Month: February 2017

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News News Blog

Bike, Pedestrian Projects Win $2.2M in Grants

CREDIT: Joshua Cannon

Bike and pedestrian projects will get a $2.2 million injection in Memphis as six grants were recently awarded to the city and the Memphis Area Transit Authority (MATA).

The projects will bring 400 bike racks along MATA bus lines, bike lockers at MATA park and ride facilities, pedsetrian-friendly updates to traffic signals, sidewalk repairs, signs at all intersections of the Shelby Farm Greenline, and more.

The Memphis Metropolitan Planning Organization (Memphis MPO) issued the federal Transportation Alternatives grants, which were announced late Thursday.

Those grants are:

• Kirby Parkway and Timber Trail Crossing upgrade ( $220,000)
An enhanced pedestrian crossing in front of Kirby High School with a refuge median, crossing signal, and new sidewalk.

• Shelby Farms Greenline Crossing enhancements ($425,250)
Installation of pedestrian crossing signals and signage at all intersections along the Greenline that currently lack signals of any kind.

• Christian Brothers University pedestrian access improvements ($750,000)
Modernization of the traffic signals and pedestrian crossings at Central Avenue and East Parkway as well as Early Maxwell Boulevard, repair to existing sidewalk along Central Ave. between East Parkway and Early Maxwell Boulevard, and re- location of bus shelters.

• Mullins Station Road pedestrian improvements ($106,600)
Planning and design work for sidewalk repair and infill on Mullins Station Rd. between Macon Road and the Shelby Farms Greenline.

• Crosstown Corridor Superstop enhancements ($500,000)
Replacement of existing bus shelters or placement of new ones, installation of new schedule and route signage and other amenities, and construction of widened sidewalks and improved crosswalks at targeted bus stops along the Route 42 corridor in Midtown.

• Bicycle access to transit ($150,000)
Installation of approximately 400 bike racks along targeted MATA bus routes, as well as bike lockers at MATA park and ride facilities.

“The projects address locations called out as priorities by the city’s Pedestrian and School Safety Action Plan,” says Nicholas Oyler, the city’s Bikeway and Pedestrian Program Manager. “Some of these are even demonstration projects recommended by the plan to illustrate how design improvements can make the street safer for everyone, but especially for those on foot.”

Oyler said the city averages 30 pedestrian-related fatalities each year. Grants like these and the improvements they bring will help to “reduce and eventually eliminate these mostly avoidable deaths.”

The Transportation Alternatives program is a federal source of grants restricted for use on infrastructure projects that address pedestrian or bicycle connectivity or access to public transportation by walking or biking. Vehicles like buses or trolleys are not eligible for the program.

MATA and the city will provide 20 percent matches to each grant.

“We select the recipients based on various criteria, including benefits to safety, connectivity, environmental sustainability, and economic vitality, as well as input from our active transportation advisory committee consisting mostly of citizen representatives,” said Zylavian Watley, Transportation Planner at the Memphis MPO. “I believe that the demand for these lucrative grants demonstrates the increasing desire by our communities to have safer conditions for walking and biking.”

Categories
Opinion The BruceV Blog

Your Weekly Danziger

This seems on target.

Categories
Music Music Features

P.A. Presents …

Then comedian P.A. Sechler performed in the most recent Memphis Punk Fest, it was one of his first shows. After getting the invitation to join the bill, he ran through a short stand-up set in the time-slot between two punk bands. It made for an unconventional but memorable entrance onto the Memphis comedy scene, so maybe it’s just evolution for Sechler to have assembled a diverse group of musicians and comics for his first “P.A. Presents” show this Friday at the New Daisy.

The Clinton, Mississippi-based indie-rock band Fides tops the music bill, with Katrina Coleman, the mastermind behind the Memphis Comedy Festival, serving as headliner for the comedy portion of the show. The other musical acts jump genres wildly, and include psychedelic rock, synthpop, and punk-influenced electropop on a bill that is already an amalgam of music and comedy. If you like to laugh and dance, then, with three comedians and four vastly different bands, “P. A. Presents” appears to offer a lot of bang for your buck.

“P.A. Presents” is Sechler’s first show as curator, but the Cleveland, Mississippi, transplant says he wants the show to be an experience that wouldn’t be found elsewhere. “It’s not every day you get to play on Beale Street,” Sechler says, and, to make sure the event is special, he has assembled a varied lineup of performers. The Renders, Surfwax, and the Ellie Badge will perform, and Joshua McLane and Christine Marie will keep the momentum rolling with comedy sets between music sets. You might recognize McLane as the drummer of HEELS and as one of the regulars from the popular “You Look Like A” comedy shows, further blurring the line between music and comedy on this bill.

