If you happen to have seen a blurred image of 8th District U.S. Representative David Kustoff in the background of a picture frequently featured in the coverage of the GOP’s mystery Long Island Congressman-elect George Santos, so has Kustoff, who notes that his first sight of the picture was via an issue of TheNew York Times.
Reached over the holidays, Kustoff identified the picture as one taken at a post-election event held in Las Vegas last month by the Republican Jewish Coalition. At the meeting, which was attended by presumed Speaker-to-be Kevin McCarthy, Kustoff and Santos, along with Rep.-elect Max Miller of Ohio, were extolled by McCarthy and others as a corps of Jewish members-to-be in the coming Congress.
That trio may turn out to be a duo, of course, as Santos’ Jewishness, as well as virtually every other fact of his public identification, has been since revealed to have been a fabrication on the Republican’s part.
Santos’ purported religion, as well as his claimed employment in the financial industry, his education, and his family background, along with much else, have been exposed as spurious in voluminous news coverage, and the lingering question has been what will become of Santos’ hopes of serving in Congress: Will he be seated, will he be expelled, or just what?
Conspicuously silent on the issue has been the aforementioned McCarthy, who is still trying to arrange for a guaranteed vote of 218 Representatives for himself as Speaker of the House on January 3rd, when Congress reconvenes.
Kustoff was clearly hesitant to comment on the disposition of Santos’ case, venturing only, “Nothing will happen until after the Speakership vote.”
That presupposes, of course, that the New Yorker will be seated. Kustoff declined to say anything else about the case and about Santos’ chance of continuing in Congress, though he indicated he might comment further later on.
The Memphis area’s other Jewish congressman, Democrat Steve Cohen of the 9th District, has been less restrained. He authored a well-noticed tweet on the subject: “This guy makes Herschel Walker look like George (I can’t tell a lie) Washington./ Jew-ish? That’s some chutzpah!”” Cohen suggested in another tweet that the $700,000 that Santos claimed to have lent his recent campaign was unlikely to have been his own money and could lead to serious legal trouble for the would-be legislator.
Elaborating further this week, Cohen suggested Santos was obviously “mentally ill,” and foresaw his likely indictment in fairly short order.
Dillon Brooks matched up against Gary Trent, Jr. on December 29, 2022 (Credit: NBAE via Getty Images)
The Memphis Grizzlies defeated the Toronto Raptors 119-106 at Scotiabank Arena on Thursday night after dropping two straight games.
The victory over the Raptors in Toronto was a welcome relief after they had dropped four of their previous five games, including a crushing loss on Christmas Day to the shorthanded Golden State Warriors.
The recent slump has dropped them from first place in the Western Conference to third. They are currently one game behind the Western Conference-leading New Orleans Pelicans and Denver Nuggets.
Many questioned their swagger and competitive spirit after the disappointing losses.
Some were too quick to write off the Grizzlies, but they proved them wrong on Thursday night by just having fun and finding their footing again. The NBA is a long season, and Memphis must continue to take it one game at a time.
All five of Memphis’ starters scored in double figures. Dillon Brooks led the way for Grizzlies with 25 points and six assists for his homecoming. Brooks is from Mississauga, Ontario near Toronto.
After the game, Brooks revealed his coaches want him to be more of a playmaker.
On his six assists, Brooks said, “Kudos to me. I tried to shoot the open ones and I work on my game every single day to be confident in my shot.”
Desmond Bane added 16 points, five rebounds, and two steals. It’s his best game back since his return from injury.
Jaren Jackson Jr. chipped in 15 points, five rebounds, three assists, and two blocks. Jackson is averaging 3.0 blocks per game this season.
Steven Adams posted his eighth double-double of the season with 14 points and 17 rebounds, while John Konchar added 11 points and seven rebounds as a reserve.
Sharing is Caring
The Grizzlies recorded a season-high 37 assists. Memphis is 8-0 this season when registering 30 assists.
With his 17 assists, Morant recorded the highest assist total by a single Grizzlies player since Jason Williams set a franchise record with 19 more than 20 years ago in March 2002.
The Grizzlies went 13-of-29 from beyond the arc after going four straight games shooting in the single digits. Brooks shot four, Memphis’ best 3-point shooter Bane connected with three, and Konchar added two 3-point shots.
Up Next
The Grizzlies will host the New Orleans Pelicans at FedExForum on New Year’s Eve, Saturday, Dec. 31, at 7 p.m. CT.
Clarinetists from the Razorback Marching Band at the AutoZone Liberty Bowl (Photo: Elizabeth Bainbridge)
When you’re a musician, football games hit a little differently. Take this Wednesday’s AutoZone Liberty Bowl Football Classic, a record-setting nail-biter if ever there was one. “The longest game in the Liberty Bowl’s 64-year history set 24 records, including total points (108), total offense by one team (681 yards by Arkansas) and first downs (32 by Kansas),” a report from the Associated Press tells us, but for this roving pair of ears, it was all about the music.
