MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Whitehaven residents and visitors will soon have a new place to enjoy the great outdoors.

On Monday, BlueCross Blue Shield of Tennessee announced a $5.4 million investment that will be used to revitalize David Carnes Park. It’s all part of their Healthy Place Initiative.

A total of $4.5 million of that money will go towards the improvements. The rest will be used for upkeep.

“The BlueCross Healthy Place program shares one of our top priorities: healthy, inviting public spaces for our citizens. That’s why we’re so grateful for this partnership with the BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee Health Foundation, and we’re looking forward to enhancing this park for neighbors here in Whitehaven,” said Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland.

Finalized plans could include athletic fields, walking tracks, playgrounds and fitness areas.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — The shortage of Memphis police officers could put you in danger, just like the family of Michael Mosby.

The father of four said a slow response from Memphis police left his family vulnerable during a break-in.

Records showed it took officers an hour and a half to get to his home.

His newborn son is just one week old. On Saturday, he was home with his mom while Mosby, his dad, was out.

"I called and checked on my wife a lot. I heard her saying somebody was trying to break into the house," Mosby said.

He rushed home and on the way called 911. So did his wife; phone records showed she called at 4:45 p.m.

"When I got home the police were not there," Mosby said.

So he called dispatch back.

"She said they're dealing with an emergency. I said, 'Hold on, isn't this an emergency? There are people in the house. My children are in the house,'" Mosby said.

Police told WREG they arrived at 6:15 p.m., an hour and a half after Mosby and his wife first called 911.

Officers told him the department doesn’t have enough officers to cover the whole city.

"As he explained to me, they're strapped," Mosby said.

Mayor Jim Strickland and Director Mike Rallings have both focused on this problem. They're trying to recruit more officers and re-build the force.

But while they do that, families like Mosby’s are put at risk.

"Anything could've happened in that hour and a half," he said.

MPD Lt. Karen Rudolph said of the incident:
"I spoke with Communications and was advised that the first call was received at 4:46 p.m. The caller advised that a male was attempting to break into her home by pulling on the air conditioner, but the suspect had since fled. A second call was received at 4:47 p.m., from a male who advised that his wife and children were at home and that someone was trying to break in to the residence. When these calls were received, all officers were on calls. At 4:49 p.m., Communications issued a broadcast throughout the precinct advising of the situation. At 5:05 p.m., a third call was received from one of the original callers. The male caller advised that he had arrived at his home and was requesting on the officers whereabouts and confirmed that the suspect was no longer on the scene. At 6:06 p.m., officers became available for service and was dispatched to the location. At 6:18 p.m., officers arrived on the scene.

During this same time period, officers were handling various calls such as a man down call, two criminal assaults, and a shooting call where a female was assaulted."

WREG also submitted a public records request for the recording of Mosby's wife's 911 call.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — The Memphis Police Department has paid hundreds of thousands of dollars in overtime to provide 24 hour security for Mayor Jim Strickland.

The Commercial Appeal reports the city increased security for the mayor following a 2016 incident where protesters came to the mayor’s house and appeared to look through his windows.

Records obtained by the newspaper show Lt. Albert Bonner earned about $110,000 in overtime last year to provide security for Strickland. That’s about twice the amount of overtime Bonner earned in 2016. Officer Charles Cannon earned about $98,000 in overtime.

Strickland said it was sad the city has to spend public money and limited police resources to protect him. But he said he deferred to Police Director Michael Rallings’ advice when it comes to the safety of his family.

Strickland on de-annexation

Earlier this week, Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland announced the next move to ‘right-size’ Memphis, as he puts it. City Council will begin looking at his proposal to de-annex the Southwind/Windyke area and part of south Cordova. It’s a move that will cost the city about $4 million in revenue, but how much will the city save in services?

