A seven-member city group looking at the effectiveness of EDGE – the city-county Economic Development Growth Engine – has a decision to make.

Do they recommend tweaking the body that grants tax abatement incentives or do they take the city out of the EDGE and create a city Industrial Development Board?

2. Colin Kaepernick's Nike Deal Prompts Debate Online - Wednesday, September 5, 2018

An endorsement deal between Nike and Colin Kaepernick is prompting a flood of debate online as sports fans react to the apparel giant backing an athlete known mainly for starting a wave of protests among NFL players of police brutality, racial inequality and other social issues.

3. Firestone Fallout - Saturday, August 18, 2018

The red letters grow fainter as the years pass in North Memphis. The Firestone Tire & Rubber Co. plant’s smokestack, once a symbol of the industrial base that defined North Memphis, has become a different kind of symbol in the 35 years since the tire plant closed.

4. Police HQ No Longer in Running for Second Convention Center Hotel - Tuesday, August 7, 2018

The Civic Center Plaza building that is currently Memphis Police Department headquarters is out of the running to be the site of a second convention center hotel.

“That site was contemplated in the beginning. It’s no longer in the running,” Downtown Memphis Commission president Jennifer Oswalt said of 170 N. Main St. on the WKNO/Channel 10 program “Behind The Headlines.”

5. Johnathan Cyprien Has Torn ACL; Titans May Look at Eric Reid - Friday, August 3, 2018

NASHVILLE (AP) — Tennessee safety Johnathan Cyprien will miss the season with a torn left ACL, and coach Mike Vrabel says veteran Eric Reid is among the safeties the Titans want to look at as a potential replacement.

6. NFL Takes on Anthem Protesters - Friday, May 25, 2018

ATLANTA (AP) – Stand or stay out of sight.

Looking to quell a national debate that was sparked by Colin Kaepernick, stoked by President Trump and some say chipped away at the very popularity of America's game, NFL owners approved a new policy Wednesday that allows players to protest during the national anthem by staying in the locker room but forbids them from sitting or taking a knee if they're on the field.

7. Who Starts on Defense? You’ll Have to Wait - Friday, April 6, 2018

Jeremy Pruitt hasn’t been afraid to change things around during his first spring practice as Tennessee’s head football coach.

8. Elections, Term Limits, Assemblies Face Council - Tuesday, December 5, 2017

Memphis City Council members vote Tuesday, Dec. 5, on a move to repeal ranked-choice voting before it ever gets used. The body also talks about a proposed charter change that would raise council term limits from two consecutive terms to three and takes the first of three readings on changes to the ordinance that sets ground rules for parades, marathons and protests on city streets.

9. Kelly, Legacy Teammates Ready for Final Season With Vols - Friday, August 11, 2017

Todd Kelly Jr. can’t believe it’s his last hoorah. The senior safety from Webb School of Knoxville enters his final season at Tennessee with thoughts of how it all started in fall of 2014.

10. Tax Breaks Broaden For Residential, Retail Deals - Tuesday, August 8, 2017

Some changes are coming in the rules surrounding incentives that the Economic Development Growth Engine for Memphis and Shelby County – or EDGE – can use for different kinds of development and for broader use of tax increment financing – or TIF – zones to sustain redevelopment.

11. Money Behind New Zoo Parking Terms - Thursday, April 13, 2017

In the third attempt to bring an end to the Overton Park Greensward controversy last summer, Memphis City Council member Bill Morrison decided it was best not to try to reach agreement on all points, but on most points.

12. Council Brokers New Zoo Parking Compromise, Abolishes Beale Authority - Wednesday, April 12, 2017

The Memphis City Council went back into the terms for an expanded Memphis Zoo parking lot Tuesday, April 11, just nine months after brokering and approving a compromise on the project between the zoo and the Overton Park Conservancy.

13. Real Estate Experts to Talk Market Trends, Projections - Friday, March 3, 2017

With more than 30 years of expertise, second-generation homebuilder James Reid has seen a lot of ups and downs in West Tennessee’s real estate market.  

“While the market has obviously improved tremendously, last year in Shelby County we only pulled about 925 permits, which traditionally we’ve done in the neighborhood of 3,000 to 4,000,” Reid said. “So while we’ve recovered some, we’re still down from a typical year.”

14. You Gotta Have Heart: UT’s 2017 Recruiting Class - Friday, February 10, 2017

Butch Jones did it again. The Tennessee football coach gave opponents press conference fodder with another one-liner while putting his spin on the Vols’ 2017 signing class.