I was accompanying the mother of a former piano student who now plays clarinet in the University of Arkansas Razorback Marching Band. And hints of the music to come appeared as we walked to Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium: There in the parking area, one could see the Shelby County Sheriff’s Ceremonial Guard milling around in their kilts with assorted bagpipes and drums. And pushing through the throng, one could spy the glint of silvery sousaphones, making their way from the band busses. Those horns would guide us to our seats, as we would be embedded adjacent to the Razorback band.
Settling in, we heard the familiar strains of “Soul Man” being piped through the jumbotron, and although it was the Blues Brothers’ version, not Sam and Dave’s, it still carried enough Memphis bona fides to strike a note of pride in our hearts.
And then suddenly, the pre-game show was upon us! The Razorback band had filed down to the ground level, and were sprinting out onto the field. What followed was an impressive, swinging arrangement of selections from West Side Story.
The music by Leonard Bernstein ranks among the classics of American jazz and theater, yet there was a surreal quality to hearing the poignant strains of “Somewhere” echo from the gridiron, played by young people who may have never before heard it. Later, I asked our clarinetist, Ella Thomas, about the experience.
“‘America’ was the only one I knew,” she said. “But as a section, we had a movie night and all watched the original West Side Story. And I thought the music was really good. Though it was really hard for the clarinets. My favorite part was the finale, a medley of ‘America,’ ‘Maria,’ and ‘Gee Officer Krupke.’ And the clarinets and the low woodwinds have kind of a feature in that one. We play the higher, faster melody. It’s very hard!”
For their part, the Kansas University Marching Jayhawks also brought jazz history into play, featuring a piece by native Kansan Stan Kenton in their halftime show. But it was their version of Cameo’s “Word Up” as the game raged below that really caught my attention.
Meanwhile, the remorseless sadism of football fandom brought other sounds into play. “Break his neck and twist it!” yelled one jolly spectator nearby; and other Razorback fans would gleefully boo injured Jayhawks off the field. Having been raised a Nebraska Cornhusker, I was used to it. But, as Thomas explained, the camaraderie between the opposing teams’ bands transcends any rivalry among the players.
Razorback Marching Band clarinetist Ella Thomas mentally prepares for the pre-game show. (Photo: Alex Greene)
“The Jayhawks band sounded really good!” she remarked. “The Kansas fans weren’t so nice, but the band was really nice to us. The day before, they all came to meet us at the parade, and when we were doing our show, they were cheering for us.” After the game, as musicians from both bands gathered at their busses, Thomas’ comments were borne out by the copious high-fives and back slapping between those wearing opposing colors.
Of course, marching bands aren’t the only source of music at a major bowl game, and this year’s Liberty Bowl was no exception. Naturally, the jumbotron pumped out classic party bangers to get folks revved up. Think Guns N’ Roses’ “Welcome to the Jungle.” But classic rock also held court in the form of the halftime headliner, officially known as Starship featuring Mickey Thomas.
These hit-makers hold the dubious honor of having built a career on one of the world’s most reviled songs. This is especially interesting given the band’s genesis out of the ashes of two of rock’s biggest bands, Jefferson Airplane and Jefferson Starship. But that pedigree mattered little when Blender, Rolling Stone, and GQ magazines all named a song by Starship (with “Jefferson” removed for legal reasons) as the ultimate in bad taste. Indeed, it so trounced the competition in Rolling Stone‘s poll for that title that the magazine noted it “could be the biggest blow-out victory in the history of the Rolling Stone Readers Poll.”
Yes, I’m speaking of “We Built This City,” perhaps the only song lamenting corporate rock that is itself the most perfect exemplar of that genre ever recorded. Yet here in a city where the late Jim Dickinson’s Roland keyboard once proudly bore a sticker with the message “Corporate Rock Sucks,” enthusiasm for Wednesday’s performance was high.
While I share most jazz musicians’ reflexive disdain for the 1985 number one hit, as an anthropologist I am fascinated by its simultaneous popularity and unpopularity. Yet all such musings proved irrelevant as the Mickey Thomas and company knocked out a rendition that included a drop-out for the crowd to sing “Rock and rolllllllllll” without a trace of irony. Take that, Rolling Stone!
And then it was back to the game. Even I can tell you that it was one of the most gripping matches in the history of the sport, as the Razorbacks squeaked out a victory in triple overtime, after a stunning second half rally by Kansas. As the moment of victory settled in, the Razorback band launched into its standard choice for such moments, “It’s Hard to Be Humble.” And the fans sang along:
Oh, Lord it’s hard to be humble, when you’re perfect in every way! I can’t wait to look in the mirror, I get better looking each day! To know me is to love me, I must be one hell of a fan! Oh, Lord it’s hard to be humble, when you’re an Arkansas Razorback fan!
As Thomas later noted quietly, “We don’t play anything if we lose.”