Tarik Black: Giving back to his hometown

Memphis fell in love with basketball star Tarik Black for his massive skills on the court almost a decade ago, and that love affair continues even though he wears a Houston jersey in the NBA. That’s because Tarik dedicates so much time and money giving back to his hometown: a goal he set for himself after hearing Magic Johnson accept the Civil Rights Museum’s Freedom Award.

Tarik joined us, with his mother, who runs the Tarik Black Foundation.

The Lauderdale County Tomato Festival

A popular local festival is back for its 35th year and it’s better than ever. The Lauderdale County Tomato Festival is celebrating what it considers the best tomatoes in the world!

BLT Bites (Stuffed Cherry Tomatoes)

Ingredients

• 20 cherry tomatoes
• 1⁄2 lb bacon (cooked and crumbled)
• 1⁄2 cup mayonnaise
• 1⁄3 cup chopped green onion
• 3 tablespoons parmesan cheese
• 2 tablespoons fresh parsley (snipped or dried)

Directions

• Cut a thin slice off of each tomato top.
• Scoop out the insides and drain upside-down on a paper towel.
• In a small bowl combine all other ingredients.
• Spoon the mixture into the tomatoes.
• Chill and serve.

Watercooler Wednesday

Corie Ventura, Michelle McKissack and Todd Demers talk about IHOP’s name change, airline legroom and a shocking announcement from Costco in this week’s Watercooler Wednesday.

MEMPHIS, Tenn — Hundreds of students had a rare chance to talk tech and tech jobs with top executives with one of the biggest companies in the world, Microsoft.

Tyanna Banks is a student at Douglass high school, one of the hundreds who attended the event at the Memphis Cook Convention Center.

"I'm here to listen to speakers about how they started up and how they are now and follow in their footsteps," Banks said.

Students were able to listen and ask questions at an event called "Mayor Jim Strickland Presents: A Conversation with Microsoft."

"Microsoft is one of the great companies in this world and we have a partnership with them to expose young people to the opportunities in the tech and engineers fields," Strickland said.

One of the top leaders at Microsoft is Memphis native Alexia Clayborne.

"We feel Memphis has a diverse and talented population of students we'd like to target," Clayborne said.

Clayborne is now principal security program manager with Microsoft in Washington state. She thought it was important to have this conversation in her hometown and for Microsoft to look at the diversity of Memphis and to explore its pool of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM)  workers.

"It's important from a global, diversity and inclusion perspective for Microsoft and for me being from Memphis. Microsoft's vision and mine is our products are enriched from having diverse ideas and backgrounds," Clayborne said.

They are diverse ideas and backgrounds, possibly one day turning into high tech jobs at Microsoft all because of this conversation, a conversation that motivated minority students such as Tyanna banks.

"Yes, I believe this will take me very far and hopefully I will achieve my goals," Banks said.

Mayor Strickland said right Memphis African-Americans and women are underrepresented in technology and engineering fields and he hopes the city can help change that with a talent pool from the Bluff City.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — When it comes to using body cameras, some Memphis police officers are still not following department rules.

They aren't just turning them off. Some are not even turning them on.

"We have issued over 1,600 body cameras to our officers and we expect them to use it. So our policy covers when they are supposed to activate and when they can deactivate,"  says Memphis Police Director Mike Rallings.

WREG obtained a number of police cases where officers were reprimanded for not turning on their body cameras during a stop.

In one case an officer was investigated after not wearing his body camera when he answered a domestic violence call, where he advised a man and his estranged wife not to prosecute a case.

Another case happened in front of a store on North Lauderdale in February 2017. Police and paramedics were  attending to someone in the street. That's when a man says he came out the of store and tried to go across the street to get to his apartment.

The man says an officer hit him in the face and stomped and kicked him while he was on the ground.

The officer's body cam, which would have shown what happened,  was not activated.

We found other cases.

An officer was found to have violated the body cam policy when a citizen complained the officer yelled at him. Authorities tried to review what happened from the body camera, but the officer told them he 'thought' he had activated it, but apparently didn't.

