Sir Meatball is making a splash for the
Redbirds’ season wrap-up at AutoZone Park. (Photo: Michael Donahue)
The baseball season is coming to an end. But that’s no reason it should go to the dogs, right? Not so fast — the Memphis Redbirds have invited all dogs to bring their humans to the last two Thursday home games for Bark in the Park on September 16th and 30th.
Dogs get in free, but their humans will have to purchase a specialty ticket for $15. Included in the ticket price will be your dog’s choice of a Yadi dog bowl, St. Louis Cardinals picture frame leash holder, or a Redbirds classic logo dog blanket. Then, you get to watch the game with your furry friend. The Memphis Redbirds take on the Louisville Bats on the 16th or Charlotte Knights if you wait until the 30th.
Both Thursdays will host celebrity, Instagram-famous English bulldogs Sir Meatball and Milkshake (@sir.meatball on Instagram) to take pictures with their fans. Since Thursday games are also Throwback Thursdays, you can enjoy $2 draft beers and $1 hot dogs all night long.
The Redbirds recently released their 2022 schedule ahead of this season’s wrap-up on October 3rd. Redbirds President Craig Unger says, “We still have lots of excitement planned for the next few weeks at AutoZone Park.”
That excitement includes the last post-game fireworks show on Saturday, September 18th; a Dylan Carlson bobblehead giveaway on Friday, September 17th; and of course Bark in the Park on Thursdays.
Batter up for the final innings of the 2021 season with your paw-some friends.
Bark in the Park: Memphis Redbirds vs. Louisville Bats, AutoZone Park, 200 Union, Thursday, Sept. 16, 6:45 p.m., $15, free for dogs.
Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris. (Courtesy Shelby County Government).
Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris took aim at city and county tax breaks last week and pulled no punches, calling components of it “made up” and “laughable.”
Harris spoke candidly about the issue during a panel convened last week by The Beacon Center, a Nashville-based free-market think tank. The panel included Mark Cunningham, the center’s vice president of strategy and communications, and was moderated by Otis Sanford, Memphis journalism professor, columnist, and television commentator.
The conversation followed an online viewing of a documentary called “Corporate Welfare: Where’s the Outrage?” (below). The film features The $9.5 million tax break given by Memphis and Shelby County in 2015 to lure Swedish retailer Ikea to Germantown Parkway. (The company returned some of the money in 2019 after failing to meet job numbers set out in the original agreement.)
Harris has been publicly against tax breaks for some time and said (as he did again last week) that investing in infrastructure like schools, roads, and law enforcement would do more to lure companies to Shelby County.
Here are some of Harris’ hardest-hitting quotes from Thursday’s discussion:
• “I am generally against tax breaks for corporations. One of the main reasons is because it sets up government to pick winners and losers, to decide which companies should get a government subsidy and which companies should not.”
It sets up government to pick winners and losers.
“Those kinds of things should be determined by the market, by what consumers demand, and by entrepreneurship, and what kinds of companies are good at their craft, not by government.
“This idea that government somehow steers a company one way or another doesn’t sound believable to me.”
On the prestige of having an Ikea and the competitive pressure to woo the company here:
• “This stuff is just made up from the start of it to the end of it.”
This stuff is just made up from the start of it to the end of it.
“A few weeks after [Ikea] got the millions in tax breaks from Memphis and Shelby County, they announced that we’re going to also open something in Nashville and they continue to open stores all across the country.
“It’s just made up stuff. It’s a made-up theory about how the economy works. It’s a made-up theory about ‘if we do this, they’ll go somewhere.’
“Businesses want to achieve profitability. That is what drives their decision-making. Government’s getting in the middle of it actually hurts and hinders all of us. It doesn’t help them to make their businesses better. It hurts us all.”
• “That’s what I’d say about the repetitional effects: They just weren’t there. [Ikea was] announcing these openings all over the place. So, those things are just made up to get the tax breaks and they tell you what’s really happening.”
On why politicians support tax breaks:
• “I think it’s just the idea among politicians is still — that for the last 50 years or more — jobs has been such a high-polling issue. So, if you want to attach yourself to that high-polling issue, this is one way to attach yourself to it.”