Though there is a cornucopia of homegrown talent on display, the real gem of the night is headliners Fides. The band self-released their second full-length album, Across the Yard, last July, and on the strength of that record alone, they are well worth the price of admission.

Four years after the release of their self-titled first EP, Fides is a tight unit, and it’s clear their time spent in the trenches of restaurants and bars in Mississippi has served them well. Tommy Bobo, Reed Smith, and Cody Sparkman recorded Across the Yard with Jacob Lifsey at the Delta Music Institute, (but I can’t help but wonder what they would do in the hands of someone at High/Low or the Old Vacuum Shop, formerly Rocket Science Audio). The new 12-track album flows along dreamily, with powerful instrumental interludes resolving (I wanted to type “coalescing,” as if there were some powerful occult chemistry at work) into breezily melodic verses. The ease with which the unsigned band manipulates the nuances of their songs bespeaks a lot of time spent playing together. Fides lists Colour Revolt as a major influence, and it’s no surprise, given that both bands are based in Mississippi and Fides formed about the same time Colour Revolt signed, briefly, with Fat Possum Records. And I can’t help but think that Fides owes some thanks to bands like Yo La Tengo and Television for their crisply melodic, dark-but-gentle sound. “Brain” is the stand-out track of Across the Yard, at times tender, at times strong and insistent, as chiming guitars give way to the swell of drums and tastefully applied keyboards.

On the comedy side of the bill, headliner Katrina Coleman is the reason to stick around. For a more in-depth look at the comedian, see Coleman’s 2015 interview with the Flyer‘s own Fly on the Wall, or you can just trust Sechler when he says that Coleman is Memphis comedy royalty. As an integral part of the Memphis Comedy Festival and the “You Look Like A” comedy shows, Coleman has been making Memphis audiences laugh for years.

“It’s going to be fun,” Sechler says, “and that’s what I want.”

Categories
Sports Tiger Blue

#15 Cincinnati 87, Tigers 74

Say what you will about Josh Pastner’s seven years as coach of the Memphis Tigers, but his teams avoided losing streaks. In falling to the 15th-ranked Cincinnati Bearcats Thursday night in Ohio, the Tigers lost their third straight game, the first such streak since March of 2005 (John Calipari’s fifth season at the helm). Not that long ago 17-6, Memphis fell to 18-10 and are now just a game over .500 (8-7) in American Athletic Conference play.

In winning their 25th consecutive home game, the Bearcats improved to 25-3 and remain in contention (with SMU) for the AAC title with a 14-1 mark.

Cincinnati dominated early, hitting 16 of its first 24 shots to take a 19-point lead (51-32) at halftime. The Bearcats led by 17 with just under 12 minutes to play before the Tigers found a groove of sorts. Spurred by sophomores Dedric Lawson (21 points, 10 rebounds) and Jeremiah Martin (23 points, 11 assists), the Tigers enjoyed a 20-9 stretch and closed Cincinnati’s lead to six points (75-69) on a three-point play by Martin with 5:17 left on the clock. But the Bearcats scored the game’s next eight points to pull away for good.

The Tigers outshot Cincinnati from the field (54 percent to 49 percent), but the bigger, more aggressive Bearcats got to the foul line 28 times and made 23 free throws, while Memphis was only 8 for 12 from the charity stripe.

Kyle Washington led Cincinnati with 16 points and Jacob Evans added 15.

K.J. Lawson scored 15 for the Tigers while Jimario Rivers added 12. Senior center Chad Rykhoek returned to action for Memphis after missing 16 games with a dislocated ankle. Junior Markel Crawford, the team’s second-leading scorer, did not score in the game and was limited by three fouls.

Categories
News News Blog

New Beer and Liquor License at Memphis Airport Means You Can Get Crunk at Your Gate

CREDIT: Provided by the Memphis and Shelby County Airport Authority

Provided by the Memphis and Shelby County Airport Authority

If you’ve ever had the urge to start drinking while waiting for your flight at the Memphis International Airport, then you’re in luck.

Starting March 1, the airport’s new beer and liquor license will allow travelers to purchase alcoholic beverages from bars and restaurants within the airport and take them to-go for consumption in the concourse. The beverages will be poured into cups from the bar or restaurant of purchase that will identify what drink it is and where it was purchased.