In another case, a police officer was suspended for 5 days after he didn't activate his body cam when he was flagged down by a prostitute who reported that an unnamed officer had paid her for sex and wouldn't leave her alone.

We asked Police Director Mike Rallings about the violations.

"Sometimes officers get into something quickly and may not have time. We think some of it is a training issue where officers need more training," says Rallings.

These cases come to light after the recent police shooting of Martavious Banks where 3 officers have been suspended for turning off their body cameras prior to the shooting.

Mayor Jim Strickland has called for an investigation of those cases, but he also points there have been 3 and half million body and dash cam recordings in the last 2 years.

"Three and a half million recordings. Fifty or 60 times that cameras have not been turned on. That's 99.99% success rate. We want 100% success rate. We want to drive that non-use down to zero. But overall I think the system is working very well," says Strickland.

Police say there are instances where officers are allowed to turn off their body cameras, like when a person's privacy is at issue.

But the police director says officers who turn them off outside of department policy will be dealt with.

Plenty of cars were for sale at auction day Tuesday at the Memphis Impound Lot. They are cars people have left behind, and some people are just unable to afford the fee to get them out.

"Here we are taking their cars and on Tuesdays we are auctioning them off and we tell them come back on Tuesday and we tell them maybe you will be fortunate enough to be the winning bidder on your car," said Robert Bain, a former supervisor at the impound lot.

He saw people lose their cars.

"They were taken from people simply because they can't afford the $125 for the tow, the $10 administrative fee, and the accumulated $30 a day of storage. That's what's wrong with the process. There is no sense of the public. We are supposed to be serving the public and it's a far cry from (that)," he said.

It left him so dismayed he began eliminating fees for some victims, like those who had been hospitalized and couldn't get their cars.

"And then when they sometimes can't afford to get their vehicle out, the city takes ownership of the vehicle and sells it," Bain said.

WREG requested the numbers showing just how much Impound Lot car auctions brought in:

• In 2015,  2,597 vehicles were sold at the lot, bringing in $2.1 million.
• In 2016, almost 3,000 cars sold for $1.8 million.
• In 2017,  3,788 vehicles sold for $2.4 million.
• As of the end of September 2018,  2,410 vehicles brought in $1.7 million.

In the last four years, that's more than $8 million made from the impound lot auction.

Venture Auctions declined to speak with us about the sale it has conducted for the city for years, but says it gets 10 percent off the top from each car sale.

After that, 100 percent of the proceeds go back to the City of Memphis.

"That goes into the General Operating Fund. We use it to operate city government," Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland said.

But the impound lot also has the city in a legal fight.

Marcus Belton is still involved in a $6 million lawsuit against the city for severing his minority Big Foot Tire contract to repair city vehicle tires at the impound lot.

Belton says he lost his minority contract to two firms run by white owners and claims discrimination. The city say his contract ended.

But sources say contracts are being pushed by impound lot managers to certain firms. It wouldn't be the first time.

The city's contract with Around Town Tire made headlines years ago when the costs ballooned from a few hundred thousand to more than a million. It led to firings and investigations.

Bain says problems have resurfaced and the impound lot needs a full audit — something he has asked the city to do.

"In my two and a half years. I have not heard those complaints," Strickland said. "We certainly know about the very unfortunate incident that happened, that single incident. Outside of that, I have not heard those complaints. I am certainly open to hearing those."

That single incident was a body left unnoticed in a vehicle at the impound lot for 49 days last December. The police director says the incident is still being investigated.

"We should hope to have that wrapped up before the year is out," Memphis Police Director Mike Rallings said.

But one impound lot worker who asked us to hide his identity says he hasn't seen anything happen at the lot since the body was found.

"There is no investigation. If there was an investigation questions would have come our way. Nothing has happened. This talk of investigation is just talk," the employee said.

There has a been a long history of problems at the impound lot even before the current mayor and police director took office.