You just got to understand that the businesses create jobs, not government elected officials.
“But … if you go back to the fundamentals of the economy, government officials don’t create jobs except jobs in government, right? You just got to understand that the businesses create jobs, not government elected officials. That just doesn’t really happen. They come, but it doesn’t really work that way.”
On why tax breaks continue:
• “The system [for tax breaks] already exists. The consultants are already out there.
“[Consultants] produce the reports, which are generally not worth a lot. They come with these packages to say, ‘Hey, we can get you a little extra.’
“So, from the business perspective, they start to feel like suckers. If they say, ‘No, no, no, I’m all about the free markets.’ They’re almost boxed into saying, ‘Okay, you’ve got a package of incentives and subsidies that you can bring from a municipality or from a state. I’ll take it.’”
So, from the business perspective, they start to feel like suckers.
“So, the businesses are boxed in, too, even if they agree that it would be better to not have this practice at all.”
Sanford:What if Memphis and Shelby County decided to get out to the tax break game? Wouldn’t that depress the economy here?
• “I don’t think it has an effect on these kinds of decisions. Governments are in charge of some things. They’re in charge of infrastructure in schools, and crime, a lot of quality-of-life-kinds of issues.
“At the margins, executives are making decisions based on those issues. Can I recruit other executives [to the city]? Is it a place families want to live?
“So, if we shifted from economic incentives to quality of life [improvements], we all know, or we all should know, that we would get a lot more benefit. If you have high-quality schools, and low crime, and great roads, and bicycle lanes, we all know that that’s a thriving community and that’ll be very appealing.”
Tax cuts for all:
• “There are alternatives; just give everybody a tax cut, right? Everyone agrees that any level of tax cut across the board, is going to stimulate the economy. There may be some disagreement about how much a tax cut stimulates the economy, but every tax cut helps the economy.”
• “If you do shift away from this winners-and-losers mode into a general tax cut mode, then you can stimulate a whole bunch of additional economic activity.”
We don’t even know how much money we’re giving away, right?
“First, you’ve got to quantify where the incentives are, which no one does a good job at, right? We don’t even know how much money we’re giving away, right?
“But if you were to quantify it and know what you were giving away and then shift as much as possible to just the general-tax-cut mode, then you can create a whole lot of additional economic activity, the same way that some of these other things like infrastructure, schools, law enforcement, and crime reduction create.”
On companies living up to their promises and clawback protections if they don’t:
• “They definitely don’t [have to live up to promises].”
We were told for years, “we’ve got these clawbacks” and “there are these clawbacks coming.” I mean, it’s laughable.
“We were told for years, ‘We’ve got these clawbacks’ and ‘There are these clawbacks coming.’ I mean, it’s laughable.
“I’m not trying to belittle anybody. But it’s just the truth of the matter. We don’t have clawbacks. We didn’t get anything back. It doesn’t happen.
“I’m not trying to belittle anyone because I understand the need to talk about jobs and it’s a really, really high-priority issue, but I’m just saying when these deals are done and put together with the customer, they just don’t happen the way they are advertised to happen.”
Today on MVM, we have a world premiere video from two of Memphis’ most exciting women artists. Chamber pop chanteuse Louise Page says she has spent most of the last 18 months locked in with her keyboard. “‘Mirage’ was a song that I wrote early in the pandemic. It began as a poem about feeling let down by another person, and turned into a song about feeling let down in general, and about battling with my sense of self in a pandemic-isolated world,” Page says.
“The song can be interpreted both as a scorned lover telling off her ex for lying. Or, alternatively, my true-blue, behind-closed-doors, sad self singing to my performance persona and questioning if she in fact exists at all or is ‘just a mirage.’”
“Mirage” was recorded at Young Avenue Sound with engineer Calvin Lauber for Page’s upcoming “Play Nice” EP. The video was directed by Laura Jean Hocking. “This track along with the rest of the EP are completely solo, featuring just me singing and playing a grand piano, and reflecting on the solitude of 2020. My main goal with this song, video, and upcoming album is to make something beautiful and something honest,” Page says. “I’m so pleased with how Laura Jean interpreted my music into visual art, she is a dream to work with and always understands where I’m trying to take the viewer. This video is all about color — the golden mask and the blue truth.”
