On our final Music Video Monday of 2022, Memphis’ Fugitive Droids make their Music Video Monday debut. Bran Sowell (vocals), James Hoffman (guitar), Jason Lancaster (guitar), Jason Pulley (keys), Kip Wright (bass), and Josh Sparks (drums) have released two albums of punk-prog-metal — Boot Cycle, which was released on a fateful week in March 2020, and Anomaly, a response to a year of pandemic nuttiness.
“Kinged” is Anomaly‘s roaring anti-Trump screed. “The song details the tyranny, hypocrisy, and propaganda used by frail dictators in pursuit of a coup,” says Sowell. “They’ll say anything, do anything, or be anybody for the crowd that will cast the correct vote, and everyone else is the enemy. The majority of the lyrics are written from the perspective of a citizen living in such a dictatorship, except during a jarringly upbeat musical shift where they are temporarily the dictator’s inner thoughts.”
The video, created by Cam Taylor of Phoenix Cloud Studios, uses AI generated images on a trip down the uncanny valley. It feels just as surreal as the last three years.
If you would like to see your music video featured on Music Video Monday, email cmccoy@memphisflyer.com.
When Jairia Cathey switched from teaching elementary school to pre-kindergarten more than a decade ago, it was a tough adjustment. Some students didn’t know how to hold a pencil or a fork, she recalled. Some didn’t know their parents’ names, or even their own. And some didn’t know how to color.
“I was like ‘what did I get myself into?’” Cathey said. “I thought every child knew how to color.”
But those challenges didn’t come close to what she would experience trying to educate and engage with 3-, 4- and 5-year-olds during the depths of Covid-19 pandemic — or what it would take to try to get them caught up in the aftermath.
When schools closed abruptly in 2020, derailing education for students across Memphis and the country, Cathey, a teacher at Evans Elementary, scrambled to provide virtual learning any way she could think of. She sent parents pictures of worksheets and activities from her classroom. She searched Pinterest for other learning materials. At a certain point, she set up times to visit each of her students at their home, with a face mask on.
“I just had to lay eyes on them, and I know they had to lay eyes on me,” Cathey said. “Even if it was just giving them a pencil or a coloring book or just a hug, I had to do it.”
Plummeting enrollment in MSCS early childhood programs during the pandemic left just a handful of students in her class. When classrooms reopened in the spring, the families of Cathey’s four students decided to keep them learning remotely. And by the time students returned to her classroom after 18 months of distance learning, the few students who came arrived with a severely disrupted preschool experience or having attended no school at all, at risk of falling behind academically, socially, and emotionally.
Now Cathey and co-teacher Lisa Patterson are part of a mobilization across Memphis-Shelby County Schools to get early childhood learning in the district back on track. The effort is focused on the classroom, but it’s also counting on community groups, advertising, family engagement specialists, and multiple offices within district headquarters, with the goal of getting more students enrolled in early childhood programs and making sure they are kindergarten-ready.
The task is daunting. After bottoming out at 4,430 in 2020-21, enrollment in MSCS’ pre-K programs has ticked back up to 4,776 this year. But it’s still far below pre-pandemic levels of above 6,000.
Meanwhile, just 32 percent of students starting kindergarten last school year were considered ready overall, as measured by early reading and math assessments. That’s down from 40 percent in 2020-21, and 46 percent before the pandemic.
A 2020 study published by the American Academy of Pediatrics found that children who are not adequately prepared for kindergarten are more likely to struggle for the rest of their academic career — in later elementary school, high school, and beyond.
“I’ve seen the results of when we get it wrong,” said Divalyn Gordon, a former kindergarten and first grade teacher who has also worked at alternative high schools and now heads MSCS’ early childhood office.
“Those students later drop out of school … they’re making tally marks and counting on their fingers because they don’t know any multiplication facts. They can’t read to learn or comprehend. Those foundational skills are vital for student success as they matriculate through high school,” Gordon said. “That’s why I push so hard for pre-K. We’ve got to get this right.”
District officials have made early childhood education a centerpiece of their strategy to improve the district’s academic performance and recover from the pandemic. Test score data helps explain the emphasis.