Bain, who is fighting his firing, says an audit will clear everything up. But so far, no one has indicated that is going to happen.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland said Friday he will ask state lawmakers to make prison time mandatory for road rage shootings, following a string of recent shootings on interstates around Memphis.

“We’ve had too many of these recently, and it’s important that people know there are stiff consequences should they decide to make this risky choice,” Strickland said in his weekly email.

The details of the proposed state law were not available, but the city’s full legislative agenda will be available next month.

Just this month, WREG has reported on at least three shootings on Interstates 40 and 240 and another that injured a woman waiting in traffic to see a Christmas light display at the Memphis Zoo.

Strickland said suspects in road-rage incidents can be charged with attempted murder, but if intent can’t be proven they are charged with aggravated assault, which does not carry a prison term.

He said that, like DUI, shooting into vehicles needs to carry mandatory prison time.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A series of events Thursday marked the one year anniversary of the removal of two confederate statues from Memphis parks.

But a year later, some are finding that the memories of Jefferson Davis and Nathan Bedford Forrest are harder to remove than their statues were.

"That pedestal still casts a big shadow over the rest of the park," said Paul Morris, a former Downtown Memphis Commission president during a panel discussion at the National Civil Rights Museum.

"Do we want to acknowledge any history in that park, or do we want to just make it a really beautiful park?" asked another panelist.

As that debate continues, new divisions are forming.

In a post on Facebook, Shelby County Commissioner and prominent statue removal activist Tami Sawyer claimed Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland was trying to exclude her from events commemorating the anniversary of the statue removals.

"A hard line was drawn by the City of Memphis' current mayor, and we were not welcome to join in any events which included him," Sawyer wrote.

She briefly attended the Memphis Greenspace-sponsored panel discussion Thursday evening but left early to go to her own event.

"We shouldn't have to fight about who gets the recognition of what was a community project," she said at the Greenspace event.

"I think that for Memphis Greenspace to say that it was all us would not be correct, and I've never stated that," said Memphis Greenspace Director and Shelby County Commissioner Van Turner.

The mayor's office responded to Sawyer's post in a statement Thursday night:

"That accusation is untrue and hardly deserves a response. Throughout the entire process, Mayor Strickland has been inclusive noting the efforts of the entire community. Further, the City is not holding any events surrounding the removal of Confederate statues."

Sawyer told WREG later, "I would say to the mayor tonight: Let's drop the beef because you can't get rid of Take Em Down 901's place in history, and you can't get rid of my voice."

It's an event Dr. King fought for. The crowd was filled with diversity, and a community all bonded in one room at the Luminary Awards.

"Memphis is a city of change and a city that continues to change the world," Mayor Jim Strickland said.

The women have held powerful positions. They directed and founded ministries and worked as politicians and instructors. Some of them even became the first woman, or black woman, to pave the way in their business.

"I feel like I'm standing on the shoulders of greatness. It's just so amazing," Chief Communications Officer Ursula Madden said.

Wearing their awards around their necks, the women were recognized for dedicating their lives to the voices and voiceless.

"Whites and blacks are coming together to make a change," honoree Linda Williams said.

"I've always been an advocate for helping people. If I can help somebody then my living should not be in vain," honoree Dorothy Crook said.

It's a power they're all bonded by.

Mayor Jim Strickland stated the importance of the Luminary Awards as we move into the bicentennial of Memphis. He says we must honor what's to come.

Strickland also used this time to announce the new conference room in City Hall named after Dr. King.

The 10 honored women were some of the first to see it all as they joined together with hopes of passing their legacy on to those to come.

"I had a dream that one day I would always take young people with me, and that one day I would be able to look back and see all these young people being successful," honoree Hazel Moore said.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Mayor Strickland delivered his “State of the City’ address to a packed room in Whitehaven on Monday.

His address included plans to fix infrastructure and turn run down sites in the city into new developments.

Mayor Strickland stressed making Memphis safer with a fight against crime, increasing opportunities for youth and having more black-owned businesses in the city.

He says Memphis has made a lot of momentum, and it needs to keep going.