You still cannot walk through security with your own booze, but you can load up at the gate before the flight home to be with your family during the holidays. Whether or not you are allowed to carry your adult beverage on the plane is individual to each airline policy.

The Memphis and Shelby County Airport Authority president and CEO, Scott Brockman, said the agency is “pleased to be able to offer our customers this added convenience while they wait for their flight”.

Over 4 million passed through MEM last year, the first year numbers have passed the 4 million mark since 2013, the last year the airport served as a hub for Delta.

Categories
Fly On The Wall Blog Opinion

Conservatives Have an Identity Problem. It’s Called Their Identity

I see shit-bag CPAC speaker Richard Spencer had his convention credentials revoked and won’t be addressing the annual gathering of white tribes. I guess, some smart person finally figured it out — a guy who advocates for peaceful ethnic cleansing is still way into ethnic cleansing.

“Very bad,” to borrow a line from Boss Trump.

As if to highlight how insane things are on the right side of the dial, on his way out the door Spencer denounced his fellow “alt-right” excommunicate Milo Yiannopoulos, who went from rising star to “Who?” when some other smart person realized the controversial Breitbart journo advocated man/boy love. “I totally reject Milo and I’m glad that he was disinvited,” Spencer said, making it abundantly clear, that even a no-account Jew-hating Nazi knows it’s wrong to have GAY sex with children.

Watching all this barely figurative crap smacking the fan, it’s tempting to believe there’s a Republican reset happening— that Main Street conservatism’s getting woke, chasing the rats out, and getting back to the business of bad business. But really it’s just the same old gray suits slicking back their wildest hairs, and covering up the iron cross tattoos they picked up on some hazy Florida spring break, all those years ago. See kids, there’s no such thing as an “Alt-Right.” That’s a buzzword used to describe a variety of rotten threads woven, not so loosely, into the broadcloth of contemporary American conservatism.  As one of the internet’s more influential early bloggers recently noted, mainstream Righties have been doing a perfectly fine job carrying the banner for “white nationalism, bigotry, contempt for the poor, corporate immunity, environmental destruction, rigid unequal gender roles, homophobia, [and] xenophobia” all by themselves. They don’t need a bunch of blingy, goose-stepping cheerleaders with fancy haircuts.

I’m quoting the laconic Dr. Duncan Black (AKA Atrios), because the current hullabaloo reminds me, just a bit, of the wild and wooly days at the dawn of social media, when most fake news showed up in your inbox with “Re:Re: Re” in the subject field, and “citizen journalism” was a brand new bag. For some reason there was this broadly accepted idea that bloggers— especially political bloggers — in an effort to stay above the fray, should, “strive mightily but eat and drink as friends.” We would meet in public places to hoist beers! We’d listen to listen to one another’s well-reasoned arguments, and debate only the points we could support with hyperlinks. One problem with this idea: So many of the serious, open, modern, digitally savvy conservabloggers also carried the banner of white nationalism, bigotry, contempt for the poor, corporate immunity, environmental destruction, rigid unequal gender roles, homophobia, xenophobia,” etc.

Conservatives Have an Identity Problem. It’s Called Their Identity

Somehow, inside this new Platonic ideal (tweely dubbed “the blogosphere”), anybody to the left of Reagan became a dangerous extremist. Liberal bloggers, like liberal politicians, were always described as being, “far out of step” with a Main Street better represented by conservative voices.  Liberals were always America-haters, crippled by their inability to reach just far enough across the aisle to fall on their faces. They were shouted down, and shamed by Godwin’s law for pointing out anybody’s similarities to Hitler even, on rare occasions, when hyperbolic comparisons might also be instructive. Progressive impatience with racism, sexism, classism etc. was always attacked as another fine example of hypocrisy and “liberal tolerance.”

That’s where the goalposts were set, way back when, as legacy media stumbled awkwardly onto the Internet, and trolls discovered the joys of pooping in comments.

So what was a liberal blogger to do when one of his esteemed adversaries, whose bold ideas you’re supposed to engage without resorting to the logical fallacy of ad hominem attack, writes a column about white feminism — an evil that has to be destroyed to insure pale-skinned beauties start getting pregnant younger, and more frequently. Because — as the post stated — we must, “fearlessly re-establish the hegomony of Euro-American WLD as rapidly as possible.”

