It’s nice to see the Commercial Appeal honoring Memphis’ best workplaces. Like Bartlett City Schools which, according to this Facebook post, were ranked second in the “Top 10 Large Business Workplaces” category. But wouldn’t it be even nicer if the plaques had a picture of the Memphis skyline on them, instead of Nashville?
Local journalism. Can’t beat it.
An estimated 2,000 folks (naughty? nice?) participated in this annual downtown event gathering toys and funds for Porter-Leath.
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Memphis Light, Gas, and Water (MLGW) customers will pay higher water, gas, and electric rates if the full Memphis City Council approves the increases Tuesday, Dec. 19.
The MLGW council committee voted in favor of customers’ water rates to increase by 1 percent or 18 cents per month beginning next year.
CEO of MLGW, Jerry Collins, Jr. said the additional $1 million of revenue will be used strictly for research on the Memphis Sands Aquifer, to pursue the “proper steps to ensure the quality of the aquifer’s water.”
Collins said he hopes the research will reveal any windows in the aquifer where contaminants might be able to seep in.
Similarly, the committee recommended that gas rates increase by about 9 percent over a two year period, initially costing customers about $1.62 more a month.
Collins said the increased gas rates will fund some of the utility’s internal operations.
Finally, after much debate the committee voted to approve a 2.3 percent increase in electric rates over the course of three years, totalling about an additional $2.62 a month and $96.48 over the three-year period for customers.
Kelly Rayne, senior vice president of public policy at the Greater Memphis Chamber asked the committee to postpone the vote on electric increases until local manufacturing and industrial companies have had the chance to assess how the increases will affect their budget.
Rayne said large companies need time to understand the impact and give the council feedback because “it’s a big deal.”
Council member Jamita Swearingen, among the committee members that voted against the electric increase, also expressed reservations because of Memphis’ large low-income population who might not be able to afford the higher rates.
“I have a heavy heart,” Swearengen said. “That’s medication for some of my constituents. It’s very very difficult for me to support.”
Look how they follow you.
WMC consumer advocate Andy Wise is making a change. More details will be available at 1 p.m. Right now all we know is that Dec. 15th is the newsman’s #LastDay.
After more than a year of planning/praying, it will be my last. Watch my Facebook page for my detailed announcement re: my future! #Dec15 #LastDay #WiseChoices https://t.co/XI5S8hoMWz
— Andy Wise (@AndyWise5) December 5, 2017
Andy Wise Leaving WMC Post. Tags Decision #WiseChoices
And that he has some parting wishes, none of which involve Fly on the Wall.
Now that the cat's out of the bag, I have a few wishes b4 my last day #Dec15:
* lunch with @margot_mcneeley
* lunch with @MEM_Madden
* last appearance on @Drakeinthemorn
* first appearance on @GaryParrishCBS (I'll bring @NewAmsterdam if @BradCarson will let me) https://t.co/zCtnHWSPss— Andy Wise (@AndyWise5) December 5, 2017
Andy Wise Leaving WMC Post. Tags Decision #WiseChoices (2)
Merp.
Larry Kuzniewski
Andrew Harrison came up big when the Grizzlies needed him to.
It finally happened on Monday night: the Memphis Grizzlies won a regular season basketball game for the first time after losing 11 straight. Their last win was on the road at Portland on November 7, and their last home win was October 28 against the Houston Rockets. To say it’s been a while is to undersell the depth of the pit into which the Grizzlies fell over the last few weeks.
And when the smoke cleared, and the buzzer sounded on last night’s 95-92 win over an underperforming Minnesota team, it was like they’d won a playoff series. Players spontaneously embraced, the crowd erupted, and it felt like some great dark cloud had finally lifted. Enough that Marc Gasol let one slip on live television:
“We won. F-ck it.” pic.twitter.com/EKKcZnfN63
— Gary Parrish (@GaryParrishCBS) December 5, 2017
Grizzlies 95, Timberwolves 92: Five Thoughts
It wasn’t a pretty win by any means. The Grizzlies had to fight through some of the same struggles they’ve seen throughout the string of losses, and they finally caught a break by being able to beat a team having its own set of issues (much like the games they should’ve won against Brooklyn and Dallas). But, alas, a win is a win, and I have five thoughts about it:
Larry Kuzniewski
JB Bickerstaff got his first win as Grizzlies interim head coach.
★ Last night was Tyreke Evans’ best game as a passer in a Grizzlies uniform. Evans started at the point, and even though his Grizzlies tenure has seen him be a bit of a ball-stopper (which is not to say that’s a new development; that’s been his game since he was a Memphis Tiger), last night he was very good, better than the box score indicates. Evans had 16 points, 9 assists, and 5 rebounds—a very “Conley” stat line, to be sure—but that number doesn’t account for hockey assists, or great passes to a guy who missed the shot. Evans facilitated the Grizzlies’ transition offense really well last night, and it made a big difference. They’re still not a good half-court team in Conley’s absence, but if Tyreke’s going to facilitate like that and still score in the high teens or low twenties, it may not matter.
