Tag Archives: mayor

07/22/19

Mosquito Control Activities Scheduled for Week of July 22, 2019

MEMPHIS, TN – The Shelby County Health Department’s Mosquito Control Program routinely traps and tests mosquitoes for the presence of West Nile virus (WNV). Mosquitoes positive for the West Nile Virus were identified in the following zip codes last week, the week of July 7, 2019: 38104, 38111, 38112, 38114, 38115, 38117, 38119, 38122 and 38141.

Since February, the Shelby County Health Department’s Mosquito Control Program has treated areas by applying larvicides to standing bodies of water. These actions are consistent with efforts to be proactive in decreasing the adult mosquito population. Larviciding is the practice of applying an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) registered insecticide to areas where mosquito breeding has been confirmed. It is the most effective way of eliminating mosquito populations.

Controlling mosquito populations that may harbor the West Nile virus is important because humans can contract WNV through an infected mosquito’s bite. Although WNV can occasionally cause severe disease, most human infections are mild, resulting in fever, headache and body aches lasting only a few days. Symptoms of severe disease include a high fever, neck stiffness, stupor, disorientation, coma or convulsions. Individuals over age 50 and those with compromised immune systems are at higher risk of severe disease. They should especially be careful to avoid mosquito bites.

As an additional precaution, SCHD will conduct mosquito control activities, including truck-mounted spraying (adulticiding) of EPA-approved insecticides, weather permitting*, in specific ZIP codes where the West Nile virus has been detected, and portions of adjoining zip codes, according to the following schedule:

Monday, July 22nd

8:30 p.m. – 11:30 p.m.

ZIP Codes: 38107, 38108, 38112, 38111, 38122, 38104, 38114

Tuesday, July 23rd               

8:30 p.m. – 11:30 p.m.

ZIP Codes: 38118, 37501, 38115, 38141

Wednesday, July 24th

8:30 p.m. – 11:30 p.m.

ZIP Codes: 38116, 38118, 38130, 38131, 38132, 38118, 38115, 38125

Thursday, July 18th

8:30 p.m. – 11:30 p.m.

ZIP Codes: 38111, 38117, 38122, 38152, 38118, 38119

Go to www.shelbytnhealth.com to view the most current schedule and the exact boundaries of each scheduled spray. New maps will be added weekly to reflect updated schedules.

Truck mounted spraying only effectively kills adult mosquitoes currently flying at the time the insecticide is sprayed. Because of this, residents are highly encouraged to be vigilant as it relates to controlling mosquito populations around their homes and businesses and preventing mosquito bites. Individuals are encouraged to practice the 4 D’s:

  • DEFEND yourself by using insect repellent with DEET. Follow label instructions.
  • DRESS in long sleeves and pants. Wear loose and light colored clothing when outdoors.
  • DUSK/DAWN is the time when mosquitoes are most active. Stay indoors.
  • DRAIN standing water and install or repair window screens.

Individuals with chronic health problems such as asthma or other lung conditions may want to remain indoors during the time of spraying. Citizens who do not want their residences to be sprayed should contact the Vector Control Program at (901) 222-9715.

* To ensure the insecticide is most effective, the scheduled spraying will be canceled if any of the following weather conditions are present for the majority of the schedule spray time:

  • Rain chance of 65% or greater
  • Wind speeds 11mph or greater
  • Temperature less than 60 degrees Fahrenheit

Follow @ShelbyTNHealth on Twitter and Facebook for the most up-to-date cancellations of any scheduled sprayings.

05/28/19

Mayor Strickland Letter – May 24

Weekly Update: Power outages, Tom Lee Park, and a new community center

Memphis sent this bulletin at 05/24/2019 04:15 PM CDT

Friends,

Today’s email might be on the long side, but I think it’s important you clearly hear from me about where we stand on a couple of issues that have been on many of your minds this week: 1) power outages and MLGW’s infrastructure, and 2) the future of Tom Lee Park and Memphis in May.

First, let’s talk about power outages.

We had too many of them for too long after Saturday night’s storm. It’s unacceptable.

So, how to fix it?

Let’s all agree, as our colleagues at the Memphis Light, Gas, and Water Division do, that our electric infrastructure is old and in dire need of an overhaul. No question there.

It’s a high-dollar endeavor, though, and paying for it is the challenge.

We are serious about the possibility of finding major savings — which could potentially fund this infrastructure overhaul — if we were to change the source from which MLGW buys its power. Earlier this year, we commissioned a group that’s doing a thorough study of all power sources to find the facts in what is an incredibly complex situation.

Once that work is done, we’ll be in an informed position to make a call about the future of buying power for Memphians — with an eye toward improving infrastructure and keeping bills low. Stay tuned.

Now, as for Tom Lee Park.