WLD=Western Liberal Democracy. None of these things were racist or sexist, of course. Or, it was unfair and intolerant to call it that. Or something. More from the post in question:

America thinks we’re not experiencing this problem, but we are. The “native” population of white women are no longer reproducing at the replacement rate. Our nation’s growth is coming from immigration, birthrates of immigrant populations, and the birthrate of African American women… we are in a clash of civilizations — Western liberal democracy v. Arab Muslim theocracy — and in a rush to get the Arab Muslim world converted to Western liberal democracy (WLD) before their numbers overwhelm ours… I’m finding myself becoming less concerned with high immigration than I used to be. (Though border control is very important!) What we need to do is reform feminism and its ills, reform how we approach abortion and pregnancy, and fearlessly re-establish the hegomony of Euro-American WLD as rapidly as possible. It’s literally a fight for the future.

In other words, catch them gals young fellas, let’s fuck our way to victory! For the future.

Obviously, the author was just another fringe element with an internet connection, right? Well, of course, but he also became a frequent contributor to, and online editor for The Main Street Journal, a now defunct glossy publication positioning itself — as the name suggests — as the respectable voice of “main street” Conservatism. Because, again, there is no fringe. There is only the Right.

This is a personal anecdote— just a memory from the glorious digital revolution, when news delivery was by god democratized! But this kind of thing happened everywhere, all over, and at every scale. Nobody mainstreamed scary, shocking values, scary, shocking values were already mainstream. They’re still mainstream. It’s just uncivil and intolerant to call it out. We should have beers and be considerate of one another’s deeply-held values, instead.

So Richard Spencer the Nazi punching bag, and his gang-rape-obsessed frenemy Milo Yiannopoulos won’t be hobnobbing at CPAC. Yay, I guess. But that’s not really the story, is it? Because you cant revoke an invisible empire’s credentials. And the shared values — all the little things that put these fine men on the marquee in the first place —  those aren’t going anywhere anytime soon.

Categories
News News Blog

Start Seeing Trolleys (But Not Ride Them)

CREDIT: Toby Sells

Toby Sells

MATA employees describe some of the work they’ve been doing to restore Memphis’ vintage trolleys over the last two years.

Expect to see trolleys back out on their rail lines soon but don’t expect to be able to ride one for more than a year.

Officials with the Memphis Area Transit Authority (MATA) announced Thursday that they expect to have all the physical work needed to bring trolleys back to Memphis in about 12 months. However, the trolleys’ return to service will depend on a certification of MATA’s trolley safety plan by the Federal Transit Authority (FTA) and there’s no firm date on that decision.

“We’re proud to say we’re making a lot of progress,” said MATA inerim chief executive officer, Gary Rosenfield on Thursday. “In the coming days and weeks, we’ll see a lot more activity out in the field as we prepare to restart the trolley system in the next few months.”

Rosenfield said trolleys will be out on the rails for testing, electrical service will be restored to the catenary lines (the overhead wires that powers the trolleys), and the repair of the pavers along the rails on Main Street.

MATA official invited members of the media to a special board meeting Thursday at its Main Street facility, informally known as the “trolley barn.” Crews there are overhauling the Memphis trolley fleet, which includes cars that are more than 100 years old.

The Main Street line will be the first to get those big, lumbering, vintage, one-of-a-kind trolleys back when MATA gets the green light from the FTA. Six cars (four service cars and two spares) will roll on that line, which runs from the Pinch District to South Main.

All of the work to get the trolleys back on the rails has cost about $9.6 million so far, according to Rosenfield. That work has continued over two years since two trolleys caught fire in 2013 and 2014.

Those fires have been blamed, generally, on a rail system that was deeply neglected for a long time. MATA’s interim trolley director, Timothy Borchers, said his team investigated the precise cause of the fires and, on Thursday, said the devices meant to keep the trolleys safe all failed.

“The street car was running, but all of the protection devices weren’t working,” Borchers said. “Typically on a street car running on a street, it uses about 60 amps of power. The protection devices were set to trip when they hit about 100 (amps) to 120 (amps), and then it blows off. They weren’t working. The substation pumped nearly 4,000 amps into each of those cars and turned them into fireballs.”

MATA officials said to watch for trolley activity on the rails by late spring or early summer.

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Food & Drink Hungry Memphis

All-day Breakfast Bar, More, Planned for S. Main

Marcus Dorris has big plans for a suite of storefronts along S. Main.

Dorris owned Evergreen Grill on Overton Park, which was famous for his lobster burger. Three months ago, he opened Cajun Grill in the former spot of DejaVu (and most recently Pink Diva Cupcakery and Cuisine) downtown on Florida.