Naturally, there are many theories bouncing around the internet as to why the game ended as it did: bad referees, faulty and/or brilliant coaching, lucky breaks, or even the weather. But Ella Thomas and I know the real reason for the Liberty Bowl’s greatness that day: it was the music.
Not long after the Tennessee Department of Transportation proposed public-private partnerships to build express lanes and cut congestion on highways, the University of Tennessee-Knoxville sought permission for a joint venture to build dorms and an indoor athletic facility.
The State Building Commission authorized the university’s plan to take bids for a public-private partnership for three multi-use student housing facilities on campus and construction of the infield practice facility.
The General Assembly will have to pass legislation enabling the Department of Transportation to enter a public-private partnership in which a company would invest the money in a road project, then recoup it through fees.
Under the UT-Knoxville proposal, which didn’t require legislative action, the university will “engage” a developer to design, construct, finance and maintain the buildings, which will meet growth needs and allow renovation or replacement of older dorms. The university is requesting proposals from developers on each project.
“The added facilities will help us meet our campus housing needs and position UT-K for anticipated enrollment growth while supporting the Volunteer student experience. This process has been utilized in various other states,” the university said in a statement.
It is unclear what impact these public-private partnerships would have on the university’s finances, though UT-K would remain in charge of dorm assignments and programming.
State transportation officials prefer to use the term “choice lanes” for their proposal on express routes, but Sen. Todd Gardenhire, R-Chattanooga, contends they are “toll roads” in essence because motorists would have to pay to drive on them.
The question is whether this is the wave of the future for Tennessee government operations in which it would ask the private sector to take control of building projects and maintain and operate them. Thirty-five states have authorized public-private partnerships for highways, and Tennessee could be the next.
The idea is to inject 80 percent of private investment in road projects, expedite the delivery of construction from the typical 15-year time frame and cut the cost of urban projects to free up money for rural road expansion.
Most lawmakers aren’t aware of the UT-K project, and they say they need more financial information about public-private partnerships on road construction before making a commitment.
State Sen. Todd Gardenhire, a Chattanooga Republican, believes proposals for express lanes, which would be paid for with motorist fees, would most likely be geared toward Nashville.
“I would have to see what the economics of it is and make sure it’s not more of a public with a capital P and private with a little p,” Gardenhire says.
He’s also uncertain how express routes or use of high-occupancy lanes would work differently than they do now.
Gardenhire contends that few drivers use the state’s high-occupancy vehicle lanes appropriately. During his trips on I-24, he sees the HOV lanes surrounding Nashville packed with vehicles carrying only one person, when they are supposed to be for two or more during rush hours, such as 7 to 9 a.m.
“People don’t even try to hide it anymore by putting a dummy with a hat on in the passenger seat,” Gardenhire says with a laugh. “They’re a waste of space.”
He appears willing to give them a chance, though.
“If somebody can figure out how to make it so I can pay a fee and get in there and blow it out going back home or coming to Nashville, that’s great,” Gardenhire adds.
Though state transportation officials prefer to use the term “choice lanes” for their proposal on express routes, Gardenhire, a member of the Senate Transportation Committee, contends they are “toll roads” in essence because motorists would have to pay to drive on them.
My big concern is the extent they’re talking about privately-owned toll roads or fast lanes. That’s going to be a dead end when it comes to Democratic support. We’re not going to back a plan that hands over state roadways to management, operation or ownership of a private entity.
– Rep. John Ray Clemmons, D-Nashville, House Democratic Caucus Leader
State officials, including Transportation Commissioner Butch Eley, the former founder and CEO of Infrastructure Corporation of America, proposed “choice lanes” and public-private partnerships in response to Gov. Bill Lee’s request to find ways to build more roads without raising taxes to meet a 9 percent growth rate over the last decade.
Eley’s old company is one of the nation’s leading asset maintenance management companies with contracts nationwide. DBi Services bought HDR | ICA Asset Management from Nebraska-based holding company HDR in 2018, the second sale of the company in three years.
Tennessee state Rep. Sam Whitson agrees with the need to find an innovative way to move traffic, and he believes Eley can get it done.
“I’m still driving on the same roads and interstates I’ve been driving on since I was 16 years old in the 1970s,” says Whitson, a Franklin Republican.
Whitson says he’s interested in finding out how options such as public-private partnerships would generate revenue to build “choice lanes” and express routes.
Butch Eley, Commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Transportation. Eley founded Infrastructure Corporation of America, highway management company. (Official photo)
House Democratic Caucus Chairman John Ray Clemmons is not enthused with the idea of allowing private entities to take control of tolling. Privatizing government services has been a goal of both Lee and former Gov. Bill Haslam, he points out.
“My big concern is the extent they’re talking about privately-owned toll roads or fast lanes. That’s going to be a dead end when it comes to Democratic support,” Clemmons says. “We’re not going to back a plan that hands over state roadways to management, operation or ownership of a private entity.”
Clemmons contends transportation and roadways are an “inherent governmental function” and the public needs accountability. The state could lose authority over rates and maintenance if it allows a private entity to control the roadway, he says.
