Instead of trying a new, unproven program with dubious accountability to the taxpayers who are funding it, why don’t we double down on the initiatives that are already working across the state?

The very first politically wired, insider Memphis land grab was a done deal when the Chickasaw Nation was pressured into ceding almost 7 million acres at about 4.5 cents apiece, around 99.5 percent below market value.

"I am a scientist at a world-class institution where a lack of power is unimaginable, but Venezuela's blackout is affecting me personally. Fear, uncertainty, helplessness is what the outage has generated in all Venezuelans."

White inmates represent 58 percent of the total federal prison population, according to the U.S. Bureau of Prisons. The First Step Act, designed to lower mandatory-minimum sentences, shouldn't be considered an altruistic act exclusively for black inmates.

Trump is going to be on the ballot in 2020. By the time an impeachment process got under way, voters would already be casting ballots in Iowa and New Hampshire. Let the American people take care of removing Trump if that’s what they want.

A teacher's dilemma: "I felt the tension rise in me, the tension of being told 'no,' and I felt the clear choice to either escalate the situation or to draw near to the student."

The global governing body of the United Methodist Church reaffirmed its position on traditional marriage, including prohibition on ordaining LGBTQ+ people as pastors and prohibiting LGBTQ+ people from being married in the church. "This decision has caused much despair among people I love and respect," a pastor writes.

Vouchers would take money and support out of the public school system. Public education is a right, and if we give up on it, we abandon our responsibility to the future.

The City of Memphis uses some creative methods to fund projects such as Union Row and The Fairgrounds youth sports complex, and those methods are often misunderstood, says a city deputy chief operating officer. 

Lt. Richard 'Tito' Lannom’s remains were recovered on a rocky island off the coast of North Vietnam, through a joint project of Americans and Vietnamese, in which both sides try to heal wounds from the war that ended in 1975.

Tennessee spends nearly $11,000 on each student’s education annually. With ESAs, parents could direct a portion of their child’s funding to the schools and programs they choose, including homeschooling, private and online schools, as well as traditional public schools.

In the United States, at least 30 million people of various ages and genders suffer from an eating disorder – that means roughly one of every 10 Americans will have symptoms of the disease. The prevalence is even greater in certain high-risk populations, including younger women, the LGBTQ community and members of the Armed Forces.

Memphis has provided the world with some of the great love songs, but love is not always easy. Here's a playlist that takes heartbreaks, loneliness and love gone wrong into account.

Ernest Withers, the famous Memphis photographer, was also Ernest Withers the informant, a man whose life illustrates Martin Luther King's description of man's dual nature.

In his early career, Russell Sugarmon played a key role in Memphis' political evolution, both as a candidate for city office in 1959 and as a lawyer for college students who staged sit-ins at lunch counters and public libraries.

When reporting on economic development, the media often emphasizes tax breaks while downplaying the net new taxes generated. This leads many people to simply misunderstand how incentives work and can have serious repercussions for a community, as can be seen in New York with Amazon.

John Simmons gets a tribute that recognizes that he, not his imaginative inventory, was the treasure in his Memphis shops. 

The bold new design for Tom Lee Park aspires to create one of the country's great waterfronts while sending a message that Memphis is a place that embraces its past but isn't defined by it. 

From the St. Jude expansion to the reinvigorated Edge District, Memphis has much to celebrate. But some people have questions and concerns about the Memphis River Parks Partnership's proposal for Tom Lee Park. The concerns and questions should be addressed.

E Pluribus unum is our nation’s traditional motto. Conservatives are drawn to the unum – the unity – in that motto. Liberals often prefer the pluribus – the diversity. Wouldn’t it be great if all our flags allowed us to put aside the pluribus among us and experience the unum?

Mississippi’s Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves is running to be the chief executive of a state where nearly 40 percent of its citizens are African-Americans. They and everyone else in Mississippi deserve to hear directly from him a definitive statement on race relations in 2019.

Some cities just naturally make stories. Others just make noise. Orderly and predictable are safe, but funky and unique are a lot more fun. New Orleans and Memphis are what they are because of those latter traits.

Cities evolve or die. Look at places like Nashville, New Orleans, Atlanta and even Louisville and Austin. Compare those to Little Rock and Jackson, Mississippi. Which do we want to be more like?

Too many people are engaging in dangerous rhetoric that encourages people to “resist” all forms of authority, including law enforcement. This slander must stop – and it must stop right now.

Infrastructure is key to continued growth in Tennessee’s economy. In Memphis, we must continue to invest in world-class transportation systems and we must look to new solutions to fund these investments.