If you would like to see your music video featured on Music Video Monday, email cmccoy@memphisflyer.com.
•When Stars Are Born. Their performances in the Tigers’ season-opening win against Nicholls were impressive, but quarterback Seth Henigan and running back Brandon Thomas needed to shine against an FBS opponent before we could anoint the duo with the kind of star quality Memphis fans have grown accustomed to seeing. Well, after last Saturday’s win at Arkansas State, let’s check that box. Henigan — a true freshman, remember, a year removed from high school football — completed 22 of 33 passes against the Red Wolves for 417 yards and five touchdowns. More impressive: He didn’t throw an interception. (Considering the Tigers won by merely five points, that last figure might be considered the game-saver.) And Thomas — a seasoned redshirt freshman — rushed for 191 yards on merely 18 carries (a 10.6-yard average) and scored a pair of touchdowns. They were dominant, one through the air, one on the ground. Nice formula for winning football games.
And it’s not like the rookies don’t have star company. Sean Dykes piled up nine more catches and 143 yards on his career records for a Tiger tight end. And Calvin Austin III hauled in six of those Henigan passes for 239 yards (the second-highest total in program history) and three touchdowns. Austin’s touchdowns covered 55, 50, and 75 yards. If the Tiger offense was guilty of anything last Saturday night, it was scoring too quickly. (Six of their eight scoring “drives” took less than two minutes.) As for weaponry, Memphis can be said to have a full arsenal.
• Legends lauded. Isaac Bruce (inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame last month) and the late Danton Barto will be honored before this Saturday’s game at the Liberty Bowl. There’s a growing movement to retire the jersey of Barto, who died last month at age 50 from complications of Covid-19. As the Memphis program’s record-holder for most tackles — a standard that’s held for 28 years now — the case for honoring Barto’s number 59 is a good one. Trouble is, there’s a crowd of former Tigers now in line for this ultimate (and permanent) salute. There are two first-team All-Americans (Anthony Miller and Darrell Henderson) and a pair of quarterbacks who each topped 10,000 yards in passing as Tigers (Danny Wimprine and Brady White). To date, Memphis has retired the jersey of only six players. One man, one vote: Let’s make Danton Barto’s the seventh.
• Bully for Mississippi State. There was a time when a Tigers-Bulldogs clash on the gridiron was an annual, if one-sided, affair. The two teams played one another every season from 1974 to 2003 (Mississippi State winning 23 of those 30 meetings). But this Saturday’s game at the Liberty Bowl will be their first contest since 2011. The Bulldogs opened that season — perhaps the low point of the Memphis program, the second year under coach Larry Porter — with a 59-14 thrashing of the Tigers at the Liberty Bowl. Memphis hasn’t beaten the Bullies since 1993 (in Starkville) and hasn’t won a home game in the series since 1988. MSU will take the field with the same 2-0 record as the Tigers, having beaten Louisiana Tech (35-34) and North Carolina State (24-10). Each team will be facing its toughest test of the young season. The crowd will be large (more blue than maroon this time?), and it will have some old-school vibe. If the Tigers want to extend their 16-game winning streak at the Liberty Bowl, they’ll have to end a 12-game losing streak to their rivals from Starkville.
A federal appeals court upheld a lower court’s decision Friday to block a Tennessee abortion ban that was signed into law last year.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit agreed with Middle Tennessee District Judge William Campbell’s preliminary injunction, which blocked the law from taking effect shortly after it passed.
The law bans abortion at certain gestational ages beginning at six weeks. It also bans abortion based on a Down syndrome diagnosis or because of the gender or race of the fetus.
The provisions of the law are “constitutionally unsound,” Judge Martha Daughtrey wrote in the opinion.
“Although this circuit’s recent — and alarming — decisions have broadened the extent to which the government may impede a person’s constitutional right to choose whether to carry a pregnancy to term, the law remains clear that if a regulation is a substantial obstacle to a woman seeking an abortion, it is invalid,” the opinion reads. “We take note that state legislatures recently have passed more anti-abortion regulations than perhaps at any other time in this country’s history.However, this development is not a signal to the courts to change course.”