“The last thing you want is somebody profiting off of somebody else’s inconvenience,” Clemmons says.
The Transportation Department is declining to discuss too many details or exactly how “choice lanes” would be monitored because it doesn’t want to get ahead of legislative action.
It contends state law not only prohibits public-private partnerships for highway projects, it also limits the number of “alternative delivery” projects the state can complete each year.
“All we are doing right now is asking the Legislature to change that in the Build With Us proposal so we can keep up with the growth Tennessee urban areas are experiencing,” TDOT spokeswoman Beth Emmons says.
TDOT says Texas and Georgia are good examples of how “choice lanes” or express routes work.
Eley and other state officials recently visited Dallas, Texas to review its “choice lanes,” which have seen a 10 percent increase in general traffic but with a 60-75 percent reduction in congestion and an average speed increase of 10-15 percent, according to the state.
The department points out many states with “choice lanes” use electronic transponders to track vehicles. Texas issues different types of fees to motorists who want to use its express lanes.
The Georgia Department of Transportation partners with the private sector for projects in which the contractor designs and builds the highway or takes complete control, designing, building, financing, operating and maintaining.
That state touts “expedited” completion compared to the normal time for delivery of a project, in addition to cost savings and improved quality along with the use of private resources and personnel to cut back on the need for public employees and funding. Access to private capital is another benefit, according to the Georgia Department of Transportation.
“We’re all over them. We are a believer and utilize them and will continue,” says Georgia state Rep. Rick Jasperse, a Jasper Republican who chairs the House Transportation Committee.
Known for having some of the worst traffic congestion in the nation but as a “transportation hub of the Southeast,” Georgia had to find a new method for building roads quicker and moving people faster, which impacts surrounding states such as Tennessee.
Georgia is in the midst of a project it calls a “P-3 heavy” on Atlanta’s north side along I-285 that will connect I-20 East to I-75 and then to I-20 West. The limited access road is to be funded, built, tolled and maintained by a third party and enables the state to embark on a project that, otherwise, would “overwhelm” the state’s budget, Jasperse says.
Another project calls for a truck route from Atlanta to Augusta in East Georgia.
“There is some state money in any of these projects, but it really helps us spread our money further and addresses true traffic needs,” he says.
In some instances, the private entity will take all of the risk on a project. In others, the state will pay back the price of construction plus interest, but state officials feel they can justify that expense because the road is completed in half the time of conventional methods, according to Jasperse.
“It’s not some damn giveaway either,” he says.
Jasperse is quick to note that bidding for these projects is highly competitive among multinational companies and contracts are heavily scrutinized.
Georgia motorists use what is called a Peach Pass, a small transponder or small electronic toll collection device that kicks in when they use an express lane. They’re also good in North Carolina and Florida.
Money is deducted from the motorist’s account, and violators receive a civil fine from the Georgia Toll Authority. No private tolling is done yet in Georgia.
A trip for Jasperse to Jasper in North Georgia can cost $2 to $8, depending on how jammed the interstate is around Atlanta. The minimum is 10 cents per mile.
“I have the choice. I don’t have to get on that road. I can stay on the five-lane highway or get on the express lane at a cost,” Jasperse says.
One possible drawback is that express lanes along interstates such as I-75 allow traffic to move in only one direction at different times of day. The lanes are closed for an hour when the direction is shifted.
Jasperse also acknowledges express lanes can get backed up too, but he says they don’t run into the same problems as the normal interstates. He believes it’s the right option, though, because the state has limited money and construction costs are increasing.
Jasperse also says it is critical to have a department of transportation and governor’s office that can be trusted to handle complex multi-year contracts and “to do what’s right and not to make screwy deals … or allow poor infrastructure that hurts us in the long run. Because you really get one shot.”
Tennessee Lookout is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Tennessee Lookout maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Holly McCall for questions: info@tennesseelookout.com. Follow Tennessee Lookout on Facebook and Twitter.
Hemp is a climate-smart commodity and the federal government just invested $5 million in Tennessee to expand its production here.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities granted the funds to four agencies: Tennessee State University (TSU), the Hemp Alliance of Tennessee (HAT), the University of Tennessee (UT), and the Tennessee Department of Agriculture (TDA).
In all, the USDA is investing $3.1 billion in climate-smart commodities. For these, farmers will use technology and new farming practices that could reduce emissions, offset fossil fuel use, and more.
The government hemp program is called (takes in deep breath) “Climate-Smart Fiber Hemp: A Versatile Thread Connecting the Nation’s Underserved Farmers, Climate Change Mitigation, and Novel Market Opportunities” (exhales).
The program aims to expand the production of industrial hemp as a climate-smart commodity, evaluate its greenhouse gas benefits, and promote the it to a cross section of farmers, including small, medium, and underserved producers across the state of Tennessee. Special efforts are planned to identify and recruit underserved producers (like minority, women, and veteran farmers), as well as farmers from the nine most economically distressed counties in Tennessee and the 30 counties at risk for becoming economically distressed.
