The Memphis City Council passed the first reading of an ordinance that would allow a referendum to appear on the November ballot. The question to voters, if the ordinance passes all three reads, would be if the Memphis Light, Gas and Water Board of Commissioners should or should not add two suburban members to their board.
MLGW has said multiple times that currently, 32% of ratepayers reside outside of Memphis city limits.
The measure passed on the consent agenda and will go to the next two readings.
Discussion of the ordinance in committee was limited, as the item before related to xAI and MLGW's support for the company's coming supercomputer dominated the MLGW Committee.
Kustoff Meets with Israeli prime minister
A West Tennessee Congressman traveled to Israel and met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu this month.
Rep. David Kustoff, a Republican from Germantown, traveled to Israel to meet with Netanyahu in early July and officially launched the "House-Knesset Parliamentary Friendship Group" in Jerusalem, according to a press release about the visit. Kustoff is the Chairman of the House-Knesset Parliamentary Friendship Group.
Kustoff delivered an address to the members of the Knesset, the Israeli parliament, reiterating "the United States' support for Israel’s efforts to eradicate Hamas and other Iranian-backed genocidal terrorist groups."
"As Chairman of the House-Knesset Parliamentary Friendship Group, I will do everything in my power to make sure that Israel has the tools it needs to defend herself and destroy the forces that seek not only Israel's destruction, but the destruction of the entire western world and the values we all hold dear," Kustoff said in a statement.
Kustoff visited Kfar Aza, a kibbutz in southern Israel, and the grounds of Tribe of Nova music festival, which were attacked by Hamas on Oct. 7.
Senior Biden-Harris Small Business Administration official visits Memphis
Dilawar Syed, deputy administrator of the Small Business Administration, visited Memphis July 10 and 11, and met with local entrepreneurs, the Economic Development Growth Engine Small Business Advisory Council and toured Crosstown Concourse.
The visit was aimed at highlighting the investments the SBA and the Biden administration have made in the Memphis small business sphere. In addition to meeting with various small business stakeholders in Memphis, Syed also met with Memphis Mayor Paul Young.
"Our interests were very aligned. We talked about the fact that Memphis is the largest majority African American city in the country has a number of small and minority-owned businesses. And in order for those businesses to drive, we need access to capital," Young said.
Syed spoke to The Commercial Appeal after his visit on July 10 prior to his meeting with Young and expressed excitement to meet with him.
During Syed's visit, he emphasized the importance of the various programs that SBA is responsible for and promoted them to other small business leaders in town. Syed
"We have seen a record number of small businesses created under the president, three and a half years, it's a record of 18 million founders filing to start a business. In part because of the president's massive investments in building an economy that has created an entrepreneur stimulus," he said.
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development gives $5.5 million to local orgs
Friday, the Division of Housing and Community Development held an announcement ceremony for grant awards to local nonprofit agencies totaling $5.5 million.
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the City of Memphis have granted the money to various agencies via the HCD Strategic Community Investment Fund. Ashley Cash, director of the Division of Housing and Community Development, said the program has been around since the beginning of HCD.
From last week:I-55 bridge project: $394M federal funding secured for rebuild over the Mississippi River
Young was previously the director of HCD and spoke highly of both the SCIF program but also the various community-based non-profit organizations that received the money.
There were 13 agencies that received federal funds and 21 agencies that received awards from the city-funded Neighborhood Partnership Grant.
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Send an email to metro@commercialappeal.com or email reporter Brooke Muckerman at brooke.muckerman@commercialappeal.com
The week ahead
The Shelby County Board of Commissioners will meet for committee meetings on Wednesday, July 17 at 8:30 a.m. Watch the livestream via the website, or attend in person at Vasco A. Smith, Jr. County Administration Building, located at 160 N. Main St. in Memphis.
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