tries.
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Education Kirby High School comeback begins Monday
Almost four months after it closed because of a rat infestation, Kirby High School reopens Monday to students who spent most of their first semester spread across three other campuses. The school returns with some new features and technology it didn't have before.
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