The USDA funded 71 projects for climate-smart commodities. But Tennessee’s project was one of only five related to hemp.
“Tennessee can become the leading producer of hemp in the Southeast United States,” said Frederick Cawthon, President of HAT. “We are committed to growing this industry responsibly, and we encourage all industries to examine how they can utilize this climate-smart and regenerative raw material.”
Desmond Bane drives to the basket during the game against the Phoenix Suns (Photo by Joe Murphy/NBAE via Getty Images)
It was a revenge game for Phoenix, and they fought harder to end the night with a 125-108 victory over Memphis. The loss to Phoenix also snapped Memphis’ seven-game winning streak at home, becoming one of only three teams (Boston, Sacramento) to beat the Grizzlies on their home court this season.
Let’s get into it.
After a thorough walloping on by the Golden State Warriors on the Grizzlies’ first ever Christmas Day game, one would think this Memphis team would rage back with a vengeance. It started well, with the Grizzlies putting the first 8 points on the board, but the Suns looked like the more dominant team.
Desmond Bane has continued to struggle finding his shot since returning from injury. The Grizzlies desperately need his accurate three-point shooting, as the loss to Phoenix marks the fourth consecutive game the Grizzlies have hit a single-digit number of shots from distance.
Memphis struggled to hit the long ball, going just 8 for 30 against the Suns. In today’s NBA, they are going to need to shoot better from beyond the arc if they want to win.
They also need more from their second unit in games like this. The Phoenix bench outscored the Memphis bench 60-41.
We are by no means in panic territory, but I suspect Coach Jenkins is going to have some very strong words for his team after their last two performances.
The Grizzlies will get a chance in the coming weeks to avenge this loss, as they will play Phoenix during the annual MLK game held in Memphis.
By the Numbers:
Ja Morant led all scorers with 34 points and 6 assists. Morant set a new career high for scoring in a single quarter when he put up 22 points in the third quarter.
Desmond Bane was the only other Grizzly to end the night in double figures, finishing with 14 points and 2 rebounds.
Xavier Tillman Sr. led the bench unit with 9 points, and Brandon Clarke followed closely with 8 points.
Who Got Next?
The Grizzlies are taking a quick trip to the frozen north. Thursday night they will be in Toronto to face off against the Raptors. Tip-off is at 6:30 PM CST.
The exterior of the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights building. TIRRC is one of several local organizations helping asylum seekers and refugees to their homes with relatives ion the U.S.(Photo: John Partipilo)
After state Republican leaders condemned a plan to bring asylum seekers to Tennessee, faith leaders and immigrant advocates pushed back on “misleading” and “fear mongering” rhetoric they said runs contrary to the values of the Volunteer State.
In a flurry of statements released last week, Gov. Bill Lee, GOP Sens. Marsha Blackburn and Bill Hagerty, along with GOP leaders in the state legislature demanded that the Biden administration reverse a plan – still in its preliminary stages – to coordinate transportation of asylum seekers with advocacy groups and churches in Nashville.
“This is irresponsible and a threat to the safety of Tennesseans,” Lee said in his statement. Blackburn suggested the federal government was “trafficking illegal migrants into our state.” And Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti cited the “terrible harms” of an unsecured border that include fentanyl deaths and “child sex traffickers.”
The fact is none of this is new. What is new, and an important first step, is a good faith effort to organize a coordinated response between governments and local process, to ensure that it is orderly.
– Lisa Sherman Luna, Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition
On Wednesday, immigrant advocates noted that the plan was an effort by the federal government to coordinate what has been a loose and ongoing process of migrants making their way to Nashville after being vetted and released by ICE officials, often for short stints before reuniting with family in other states.
“For decades, Tennesseans have done this work formally and informally,” said Lisa Sherman Luna, executive director of the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition, citing a history of welcoming immigrants and refugees that stretch back to the 1960s when Cubans arrived and continues today with Afghan and Ukrainian refugees. “We’ve welcomed people and supported them as they rebuild their lives in this country.”
“The fact is none of this is new,” she said. “Welcoming and hospitality is woven into the fabric of who Tennesseans are…What is new, and an important first step, is a good faith effort to organize a coordinated response between governments and local process, to ensure that it is orderly.”
“While we’ve seen other governors and mayors who have responded to newcomers arriving in buses from border states, using their power and resources to make the process as smooth as possible, Gov. Lee’s response is really extreme and out of step with his constituents. Everyday Tennesseans don’t need or want a governor who creates a crisis by going on Fox News. We need leadership who is going to live up to our values, who will join the work of our communities and not miss an opportunity to help people get home to their families in time for Christmas.”
Several weeks ago, Sherman Luna and other groups got word that federal immigration officials were seeking an orderly way to transport asylum seekers from federal immigration processing centers – a process that currently requires immigrants to make their own way to their final destination.