The April data shows that even amid steep declines in kindergarten readiness across the district, students who attended MSCS pre-K scored significantly higher in reading, math, and overall readiness compared with those who did not attend.
The same was true for students who are considered economically disadvantaged. And their higher performance followed them into third grade. Students from low-income families who attended a district pre-K program were slightly more likely to be proficient in English and language arts in third grade than those who did not participate in the program, according to the report.
The third-grade performance is critical, because a new state law that takes effect this year requires schools to hold back third-graders who aren’t considered proficient in reading. The law has added pressure on districts to intervene early.
MSCS prioritizes students who come from economically disadvantaged households for pre-K enrollment. But interest in the program dropped off dramatically after Covid hit and instruction went online. And persistent concerns about Covid led many parents to decide it was safer to keep their child at home than to send them to an optional program.
Because of that, Cathey said she is getting her students later, and they’re far behind — academically and otherwise. She has had to adjust her instruction accordingly.
Small group instruction has always been a critical piece of early childhood education, but given the delayed progress for some students, it’s more important than ever, Gordon said.
Gordon pointed to Cathey’s classroom as an example: Cathey’s 19 students were divided into four groups based on their skill levels, but named for different colors. On that December morning, Cathey and her co-teacher Patterson circulated through the room, giving individualized attention and instruction to students in each group, depending on what they were working on and what they needed.
At one point, Cathey sat cross-legged on the floor next to one girl, and they talked about a book she was paging through. In another corner of the room, Patterson helped two students completing a spelling puzzle.
“You have to make those real-life adjustments when students don’t get it or don’t have the necessary foundation,” Gordon said.
And if teachers don’t, she said, “those kids fall through the cracks.”
With pre-K enrollment across MSCS recovering slowly, Gordon said, the district is laser-focused on attracting more students to the program.
The district continues to work with the Salvation Army Purdue Residential Facility, a Memphis homeless shelter for women, and the Shelby County Division of Corrections to identify and enroll pre-K-age students who could particularly benefit from early academic intervention, Gordon said.
MSCS has also beefed up its advertising efforts, from billboards to social media ads, Gordon said. “The journey begins with pre-K,” the ads on Facebook and elsewhere in the community usually say. “Get your future scholar started early on their academic journey.”
Meanwhile, it has expanded its family engagement team to a staff of over 100 specialists who are charged with encouraging families who begin the online application process to finish it.
Family engagement specialists also help parents find another location if the school they requested is no longer available. Sometimes that means connecting families with other early childhood education providers in the community, Gordon said.
To ensure quality — the bigger challenge in Memphis, which does not have an acute shortage of child care services — the district requires those providers to follow the same bid process it uses for other services, and beginning this year, administrators visit the campus in person to confirm that best practices are being used in classrooms.
It’s part of a broader district effort, outlined in February by then-Superintendent Joris Ray, to increase community-wide collaboration in early childhood education.
The district has two representatives — Gordon and Angela Whitelaw, the district’s deputy superintendent of schools and academic support — in a community consortium dedicated to improving early literacy. The consortium includes prominent early childhood organizations and child care providers from across Memphis, including the Urban Child Institute, Porter-Leath, Literacy Mid-South, First 8, Next Memphis, and the Hyde Family Foundation, among others.
Since early childhood became a top priority for the entire district, collaboration with other departments across the massive district has also improved, said Detris Crane, director of MSCS Head Start programming.
“The district has realized that these pre-K families are the same ones who come in for K-12, and that the earlier we intervene, the more we can improve outcomes for both children and their families,” Crane said. “I collaborate with everybody in the district now, in every department.
“I used to be on a little island,” Crane said. “Now we’re on the mainland.”
Beyond the academic fallout, trauma related to Covid and poverty continues to loom large among MSCS students and families, several MSCS teachers said.
Ida Walker, a pre-K teacher at Douglass Head Start in northeast Memphis, said the social and emotional tolls of the pandemic have been the most noticeable among her students.