Cajun Grill

Dorris plans to resurrect Evergreen Grill at 302 S. Main in the old Ray’z Dr. BBQ space. He’s also planning an all-day breakfast/juice and coffee bar at 300 S. Main and a serve-yourself wine loft at 306 S. Main.

The breakfast bar will be called Early Mornings and will feature an extensive selection of mimosas (including grapefruit). There will be pancakes and crab omelets and crab benedict and lobster croissants. There will also be a healthy component will the juices, so, Dorris says, if your friend wants pancakes, you can stick to your diet with a juice. “I want to give everybody something.”

The wine loft will be called Shaken & Corked and will be like Greencork, Dorris says. Guests will serve themselves from a selection of 15 wines from a system set in the wall. He says there will be a light menu with a number of bruschetta and sandwiches.

As for the new Evergreen Grill, Dorris says the lobster burger will be back and he’s planning on offering his inventive takes on cheesecake, including red velvet, blueberry muffin, and banana pudding.

At Cajun Grill, they’re serving up seafood po’boys with alligator, lobster, shrimp, and oysters on 12-inch “legit” bread. There’s house-made remoulade, pasta with Cajun cream sauce, crab cakes, a porkchop sandwich, smothered fried chicken, bread pudding and more. And, says, Dorris, “the best seafood gumbo in the city.”

Dorris says he’s been a longtime friend of Gary Williams, owner of DejaVu. Williams hooked him up with the building for Cajun Grill, because he wanted to keep the building alive, according to Dorris.

Dorris hopes to have the S. Main restaurants open sometime before May.

Categories
Opinion The Last Word

Busy Beavers

Well, friends, Tennessee’s 110th General Assembly is in full swing, and one thing has become very clear to me: Beavers must be stopped.

All 33 senators and 98 representatives have been busy. They’ve cranked out hundreds of bills. Many are beneficial, like SB 0416, which exempts diapers from taxation. Others seem harmless enough, like SB 0418, which requires big-game hunters to wear 25 more square inches of orange. Some are head-scratchers, like SB 0172, which clarifies the definition of a rickshaw. Maybe that’s the new Nashville bachelorette party transportation? There are a few eye-rollers, like HB 0026, which “requires all license plates to bear the language ‘In God We Trust’.” Talk about tackling the important issues.

Aside from her resolutions (yes, plural) targeting pornography as a public health hazard and the hilarious headlines that ensued, I was unfamiliar with Senator Mae Beavers’ work. But she has worked hard to make herself known by sponsoring and co-sponsoring a flurry of bills ranging from unnecessary to discriminatory to dangerous and brazenly unconstitutional. I have no doubt they represent the values of her constituents in Mt. Juliet, but … hoo boy. Where to begin.

Mae Beavers and a constituent

Remember the “bathroom bill” from last year? It proposed transgender students use the facilities corresponding with their birth genders. For privacy and safety reasons, they said. It would have cost the state $1.5 billion in Title IX funding and resulted in millions in lost revenue. The sponsor, Representative Susan Lynn, withdrew the bill because she wanted to study the issue further. Well, North Carolina’s version, HB2, resulted in severe economic losses including the relocation of the NBA All-Star Game from Charlotte. It cost their governor his job. It’s currently being repealed. One could say it didn’t do so hot. That didn’t stop Beavers from bringing it back. Speaking of “bringing it back,” Beavers wants to roll back the LGBT community’s right to marriage with SB 0752, which “states the policy of Tennessee to defend natural marriage between one man and one woman regardless of any court decision to the contrary.” Hear that, Supreme Court? Your decisions mean nothing to Mae Beavers. The full text of the bill cites Dred Scott (with a full-page explainer of the Fugitive Slave Act), Alito and Scalia’s Obergefell dissents, John Locke, and “Letter from a Birmingham Jail.” It’s a lot to unpack. Also, it’s unconstitutional.

SB 0645 takes a tough stand on voter fraud, requiring courts to fine offenders $5,000 in addition to any existing penalty. It offers a $5,000 reward for information leading to a conviction for voter fraud. Problem is, of the 42 potential cases the state of Tennessee investigated in the most recent election, one resulted in a conviction.

SB 0272 “requires the department of safety to print the language ‘NON U.S. CITIZEN’ or ‘ALIEN’ on the driver licenses, permits, or other forms of identification issued or renewed for a temporary period to persons who are not United States citizens and not lawful permanent residents of the United States.” That would help with the voter fraud thing, if it existed. Gee, it’s almost as if Beavers is angling for attention from someone who took a huge loss in a popular vote and has some job openings available. Can’t knock the hustle, I suppose.

