Montee Lopez
Strickland’s pitches budget for a ‘Safer Memphis’
Mayor Jim Strickland took the wraps off of his third budget on Tuesday, telling the Memphis City Council that what he proposes for the next fiscal year is crafted to build off of progress his administration has made in its “drive to run an...
Mayor rolls out ‘HireMemphis’ for youth
Mayor Jim Strickland unveiled “HireMemphis” Wednesday, a hiring initiative to get more young people working in the city.
“In Memphis alone, there are 30,000 youth ages 16-24 who are neither employed nor in school,” Strickland said. “I see this as an additional byproduct and cause...
For local activists, all is not OK – not by a long shot
One of the self-evident truths about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “dream” legacy is that it’s embraced by people with starkly different views of where Memphis and the nation are 50 years after his assassination.
This week in Memphis, much of the spotlight has been...
Memphis to commit $6 million to expansion of pre-kindergarten
by Montee Lopez and Karanja A. Ajanaku
After starting out in the Catholic school system, now-City Councilmember Patrice Robinson encountered some learning challenges. She was put into Memphis City Schools, where a teacher “invested” in her, creating a memory Robinson recalled while touting the value of...
Clock ticking on help for aspiring homeowners
“I absolutely love it.”
Heartfelt and to-the-point words from Consuela Joy Turner, a new homeowner in Memphis. Having just bought her Raleigh-Frayser home a mere three months ago, she’s still on a high — and she owes it mostly to the Homebuyers Down Payment Assistance...
City Council talks murals, Kroger and Delta Airlines
A pressing question for many in South Memphis is “What’s next?” after two Kroger stores closed up shop. The path to an answer to that question wound through the Memphis City Council on Tuesday.
Council members took up that the question during a meeting day...
Community Bail Fund continues to grow
Local attorney Erica Perry was nothing short of grateful after CNN analyst Angela Rye dedicated $5,000 of her speaking fee from the “I Am A MAN” commemoration event this past Saturday to the Black Love Bail Out project.
Rye’s move was a helping-hand investment in...
‘Are you proud of this Memphis?’
“This is not the Memphis that Dr. King would have appreciated and talked about going into the promise land.”
Wham!
CNN analyst Angela Rye delivered that solid verbal punch during a city-sponsored MLK50 commemorative program at the Orpheum on Saturday. Just part of a scathing critique,...
‘Offensive’ murals lead council to take-down move
Memphis City Council unanimously approved a resolution on Tuesday allowing the removal of any public art that could be considered offensive, further souring the relationship between the city and the non-profit art group Paint Memphis.
Paint Memphis has 133 murals across the city. Last week,...
MLGW’s new CEO lays out his plans
Jarl “J.T.” Young’s first encounter with the Memphis City Council netted unanimous approval of his appointment as the next president and CEO of the Memphis Light, Gas and Water Division.
Mayor Jim Strickland announced on Monday that Young, who serves as the general manager of...