Many of them “have something going on at home,” said Walker, who’s been a Head Start teacher since 2018. Some lost family members or caregivers in the pandemic. Others’ families have yet to recover from the deep economic consequences of Covid.
Pre-literacy skills remain a large focus in Walker’s classroom. As she read aloud to one small group of students, her co-teacher Tequila Lockett helped two other groups of students draw koala bears as part of the class’ two focuses that week, the letter K and “awesome animals.”
But so are students’ social and emotional needs. Walker has rearranged her classroom to create a “cozy corner” where her students can take time away from whatever they’re doing to regulate their emotions and seek support from Walker or her co-teacher throughout the day.
Walker hopes her students learn how to express and process their feelings. If their social and emotional needs are met now, the rest will come later, Walker said.
“They pick it up fast,” she said with a smile.
Cathey takes a similar approach in her classroom — what she hopes is a “safe haven” from whatever children are dealing with at home. Beyond teaching them early literacy and math skills, she strives to build relationships with students and their families and ensure their social and emotional needs are met.
Cathey and Patterson also try to model caring for one another to their students, so that even if one of them isn’t nearby when a child is struggling, their classmates know to step in. Now, if a student falls or looks sad, Cathey said, their peers are quick to ask, “Are you OK? Can I help you?”
“It is a joy seeing students come in at the beginning of the year, complete blank slates. We introduce literacy. We promote language, math skills, teach them how to take care of themselves, and take care of others,” Cathey said. “When they leave, they’re writing sentences, they’re making words, they’re adding and subtracting, They learn how to work out their feelings, and it’s just so amazing to see them so independent.”
“It’s just so rewarding,” Cathey added. “We’re getting them ready for the rest of their lives.”
This story is the third and final installment of a Chalkbeat Tennessee deep dive into the role early childhood education can play in improving literacy in Memphis and across the Volunteer State. This effort is supported by the Education Writers Association Reporting Fellowship program. Check out the first and second stories of the series.
Samantha West is a reporter for Chalkbeat Tennessee, where she covers K-12 education in Memphis. Connect with Samantha at swest@chalkbeat.org.
Chalkbeat is a nonprofit news site covering educational change in public schools.
Desmond Bane lets it fly from beyond the arc. (Credit: NBAE/Getty Images)
It’s freezing here in the 901, but the Grizzlies did their part keeping us warm Thursday night by scorching the Phoenix Suns 125-100 in a wire-to-wire win. And so, it is my distinct pleasure to inform you that after a brief two-game losing streak, the Memphis Grizzlies are back to their winning ways.
Let’s get into it.
First things first: The best part of the night was the return of Desmond Bane. Bane returns to the lineup after missing the previous 18 games with a sprained toe.
It also marks the first time this season that the Grizzlies were able to play with their desired starting five.
Phoenix was missing Devin Booker but that hardly puts an asterisk next to this victory. Memphis was the best team on the court from wire-to-wire and dominated the game on both ends of the floor.
The Grizzlies remain at the top of the Western Conference with a 20-11 record, now tied with the Denver Nuggets.
Thursday night’s victory also put head coach Taylor Jenkins (148) ahead of former coach Dave Joerger (147) as the second-most winningest coach in Grizzlies franchise history. Lionel Hollins holds the record with 214 regular season wins, but I will be shocked if Jenkins does not surpass it during his tenure in Memphis.
During the game, no Grizzlies starter played more than 28 minutes and they got a big boost from the bench unit led by Brandon Clarke and Santi Aldama.
By The Numbers:
Lots of good stuff from this one, including a better than usual showing from the free throw line. I will overlook ten missed free throws when they win by 25 points.
Jaren Jackson Jr. led the team with 24 points, 10 rebounds, and two blocks, along with Brandon Clarke who put up 24 points, 10 rebounds, and two steals from the bench in his best scoring game of the season.
Clarke also had a career-high free throw shooting game, going 10 for 10 from the foul line. Shoutout Canada!
Desmond Bane put up 17 points, 3 rebounds, and two assists in his return from injury. He struggled from the beyond the arc only shooting 2 of 8 from distance. But he too had a perfect night from the charity stripe, going 7 for 7.