Hedy Weinberg, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Tennessee applauded the court’s decision.
“People should be able to make decisions for themselves about whether and when to become a parent, without politicians interfering,” Weinberg said. “ Today’s ruling is critical to Tennesseans’ ability to continue receiving safe and legal abortion care. We will continue to fight this unconstitutional law until it is struck down for good.”
Ashley Coffield, CEO of Planned Parenthood of Tennessee and North Mississippi, said the decision allows abortion to remain safe and legal in Tennessee despite a “national, coordinated attack on abortion rights.”
“We trust our patients to make their own fully informed reproductive healthcare decisions,” Coffield said. “We are thankful that the court ruled to protect that trust and ensure that we can continue to provide expert, compassionate abortion care in our state.”
A record number of Covid tests came back positive in the week straddling August and September, according to the latest figures from the Shelby County Health Department.
From August 29th to September 4th, 24.3 percent of tests given were Covid positive. The new figure beats the previous high of weekly positive tests — 21 percent — seen in the first month of August. Positive tests held at 21 percent for two weeks and fell to 19.1 percent in the last full week of August.
Active case counts have fallen from around 8,000 two weeks ago to about 7,000 on Friday. Of the 7,066 active cases, 2,643 of them were pediatric cases.
Jad Tariq and Benton Parker (Credit: Hernando's Hide-a-way)
Fall is falling into place all around us, and so the seasons roll on. Many die-hard music fans are sticking with social distancing out of prudence or necessity, and so we thank these artists and venues for giving the world options. The choices outlined below are rather stunning, really — proof positive that Memphis has great music coming out of its ears.
ALL TIMES CDT
Thursday, September 9 8 p.m. Jad Tariq & Benton Parker — at Hernando’s Hide-a-way Website
Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris. (Courtesy Shelby County Government).
The county is ready to welcome Afghan refugees, Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris said in a letter to President Joe Biden.
Harris sent a letter to Biden Thursday affirming the county’s position to resettle those fleeing Afghanistan following the Taliban takeover last month, saying that he hopes the offer will be a lifeline for those who assisted U.S. troops.
“As our country welcomes refugees from Afghanistan, I am writing to let you know the government of Shelby County, Tennessee, stands ready to provide support and stability to those fleeing violence and oppression,” Lee said. “I believe we have a moral duty to help those in dire circumstances who supported our troops.”
Harris added that the county will welcome those who are likely to face discrimination and harassment in Afghanistan — women and girls seeking to further their education and LGBTQ+ individuals.
“We know resettlement is often a last resort for those who cannot return home,” Lee wrote. “As they travel across the oceans and start to rebuild their lives, we offer our goodwill and support. In our community, we take pride in having grit.
“These refugees have proven to have that same spirit. We would be honored to have them join our community. For these reasons and more, Shelby County proudly stands with your administration in offering a beacon of hope to the Afghan refugees.”
Otis Redding (Photo courtesy The Otis Redding Foundation)
Otis Redding of Macon, Georgia, who came to define the sound of Stax Records after he traveled to Memphis, would have turned 80 years old this Thursday, September 9, and a series of events will be taking place across many platforms to mark the singer’s birthday.
For starters, the State of Georgia will be declaring the day “Otis Redding Day” at an event tomorrow at The Otis Redding Museum. The museum will also unveil a new collection of memorabilia chronicling Redding’s life, legacy, and influences on the world with handwritten notes, unseen photos, and more. More information can be found at The Otis Redding Foundation website.
Rhino Records is also introducing several releases of the music that made Redding a legend in the 1960s and beyond. To date, his songs have garnered more than 3 billion (and counting) streams worldwide. Though no one in their right mind would complain about the original tracks, progress marches on, and perhaps new details in the recordings can be heard when Rhino introduces new immersive Dolby Atmos mixes for seven of his tracks, including “These Arms of Mine,” “Pain In My Heart,” “Love Man,” “That’s How Strong My Love Is” and “I’ve Got Dreams To Remember,” not to mention his two holiday hits “Merry Christmas Baby” and “White Christmas.” All seven tracks will be available this Thursday, September 9 on all streaming platforms that feature immersive audio.