It happened a day after the Feb. 1 National Signing Day when UT’s class was rated No. 17 nationally in the 247Sports composite rankings.

15. Greensward Plan Awaits Shuttle Details - Thursday, July 7, 2016

The Overton Park Greensward controversy is still moving although it is much closer to a resolution with last week’s proposal by Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland, said City Council chairman Kemp Conrad and councilman Worth Morgan, whose district includes the park.

16. Lawsuit Seeks to Void City Decision on Greensward - Tuesday, April 5, 2016

A lawsuit filed in Shelby County Chancery Court Tuesday, April 5, seeks to void the March 1 Memphis City Council vote that gave the Memphis Zoo undisputed control of most of the Overton Park Greensward.

17. Lawsuit Seeks to Void City Decision on Greensward - Tuesday, April 5, 2016

A lawsuit filed in Shelby County Chancery Court Tuesday, April 5, seeks to void the March 1 Memphis City Council vote that gave the Memphis Zoo undisputed control of most of the Overton Park Greensward.

18. Hedgepeth Defends Greensward Action, Conservancy Moves to Mediation - Friday, March 4, 2016

Memphis City Council member Reid Hedgepeth says the body's Tuesday, March 1, vote to give the Memphis Zoo control of part of the Overton Park Greensward was an attempt to “rectify a mistake.”

19. Morgan: Permanent Overton Park Fix Will Take Time - Tuesday, January 26, 2016

The Memphis City Council member whose district includes Overton Park says there is no immediate permanent fix for the greensward controversy beyond the zoo continuing to park cars there.

“Short term, there’s really nothing that can quickly move that number of cars,” council member Worth Morgan said on the WKNO-TV program “Behind the Headlines.”

20. Memphis Zoo CEO: Mediation, Court Action Can Coexist in Greensward Dispute - Saturday, January 23, 2016

The Memphis Zoo’s move to Chancery Court next week in the Overton Park greensward controversy does not damage the mediation process between the zoo and the Overton Park Conservancy.

That’s what zoo president and CEO Chuck Brady said as attorneys on both sides of the controversy prepare to make their cases in court.

21. Zoo Goes To Court Over Greensward - Friday, January 22, 2016

The Memphis Zoo has gone to Chancery Court seeking undisputed legal control of the northern section of the Overton Park greensward.

Attorneys for the zoo filed the suit Thursday, Jan. 21, seeking a declaratory judgment in the dispute with the Overton Park Conservancy.

22. Strickland Proposes Mediation in Greensward Controversy - Wednesday, January 20, 2016

Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland is asking leaders of the Memphis Zoo and the Overton Park Conservancy to enter voluntary mediation over parking in the Overton Park Greensward.

23. Memphis Zoo Removes Trees From Overton Park Greensward - Thursday, January 14, 2016

When the Overton Park Conservancy’s staff noticed 27 trees had been removed from the north end of the park’s greensward Monday, they immediately called Memphis Police.

The conservancy then began calling the other institutions in the park and found the Memphis Zoo had removed the trees donated to and planted by the conservancy four years ago.

24. Memphis Zoo Removes Trees From Overton Park Greensward - Thursday, January 14, 2016

When the Overton Park Conservancy’s staff noticed 27 trees had been removed from the north end of the park’s greensward Monday, they immediately called Memphis Police.

The conservancy then began calling the other institutions in the park and found the Memphis Zoo had removed the trees donated to and planted by the conservancy four years ago.

25. Greensward Controversy Revived With New Year’s Eve Legal Opinion - Tuesday, January 5, 2016

Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland says a New Year’s Eve legal opinion on the use of the Overton Park greensward does not speak for his administration.

26. Five City Council Races Destined for Runoffs - Friday, October 9, 2015

The identity of the Memphis City Council that will take office in January with six new members was still in flux at the end of a very long and frustrating Oct. 8 election night.

The races for four of those six open seats and the seat now held by an appointee to the council are going to a Nov. 19 runoff election – one week before Thanksgiving.

27. New Tax Incentive Aims to Boost Declining Memphis Neighborhoods - Wednesday, September 16, 2015

Just north of Interstate 40, the commercially empty gateways to the Frayser neighborhood between North Hollywood Street and North Watkins Street are hardly fit to accommodate the thousands of vehicles that pass by every day.

28. Memphis Mayoral Field Set at 10 - Friday, July 24, 2015

Shelby County Election Commissioners have certified the Memphis election ballot for Oct. 8.