Dillon Brooks contributed 16 points, 10 of which came in the first quarter. Also notable is that Brooks only had 9 shot attempts.
Ja Morant had a quiet night offensively, but he elevated his teammates, finishing with 14 points, 5 rebounds, and 11 assists.
Who Got Next?
In a franchise first the team will be playing on Christmas Day. Expect it to feel like a western conference semifinals rematch in the Bay as the Grizzlies face off against the Golden State Warriors.
Tip-off will be at 7 PM CST. There will not be a local broadcast so tune in on ABC or ESPN.
The Memphis economy grew by roughly 8 percent from 2020 to 2021, bouncing back from a Covid deficit, and a new jobs report set a regional record.
The Federal Reserve’s new regional gross domestic product (GDP) data show snapshots of the Memphis-area economy in three scenarios: a “normal” economy in 2019, the Covid contraction of 2020, and last year’s bounce back. Memphis’ economy grew a bit more than 1 percent in 2019, in what the Fed deemed “normal.” It fell more than three points to -2.5 percent in 2020. It then rose to 5.9 percent in 2021. These figures include areas of northern Mississippi and western Arkansas.
The Fed said nearly 95 percent of metros experienced economic growth last year. The median growth was 5.1 percent.
The Nashville MSA (including Murfreesboro and Franklin) led the state in growth at a rate of more than 12 percent. Knoxville came next at more than 8 percent and Chattanooga was third with a growth rate of about 7 percent. However, the Fed warned against comparisons.
”Regardless of the year, it’s clear that there are large differences in economic conditions among MSAs,” the Federal Reserve said in a post on its website. “These differences can stem from variation in industry composition, among other factors. And this variation across the country is important to keep in mind when looking at national averages of economic data.”
Growth in the Memphis economy is showing in its employment numbers. The Greater Memphis Chamber said the area added 2,700 jobs in November, setting a regional record of 671,5000 jobs here. This puts the Chamber on pace to hit its goal of adding 50,000 in Memphis by the end of 2030.
Greater Memphis Chamber
“Greater Memphis has more people on payroll than ever before and our businesses are still telling us they can’t hire people fast enough,” said Chamber president and CEO Ted Townsend. “These historic job numbers tell me we’ve come a long way but have more work to do, especially when it comes to making job training better, faster, and more accessible to every single person in Memphis.”
Greater Memphis Chamber
The hospitality and leisure industry led the region’s job growth in November, ending the month with a total of 66,855 jobs, a 7.9 percent increase compared to November 2021. The financial activities industry followed with a bump of 7.8 percent bump in jobs and the business services industry came in third with an increase of 6.47 percent. The Chamber said the long-stagnant education and health industry saw a 4 percent increase in jobs year over year.
Meanwhile, after a year of steady growth, the construction industry saw an expected contraction as temperatures cooled in November, resulting in about 1 percent fewer jobs in the industry than in October.
The MSA ended November with 13,600 more jobs (about 2 percent) than it had pre-pandemic in February 2020.
“Greater Memphis is feeling many of the same economic pressures other cities are facing, but our resilient job growth shows the strength of our local economy,” said Tecora Murray, executive director of the Chamber’s data and analytics arm, the Center for Economic Competitiveness. “It’s encouraging that two of our essential sectors — hospitality and leisure, and education and health — are again adding jobs in the Memphis MSA, and we expect that trend to continue into 2023.”
The Chamber announced its goal of adding 50,000 jobs in June as part of its Prosper Memphis 2030 strategic growth plan. Half of those jobs should go to minorities, according to the plan. Memphis should also have diverse industries and the plan wants to add 700 new firms in advanced industries. The plan also wants to see 20,000 STEM graduates every year with 45 percent of those degrees going to Black students.
Memphis Light, Gas & Water is once again readying for rolling blackouts.
The plan was announced Friday morning and rescinded within an hour. The blackouts are to drop electricity demand throughout the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) service area due to cold winter temperatures. MLGW said this is necessary to avoid major outages.