Fans of the original mixes may be familiar with Rhino’s 7-LP Otis Redding: The Definitive Studio Album Collection. This vinyl boxed set, originally released four years ago, features all seven of the original Atco, Volt and Stax studio albums in replica sleeves that recreate the original packaging. The collection sold out quickly and is now out of print, but that will change on December 10 when Rhino re-releases the set, with pre-orders available now.
One way to order it will be via the mobile shopping app NTWRK, which will feature a special program hosted by Redding’s family, during which fans can pre-order The Definitive Studio Album Collection with an exclusive poster, as well as limited-edition merchandise. This will be the first in a two-part series that will also raise awareness and funds for The Otis Redding Foundation.
Though those original recordings hold up, the possibilities of tinkering with classics are hard to resist, so this fall will see other artists roll out new remixes of some of his classic tracks. The series kicks off this Thursday with a remix of “Tramp,” Redding’s classic 1967 duet with Carla Thomas, by the Australian electronic duo Korky Buchek.
Tomorrow will also witness a tribute to Redding by Memphis’ own DJ D-Nice, who will host a “Club Quarantine” virtual party on his Instagram page to celebrate The King of Soul, beginning at 7 p.m. For his continued role in supporting Redding’s legacy, D-Nice will also receive the Award of Respect from The Otis Redding Foundation, a philanthropic organization that was established in 2007 by the singer’s widow, Zelma Redding.
Redding’s hometown of Macon has also recently launched a new art exhibition “Inspired by Otis” in partnership with Macon Arts Alliance, showcasing local artists’ works of art inspired by Redding and his legacy. The exhibition opened last week and runs through Friday September 24, 2021. Click here for more information.
Redding and the Stax house band — keyboardist Booker T. Jones, guitarist Steve Cropper, bassist Donald “Duck” Dunn, and drummer Al Jackson Jr. — recorded a string of Top Ten R&B hits between 1962 and 1967 that included “Chained And Bound,” “Mr. Pitiful,” and “Try A Little Tenderness.” He also wrote “Respect,” a song that reached #4 on the R&B chart in 1965. Two years later, Aretha Franklin covered the song and took it to #1 on the pop and R&B charts, making it her signature tune.
Today, Redding and his music continue to gain recognition, as so many Memphians know. He’s been inducted into the halls of fame for Rock and Roll, Rhythm and Blues, Songwriters and Georgia Music. In addition to a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award (1999), three of Redding’s songs have been inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame: “Respect” (1998), “I’ve Been Loving You Too Long,” (2011), and “Try A Little Tenderness” (2015).
University of Memphis faculty won a record-setting $50.2 million in research awards in the last fiscal year.
The new total beat last year’s record of $40.7 million, up 23.2 percent. Research award dollars have risen steadily at U of M since 2018.
Credit: University of Memphis
Back then, about 20 percent of the school’s faculty were responsible for 75 percent of research proposals. In the 2021 fiscal year, 38 percent of the faculty brought in 75 percent of the research awards.
In 2018, U of M began a strategy to increase research awards. The new push hopes to earn the school Carnegie R1 status, the highest rank among institutes of higher education.
Federal grants have been the fastest-growing category in the U of M research mix. These grants have grown by 80 percent since 2019, up from $20 million to just over $35 million this year.
Credit: University of Memphis
The top three federal contractors of U of M research last year were the National Science Foundation ($8.9 million), National Institutes of Health ($6.5 million), and the U.S. Department of Education ($5.1 million).
“We must celebrate the hard work of our research faculty across campus,” said Jasbir Dhaliwal, U of M executive vice president for research and innovation. “Federal research awards are nationally competitive so these achievements are truly remarkable. Our efforts to build a cutting-edge research culture are starting to pay off and this bodes well for the future.”
Credit: University of Memphis
State-funded dollars rose here by 150 percent since last year. This figure was pushed largely by $5.6 million in grants from the Tennessee Department of Transportation. However, $4.9 million of that money was invested last year in the Keep Tennessee Beautiful program housed at the U of M. It was the single largest grant given to any U of M researcher in 2021.
To read more about the grants, check the school’s report here.
