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MEMPHIS, Tenn. — City leaders urging the public to keep a watchful eye after a string of robberies targeting MLGW contractors responsible for cutting trees. At least 15 tree trimmer crews have been robbed this year, impacting the operation and leading to staffing shortages. “That is an issue that we have,” said Nick Newman, MLGW […]

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — The FDA gave its approval Thursday for booster shots for older teenagers, authorizing booster shots for almost 4 million 16- and 17-year-olds to help slow the spread of COVID, new variants and reduce hospitalizations. With the Delta variant increasing COVID hospitalizations and the Omicron variant looming, there’s a new sense of urgency […]

MEMPHIS, Tenn.– There are concerns over the Tennessee Valley Authority’s plans to take coal ash from one Memphis community and move it to another as the Memphis chapter of the NAACP and some city leaders say it looks like environmental racism. The push back is in relation to a Tennessee Valley Authority plan to remove […]

Across the country, more than 131 million Americans are now fully vaccinated. Here in Shelby County, the health department says more than 353,000 have been vaccinated.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — New data shows only half of city employees are vaccinated, and now some Memphis City Council members want to require a vaccine mandate. “We tired of burying y’all,” said funeral home director and Memphis City Council member Edmund Ford, Sr. The strong reaction came after Ford learned Tuesday that only half of […]

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — With COVID rates dropping, Shelby County health experts are encouraging trick-or-treating this Halloween, and why that’s the spooky news some have been waiting to hear. While Memphians and Mid-Southerners last year were discouraged to celebrate Halloween last year, Gary Wilkes, president of Wayne’s Candy on Carolina Avenue, says the pandemic won’t scare […]

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — The Arkansas Department of Health on Thursday confirmed two pediatric deaths in the state have been attributed to COVID-19. A spokesperson said one of the deaths was reported recently. The other happened late last year, but wasn’t confirmed as COVID-related until later. Both involved children under 18. The state would not release […]

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Sixteen percent of Shelby County’s new cases of COVID-19 are in people who have been vaccinated, said Dr. Jeff Warren, a Memphis city councilman and member of the local COVID task force. Warren would know; he’s one of those cases. “I had a little cold on Wednesday, runny nose, little cough. I […]

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – In the face of rising Covid cases, Memphis City Council unanimously passed a resolution Tuesday afternoon asking the Shelby County Health Department to issue a mask mandate. The last countywide mask mandate expired in May, but in the last month, the Delta variant has caused seven-day daily case averages to quadruple.   […]

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Health officials say it is important for people who’ve recovered from COVID-19 to get vaccinated.  A new CDC study shows survivors who ignored that advice and had COVID are more than twice as likely to get re-infected. “Now the surge is worse than it’s ever been,” said Matt Robinson, who works in […]

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Healthcare leaders in Memphis are warning that staffing issues may force hospitals to make tough decisions in the face of a rising tide of COVID-19 patients. In recent days, doctors have warned about hospitals being swamped and sick people unable to receive the care they need.  “We are in a war against […]