★ Marc Gasol was Marc Gasol, and sometimes that’s all that matters. Gasol was active on defense, constantly talking, and even though the offense seemed to stagnate in the halfcourt with him on the floor, he was still good for 21 points, 5 assists, and 7 rebounds, a very “Marc Gasol” stat line. He was good when it mattered, and so was the rest of the team, and… frankly, if he’d been even 80% this good over the last month they probably win at least three games out of the losing streak. With some of the other players and lineups starting to come around, the Grizzlies don’t need Gasol to play at an MVP level; they just need him to play like Marc Gasol. Last night against the Wolves, that was enough.
★ The young guys stepped up in a big way last night. None of them were perfect, but Dillon Brooks, Andrew Harrison, and Deyonta Davis all played crucial minutes in the win last night—exactly the kind of minutes you want to see from young players you’re hoping to develop. Brooks defended well on some tough assignments, played within himself, limited the number of dumb mistakes he made, and contributed on both ends.
Harrison, with the ball in his hands, steadied the defense, made some heady plays on offense and put himself in a position to succeed. Harrison was abysmal as a shooting guard, but since the coaching change, JB Bickerstaff has kept Harrison on the ball, and that’s been all the difference. He’s still too slow to make decisions on offense, but he makes up for it on defense and by using his size and his intellect to make plays no other point guard on the roster can (or will, anyway) make. With Mario Chalmers struggling to get much done, Harrison might be the Grizzlies’ best shot at a stable backup who won’t cost them possessions, for better or for worse.
Davis played great defense to end the third and start the fourth quarters, and with Gasol on the bench and the Griz down 5, it turned the game around. If he’d been bad, the Grizzlies would’ve lost. Instead, he got a great putback, made a five-or-so-footer that he would’ve missed last year, altered shots, grabbed some rebounds, and generally steadied the frontcourt while the starting tandem of Green and Gasol got a rest. Davis has really stepped up in Brandan Wright’s absence. After the game Bickerstaff said he’s been encouraging Davis to play to his strengths—the shotblocking, rebounding, his transition play—and so far, it’s working (and, to be fair, worked under Fizdale too). He might be on his way to making Wright expendable.
Larry Kuzniewski
Mario Chalmers struggled to get anything done last night.
★ Mario Chalmers looks cooked. He’s not running the offense well, he’s taking bad shots that he thinks he should be able to make, and he’s trying to play with “veteran savvy” when really he’s not that kind of player. I’m not sure what exactly is going on with Chalmers. It’s clear that he’s lost some speed and isn’t comfortable finishing at the rim, but he’s also lost confidence in his ability to make the right play. Instead he freezes up, always picks up his dribble after coming around a screen, and generally makes poor decisions that lead to wasted possessions. Chalmers may have played well enough in camp to stay on the roster, or maybe Wade Baldwin was just that useless, but either way, it’s been clear from the jump that Chalmers isn’t what he was in 2015-16. That’s not necessarily his fault—though I do think he could be playing better with his diminished skill set—but it’s got the Grizzlies in familiar dire straits with respect to the backup PG spot.
★ Ben McLemore was bad. He made some good plays in the Spurs game at home—he’s good for that every now and then—but last night McLemore struggled on both ends. I was not a fan of this signing when it happened, especially not when guys like Thabo Sefolosha were still available for roughly the same money, and McLemore hasn’t really done much to change my mind. Does he have the ability to be an NBA player? Sure. Will he put it together and stop costing the Grizzlies possessions? I’ll believe it when I see it. Last night, no.
Before the game, this was pretty much the only real analysis left to be made:
lol good call pic.twitter.com/1Ge9c7h0cU
— ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ (@starclusterr) December 5, 2017
Grizzlies 95, Timberwolves 92: Five Thoughts (2)
Up Next
Wednesday night the Grizzlies take on the Knicks in New York, in another very winnable game. It’s an East team and a road game, always a rough proposition for the Grizzlies, but the Knicks are not as good now as they were earlier, especially with Kristaps Porzingis still listed as day-to-day (he missed their last two games).
The Grizzlies should grab that New York win if they can, because this weekend they’re home for a back-to-back against the Raptors and the Thunder, two teams they’ll have a harder time with. The losing streak may be over, but that doesn’t change the fact that the Grizzlies are currently in one of the toughest stretches of their schedule. When Conley gets back, the worst may be over, and they’ll know how deep of a hole they have to climb out of.