#MLGW is preparing for the possibility for TVA to re-issue a Step 50 Curtailment. As early as 6 p.m., MLGW may have to reinstitute system wide "rolling blackouts". pic.twitter.com/mqeTcNsvjW
If needed, the blackouts here could have begun as early as 6 p.m., according to MLGW. Power to certain areas could go out for 30 minutes two to three times per day on average, MLGW said.
The blackouts will only stop when TVA says it is safe to end them. MLGW said it will notify customers and restore power when they get word from TVA.
Here is the plan from MLGW:
When ordered, temporary outages will begin in the areas of North of Downtown in the vicinity of Ben Hooks Library, and North Germantown.
If necessary, the next areas affected will be areas near Central Gardens/Midtown, Getwell and 240, South Germantown/Winchester and East Germantown/West Collierville.
As needed, we will rotate in 30-minute intervals throughout the rest of the service area.
MLGW said residents in Southeastern Memphis and southeastern unincorporated Shelby County are currently experiencing low water pressure. Customers in these areas are asked to limit water usage to essential use only until further notice.
UPDATE: Memphis Light, Gas & Water (MLGW) paused a series of rolling blackouts Friday, less than an hour after starting them.
Step 50 rolling black outs have been paused. Please continue to conserve power. #MLGW#MLGWNews
#MLGW customers are asked to cooperate in reducing power usage during this critical situation. Consumers postpone using electric appliances such as dishwashers, dryers, and cooking equipment and turn off non-essential lights, appliances, and other electrical equipment. pic.twitter.com/Z3TbzsylbU
Rolling blackouts are expected in Memphis Friday as the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) struggles to meet electricity demand in winter conditions.
Memphis Light, Gas & Water (MLGW) said rolling blackouts will begin at 11:30 a.m. Service to effected areas will last 30 minutes and customers can average two outages per day. Critical facilities like water hospitals, pumping stations, and airports won’t be effected.
TVA has issued a Step 50 Curtailment which means that all local power companies are required to drop between 5 and 10 percent of their total electrical load. This is necessary to avoid major outages across the #MLGW and other local power companies service areas. #MLGWNewspic.twitter.com/fxIpp0MJUY
MLGW asks customers to not report outages unless they last longer than one hour. The utility said it will announce when the blackouts are over.
The blackouts come as TVA required all local power companies to drop between 5 percent to 10 percent of their total electrical load. MLGW said “this is necessary to avoid major outages.”
“We apologize for the inconvenience and appreciate your patience,” MLGW said in a statement.
TVA said this morning it is “keeping you and your family warm and the holiday lights on.”
Right now, our diverse power generating fleet is meeting the power demand across our 7 state service region during this cold air blast! Supplying your local power company with low-cost electricity, keeping you and your family warm and the holiday lights on. 🎄#ReliabilityMatterspic.twitter.com/GBpxi5IQgU
Thanks to apps such as TikTok, Instagram, and Twitter, the city of Memphis is at our fingertips.
While travel guides have existed prior to the phenomena of social media, things such as reels, carousel posts, and three-minute videos have changed the way that we experience Bluff City.
Long gone are the days where tourists, and even Memphis natives, would rely on Google searches and Yelp! reviews in hopes of receiving recommendations and honest thoughts on the places that they hoped to try. Instead, a nightly scroll on your “For You Page” can lead you to a brutally honest review of the restaurant behind an aesthetically pleasing (and usually strategically placed) influencer post. Or it can lead you to the perfect hidden gem, making your feed the envy of all your closest friends and followers.
Jazmine Thomas (@keepingupwithjazzz) is a food and review influencer on TikTok. Thomas’ profile is composed of Memphis hidden gems and restaurant reviews. While content like this isn’t anything new on the platform, it can be argued that Thomas’ locally curated content – mixed with a charisma only found in Memphis creators – keeps Memphians and her 20,000 followers coming back for more.
One of Thomas’ viral videos is a review of The Liquor Store, (which Thomas distinguishes as “not your hood liquor store”), located on 2655 Broad Ave. The video has over 292,000 likes, and in 10 seconds, Thomas shares her and her friend Rachel’s experience at the local diner.
