Ja Morant interrupted Luke Kennard’s post-game interview this weekend with a victorious, hilarious, “It’s a parade inside my city, yeah!” The line is from rapper YoungBoy Never Broke Again’s single “Fresh Prince of Utah” and has become a rallying cry for the Griz this season. It’s also a viral TikTok hit. One video mash-up of Morant saying the line has more than 3.3 million views.
Potholes
Posted to Facebook by Char-Neal Capps
“Memorizing pothole locations is a survival skill in Memphis,” Char-Neal Capps wrote on Facebook last week. h/t to Memphis Memers 901.
A paw-some performance (Photo: Courtesy Gregory Popovich)
Sit. Stay. Shake. Roll over. Play dead. You’ve seen these canine tricks done before. But have you seen a dog give a cat a piggyback ride? How about a group of dogs learning math in a classroom or a house cat showing off in a circus? Odds are you haven’t witnessed such sights, but you can see all that and more this weekend at the Popovich Comedy Pet Theater at the Buckman Arts Center.
The show, created by Gregory Popovich, features performances by dogs, cats, pigeons, parrots, a mini horse, a mini pig, and a few humans, including Popovich himself. Popovich, a fifth-generation circus performer, grew up in the Ukraine circus scene, traveling from city to city, never staying in one place long. As a kid, this meant he didn’t make too many friends — human friends at least. “Dogs were my friends,” he says, specifically the dogs his parents trained for their acts. “In fact, they were my babysitter when I was a very young, small kid. Sometimes for me it was easier to find communication with pets than with humans, believe me or not.”
Once he came to the U.S. and began working in Las Vegas as a juggler, Popovich wanted to bring back the pet-focused act his parents had honed and taught him back in the Soviet Union. “I asked my American friends where I could find some dogs, and they recommended local animal shelters,” he says. “When I first went to the animal shelter, I was surprised how many nice-looking dogs there were looking for a new owner. And because I came from the Soviet Union — in those times in Soviet Union, we didn’t have animal shelters — it was very exciting that the government in the United States supports the homeless pets. But, on other hand, I learned from the animal shelter staff how those pets came to the shelter, and I learned that people sometimes do not realize the pets have personality and do not respect their pets. And for me as a pet lover, it was kind of very painful. … Animals are people.”
From that moment on, Popovich knew that he would only include animals from rescues and shelters in his show. “My main goal is to show audiences, ‘Look, ordinary pets can be very talented, very cute.’ If after my show, someone from the audience visits a local animal shelter, I feel like my message reached its target.”
Currently, Popovich has almost 30 pets, all of whom live at his ranch-style home in Las Vegas, with a staff of five helping to care for them. In addition to teaching them tricks, part of the animals’ training includes getting them used to being on stage with an audience. “We want them to feel comfortable,” Popovich says. “As a trainer or as a master, I have to watch their body language.” So, if a cat or dog isn’t up for a trick during a performance, he respects that since he wants to highlight their personalities, not their ability to do a trick. The pets even participate in little sketches, showing off their unique temperaments. “That’s why we call it Pet Theater.”
Altogether, though, the show is a variety show, with humans also doing their own tricks from comedy to juggling to acrobatics. “The audience will have to decide who is more talented by applause,” Popovich says. “Believe me or not, the pets always win.”
Popovich Comedy Pet Theater, Buckman Arts Center at St. Mary’s School, Saturday, April 1, 5 p.m. & 7 p.m., $35.Purchase tickets here.
Tennessee Republicans maimed (and likely killed) bills this session that would have allowed state taxpayers to know which corporations pay no state corporate income taxes.
The bills were carried by Nashville Democrats Sen. Heidi Campbell and Rep. John Ray Clemmons. Each bill got brief hearings this month. Both passed committee votes and both got negative recommendations from a majority of lawmakers on those committees.
