VOL. 132 | NO. 123 | Wednesday, June 21, 2017
Last Word
Bill Dries
Last Word: Cooper-Young's Controversy, Harris and Norris and Fulmer Returns
By Bill Dries
Shelby County Commissioners have at least two hot topics to talk about Wednesday at committee sessions that could take up most if not all of the work day. By the agenda, these sessions go from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. But they have been known to stretch into the afternoon quite a bit.
Early on, the commission talks to Shelby County Schools officials about the school system’s budget. Commissioners may wander off subject a bit and want to know more about the school system’s investigation of grade changing allegations and other accusations leveled by former Trezevant High principal Ronnie Mackin.
If the commission doesn’t get to that, it will have plenty in the school system line items to discuss. And there will be some last minute changes to that. At a Tuesday night work session, SCS board members were told the school system is going to lose about $5 million in federal funding that goes to high poverty schools. In the next year, 11 schools will be affected by that.
Here’s more from Chalkbeat.
Later in the morning at the county building, the commission has its first discussion of the move by other county elected leaders to have the feds do away with the memorandum governing conditions and changes at Juvenile Court. Opposition to the move is growing with the Memphis City Council going on record Tuesday night expressing its opposition to the idea.
Some of the opposition is based on two recent reports from the expert monitors who have been watching and advising the court for years. And there is also the question of timing. Most of the items in the memo were judged to be completed by Washington as the monitors were visiting Memphis in April. Here is a primer and our complete rundown of the crucial issues those monitors raise and where this all might be going.
Meanwhile, Memphis is one of a dozen cities the Justice Department wants to partner with on long term crime strategy.
The council resolution on Juvenile Court was just part of a busy and very technical council day Tuesday at City Hall. Here is the complete rundown with more to come on a broader theme when we meet here again in about 24 hours.
You will note that the council appeared to put to rest the greensward issue in Overton Park for now with a quick vote and no debate Tuesday. Midtown may, however, have a new cause to fill the vacuum. There is a move to make Cooper-Young a historic district and it promises to be an interesting debate that would ultimately be decided by an election of sorts.
Our Nashville correspondent, Sam Stockard, on the differences between the state Senate Majority Leader and the state Senate Minority Leader – both of Shelby County – over the bill become law that adds to someone’s jail time for non imnmigration crimes if they are in the country illegally.
More on the ripple effect for Downtown businesses anticipated with the coming of Wunderlich Securities to One Commerce and other recent office moves to Downtown.
He’s remained a presence in all affairs Big Orange. But former UT football coach Phillip Fulmer now has a title – special advisor to UT president Joe DiPietro.
It looks like a federal judge in Knoxville is about to move the trial of eight former employees of the truck stop chain Pilot – the one Gov. Bill Haslam ran and that his brother Jimmy currently runs.