“For a Memphis that will have more jobs, where our current companies grow, where new companies move to town and where everyone has the connection to the skills they need to succeed in the economy in the future,” Strickland said.

Pamphlets were given out showing a list of the mayor’s achievements in his first years in office.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — While one local election is over with, another one is right around the corner.

Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland is nearing the end of his first term as mayor, and, as announced, he will seek a second term. Also in the race is political newcomer and current Shelby County Commissioner Tami Sawyer.

We asked County Mayor Lee Harris for his input on the race. While he isn’t endorsing one candidate over another, he says Strickland and Sawyer are both great candidates.

“I haven’t heard any criticisms of either candidate from voters. The voters I’ve talked to are pretty appreciative of both candidates. I think Jim Strickland has done an excellent jobs as a city councilman. He’s doing an excellent job as mayor. The same thing is true when I go into the community and hear people talk about Commissioner Sawyer. I just did a town hall with her recently and all the voters there, the constituents of hers, were very happy with her service,” he said.

Former Memphis Mayor Willie Herenton and small business owner Lemichael Wilson are also running for the seat. The election will be held October 3.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — An end could be near in the tire saga resulting from the botched tire redemption program sponsored by Memphis and Shelby County.

About 50,000 tires are still sitting in a lot off Florida Street from the program that took place in January. Mary Jane Eason, whose apartment window overlooks the tire pile, said she’s tired of seeing it.

“It makes it look horrible,” Eason said.

Back in January, the city and county sponsored the tire redemption program that paid people for old tires in an effort to clean up blight. They hired a company called Liberty Tire to take care of the work, but the day before, city officials said Liberty dropped out.

The state gave Memphis permission to hire a new group, Refurban, on short notice and without a contract.

“I got a phone call, there was an emergency, and they needed a favor,” Refurban owner Devin James said.

James said about 20,000 of the tires are the city’s, and about 30,000 of them came from the county.

James testified Thursday on a witness stand because Refurban is now being sued for illegally dumping the tires. As it turns out, Reburban doesn’t own the land where they put the tires, and then they just left them there.

“I do not think we knew that,” Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland said. “Obviously, if we’d known that, we wouldn’t have done it.”

City officials also said they thought Refurban would recycle the tires, but James said he only planned to store them. And because the city never had a contract, it’s unclear who’s responsible now.

That does not matter to Eason.

“I do hope soon they move them,” she said.

Strickland said moving the tires is exactly what the city plans to do, as soon as it can get permission from the group Shraddha Saburi Samidha, which owns the land. Per the lawsuit, there’s a restraining order on the plot of land.

Strickland said they’re back working with their original partners, Liberty Tire, to recycle all the tires, but it will cost the city an additional $20,000.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Preceding the release of his country music documentary, filmmaker Ken Burns visited Memphis on a tour to country music landmarks across the United States.

Burns’ new documentary, “Country Music: A Film by Ken Burns,” chronicles country music from its beginnings to the genre’s status now in an eight-part film that totals 16.5 hours long.

An image from Ken Burns’ tour bus.

Sam Phillips and Sun Studio are large parts of that history, so Burns made sure to stop in the city of blues in an ode to Memphis’ country music past.

“We hope that we are able to bring alive what took place here and on Union Avenue with your father [Sam Phillips],” Burns said, speaking to Jerry Phillips, the son of Sam Phillips. “Your father did something hugely important in the early ’50s. As he put it, ‘We knocked the s*** out of the color line.'”

Part of Burns’ stop in Memphis included a private event at the Sam Phillips Recording Studio, only a short walk from the historic Sun Studio. Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland was in attendance.

Sam Phillips Recording Studio on Madison Avenue.

Strickland said he and Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris declared Tuesday as “Ken Burns Country Music Day” in Memphis and Shelby County.

Burns said his goal is to tell common stories, but in an uncommon way. He wanted to tell parts of stories that are often overlooked, which he said there are many of in country music.