All that cool stuff at Spaghetti Warehouse could be yours. The owners are holding an online auction ending on December 12th. Bidding starts at $1.
From the release:
Everything in the building will be auctioned off at www.RestaurantEquipment.bid to the highest bidder. All items start at just $1.00 and have no reserves. Depending on how competitive the auction gets, winning bidders could walk away with the iconic furniture, fixtures, decor and professional-grade kitchen equipment for pennies on the dollar.
The auction is live now and ends 12/12/17 at 10:00AM CST
https://www.restaurantequipment.bid/cgi-bin/mmdetails.cgi?rebid30/There are 293 items in the auction including the novelty decorations that The Spaghetti Warehouse is famous for, like chandeliers, statues, furniture and professional-grade kitchen equipment
First Congo’s very first solar panels.
New poll numbers show Tennesseans support solar power and that local utility companies like Memphis Light, Gas & Water (MLGW) should be able to buy power from sources other than the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA).
Pollsters called 600 registered Tennessee voters in late October for Tennesseans for Solar Choice (TSC), a coalition working to expand solar energy in Tennessee.
The poll was a reaction to the TVA’s announcement earlier this year that it was considering a move that would, among other things, charge consumers more if they generated their own energy, used energy-efficient appliances, and more.
The TSC found that 81 percent of those polled wanted more solar energy produced in Tennessee. Of those polled, 88 percent said they wanted solar panels on their homes.
“The fact that nearly nine in ten Tennessee voters prefer that their electricity bill be based on usage, rather than a fixed fee (or so called ‘grid access fee’) should not be a surprise,” stated Elder Jimmie Garland, Vice President Middle TN for the TN State Conference NAACP. “Forcing these additional fees onto customers every month is a regressive move that is not in the best interest of consumers and will especially hurt families on low and fixed income.”
Electricity bills should be based on usage, not a flat fee, poll participants said.
“With actions like increasing mandatory fixed charges, limiting contracts with solar companies, and not paying fair rates for solar generation, TVA is undermining the solar power market, all in a desperate attempt to maintain control of power generation and limit customer choice,” said Dr. Stephen A. Smith, executive director of the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy.
Also, MLGW and others should be able to buy power from sources other than TVA.
“Small businesses are the economic backbone of our Tennessee communities, generating the majority of job growth and local economic activity, despite constant competition against large corporations every day,” said Lenda Sherrell, state director for the Tennessee Small Business Alliance. “To now be faced with the prospect of reduced credit for solar energy generated through their own investment as well as limitations and uncertainty on the rights to contract with someone other than their local power company or TVA for solar energy, is an unfair penalization to our small business community.”
TVA is currently in talks with utility companies across the Tennessee Valley about the possible change. Though, no formal timeline on the decision has been released, some expect a decision could come as early as the first quarter of 2018.
Justin Fox Burks
South Main trolleys under repair
The Memphis Area Transit Authority (MATA) announced Monday that the return of the vintage, steel-wheeled trolley will be delayed until April 2018.
The trolleys were originally scheduled to be up and running by the end of this year, but MATA officials said a handful of safety issues stand in the way of that.
Three of the six cars needed to restart the service will not be ready by the slated deadline, as rotting wood was discovered in the trolleys during their reconstruction at an Iowa-based trolley company.
Representatives with Gomaco Trolley Company told MATA officials that after repairs are made to the three trolleys’ underbodies, roofs, and floors, they should be ready to ship to Memphis no later than January.
Then, MATA must test the cars without passengers on the tracks to ensure the trolleys are operating up to safety standards.
Issues with areas of the rail track, as well as the overhead wires that power the trolleys, were also discovered after safety test on the Main Street line began in early November with the first three trolleys. A rail contractor is in the process of assessing the necessary repairs.
Once all six trolleys are back and have been tested here, the Federal Transit Administration and the Tennessee Department of Transportation must certify that the cars are ready to operate safely.
Gary Rosenfeld, CEO of MATA, said while the news is disappointing, the delay is directly related to ensuring that all trolley cars are operational and meet safety standards.
“From the beginning, we have emphasized that safety is our top priority,” Rosenfeld said. “Given that, MATA is delaying the passenger trolley service until we can ensure that all trolley vehicle cars are rehabilitated to our specifications and are thus safe to ride for our customers.
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“Since this service means a lot to the Memphis community and given the issues that occurred previously which caused us to shut the system down, we aren’t taking any shortcuts.
While we understand that the community may be disappointed that the service must be delayed until April 2018, it is our hope that when it does finally return, the community will be proud in the trolley cars that we have diligently and meticulously restored to be the safest in the nation.”
Music Video Monday is in throwback mode.
