Vaccinations join masks in pandemic politics
If masks have been the face of the nation’s political divide during the pandemic, what are COVID vaccinations?
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 4214 articles by Bill Dries :
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July 2021
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Behind The Headlines -
Metro Ida B. Wells returns to city with new statue
The author of the definitive 2008 biography of the anti-lynching crusader and NAACP cofounder says the statue of Wells defines the city as well as honors her in a city whose leaders once talked of killing her.
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City of Memphis Ida B. Wells statue unveiling spotlights new issues
A new monument on Beale Street honors the 19th century school teacher, journalist and anti-lynching figure. The recognition comes 130 years after Wells left the city just ahead of a mob that ransacked her newspaper office.
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Shelby County Shelby County models collaborative with nonprofits on COVID response
The collaborative with more than 150 local nonprofits is to tackle long-terms needs and problems in the same rapid and sustained way the countywide COVID task force has handled the local response to the pandemic.
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Metro Blackburn’s views on China echo senator’s from the past
Blackburn’s recent speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Dallas was all-China, echoing some of the concerns made by then-Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson during his tenure.
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City of Memphis City Council Scorecard: Car lot challenges unspoken rule
The council’s discussion last week about a car lot in Raleigh could be about some larger changes in zoning. Normally the representative of a district gets final say on the zoning, but that’s not how this is going.
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Transportation & Logistics More repairs needed on I-40 bridge
The Tennessee Department of Transportation originally identified nine spots beyond the damage spotted in May that shut down all traffic on the Hernando DeSoto Bridge, but that has increased to 16.
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Spirit of Memphis Out of the pipeline: The city’s water movement and how it evolved
The Byhalia Connection Pipeline is over but a burgeoning environmental movement, with the city’s underground water aquifer at its center, remains. The road to that movement began with the rise of the city’s new activism several years ago, with some unexpected twists and turns along the way.
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Public Safety MPD chief meets with Biden to talk violent crime
During the Monday meeting at the White House with Chief Cerelyn “C.J.” Davis and other police chiefs, President Biden said federal, state and local coordination is essential to his violent crime strategy.
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City of Memphis City loses appeal of City Hall blacklist damages
The city’s list of those allowed in City Hall only with a police escort grew to 81 in a wave of protests in 2016 and 2017.
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City of Memphis MLGW begins proposal process for possible TVA break
Memphis Light, Gas and Water Division began the process Monday, July 12, of soliciting proposals for possibly cutting ties to the Tennessee Valley Authority, its electric power provider for the past 80 years.
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Business TVA’s connection to a more complex water movement
The Tennessee Valley Authority supplies electric power to Memphis Light, Gas and Water Division. But the possibility of MLGW leaving TVA is also a part of the issue with the city’s water supply and its safety.
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Out of the pipeline: The city's water movement and how it evolved
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Metro What’s next for the Memphis water movement
The short answer is more complexity and more ambition and probably more litigation.
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Out of the pipeline: The city's water movement and how it evolved
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Public Safety Owens sentenced to three years in federal heroin case
The son of one-time topless nightclub kingpin Danny Owens drew a sentence below federal guidelines for drug conspiracy.
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On the Record Incoming NCRM president sees role for museum in ‘critical race theory’ debate
National Civil Rights Museum President Russell Wigginton said on The Daily Memphian Politics Podcast that he hopes state education officials will consult with the museum as they set the guidelines for school systems to navigate the new state law banning teaching about systemic racism and how the history of race impacts the present.
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City of Memphis Council sets stage for pipeline regulations in wake of Byhalia Connection surrender
An attorney for Plains All American Pipeline told City Council members Tuesday the proposals are “anti-industry” and will be overturned if approved by the council and County Commission.
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City of Memphis Council approves city’s purchase of bottling plant at Fairgrounds
Funding includes $2.5 million to buy the 17-acre site and the rest for conversion of space to Liberty Bowl parking spaces and city maintenance facilities.
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City of Memphis Council delays sale of Union Avenue police property
Council members had questions about the land sale coming in below the $6 million appraised value of the property.
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City of Memphis Chief reacts to new open carry gun law
Memphis Police Chief Cerelyn “C.J.” Davis briefs City Council members on the opening weekend of the new law.
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City of Memphis City Council ponders next steps after pipeline truce turns to surrender
Also on the council’s agenda Tuesday is a first look at the “Union Station” development on Union Avenue east of McLean, buying the Coke bottling plant property by the Fairgrounds and votes on two historic overlay districts in Crosstown and Vollintine-Evergreen.
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State Government Wide range of new state laws now in effect
Here’s a review of some of the new state laws and changes to state law that took effect July 1 after approval by the Tennessee General Assembly and the signature of Gov. Bill Lee.
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On the Record People’s Convention to return with ‘People’s Summit’
The summit comes during an off-election year in Shelby County politics, which Rev. Earle Fisher said is useful to emphasize the coalition’s focus on issues and policy.
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Business Plains All American cancels Byhalia Connection Pipeline
The announcement comes ahead of the end of a two-month truce on the controversial project as well as efforts by local leaders to slow it down and stop it.
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Shelby County County Commission Scorecard: The tax rate votes
The County Commission Scorecard tracks the second in a series of votes on a county property tax rate. But the votes probably don’t close out the county’s budget season with four of the 13 commissioners absent.
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Behind The Headlines County property tax hike stirs opposing commission views
On “Behind The Headlines,” county commissioners Van Turner and Mark Billingsley clashed over whether the commission should reopen its budget season later this month to consider a one-cent property tax hike.
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