This week on WKNO/Channel 10’s Behind the Headlines, host Eric Barnes guided a roundtable discussion with journalists on key issues such as changes to the Memphis-Shelby County School district, MATA and more. The panel included Katherine Burgess from MLK50, Toby Sells from the Memphis Flyer, and Bill Dries and Laura Testino from the Daily Memphian.
Laura Testino discussed possible legislation from the Tennessee State legislature that would put into place triggers that would allow the state to take over the MSCS district. This is a result of the divisive firing of newly appointed superintendent, Marie Feagins, and the Shelby County Commission's vote of no confidence in the school board.
Shifting to political news, Bill Dries discussed the federal indictment of Shelby County Commissioner Edmund Ford, Jr. on charges of bribery and tax evasion. Katherine Burgess notes that in years past Ford was also investigated for issuing grant money to an organization that in turn returned payment to him to buy laptops from one of Ford's personal businesses.
The discussion then shifted to the Memphis Area Transit Authority (MATA). It was announced that MATA would restore transit routes that had been secretly cut in the past year. According to Burgess, officials published bus routes that they knew they could not supply a bus or driver for, effectively implementing route cuts without the approval of the MATA board. Results of a consultation with TransPro state that the board would incrementally restore those routes once buses are repaired, or new buses are obtained.
Wrapping up, Toby Sells talked about challenges to the renewal of the Memphis 3.0 comprehensive plan for the city. The organization MidtownMemphis.org states that the current Memphis 3.0 plan would create more density in Midtown, which could cause outside development of multi-family structures and the destabilization of the neighborhood.