Earlier this year, Memphis rap titan Kingpin Skinny Pimp revisited an entry in his legendary discography. “Nobody Crosses Me” comes from the 1996 album King of Da Playaz Ball. The Kingpin created this video with the help of Memphis Visuals, which includes cameos by Lil Wyte and extensive video samples from the film “Nobody Crosses Me” used audio samples from, the 1983 Brian De Palma/Al Pacino collaboration Scarface. Get crunk!
Music Video Monday: Kingpin Skinny Pimp
If you would like to see your music video featured on Music Video Monday, email cmccoy@memphisflyer.com
The event we now know as the AutoZone Liberty Bowl has been played every December since 1959, the first six years in Philadelphia and, since 1965, at the stadium here in Memphis that shares its name. Only seven college bowl games have a longer history. The University of Memphis has fielded a football team since 1912, the last 53 years at that very same Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium, many of those seasons forgettable, a precious few — like 2017 — bursting with happy memories. For the first time, come December 30th, these two Bluff City gridiron institutions will meet as one. If you can numb the pain from last Saturday in Orlando, this is a perfect marriage.
About that pain. If you have a rooting interest in the Tigers, there’s no way to shake the disappointment of their 62-55(!) loss to UCF in the American Athletic Conference championship. Had the Knights won decisively, as they did in the teams’ first confrontation on September 30th, the Tiger fan base takes a deep breath, licks the wound, and breaks out the bowl-game t-shirts, wherever their 19th-ranked team happens to land. But the Knights did not win decisively. Memphis came up one field goal (albeit from 51 yards) short of the AAC title and a berth in the Peach Bowl, one of the New Year’s Six. The Tigers had a chance in overtime to secure that same prize but couldn’t stop UCF on its first (or second) offensive possession. That close to playing in one of the six most prestigious postseason games in college football. Much will have to happen for the program to get such a chance again.
That loss means a second-tier bowl for the Tigers, at least in harsh, clinical terms. The New Year’s Six is first tier, the two national semifinals (this year the Rose Bowl and Sugar Bowl) virtually beyond the reach of “Group of Five” programs like Memphis. But remember, we now have 40 bowl games. Second tier? That beats the hell out of a third-tier bowl (say, the Alamo Bowl). For that matter, we can now classify bowl games as fourth-tier (Music City, Pinstripe) or even fifth-tier (Camellia Bowl? New Mexico Bowl?). The 2017 Liberty Bowl will be the most prestigious postseason game Memphis has ever played, and by a considerable margin.
Consider: The Tigers have played in ten bowl games, and only one of them had existed as many as ten years when Memphis appeared in the game. Remember the 1956 Burley Bowl? Of course you don’t. First played in 1945, that game between Memphis State College and East Tennessee State (won by the Tigers) was the last Burley Bowl ever played. The 1971 Pasadena Bowl? For twenty years, that event was called “the Junior Rose Bowl.” Because it was played between junior college programs until 1967. The Tigers played in the third New Orleans Bowl (2003), the sixth GMAC Bowl (2004), the ninth Motor City Bowl (2005). And so on. Two of the recent bowl games Memphis has played in — the Motor City and Miami Beach (2014) — no longer exist.
When Memphis and Iowa State kick things off on December 30th, the Tigers will be playing in the 59th-annual AutoZone Liberty Bowl. No, it’s not a trip to a tropical region or the grand stage of the New Year’s Six. But it will be a prestigious event that just happens to be held on the same turf the Tigers call home. This is like leaving for college, only to return home for summer and falling in love with someone you’d passed in high school halls for years. (I know this magic distinctly.)
And let’s not forget the football team Memphis will be cheering. If it can’t already be called the greatest in the history of the program, it’s now leading the conversation. A win in the Liberty Bowl would give the Tigers 11 for the season, a total never reached in more than a century of Memphis football. The team has scored the most points (572) in program history and needed only 12 games to break the record set in 13 contests by the 2015 team.
And bless the football gods for giving Memphis fans one more chance to see seniors Riley Ferguson and Anthony Miller do extraordinary things in blue and gray. Before the end of the first quarter, Ferguson should become the first Memphis quarterback to pass for 4,000 yards in a season (he needs 29). If Miller catches eight passes, he’ll become the first Memphis receiver to pull down 100 receptions in a season. And 93 yards would give the Christian Brothers High School alum 1,500 for the year. We will not see these numbers regularly, if ever again. Ferguson and Miller, it can be said, are the Finch and Robinson of Memphis football.
Embrace the disappointment, if such is possible. The Peach Bowl was there for the taking. (Note: The first Peach Bowl was played in 1968, three years after the Liberty Bowl game had moved to Memphis.) But a top-20 Memphis football team is playing in one of the top 10 (out of 40!) bowl games in the country. Right here in Memphis. Liberty is a blessing.