“We eating, we getting drunk, getting drunk, getting drunk, getting drunker,” said Thomas. “So I was like, ‘I’m finna do this voiceover and I’m finna just scream throughout this whole thing.’ So we are in the car driving, and I’m just screaming. I didn’t think that post was going to just go crazy, but that’s what happened.”
The comments section of Thomas’ videos are filled with users saying that her fun and authentic reviews have prompted them to try restaurants such as Moondance Grill and Gracie’s Kitchen, and products such as Chef Flavas’ “stuffed shrimp egg rolls.”
While Thomas said that her mini vlogs and reviews fit her personality the best, this content gave her the opportunity to not only earn income, but to shed some positive light on the city.
“Most people think that Memphis is all about crime and there’s nothing to do. It’s always something to do in Memphis, you just have to find and look out,” said Thomas. “It’s certain people you can follow on Instagram or TikTok to find something to do. Memphis is not always negative. Memphis has good-ass food.”
Thomas’ page is not the only social media account that mixes the rawness and authenticity of a Memphis creator, with the intention of exposing people to the many things that Memphis has to offer.
Unapologetically Memphis’ (@unapologeticallymemphis) social media handle speaks for itself. With content ranging from local news, restaurant reviews, events, and viral videos, it seems inevitable that 81.4K followers use this as the premier source for all things Memphis.
Marques Cook initially started the page in 2019 in hopes of shedding a more positive light on the city. He also sought to educate users on Memphis history and things that they may not know about different neighborhoods.
“That’s when it really took off, it kind of went crazy,” Cook said. “I did a couple of news posts, and people would comment on it. Like if you look in the comment section it’s kind of like people get a chance to voice their opinion on what’s going on in the city. Everybody looks for the comment section now.”
With such a large following though, it can be a lot to carry on a content creator’s shoulder to stay true to the brand, even when headlines give reasons not to love Memphis.
In the aftermath of the Ezekiel Kelly shooting spree, Cook said that he received a message from a user asking if he was still “unapologetically Memphis.”
“It doesn’t make a difference what happens, I’m still going to love Memphis the same,” replied Cook.
Cook is quick to explain that the goal of his page isn’t to show an idealistic view of Memphis, as he shows both good and bad news on his page. However he hopes that Memphians will be prompted to showcase their pride for their city and the neighborhoods that they’re from.
“It ain’t all sweet,” Cook said. “But imma show you it’s a lot of positive things going on as well, to kind of balance the positive and negative.”
Holiday travel volumes at Memphis International Airport (MEM) are expected to bounce way back from last year’s Covid lows and are expected to increase slightly over pre-Covid volumes.
Airport officials projected the 2022 holiday travel season (December 16th through January 2nd) will rise 17.2 percent over the same period last year when flights were running but with tight restrictions. However, Memphis officials said they also expect travel volumes to beat pre-Covid (2019) travel volumes by 2.7 percent.
Winter weather brings uncertainty to flight travel this week with snow predicted for Thursday. For this, MEM said it “is monitoring the weather this week and will be prepared to activate the consolidated deicing facility (CDF) and/or deploy snow/ice removal equipment if necessary.”
“With winter weather forecast in various parts of the U.S. this week, passengers should check frequently with their airlines since schedules are likely to be fluid,” airport officials said.
MEM offered these tips for holiday travel, especially with winter weather in the forecast:
• Arrive two hours early, especially if you have an early morning flight.
• Thoroughly inspect all carry-on bags before going through the checkpoint.
• Should the overflow parking lot open, MEM will operate a shuttle between the overflow parking lot and the terminal. Passengers arriving at the overflow lot can call 901-922-8065 to request shuttle service.
The Memphis Zoo recently announced that the pandas Ya Ya and Le Le will make their journey back to China within the next few months.
According to the zoo, their loan agreement with the Chinese Association of Zoological Gardens will end after two decades.
In a Facebook post, the Memphis Zoo said, “Ya Ya and Le Le have been integral parts of the Memphis community for the past 20 years and we are grateful for the time we were able to spend with them.”
