Tennessee’s “Guns In Trunks” law takes effect today. State and city leaders are still not in agreement as to how this impacts employers’ rights to establish rules prohibiting guns on their property.
It is also unclear whether this law will impact the 1995 “Junk In The Trunk” law enacted after state legislators watched an episode of The Jerry Springer Show and ate some ham.
An attorney for the new owners of the historic mansion at 1433 Union confirmed what preservationists have been suspecting. Bianca Phillips has more.
Attorney Linda Mathis with Union Group LLC confirmed in Environmental Court this morning what preservationists had been suspecting about the fate of the former Nineteenth Century Club — it will be demolished.
Judge Larry Potter ordered Mathis to present the new owners’ plan for demolition of the property by July 9th.
“We are losing something we will never re-gain. I do not think it’s a wise decision to demolish this building,” Potter told the courtroom. “But frankly, that doesn’t matter. If there were legal means for me to stop this, I would.”
In January, Liang Lin and wife Xiao Dan Chen won the bid on the stately Rowland Darnell house at 1433 Union, which had been home to the Nineteenth Century Club philanthropic women’s group for years.
Preservationists believe the couple will build a shopping center with an Asian restaurant on the Nineteenth Century Club property. Attempts to reach the couple were unsuccessful. The couple owns New Hunan Restaurant on Park, Kublai Khan Crazy Mongolian Stir Fry on Airways, and Red Fish Sushi Asian Bistro in Lakeland.
The Midtown Action Coalition is planning protests in front of the property at 1433 Union on Tuesday, July
2nd and Wednesday, July 3rd at 5:30 p.m.
“Now we have no choice but to get out there and let people know what they’re trying to do. Hopefully, we can make them reconsider and sell the property back to another bidder” said Gordon Alexander of the Midtown Action Coalition.
Check out this week’s coming edition of The Memphis Flyer for further coverage.
In light of news that the new owners of the Nineteenth Century Club” on Union Avenue will demolish the historic building, many Memphians, particularly Midtowners, are furious.
Perhaps the City Council can propose a bill aimed at mollifying the notoriously vocal Midtown crowd? The SUMO (Shut Up Midtowners Ordinance) would require that any Midtown building that is more than 50 years old can not be demolished unless it is replaced by a Trader Joe’s.
Such an ordinance should have the effect of short circuiting Midtowners brains to the point where they are utterly unable to respond to any proposed demolition.
A Grizzlies source confirmed today at the team has declined to extend qualifying offers to free agents Austin Daye and Jon Leuer, making both unrestricted free agents.
Daye’s qualifying offer was $4.1 million, well above his market value, so not extending to him was a foregone conclusion. Leuer’s qualifying offer was $1.1 million and his situation was more up in the air.
The Grizzlies lose matching rights to both Daye and Leuer in free agency but are not precluded from negotiating deals outside of the framework of each player’s prior contract. With Leuer, there’s a good chance the team may try to reach agreement on a multi-year deal with team options that would start a little below Leuer’s qualifying offer for next season, helping the team navigate beneath the league’s luxury tax line. As for Daye, the Grizzlies could still sign him to a lower salary if there’s roster and payroll space left after the smoke clears on higher-priority free agent targets.
With free agency negotiation beginning today, team CEO Jason Levien and head coach Dave Joerger met with incumbent free agent Tony Allen this morning. Other teams with reported interest in Allen include the Clippers, Bucks, Pacers, and Knicks.
It’s unclear at the moment which outside free agents the Grizzlies will target, but other outlets have reported interest in swingmen Chase Budinger and Kevin Martin and re-confirmed interest in center Greg Oden.
Know a bartender with top gin-and-tonic skills? A local singer who makes you swoon? The rockin’-est local band? A restaurant server who goes above and beyond?
The Flyer is now accepting nominations for Best Bartender, Best Server, Best Local Band, and Best Local Singer to be included in the 2013 Best of Memphis ballot.
Click here for nominations.
Nominations will be accepted through July 7th. The Best of Memphis ballot goes online July 10th.
Hannah Sayle has the latest on two innovative new take-out services. One is very good news for cavemen.
Frank Murtaugh looks back on a eventful week in Memphis sports, and offers some personal 4th of July reflections, as well.
Some quick thoughts for a week of flag-waving, fireworks, and fireside fun.
• New Grizzlies coach Dave Joerger said all the right things at his introductory press conference last Thursday. The Griz will win. They’ll push the ball, but not at the expense of their calling card: stifling defense. And yes, he’s a blue-collar guy. (Beale Street blue?)
I see a unique dichotomy to Joerger’s move into the head coach’s office at FedExForum. On one level, there’s the lingering shock among the fan base that Lionel Hollins is gone. A successful and popular coach who took a still-young franchise farther than it’s ever gone before … is gone. On another level, Joerger’s is a familiar face, his voice is one with which every Grizzly (save Kosta Koufos) is familiar. It’s hard to imagine teamwide rejection of a member of the family, as Joerger preceded every player on his roster except Mike Conley (who arrived with Joerger in 2007). I get the sense the face of the Grizzlies’ summer of transition is actually CEO Jason Levien’s, and he’ll be the one under scrutiny when (or if) the team stumbles next winter.
• The fact that D.J. Stephens was even in the discussion on NBA draft day last week was a victory for the former sky-walking Memphis Tiger. Surely he’ll convince a team that 46-inch vertical leap is worth a seat at the end of the bench. (Stephens will play summer-league ball with the Miami Heat.)
Not so pleasant was the draft-day snub of Adonis Thomas, only two years ago a player considered inconvenienced by the NBA-mandated rule requiring high school graduates wait a year before gaining draft eligibility. Thomas, sadly, personifies the NBA’s case for that silly rule. Imagine the millions of dollars some NBA team would have spent on the McDonald’s All-American fresh out of high school. In the eyes of 30 NBA teams, that’s money now saved. Here’s hoping Thomas finds a basketball home, and escapes the “tweener” label he developed over two years at the U of M. (Thomas will be with Atlanta for summer-league play.)
• Small tremors were felt at The Racquet Club of Memphis last Monday when the unknown Steve Darcis of Belgium shocked the tennis world by upsetting Rafael Nadal in the opening round at Wimbledon. Darcis, the most passionate of local fans will remember, won the Regions Morgan Keegan championship in February 2008. That title remains one of two Darcis has claimed on the ATP Tour. Alas, the racket-toting Rocky had to withdraw due to a shoulder injury before the Wimbledon’s second round. Making matters worse, no American man reached the hallowed tournament’s third round. And you wonder why Peter Lebedevs and friends at The Racquet Club toss and turn.
Audie Artero (l) and Frank Murtaugh
• Do me a favor this Thursday while the grill is heating up: play catch with someone you love. Baseball and the Fourth of July are an easy match, both as American as a drive-in movie. I got the chance last month to play catch on the banks of the Mighty Miss with one of my dearest friends. Audie Artero was a three-sport teammate of mine in high school many Fourths of July ago. He’s now a lieutenant colonel in the Air Force and lives on the other side of the planet, in Guam. After far too long, we were able to gather our families, watch our daughters (we each have two) swim, laugh, and sing together (Top 40 hits are big in Guam). We jaunted down Beale Street, paused outside the Civil Rights Museum, and Audie grabbed a microphone at Sun Studio. Visit of a lifetime. But the highlight for me — selfishly — was playing catch with my old teammate, my lifelong friend. The feel of the baseball and the sound of it meeting leather may as well have been a time machine. Two kids, 16 years old, a lifetime ahead of them. How little we knew then … and how much we have to celebrate today.
Happy Fourth everyone. n
