Michael Nelson offers his take on sports betting in Tennessee; the Mississippi governor's race; and why Lamar Alexander and Marsha Blackburn face some interesting times in Washington.

After putting the kibosh on rumors about his political future, U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen is making a rather bold prediction of his own.

Again and again, prior to the launch of The Daily Memphian, people would say to me, “You’ve got to have obituaries.”

Memphis has plans: Plans for development, redevelopment and revitalization, from Downtown to the neighborhoods surrounding the central city.

A steady flow of mostly positive economic news for Memphis and Shelby County – coupled with the solemn and tasteful commemoration of the 50th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s assassination – was overshadowed at times by political bickering and grandstanding in 2018.

Whether in Memphis, Mississippi, Tennessee or Washington, politics in 2019 promises to be more interesting than usual in an odd-numbered year.

Memphis has plans: Plans for development, redevelopment and revitalization, from Downtown to the neighborhoods surrounding the central city.

Go figure: a Christmas week movie called “Vice.”

The statement contained a total of 102 words. But for a man who has served his state and country as long as Lamar Alexander has, it was remarkable for its brevity.

There are Confederate monuments, and there are Confederate monuments.

Ocie Cleveland “O.C.” Pleasant Jr. always offered a quip and a smile upon an encounter. When expressing the standard Southern inquiry as to his well-being, he would simply reply, “I’m pleasant.”

Now that November is behind us, where does the Mid-South stand politically?

Every day in the U.S. there are 10 accidental drownings – 3,500 a year – and it’s the second-leading cause of death among children 1 to 14.

Will he or won’t he?

With a shared private and public goal to increase population density as a mechanism to become more efficient and successful as a city, the expansion of Memphis and Shelby County’s Economic Development Growth Engine (EDGE) payment in-lieu-of taxes (PILOT) incentive to include Midtown has been welcomed by multifamily developers in our community.

Keel Hunt is a Nashville guy, which is why his fascinating new book about Tennessee politics, "Crossing the Aisle: How Bipartisanship Brought Tennessee to the 21st Century and Could Save America," is a lot more Nashville than Memphis.

 “Confirmation bias” refers to the tendency to only credit information which reinforces your own view.

Phil Bredesen spent his last four minutes and 12 seconds in the spotlight Tuesday night coming to grips with the sobering reality that his time in politics is over.

“Our country has changed,” Chief Justice John Roberts wrote in Shelby County v. Holder, a landmark decision that overturned a key provision of the 1965 Civil Rights Act and ended the enforcement of federal oversight of voting practices in states that have historically disenfranchised minority voters.

Two quotes in the closing days of this year’s midterm election, both on the subject of the “migrant caravan” as a political motivator:

I’m taking a breath. The election is over, and however you may feel about the outcome, the sun has managed to come up the last three days regardless. My back hurt before, during, and after the voting, and nobody running helped me get my socks on in the morning. The person who does that got my vote a long time ago, although she may be looking for another candidate.

“People make choices. Choices make history.”

Memphians of a certain vintage may recall a time when the rest of Tennessee disparaged us as Big Shelby. It was a backhanded way of expressing East and Middle Tennessee’s resentment of – and, truth be told, our own vaulting pride in – the power wielded by Memphis and Shelby County in the state’s politics and government.

Phil Trenary was a friend who I met through work. I think this was probably true of many of Phil’s friends. They met him through work. That’s because Phil’s work, his passion for so many years, was to make Memphis, this city he loved, a better place.

On Sundays we’re going to try to catch up on the week’s news, late-breaking items, observations and perhaps a recap of stories that were particularly interesting.