“We are interested just in telling stories, and how in the case of country music, you are not seduced by the simple, superficial constructions—the conventional wisdom about it,” Burns said.

The documentary premiers on PBS on Sept. 15.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Memphis residents know the city’s rich sports history, and now that history can be enshrined in a Memphis Sports Hall of Fame and Experience.

On the year of the city of Memphis’ bicentennial celebration, the Memphis Sports Council, part of Memphis Tourism, and the Memphis Redbirds are collaborating to create the Memphis Sports Hall of Fame in the press level of AutoZone Park. April 5 is the final day to nominate candidates for the inaugural class.

The attraction would be free to people attending events at the park and for visitors on non-event days.

“Our vision is to promote the legacy and impact of sports on the greater Memphis community, serve as a vehicle to honor sports legends and educate area youth on the value of athletics and the lessons learned through sportsmanship, teamwork, dedication and a healthy lifestyle,” Memphis Tourism’s release said.

Anyone who is a current or former Memphis or Shelby County resident can nominate up to one living or deceased person per year for the Hall of Fame.

Mayor Jim Strickland posted his top-25 list on social media.

Today is the last day to nominate someone for the Memphis Sports Hall of Fame. The first class may have up to 25 members. This is a picture of my list. To submit yours go here https://t.co/ee3do7f01p pic.twitter.com/v7g6lQqBQ2

— Mayor Jim Strickland (@MayorMemphis) April 5, 2019

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A 13-year-old was allegedly sexually assaulted by someone she met on Beale Street this weekend. Memphis Police Director Mike Rallings say it's one of the crimes highlighting the need to bring back an admission fee to curb crime.

Mayor Jim Strickland says it's simple. The admission fee helps people more then it hurts their pockets.

"When you have the fee, crime goes down. When you don't have the fee, crime goes up. This is DejaVu. It feels like we've been having this same argument for several years, and you can probably replay something I said last year."

The mayor said on WREG's Live at Nine that he supports the City Council's vote to enforce a temporary fee.

"This past weekend we had two human surges of people rushing down the street and a shooting. This fee is different than in the past. This time all the money will go towards funding protection on the street and building a fence."

Rallings agrees that something has to change after recent violence on Beale Street.

"I can't guarantee public safety, and that bothers me. So $200,000 would go towards the fence. The rest would go towards making sure there's enough security out."

Rallings says he sees the change as the best option.

"If it's the will of council and the people for me to shutdown other precincts and strictly focus on Beale Street I will be happy to do that. When we did not do Beale Street Bucks there were 24 stampedes. When we did them there was one."

But not everyone agrees.

"Don't charge people because of what they can't do," business owner Lucille Catron said.

She thinks police need to find another way to do their job.

This past weekend there were two shootings on Beale Street, and a 13-year-old girl says she was assaulted. Memphis Police aren't releasing many details.

They say the assault didn't occur on Beale Street, but that she met her attacker there after getting separated from her parents for several hours.

The new admission fee goes into effect Saturday.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland signed an executive order putting the Memphis 3.0 plan in motion.

That plan is designed to guide the city's development over the next 20 years, but it sparked some controversy as some say historically black neighborhoods are left out. Earlier this month, the New Chicago Community Partnership filed a federal lawsuit in an effort to stop the plan. That lawsuit is not stopping the mayor from moving forward.

Supporters say it will help improve transportation and investments in neighborhoods outside of downtown.

"The economic renaissance we see in Memphis isn't being felt in every neighborhood. This plan is a road map for growth and investments in all neighborhoods throughout the city," Strickland said.

But Memphis 3.0 has been met with some resistance. Some say historically black neighborhoods are left out.

Earlier in May, the New Chicago Community Partnership filed a federal lawsuit in an effort to stop the plan.

Community activist Carnita Atwater and others protested outside of the office of Works Incorporated. Atwater says they fear the plan will lead to gentrification.