The plan called for federal officials to pay for buses to transport those who wished to travel to Tennessee. Local nonprofits and churches quickly stepped up to plan for temporary beds, transportation vouchers for flights out of Tennessee, food, diapers and other necessities, Sherman Luna said.
Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti said he is “exploring all options” to halt plans to coordinate coordinate transportation of asylum seekers with advocacy groups and churches in Nashville.
“When we put the call to action out, calling on people to help us get loved ones home just in time for Christmas we were overwhelmed with the support from volunteers, from churches and other partners who quickly stepped up to organize a robust and welcoming infrastructure,” she said.
The status of those plans remains unclear. Skrmetti said he was “exploring all options” in efforts to halt the plans.
The vast majority of the immigrants are asylum seekers who have followed the legal process of presenting themselves at the U.S. border, assessed and found to have a credible fear of persecution in their home countries, said Lisa Graybill, vice president of Law and Policy for the National Immigration Law Center, who joined a press call with reporters to respond to Republican’s claims.
A small minority of the immigrants would fall into a subset of asylum seekers who are making a second or subsequent attempt to come to the United States, she said. All of the potential immigrants have immigration court dates, are required to check in regularly with federal immigration officials and cleared the first hurdle in their asylum claims.
The Border Patrol also screens all immigrants against multiple public safety databases, and assess whether the individual poses a general threat to public safety before releasing any individuals, an ICE spokesperson said.
Tennessee Lookout is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Tennessee Lookout maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Holly McCall for questions: info@tennesseelookout.com. Follow Tennessee Lookout on Facebook and Twitter.
The Memphis Tigers thoroughly dominated Utah State of the Mountain West Conference Tuesday afternoon to win the SERVPRO First Responder Bowl in Dallas. The margin of victory (28 points) is the largest in the 15-game bowl history of the Memphis football program and completes the Tiger season with a 7-6 record. The Tigers have not had a losing season since 2013, their worst finish since then a 6-6 mark after the 2021 campaign. With the victory, Ryan Silverfield becomes only the second Memphis coach to win two bowl games. (Tommy West led the Tigers to postseason wins in 2003 and 2005.)
The Tigers took control by scoring on four consecutive possessions in the first half, three of them touchdown passes by sophomore quarterback Seth Henigan. Eddie Lewis scored on a 15-yard toss midway through the second quarter, then again on a 22-yard strike with just under three minutes to play before halftime. When Henigan found tight end Caden Prieskorn on a nifty inside pass from the three-yard line, Memphis led 24-3.
Neither team scored in the third quarter and the Aggies finally found the end zone early in the fourth on a 44-yard catch-and-run by Brian Cobbs. But Tiger sophomore Jevyon Ducker scored touchdowns on the Tigers’ next two possessions — the second one a 48-yard jaunt — to put the game out of reach.
Fifth-year senior Sylvonta Oliver led the Memphis defense with a pair of interceptions and Joel Williams also picked off an Aggie pass. The Tiger pass rush sacked Utah State quarterbacks (Cooper Legas and Bishop Davenport) four times.
Henigan finished the game with 284 yards passing, completing 20 of 29 passes without throwing an interception. Ducker led the ground game with 83 yards on 13 carries while Lewis matched Ducker’s yardage total on five receptions.
Silverfield and Henigan will return for the 2023 season, along with the top-ranked recruiting class in the American Athletic Conference. The class is ranked 55th in the country by ESPN.
Shelby County’s first Democratic district attorney in decades, Steve Mulroy, recently crossed the 100-day mark of being in office, following a campaign that promised to bring progress and change to the criminal justice system.
On the campaign trail, Mulroy prioritized tackling violent crime and reforming the cash bail system, among other efforts to restore public trust in the criminal justice system.
Still, Mulroy seemed to remain firm in his commitment to reform the criminal justice system while keeping violent crime as his top priority. One case highlighting a stark difference between Mulroy and his predecessor is the recent release of Courtney Anderson, who’d been sentenced to 162 years in prison for multiple counts of theft and forgery, an excessive sentence. After serving 25 years, he was recently released after a Shelby County criminal court judge brought the case to Mulroy’s office. “We never could have set the sentences straight if Amy Weirich was still in office. She was the original prosecutor on the case,” said Judge Paula Skahan.
The People’s Checklist: Shelby County resident’s top priorities for DA Mulroy
So, we’re taking a quick look back at what he’s accomplished so far and revisiting some of the people we talked to see what they think of Mulroy’s promises and actions.
Create more transparency and accountability
In August, Earle Fisher was among those calling for increased transparency from Mulroy. Now, Fisher says, the marked difference between Mulroy and former DA Amy Weirich is his commitment to open and honest public engagement: “[Mulroy is] not running from accountability, and I think this is one of the more fundamental things that you can ask for and demand of people in elected office,” said Fisher, founder of Up the Vote 901 and senior pastor of Abyssinian Missionary Baptist Church in Whitehaven.
While remaining cautiously pragmatic and optimistic, Fisher believes Shelby County residents are still growing accustomed to Mulroy as the new DA and learning about his values and priorities in office.
