Katherine Burgess

Memphis

Government Accountability Reporter at MLK50

Journalist, loves words and people // Reporter for @MLK50Memphis, previously @memphisnews, @kansasdotcom and @jsunnews

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Articles

Council proposal would ‘end’ public transit in Memphis, says interim MATA CEO

5 days ago | mlk50.com | Katherine Burgess

Editor’s note: This story has been updated to reflect that MATA did present its budget requests to the City Council in June last year. A proposal by members of the Memphis City Council to slash the Memphis Area Transit Authority’s city funding in half in its upcoming budget would mean “pretty much ending public transit in Memphis,” John Lewis, interim CEO of MATA, told MLK50: Justice Through Journalism in an interview on Thursday. “The implications would be dire,” Lewis said.
Riders say MATA needs $50 million. Memphis Mayor Paul Young budgeted $30 million

3 weeks ago | commercialappeal.com | Katherine Burgess

Memphis Area Transit Authority advocates and riders want the city to increase the agency’s funding to $50 million for the coming fiscal year. With more money, MATA could run buses more frequently and even add more routes, they say. Instead, MATA is slated to receive about $5 million less from the city of Memphis than it received this year, making it unable to complete a previously-approved plan to replace routes secretly cut by prior leadership.
‘We Deserve to Breathe Clean Air’: Memphis Residents Take on Elon Musk’s xAI

1 month ago | capitalbnews.org | Katherine Burgess

This story was originally published by MLK50: Justice Through Journalism. Subscribe to their newsletter here. Easter Knox’s brick home in Boxtown has a garden, space for her dog to run and a bench under a sprawling acorn tree planted by her husband. Years ago, he built a large gazebo in the yard adjacent to theirs — a perfect place to listen to the birds.
MATA secretly cut bus routes. Now, there’s a plan to build back that service

1 month ago | commercialappeal.com | Katherine Burgess

Memphis Area Transit Authority riders have long said that buses don’t come on time and sometimes don’t show up at all. Their complaints were validated last month, when MATA’s interim leadership revealed that the previous leadership had made secret route cuts starting in April 2024 without board approval. The cut trips, which impacted most routes, stayed on the schedule for months, deliberately misleading the public.
We asked every member of Memphis’ new ‘Integrity Policing’ task force where they stand on the DOJ report.

2 months ago | mlk50.com | Katherine Burgess

As Memphis’ new policing reform task force prepares for its second meeting, questions remain about the beliefs and motivations of the nine members and three liaisons tasked with proposing policy changes for the Memphis Police Department in the wake of a scathing U.S. Department of Justice report. Dubbed the “Integrity Policing Initiative,” according to internal emails, the group will meet monthly and has already met once behind closed doors.
Who will work with Judge Donald to monitor MPD? City names task force

Feb 18, 2025 | mlk50.com | Katherine Burgess

People with connections to the Memphis Police Department, clergy members, law professors, a mental health expert and a local organizer have been selected by the city of Memphis to join a new police reform task force that was announced after the city declined to enter a consent decree with the U.S. Department of Justice.
A new board is responsible for MATA’s success, but their powers are limited

Nov 11, 2024 | mlk50.com | Katherine Burgess

The new members of the Memphis Area Transit Authority board, who have already exercised their power by pausing route cuts and layoffs late last month, now find themselves in the same difficult position as the board they replaced: MATA doesn’t have enough money to get through the end of the fiscal year on June 30, 2025.
Voter turnout is down in Shelby County. How do we improve it?

Oct 31, 2024 | mlk50.com | Katherine Burgess

As early voting ends, fewer Shelby County voters have turned up to the polls than in 2020, limiting the influence of Tennessee’s Blackest county even as it remains a target of the state legislature. As of Monday, 194,598 Shelby County voters had cast ballots in the Nov. 5 presidential and state general election, compared to 270,151 by the same point in 2020, a nearly 30% decrease. Voter registration isn’t the main culprit. Shelby County had 604,353 registered voters as of Oct.
Who are the new MATA board members — and have they ever used public transit?

Oct 24, 2024 | commercialappeal.com | Katherine Burgess

As nine board members newly appointed to the Memphis Area Transit Authority sat before the Memphis City Council Tuesday, Councilwoman Pearl Walker asked a pointed question: In the past year, how many of you have taken a ride on a MATA bus? Two of the nine raised a hand. Walker then urged the board members, who were confirmed later that afternoon, to each use public transit as they began to guide the authority.
Who are the new MATA board members - and have they ever used public transit?

Oct 24, 2024 | news.yahoo.com | Katherine Burgess

Who are the new MATA board members — and have they ever used public transit? Feb 7, 2014 - Memphis Area Transit Authority buses line up at the MATA North End Terminal on N. Main St. MATA recently completed work retrofitting dozens of their buses with new equipment which reduces pollution. (Brandon Dill/Special to The Commercial Appeal)This story was originally published by MLK50: Justice Through Journalism. Subscribe to their newsletter here.