Like so many of you, I had a blast at Tom Lee Park this month enjoying Memphis in May.

There is no question that whatever is done with Tom Lee Park must ultimately end up accommodating the continued success of Memphis in May.

There’s also no question that Tom Lee Park can be a better asset for our citizens the other 11 months of the year.

Too many people have tried to characterize that as an either/or. I don’t. I continue to believe that we can have an improved Tom Lee Park, whatever form that takes, that also allows Memphis in May to thrive. Full stop.

The Memphis River Parks Partnership has proposed significant changes to the park, and Memphis in May is concerned about how they would impact the festival. So, I brought both sides into mediation to find middle ground — because while these are two private entities, this is, at the end of the day, still a City asset. We’ve made progress in mediation in recent weeks, but the proposed park changes are now on hold so our partners at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, whose shrewd engineering work created the park some three decades ago, can review MRPP’s proposed design.

This may take a while, of course. But it’s vitally important that any improvements continue to provide for the safe use of the park, and that they don’t affect flood control, the stabilization of the bluff, or the river navigation channel.

Coupling the Corps’ input with the progress of mediation, we’ll eventually be in a much more informed position to match the right changes to the final amount of the fundraising efforts. (Speaking of which, we aren’t spending a penny of general fund dollars on Tom Lee Park. Those go to core services like police and fire.)

Meanwhile, a few things I hope you didn’t miss this week:

  • Working together with the City Council, we appropriated $2 million to ensure that the long-awaited full replacement of Ed Rice Community Center in Frayser gets underway in the 2019-20 fiscal year! And that’s on top of the new Frayser branch library, which we’ve included in our 2019-20 budget proposal that’s in front of the Council now.
  • We also worked with the Council to find funding for a handful of road improvement projects in the industrial area south of the airport, as well as widening westbound Poplar to three lanes over and west of Interstate 240.
  • If you’re on Raines Road in Whitehaven this week, you’ll see paving crews. We’ll keep up the citywide paving blitz this summer as we’ve doubled the amount we spend to repave streets.

Oh, and one more VERY important thing: HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MEMPHIS! We’re a city that’s changed the world and continues to change it, and I hope everyone took some time this week to commemorate the 200 years since our founding.

I also hope you’ll make it down to Mud Island River Park sometime this summer to check out this new view of Downtown:

10/20/17

Informational Meeting – Mayor Strickland

Councilwoman Swearengen and Mayor Strickland would like to invite you to their Informational Meeting on Tuesday, October 24, 2017 from 6:00 pm until 8:00 pm at Mt. Pisgah CME Church located 2490 Park Avenue Memphis, TN 38114. Representatives from the City of Memphis will be available to answer your questions about city services including Police, Fire, Public Works, Engineering, Workforce Investment Network, and Parks.

 

Original post

08/13/17

Street Paving – Is Your Street Next?

Hi, all. Mayor Strickland wanted to share some news I think you’ll all welcome: With more money for paving in this year’s budget, we’re back on our goal of a 25-year paving cycle for the first time in a decade. Under the mayor’s administration, and with the approval of the City Council, we’re now paving double the lane-miles than we were just four years ago. A little while back, in an effort to continue what we’re doing to be transparent, we built a map that shows where we’ll be paving soon. Public Works recently updated the map in accordance with this year’s additional appropriations for paving, and you can find it here.

<Spoiler Alert> No streets in our neighborhood are scheduled to be repaved.

07/23/17

Mayor Strickland’s Weekly Update – Tackling our violent crime challenge

Published 7/21/2017

Friends,

The Memphis Shelby Crime Commission released its quarterly crime rate report today, and the numbers are absolutely unacceptable.

We have a 9.9 percent rise, year over year, in major violent crime. And we have a 10.6 percent rise in major property crime.

Homicides are down by 12.2 percent.

We’re confronting this head-on in today’s Weekly Update because you deserve to hear from us what we’re doing to reduce these levels. Today’s news only further illustrates why I’ve made long-term crime reduction such a priority since my first day as your mayor.

Read the entire post here.

04/14/17

Mayor Strickland’s Weekly Update

Read Mayor Strickland’s weekly update.

Friends,

It flew under the radar a bit, so I wanted to make sure you knew about the annual awards ceremony that the Memphis Police Department held this week.

Simply put, it was amazing.

It was an amazing reminder of the bravery that’s hard at work every single day in our city. It was an amazing reminder of the talent of the men and women who serve us through MPD.

I encourage you to join me in thanking all of the award winners by visiting the MPD on Facebook, where it posted all of the honorees.

I also encourage you to continue to remember the sacrifice of Officer Verdell Smith, who you’ll recall passed away in the line of duty last summer. He was honored Tuesday as MPD’s TOP COP — a proper tribute to a Memphis hero.

Read the entire post here.