"If the mayor would just, why is he trying to push this Memphis. 3.0? He's not representing the people, especially the poor people. He's representing the investors and developers, and we're going to make that known in a lawsuit," she said.

Roshun Austin, President and CEO of Works Incorporated, says the plan is different from those that have been disrupted in black communities.

"The comprehensive plan helps to guide our future in Memphis and make real investments into distressed neighborhoods."

This plan has been in the works since the Mayor Strickland took office in 2016. For now, City Council still has to sign off on approving zoning changes related to Memphis 3.0.

To view the full plan, click here.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Leaders in Memphis are expecting at least 1,000 jobs to be created based on a recently submitted warehouse plan called “Project Iris.”

Atlanta-based development company Seefried Industrial Properties has filed a rezoning request with the Memphis and Shelby County Board of Adjustment. The company has developed facilities for Amazon, Best Buy and Mercedes-Benz in the past. The board plans to review the application at its Sept. 25 meeting.

Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland tweeted that the facility will bring “new life” to the city.

The plan uses the code “AR SORT FC.” Amazon has abbreviated its Amazon Robotics Division “AR.” The code could be short for “Amazon Robotics Sortable Fulfillment Center.”

Amazon hasn’t said whether it’s planning to build a facility in Memphis.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — The Memphis mayor's race was not the only important election in the city on Thursday, as voters also decided all 13 City Council seats.

Incumbent Mayor Jim Strickland won re-election with 62 percent of the votes and though not all incumbents for City Council fared as well as the mayor, most of City Council will be returning.

City Council District 1 will go into a runoff election on Nov. 15, as Rhonda Logan and current council member Sherman Greer both did not hit the 50% threshold to win the seat. District 7 will also have a runoff election Nov. 15 between current council member Berlin Boyd and challenger Michalyn Easter-Thomas.

The Council seat for District 2 was won by incumbent Frank Colvett Jr. District 3 was won by the incumbent Patrice Robinson.

Incumbent Jamita Swearengen won the District 4 seat, and incumbent Worth Morgan won the seat for District 5.

For Council District 6, Edmund Ford Sr. received 65% of votes.

The Council seat for Super District 8-1 was fairly tightly contested with J.B. Smiley Jr. and incumbent Gerre Currie were the top vote-getters with 34% and 27% of votes, respectively.

Super District 8-2 was won by the incumbent council member Cheyenne Johnson. Incumbent Martavius Jones won Super District 8-3.

In Super District 9-1, Chase Carlisle (51%) and Erika Sugarmon (49%) were in a tightly contested race.

The incumbent Ford Canale won re-election in Super District 9-2. Jeff Warren also won the race in Super District 9-3.

Super Districts do not go into runoffs.

Myron Lowery won the race for city court clerk.

The local sales tax referendum that would provide more funds for public safety was passed with 52% voting for the referendum and 48% voting against it.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Effective at 8 a.m. Tuesday, Mayor Jim Strickland is limiting access to all city owned parks.

Riverside Drive will close, and the mayor will close as many roads in and near city parks as the fire marshal will allow. City employees will be stationed at the parks to monitor compliance.

The order stopped short of closing parks outright. People will still be able to take a walk or run through parks with people in their own household.

But Strickland said the tighter regulations will help prevent people from congregating in large groups. That will prevent situations like many news outlets reported last week, when large groups were seen in Tom Lee Park and other parks.

“It does become a huge problem when people disregard the importance of social distancing,” he said, calling the groups “selfish and reckless.”

The Memphis River Parks Partnership said that Tom Lee Park is still open even though Riverside Drive access is closed and large groups are discouraged.

Strickland said some people are not taking the orders to stay home during the coronavirus pandemic seriously.

“For the health of our city, they must start now,” Strickland said.

To report violations of the mayor’s Safer At Home order, call 311.

One person in Shelby County has died due to COVID-19 complications, health officials have said.

“You need to take this seriously. Because if you don’t more people will die needlessly,” Strickland said. “By staying home, you will save lives.”