By Malorie Paine MEMPHIS, TN — An alarming number of interstate shootings have taken place in Memphis and Shelby County since Jan. 1. According to Memphis Police Department, 32 interstate shootings had occurred around Memphis as of July 17. MPD Public Information Officer Lieutenant Karen Rudolph said the shootings have been attributed to road rage as well as reactionary behavior to conflict that had taken place at other locations. To protect themselves, drivers should be courteous when on the roadways by using their blinkers, being patient, watching their speed limit and distances between their vehicle and others, Rudolph said. MPD…
Author: Malorie Paine
By Malorie Paine MEMPHIS, TN — Memphis mayor candidate Tami Sawyer says that Memphis cannot wait when it comes to resolving issues she sees the city face, which is why she is hoping to be elected as the next mayor of Memphis. “We have an urgency around social issues that our city is challenged with, and we have to find an immediate solution for the poverty that has existed and the rate that has not changed since Dr. King was still here 51 years ago,” Sawyer said. “We have to finally invest in the youth of Memphis and put people…
By Malorie Paine JACKSON, TN — The Jackson Madison County Community Remembrance Project will continue trying to install a plaque that would memorialize three lynchings which took place in the late 1800s in Madison County. The JMCCRP is a partnership with the Equal Justice Initiative that consists of Madison County and Jackson citizens. The coalition is focused currently on installing the plaque, despite the plaque having been voted down at a Madison County Commission meeting in June. The plaque would provide information about the three known people and the events that took place on one side of the plaque, and…
By Malorie Paine JACKSON, TN — Two Jackson Madison County School board members have come under full attack with Governor Bill Lee signing into law a bill allowing voters to recall school board members. Lee signed the bill last month, but there is already a petition circulating to recall Doris Black, District 4, and Board Chairman Keith Alexander, District 2. The recall process is one with several steps. Petition organizers would first need to gain signatures for 66% of the votes each candidate received during the election. Once signatures are gathered, those will be submitted to the Election Commission for…
By Malorie Paine JACKSON, TN — A runoff election will take place June 18 between two candidates for the Jackson mayor position. Jerry Woods and Scott Conger received the most votes, but neither received enough votes initially to secure the position. Kim Buckley, administrator of elections for Madison County, said according to the city charter, candidates must receive 50% of the votes plus one. This runoff election is the first in Buckley’s 28 years of working at the election commission. Buckley attributes the number of candidates to the need for a runoff. “There were five candidates in the election, and…
By Malorie Paine MEMPHIS, TN — Three separate dumpster trips to empty an overfilling industrial sized trash can, counters in six different bathrooms wiped down once, then again, and trash from every single table has been cleared countless times. All of this in only the first hour and a half of a Monday housekeeping shift at the University of Memphis. Gracie Mayhew, 61, will repeat the cycle multiple times before her day’s shift ends, and she’ll cross a few more items off her checklist as well. Mayhew said she makes sure the entire first floor of the University Center is…