Senator Beavers really wants us to be armed, by the way. SB 0147 proposes open carry without a permit. SB 0145 provides a background check loophole by allowing firearms dealers to sell weapons from their personal collections. There’s a Second Amendment Sales Tax Holiday proposed for the first weekend of September, too, if you feel like stocking up.

Anybody got “BINGO” yet? I haven’t even gotten to the anti-abortion stuff.

SB 0244 prohibits abortions from the point a fetal heartbeat is detected, which typically occurs at five or six weeks — before many women even are aware they’re pregnant. And just because a heartbeat is detected doesn’t mean the fetus is viable. Don’t worry though, Beavers fans. If SB 0244 gets struck down due to pesky science, she sponsored another bill prohibiting abortions after 20 weeks, except to preserve the life and health of the mother. There’s also the “Sanctity of Human Life Act,” SB 0754, that “declares that human life begins with fertilization, cloning, or its functional equivalent.” Bad news. Yes, I’m afraid it’s science again. Something tells me the senator is unconcerned, though.

Jen Clarke is an unapologetic Memphian and a digital marketing specialist.

Categories
News The Fly-By

Open Records, Immigrants, & Arts

CREDIT: Toby Sells

SPARCC sparks North Memphis

Memphis was selected as one of six cities to receive a $1 million grant from the Strong, Prosperous, and Resilient Communities Challenge (SPARCC), with additional access to an estimated $90 million in foundation-backed capital.

The grant, awarded to the Memphis Partners for Resilient Communities, will specifically target the greater area of North Memphis. The group formed to apply for the grant, which is hoped to incorporate diverse racial perspectives into community planning and development projects, promote investment that results in equitable development outcomes, improve health outcomes for residents, and improve climate resilience of neighborhoods through targeted home weatherization, repair, and improvement efforts

“In the past, policy and programmatic decisions about how to invest in the places we live, work, and play have all too often led to a deeper poverty and risk for people of color and low-income communities,” said Melinda Pollack, a national partner with SPARCC.

Toby Sells

ArtsMemphis fights back

ArtsMemphis combatted President Donald Trump’s threats to federal arts funding with postcards, information, fun, and beer.

Trump has targeted the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), the National Endowment for Humanities (NEH), and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) for funding cuts. ArtsMemphis hoped its Presidents’ Day event would facilitate communication between Congress — which holds the strings of the federal purse — and art-loving Mid-Southerners.

“Receiving a swarm of constituent mail can greatly impact the way a legislator votes on a particular issue,” said ArtsMemphis executive director Elizabeth Rouse.

#daywithoutimmigrants

Some Memphis businesses closed their doors last week in solidarity with others across the United States as a part of the #daywithoutimmigrants protest. That action was against President Donald Trump, who blames economic woes on undocumented immigrants residing in the United States.

Multiple establishments, including La Michoacana and La Guadalupana, were closed outside of posted hours last week. Though there was no clear explanation on any of the Summer Avenue businesses, the implication was clear to many Memphians across social media.

El Mercadito de Memphis’ Facebook page said, “Today we will be closed and united!”

Latino Memphis said they kept their doors open that day, but only for the sake of those they serve.

“At this time, we need to be pulling together, not only from a humane perspective, but from an economic perspective,” said Mauricio Calvo, the executive director of Latino Memphis.

Open to (almost) anything

State lawmakers filed a raft of bills for this legislative session aimed at changing public access to public records, everything from the details of economic development projects to footage captured from police-worn body cameras.

Officials with the nonpartisan Tennessee Coalition for Open Government (TCOG) listed a couple of dozen bills last week that they will be watching this session.

Here’s a selection of those bills from TCOG:

Economic development records

HB 947/SB 1179 – Rep. Sam Whitson (R-Franklin), Sen. Joey Hensley (R-Hohenwald)

Makes confidential county and municipal records related to economic development. Part of this bill would make confidential any county or city economic development contracts, agreements, and related records until after a contract is entered into.

Officer-involved shootings

HB 277/SB 1039 — Rep. G.A. Hardaway (D-Memphis), Sen. Lee Harris (D-Memphis)

Requires Tennessee Bureau of Investigation’s (TBI) “investigative record” to become public after completion of an investigation by the TBI into an officer-involved shooting death.