These are the names to appear on that ballot for the 15 elected offices.

The commission met hours after the noon Thursday, July 23, deadline for candidates to withdraw from the ballot if they wished.

29. EDGE Leader Faults 'Vague' Concerns About Incentives - Tuesday, February 24, 2015

The president of the Economic Development Growth Engine wants Memphis City Council members and Shelby County commissioners to approve proposed changes to payment-in-lieu-of taxes incentives the EDGE board grants.

30. PILOT Critics Push for Fuller Accounting - Monday, August 18, 2014

One of the most vocal critics of payment-in-lieu-of-taxes economic development incentives – or PILOTs – says he intends to make them an issue in the 2015 Memphis elections.

Rev. Kenneth Whalum Jr. said his problem with the property tax abatements is the lack of disclosure about their details and how companies getting them have met the goals of creating jobs for Memphians.

31. Pressure Builds to Grant More Tax Breaks - Monday, August 11, 2014

The head of the Economic Development Growth Engine organization says there is another side to the controversy over granting property tax abatements through payments-in-lieu-of-taxes that isn’t heard in the current civic discussion about the incentives.

32. Senate Confirms McDonald as Veterans Affairs Secretary - Wednesday, July 30, 2014

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate on Tuesday unanimously confirmed former Procter & Gamble CEO Robert McDonald as the new Veterans Affairs secretary, with a mission to overhaul an agency beleaguered by long veterans' waits for health care and VA workers falsifying records to cover up delays.

33. Congress, FBI Moving on Veterans Affairs Health Care - Thursday, June 12, 2014

WASHINGTON (AP) – As Congress moves to help thousands of military veterans enduring long wait times for VA medical care, the FBI said it has opened a criminal investigation into the Department of Veterans Affairs.

34. House Approves Bill to Stop Cut to Medicare Docs - Friday, March 28, 2014

WASHINGTON (AP) – The House on Thursday passed legislation to give doctors a yearlong reprieve from a looming 24 percent cut in their payments from Medicare.

The bill passed on a surprise voice vote and advanced to the Senate, which hopes to pass it before a Monday deadline. The vote was delayed by an hour amid doubt that the measure could muster the two-thirds vote required under fast-track procedures.

35. Obama Says Talks OK – After Default Threat Averted - Wednesday, October 9, 2013

WASHINGTON (AP) – After weeks of gridlock, House Republicans floated broad hints Tuesday they might be willing to pass short-term legislation re-opening the government and averting a default in exchange for immediate talks with the Obama administration on reducing deficits and changing the three-year-old health care law.

36. Shutdown in Third Day With Debt Trouble Looming - Friday, October 4, 2013

WASHINGTON (AP) – Efforts to resolve the government shutdown were at a standstill Thursday as President Barack Obama and House Speaker John Boehner traded barbs, the Treasury warned of a dire risk to the economy ahead and work in the Capitol was briefly halted because of gunshots outside.

37. GOP House: Keep Government Open, Hit 'Obamacare' - Monday, September 23, 2013

WASHINGTON (AP) – Charting a collision course with the White House, the Republican-controlled House approved legislation Friday to wipe out the three-year-old health care law that President Barack Obama has vowed to preserve – and simultaneously prevent a partial government shutdown that neither party claims to want.

38. US Government Collecting Huge Number of Phone Records - Friday, June 7, 2013

WASHINGTON (AP) – The government is secretly collecting the telephone records of millions of U.S. customers of Verizon under a top-secret court order, according to the chairwoman of the Senate Intelligence Committee. The Obama administration is defending the National Security Agency's need to collect such records, but critics are calling it a huge over-reach.

39. Senate Bill Would Extend Deposit Insurance Program - Tuesday, December 11, 2012

WASHINGTON (AP) — To prevent a possible run on banks at the height of the financial crisis four years ago, Congress expanded government insurance for certain bank deposits to include totals above the usual $250,000 limit. Now that the ceiling is about to be re-imposed, community banks fear they'll lose customers to bigger banks and want Congress to come to their rescue.

40. City Could Reconsider Sales Tax Hike - Tuesday, November 13, 2012

Just days after voters in Memphis and unincorporated Shelby County voted down the idea of a half-cent countywide sales tax hike, there was renewed talk at Memphis City Hall about a citywide sales tax hike.

41. Senate Rejects Dem, GOP Business Tax Cut Bills - Friday, July 13, 2012

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate on Thursday rejected rival Democratic and Republican plans for cutting taxes on businesses, with both parties refusing to yield ground in their election-year struggle over how best to spark the economy.