The Memphis Zoo also said that “Ya Ya and Le Le helped pioneer research and conservation projects to teach others about the importance of their species.”
Ya Ya and Le Le arrived at the Memphis Zoo in April of 2003. In a video exploring the China Gardens at the Memphis Zoo, CEO Matt Thompson, said that this was the first time that people in the city were able to see giant pandas, and “experience the culture of China.”
Thompson said that many zoos around the world would like to have giant pandas but have been unsuccessful.
In 1987, a panda named “Shuwa” stayed at the Memphis Zoo, but this was only for 31 days. A large number of guests had come to see her, and wondered why there were no pandas at the zoo.
“At the time, pandas were very rare animals and an endangered species with only about 1,000 remaining in the wild,” said the Memphis Zoo.
In 1996, the Memphis Zoo began having conversations about hosting giant pandas. In this same year, Jim Sasser of Tennessee became the United States ambassador to China.
According to the Memphis Zoo, Sasser began to have conversations with Chinese government officials in March of 1999 about panda research being conducted at the zoo.
The zoo also said that in these conversations, then-president Jiang Zameen said that while Chinese people knew a lot about American culture, it seemed as if Americans knew “very little” about Chinese culture. This is how the idea sparked of having pandas at the Memphis Zoo would serve as an educational experience.
The Chinese Association of Zoological Gardens signed a letter of intent in April of 1999,and in the summer of 2001, crews began working on the 16-million dollar exhibit.
While many have enjoyed seeing the pandas for years, many have also voiced their concerns for the well-being of the pandas as well.
In April of 2021, Memphis Flyer reporter Toby Sells said that “A change.org petition and a letter-writing campaign by Panda Voices, a group “brought together by the ongoing mistreatment of pandas Lele (sic) and Yaya (sic) at Memphis Zoo,” has mobilized thousands across the globe.”
According to Sells, mistreatment concerns ranged from Ya Ya’s “four abortions” that cause “irreversible damage to her body,” and claims that Le Le had “dental problems over the years.”
”I assure you that both pandas are monitored by keeper and veterinary staff daily,” said Jessica Faulk, a zoo spokeswoman said in a statement. “We are also in constant communication with our colleagues in China, as well as [the Association of Zoos and Aquariums], and send them monthly updates.”
Ja Morant (Credit: Garrett Ellwood/NBAE via Getty Images)
After a seven-game winning streak, the Memphis Grizzlies have now dropped back-to-back games. And the schedule doesn’t get any easier. On Tuesday night at Ball Arena, the Denver Nuggets defeated Memphis 105-91 to take the number one spot in the Western Conference standing.
Memphis’ record now stands at 19-11 overall and 6-9 on the road.
A slow start reared its ugly head for Memphis again, as Denver held the Grizzlies to just 14 points in the first period. “It’s just our mentality, we’ve got to be more focused,” said Grizzlies guard Tyus Jones after the loss. “We can’t ease our way into the game, especially against a good ball club like that. We can’t ease our way into the game and try to feel out how the game is going to be, and then we’re playing from a deficit the rest of the way and even if you’re playing with the ball, the margins of error are so slim that we have to play great basketball the rest of the way to continue to chip away at that lead.
“It’s just being more focused and locked in, trying to be the aggressors,” Jones added. “We’ve got to be the aggressors coming out from the jump. We had been playing like that. The last couple of games now we’ve been a little more relaxed and we have to get back to playing Grizzlies’ ball.” Jones finished with five points, five rebounds, and four assists.
Center Steven Adams conceited that it is very difficult to win on the road, even though last season Memphis went 26-15 on the road. He said, “It’s hard to win on the road, regardless. But most of all, I think everyone’s just trying to win the game, regardless. In terms of development, I think there’s plenty of times like last year, that I wouldn’t give us that easy of an excuse. We came out like shit. We did well actually in the second quarter, third quarter, and in the fourth quarter was kind of like the first.” Adams chipped in four points and 10 rebounds.