Shelby County District Attorney Steve Mulroy speaks with workers ahead of a press conference speaking out against this year’s campaign against Amendment 1, a right-to-work bill that passed despite efforts to stop it by workers and labor organizations. Photo by Andrea Morales for MLK50
Tikelia Rucker, political organizer with Memphis for All and a member of the Justice and Safety Alliance, is excited to see Mulroy taking steps to restore trust in the community. Like Fisher, Rucker believes Mulroy’s openness with the Shelby County community is the first step to reform. More representation and transparency are what the community wants to see happen sooner rather than later, she said.
Establish a Conviction Review Unit
The new Justice Review Unit, launched Dec. 1, is one of the newest offices in Tennessee to take a look back at wrongful convictions and sentences, and officer-involved shootings. The Davidson County District Attorney’s Office in Nashville established a Conviction Review Unit in 2017, making it the first and only unit of its kind in Tennessee at the time.
Now, five years later, Memphis follows, but with one major difference — an additional review of wrongful sentences (Nashville’s office only reviews convictions), which will be a high-focus area for the JRU, Mulroy said. Also, the Economic Crimes Unit, revamped and launched Nov. 4, will focus on worker exploitation, an issue Mulroy says is rampant in Shelby County.
Rucker considers the new Justice Review Unit a major accomplishment so soon in the DA’s term. Still, she’s also critical of how information about the unit and its application process will be regularly shared inside prisons. The JRU application is available online and by mail only to incarcerated people and their attorneys.Some prisons don’t have internet access or may encounter issues receiving mail.
William Arnold served on Mulroy’s transition team and was a member of the Justice Review Unit working group. Mulroy’s commitment to establishing the JRU shows it wasn’t “just a campaign promise, but a piece of hope,” said Arnold, a formerly incarcerated person who was exonerated in 2021 after a wrongful conviction in Nashville.
Arnold wants to see Mulroy continue to enlist the voices, opinions and actions of regular people in the community while taking an objective, humane and case-by-case approach to prosecution.
“In Tennessee and in a lot of Southern states, we have politicians who say they’re tough on crime, but they’re really tough on people,” Arnold said. “Take into consideration that a person’s sentence may not match the crime and that locking them up and throwing away the key is not always the answer.”
Fundamentally, Fisher wants to see fewer people being prosecuted and incarcerated for petty crimes that reflect a need for mental health services, educational engagement and other social safety net services. Fisher said that he hopes to see Mulroy take his public service role as DA and prioritize public safety, not increase the heavy hand of law enforcement and incarceration.
Based on Mulroy’s campaign promises and professional background, Fisher believes in Mulroy’s ability to address violent crime comprehensively but knows the change he wants to see will take much longer than 100 days to accomplish.
“Structural change is very rarely implemented immediately,” Fisher said. “They are still adjusting and adapting to what it means to try to be a progressive prosecutor, if there is such a thing.”
The top priorities Rucker wants to see Mulroy approach are decreasing crime, continuing to restore trust and creating different avenues for the community to work with the DA’s office. She hopes to see more partnerships between the DA’s office, law enforcement agencies and city and county leaders that center restorative justice and holistic solutions to violent crime.
“It has to be a collaborative effort in order for us to really, really move the needle,” Rucker said. “It does give a sense of hope like Memphis is moving in the right direction, and that’s what this year has been about: progress. Just baby steps to build and move forward in a progressive manner.”
Arnold hopes Mulroy changes this and, instead, approaches each juvenile crime on a case-by-case basis, looking at the root causes of crime and offering diversion programs in the form of job training and educational opportunities.
“What else can we do versus locking them away and allowing them to develop in that horrible place,” Arnold said, “because you’re not going to get anything good from it.”
Mulroy says he remains committed to decreasing the number of youth transferred to adult court and plans to partner with the newly elected Juvenile Court Judge Tarik Sugarmon to implement more restorative justice and early intervention practices among juvenile defendants.
More community involvement and a diverse staff reflective of Shelby County demographics in the DA’s office
The district attorney’s office is on the eighth floor of the Shelby County Criminal Justice Center. Photo by Brad Vest for MLK50
Mulroy’s focus during the first few months in office has been on hiring for the understaffed team he inherited. Of all new staff hires, 50% are people of color, compared to 30% people of color in the previous administration’s staff makeup, and 40% of newly hired attorneys are people of color, compared to the previous 15%, Mulroy told MLK50.
“You want [staff] to have cultural competence and a real understanding, both of the defendants and the victims, in order to make good decisions,” Mulroy said. “But it’s also just as important as a matter of public trust.”
At just a few months into his eight-year tenure, Mulroy said he’s pleasantly surprised at how open and welcoming the DA’s office staff is to change under his leadership.