42. Lawmakers Try to Save Stalled Transportation Bill - Wednesday, June 20, 2012

WASHINGTON (AP) – House and Senate leaders are making a last-ditch effort to revive stalled legislation to overhaul federal transportation programs – Congress' best bet for passage of a major jobs bill this year – but prospects for passage before the November election are dimming.

43. Senate Democrats Unveil Business Tax Breaks - Tuesday, March 27, 2012

WASHINGTON (AP) – Senate Democrats Monday unveiled a $26 billion temporary tax cut for businesses to boost their payrolls and encourage investment in new equipment.

The legislation would award businesses a tax credit of 10 percent on the salaries of new hires or for pay raises given to existing workers. Businesses that make major new capital investments in new equipment and machinery would be able to write off those investments immediately rather than over several years.

44. Popular Small Business Bill Hits Senate Obstacles - Friday, March 16, 2012

WASHINGTON (AP) – It might seem a recipe for success: Legislation to help small businesses raise capital passed the House last week with 95 percent of lawmakers voting for it and President Barack Obama's support. But in today's Congress, nothing comes easy.

45. Tax Cut Lives: Congress Gives Last-Minute Approval - Monday, December 26, 2011

WASHINGTON (AP) – After weeks of bickering and doubt, Congress delivered a last-minute holiday tax cut extension to 160 million workers Friday along with further unemployment benefits for millions laid off in the nation's fierce recession and weak economic recovery. It was a convincing victory for President Barack Obama, a humbling retreat for House Republicans.

46. House, Senate at Odds Over Payroll Tax Cut - Tuesday, December 20, 2011

WASHINGTON (AP) – The House and Senate barreled toward a collision Monday over some of the chief ingredients of President Barack Obama's recipe for reviving the economy, with tax increases and jobless benefit cuts awaiting millions of Americans on New Year's Day if the dispute is not resolved.

47. Republicans Plan House OK of Payroll Tax Cut Bill - Wednesday, December 14, 2011

WASHINGTON (AP) – The White House promised a veto Tuesday for a Republican bill renewing a payroll tax cut next year for 160 million workers, complaining that spending cuts that pay for the measure would whack the middle class and require no sacrifice from the rich.

48. House GOP Introduces Bill Renewing Payroll Tax Cut - Monday, December 12, 2011

WASHINGTON (AP) – House Republicans introduced legislation Friday that would extend the Social Security payroll tax cut through 2012 and trim extra benefits for the long-term unemployed.

49. House Disaster Vote Sets up Showdown With Senate - Thursday, September 22, 2011

WASHINGTON (AP) – Despite opposition from Democrats and some tea party Republicans, the GOP-controlled House on Wednesday took up $3.7 billion in disaster relief as part of a bill to avert a government shutdown at the end of the month.

50. Disaster Aid Showdown Looms on Capitol Hill - Wednesday, September 21, 2011

WASHINGTON (AP) – The Democratic leader of the Senate says he'll try this week to add almost $7 billion in disaster aid to must-pass legislation to avert a government shutdown.

The move by Nevada Democrat Harry Reid would force GOP supporters of a Senate disaster relief bill to choose whether to stick with the Senate disaster package or opt for a less generous House version. The House version is partially "paid for" with a $1.5 billion cut to a federal program that subsidizes low interest loans to car companies to build more fuel efficient vehicles.

51. Debt-Limit Votes: Senate Momentum, House Concerns - Tuesday, August 2, 2011

WASHINGTON (AP) – The House began debate Monday on the hard-bargained plan to avert a national financial default, even as the White House and congressional leaders struggled to round up enough votes to approve it. Supporters said momentum for the deficit-reduction compromise was on their side, but resistance from both liberals and conservatives made the outcome unclear.

52. White House Threatens to Veto Boehner's House Plan - Wednesday, July 27, 2011

WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House threatened on Tuesday to veto emergency House legislation that aims to avert a threatened national default, a pre-emptive strike issued as Republican Speaker John Boehner labored to line up enough votes in his own party to pass the measure.

53. Tea Party Takes its Turn in Debt Battle - Tuesday, July 19, 2011

WASHINGTON (AP) – The White House weighed in with a veto threat Monday against a tea party-backed plan to let the government borrow another $2.4 trillion, a measure conditioned on big and immediate spending cuts and adoption by Congress of a constitutional amendment to balance the federal budget.