Memphis is now 8-8 against the Western Conference and Jones understands the team has to put forth a better effort than the last two games. “We can’t sneak up on anybody,” Jones admitted. “We knew that going into this year, we’re 30 games in now and we’ve got to know that, but it still takes some getting used to.”
Jones continued, “It’s a long season, it’s a lot of games, and it takes a lot to get up every single night, especially when you’re not going to sneak up on anybody. That’s what’s testing us and that’s how we’re going to continue to grow as a team and continue to get better. We’re a work in progress still. I’ve still got things to get better on and we’re not hanging our heads. We’re continuing to look at ourselves in the mirror, look at the drawing board, and figure out how we’re going to take steps forward.”
Ja Morant continues to put on MVP-caliber performances on a nightly basis. The South Carolina native finished with 35 points and 10 assists in 38 minutes of play.
To round it off, Jaren Jackson, Jr. continued his defensive dominance with a game-high five blocks and three steals to go along with eight points. It marks the fifth time this season the 23-year-old has swatted five or more shots. Jackson is averaging 3.2 blocks on the season.
No rest for the weary. The Grizzlies are headed to Phoenix to take on the Suns Friday night and are heading to San Francisco for its first ever Christmas Day game against the defending champs, Golden State Warriors.
The federal government is apparently looking to relocate some immigrants out of its custody, and the thought of releasing them in Tennessee brought a storm of criticism and complaint from Tennessee conservatives.
Tennessee Governor Bill Lee, and U.S. Senators Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn) and Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn) made noise about the plan Tuesday. In a news statement, they claimed the White House and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) were planning “to release an unspecified number of single adult migrants into Tennessee” and blamed the move on “continued inaction to secure the Southern border.”
Tennessee Lookout questioned ICE about it, only to be told they have “not transported non-citizens for release to Tennessee.” ICE has not announced the move on its website nor on social media.
However, a Tuesday news alert from the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition (TIRCC) seemed to confirm that some detained immigrants may be released here.
“The federal government recently reached out to city and state government officials, as well as non-profits and faith communities, to coordinate an orderly process to assist asylum seekers and others who have been processed and cleared to leave immigration custody in traveling to reunite with family members,” TIRCC said in a statement.
Gov. Lee said his office was notified of the move Monday afternoon by the Biden Administration. The plan would “transport multiple busloads of single adult detainees from ICE facilities in New Orleans into Tennessee, beginning as soon as this week. Federal officials have not shared any further details. The governor’s office continues to push back on the plan.”
Lee called the move “irresponsible” and a “threat to the safety of Tennesseans.” He also battled an ICE move in 2021 that brought migrant children to the state on airplanes in “the dead of night.”
But in a statement on ICE’s recent plan, Lee’s focus once again shifted from Tennessee to the “Southern border.” Earlier this year, Lee sent about 50 Tennessee National Guard members to Texas to “curb a surging drug crisis.”
“[Seven thousand] people unlawfully enter our country every day,” Lee said. “This crisis is too big to ignore, and the only way to stop it is to secure the border.
“Placing the burden on states is not a solution, and we should not bear the brunt of the federal government’s failures. We are demanding the Biden administration reverse their plan for detainee relocation. In the meantime, we’re also discussing options with the Tennessee Attorney General and our federal delegation.”
Two of the top leaders of that delegation made it clear they won’t want the immigrants in Tennessee either. Blackburn said she, Lee, and Hagerty “will be utilizing all possible options to stop President Biden from trafficking illegal migrants into our state.”
“Biden created this crisis by terminating successful Trump-era immigration policies, including Remain in Mexico and safe third-country agreements,” Blackburn said in a statement. “Tennesseans will not stand for this flagrant abuse of law and order.”
Hagerty said the flow of immigrants into the U.S. has “brought heartbreaking consequences to communities throughout America in the form of increased drug overdoses.” These have strained resources for hospitals, schools, and local communities, he said. It has also put national security at risk as a number of those crossing “are on terrorist watch lists.”
“This is unacceptable,” Hagerty said. “A nation without a border is not a sovereign nation. President Biden cannot ignore this crisis any longer.”