In addition to hiring more staff and increasing staff diversity, one of Mulroy’s first action items as DA was to issue instructions to his staff to deprioritize prosecuting marijuana possession — which disproportionately affects Black men — and reprioritize prosecuting non-fatal shootings in efforts to address violent crime. Mulroy said he took these steps in an effort to restore public trust in the fairness of the criminal justice system.
“We need to restore public confidence so we can get the community cooperating with law enforcement — providing tips, reporting crimes, serving as witnesses,” Mulroy said. “That really is the only way we’re going to bend the curve on violent crime.”
The coming years of Mulroy’s tenure as DA will be marked by reform through continuously hiring diverse staff that can make new decisions and lock in change for years to come, which will, in turn, slowly reshape the criminal justice system.
“A lot of the change that’s occurring right now is happening in a hundred or a thousand different little decisions that are being made by assistant district attorneys. That’s happening gradually, little by little, without much fanfare,” Mulroy said. “I want to hardwire reforms and bake in change that will last beyond my tenure.”
Hardwiring change
Mulroy walks the fine line of being a progressive DA while addressing crime in a city that’s experienced an increase in property crime and an increase in major violent crime. At this start of his term, the Eliza Fletcher and Ezekiel Kelly cases — both major violent crimes allegedly committed by formerly incarcerated people released early from prison — struck a dissonant chord between Memphians who believe in reform and those who believe in a “tough on crime” approach.
As DA, Mulroy is committed to being “smart on crime,” as he described it, instituting swift and certain punishment: “For decades, our approach to violent crime [has been] to lock more people up and to lock them up for longer. It’s demonstrably not working.” The metrics for progress, Mulroy said, will reflect not in the conviction rate or the years of sentences, but in the rate of recidivism, or “criminal acts that result in rearrest, reconviction or a return to prison,” according to the National Institute of Justice.
Now, the DA is focused on answering the question, how do you hardwire change? Aside from focusing on reforms that can be implemented quickly, Mulroy’s long-term focus is structural change, like expanding restorative justice opportunities. Deep change like this takes time, funding and resources, Mulroy said.
Mulroy plans to hire staff who will be devoted to animal abuse and neglect cases. He also plans to hire a staff member who can coordinate the different treatment programs and rehabilitative services, like drug and mental health court, so they can be incorporated into plea offers.
“This [public office] is the one that has the greatest potential for making a difference. Because the DA has such broad discretion, one person can just really completely change the direction of the criminal justice system — not overnight, but certainly within eight years,” Mulroy said.
Ja Morant debuting his Ja 1 signature shoe (Credit: NBAE via Getty Images)
Sunday night in primetime on ABC, the Memphis Grizzlies fell short against the Golden State Warriors, 123-109.
It was the first Christmas Day game in franchise history. The Grinch stole Grizzmas from Memphis in a decisive fashion.
Ja Morant seemed as if he was the only one ready to make a statement on national TV. Morant was the game-high scorer (near triple double) with 36 points, eight assists, and seven rebounds.
To round it out, Dillon Brooks and Tyus Jones finished with 13 points each.
Desmond Bane struggled, plus Jaren Jackson, Jr. was in foul trouble and on the bench most of the night. Steven Adams was relegated to the bench after the Warriors started fouling him to send him to the line.
It seemed as if Memphis really wasn’t ready for the game.
In essence, the Warriors beat the Grizzlies at their own game: Trash-talking, the supporting cast playing out of their minds, and having fun.
This wasn’t a championship game that eliminated them from contention. It was a regular season game that the Warriors were more than ready for.
There’s no need to put the blame on players for their struggles. Memphis is still 20-12 on the season and sits third in the Western Conference.
The team will make adjustments and not let this loss linger in their minds. The team will still trash-talk and have fun. It’s who they are, and nothing will change anytime soon.
The Grizzlies will have their chances for revenge on January 25th, March 9th and March 18th. This has the makings of a good rivalry that will have everyone talking.
Ja Morant Signature Shoe
Despite the loss, Christmas was good to Morant as he fulfilled a lifelong dream of a signature shoe. Nike unveiled the Ja 1 shoe prior to the game.
Morant’s daughter Kaari helped him with the unveiling.
The giftskii I’ve always dreamed of finally arrived. 🎁
Excited to share the #Ja1, dedicated to the 1 who inspires me the most. 💙
“It’s a shoe for underdogs who have the dog in them, kicks for anyone who has been underrated or overlooked, who’s been told they’re too small, or their dreams too big,” Morant said in the announcement.
“Now, I know everyone wearing my shoes isn’t going to posterize a 7-footer,” Morant concluded. “But I want everyone to feel like they could. Tap into that underdog inside of them.”
This means so much for the city of Memphis. To have its adopted son put the city on the map is rewarding. No other player in franchise history had as much popularity as Morant. He’s a generational talent that will be talked about for years to come.
Up Next
Grizzlies return to Memphis to take on the short-handed Phoenix Suns on Tuesday night. The Grizzlies throttled the Suns 125-100 this past Friday night in Phoenix without Devin Booker. The Suns were embarrassed at home and look to return the favor.