54. Obama Challenges Congress: Do ‘Something Big’ - Monday, July 18, 2011

WASHINGTON (AP) – President Barack Obama on Friday challenged Congress to compromise and "do something big" to reduce long-term deficits, insisting he was willing to make his own tough choices including trimming benefits for wealthy Medicare recipients. Facing a critical Aug. 2 deadline to raise the nation's debt limit, Obama said the public was on his side but "we're running out of time."

55. Senators Concerned by Photo ID Requirement to Vote - Thursday, June 30, 2011

WASHINGTON (AP) – Sixteen Democratic senators want the Justice Department to look into whether voting rights are being jeopardized in states that require photo identification in order for people to vote.

56. Obama Invites Top US Senators for Debt Talks - Monday, June 27, 2011

WASHINGTON (AP) – Stepping directly into stalled debt talks, President Barack Obama is inviting the two leaders of the U.S. Senate to separate meetings Monday, shifting the negotiations to the highest levels.

57. Obama Focusing on Debt in Meeting With Democrats - Thursday, May 12, 2011

WASHINGTON (AP) – President Barack Obama is wading into the swirl of deficit-trimming budget plans, looking to cast himself as a broker in the struggle to tame the federal debt.

The White House and congressional Democrats and Republicans are working to sort out what debt-fighting measures they can embrace now and which ones will be left for later, probably after the 2012 presidential and congressional elections.

58. Obama: Talks on Entitlements 'Have Already Begun' - Friday, February 18, 2011

WASHINGTON (AP) – President Barack Obama said Wednesday that difficult debates on how to address the costs of Social Security and Medicare are "starting now," even though his 2012 budget blueprint lacked any major changes to the large benefit programs.

59. Obama, Hill Leaders Meet: Taxes, Treaty on Tap - Wednesday, December 1, 2010

WASHINGTON (AP) – House and Senate leaders from both parties sat down Tuesday for their first postelection meeting with President Barack Obama in an atmosphere charged with tension over taxes and a new nuclear arms treaty with Russia.

60. TSA: Some Gov't Officials to Skip Airport Security - Friday, November 26, 2010

WASHINGTON (AP) – Cabinet secretaries, top congressional leaders and an exclusive group of senior U.S. officials are exempt from toughened new airport screening procedures when they fly commercially with government-approved federal security details.

61. Hobbled Dems, Eager GOP Back for Lame-Duck Session - Tuesday, November 16, 2010

WASHINGTON (AP) – Dejected Democrats and invigorated Republicans returned to the Capitol Monday to face a mountain of unfinished business and greet more than 100 mainly Republican freshmen-elect lawmakers determined to change how they do that business.

62. White House Doubts Need to Halt All Foreclosures - Tuesday, October 12, 2010

WASHINGTON (AP) – A top White House adviser questioned the need Sunday for a blanket stoppage of all home foreclosures, even as pressure grows on the Obama administration to do something about mounting evidence that banks have used inaccurate documents to evict homeowners.

63. Golden State Star Buys Wright’s Old Home - Friday, May 28, 2010

Professional basketball player Monta Ellis, a Mississippi native who now plays for the Golden State Warriors, has bought the Eads home once owned by former University of Memphis Tigers and Memphis Grizzlies star Lorenzen Wright.

64. Byrnes to Take MAHBA Reins - Thursday, December 24, 2009

Tommy Byrnes of Byrnes Ostner Investments Inc. will serve as 2010 president of the Memphis Area Home Builders Association, the group’s executive director, Don Glays, said this week.

65. AIG Bonuses Won't Stand, Dem Senators Declare - Wednesday, March 18, 2009

WASHINGTON (AP) - Talking tougher by the hour, livid Democrats confronted beleaguered insurance giant AIG with an ultimatum Tuesday: Give back $165 million in post-bailout bonuses or watch Congress tax it away with emergency legislation.

66. Digital Billboards Under New Rules - Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Almost two years ago, Clear Channel Outdoor brought to Memphis what outdoor advertising companies regard as the future of the industry.

It installed five digital billboards, high-tech structures that passing motorists might mistake for giant plasma TV screens mounted on poles.

67. Attorney General To Defend Strip Club Ordinance - Thursday, March 20, 2008

Tennessee Attorney General Robert Cooper will help defend the Shelby County ordinance governing Memphis strip clubs in U.S. District Court.

Cooper's office filed a motion Monday to intervene on the side of the city and county in the case filed by seven strip club owners. The suit challenges the constitutionality of the ordinance as well as the state law on which the ordinance is based.