Campbell and Clemmons said the Tennessee Department of Revenue (TDOR) told them more than 60 percent of corporations here pay no state income tax, and “that is jarring to hear,” Campbell said. About 27 percent of Tennessee companies that report more than $1 billion in taxable income to the federal government paid zero Tennessee income taxes, she said.
“We don’t know which companies are paying nothing because the state law shields that information from public view.”
Sen. Heidi Campbell
“We don’t know which companies are paying nothing because the state law shields that information from public view,” Campbell said. “This bill will require publicly traded companies to report what they pay or don’t pay to the public. So, we can better understand how our current tax code is working.”
Clemmons said that, according to a report from the D.C.-based Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, three Tennessee companies paid no federal taxes in 2020: FedEx Corporation, Franklin-based hospital operator Community Health Systems, and Chattanooga-based insurance company Unum Group. However, current state law does not allow the public to know if these companies paid any Tennessee taxes.
Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy
Clemmons said Tennessee has the second-highest sales tax in the country and is one of only a few states that taxes groceries. Sales and use taxes were the biggest chunk of the state’s 2022 budget, comprising more than 61 percent ($12.8 billion) of the budget, according to the TDOR. Clemmons called these “regressive taxes paid by working families.” Franchise and excise taxes (corporate income taxes) were second, making up more than 21 percent ($4.5 billion) of the budget.
Tennessee Department of Revenue
“There are no loopholes for families buying groceries,” Clemmons said. “There are no loopholes for parents buying back-to-school clothes. There are no loopholes for property owners paying higher rates to make up for corporations [that are] not paying a dime.
“This bill does not raise taxes on anyone. It simply provides some transparency so the hardworking people of Tennessee, who pay their taxes, will know which big corporations are paying what they owe and which are not.”
Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy
Rep. Sabi Kumar (R-Springfield) said, “The implication that those who don’t pay taxes are not paying their fair share is a rather subjective matter.” He said a corporation’s responsibility is to “pay as little tax as they can following the law.” With this, Kumar said, “The problem is with the law, not with the fact that just because somebody does not pay taxes are doing something wrong.”
A corporation’s responsibility is to “pay as little tax as they can following the law.”
Rep. Sabi Kumar
“So, I would like to say that as a pro-business state, we need to realize it is okay to pay the legal share [of taxes], not the fair share as defined by somebody and that interpretation differs with everybody.”
The information sought by the bills is disclosed on the federal level, required by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), according to a 2022 report from the D.C.-based Economic Policy Institute. But the SEC does not require the data on state taxes.
“The failure to require corporations to disclose their taxes allows them to unfairly avoid public scrutiny when they avoid paying billions in taxes,” reads the report. “Without information on how much corporations actually pay at the state and local levels, there is no way to determine whether or not they are paying their fair share.”
Some may think of Nashville as the city of country music, but that’s obsolete for this era. Consider the work of Maggie Rose, who appears at Lafayette’s Music Room on Thursday, March 30th. She’s a Nashville-based, genre-smashing artist whose publicity describes her music as a “collision of rock n’roll, soul, folk, funk, and R&B.” Note the absence of “country,” despite the fact that many have filed her under that tag since she began her career in 2009.
Such categories mean little in this post-Taylor Swift world, and Rose has clearly taken that message to heart. Case in point, Rose’s 2021 album, Have a Seat. Produced by Ben Tanner of Alabama Shakes, it was cut before the pandemic at the inimitable FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama. That alone screams out soul and rock and roll, all the more so because the studio band included heavy-hitters like bassist David Hood of the Swampers (the session musicians who backed up the likes of Aretha Franklin and Etta James) and guitarist Will McFarlane (Bonnie Raitt, Levon Helm), not to mention Rose’s longtime bandmates/collaborators Larry Florman, Alex Haddad, and Sarah Tomek.
The Wurlitzer electric piano that begins Have a Seat sets the tone for the rest of the music to follow with a spot-on soul vamp. String and horn sections further establish the roots of Rose’s sound here. And then come the lyrics of songs composed by Rose and a small army of co-writers.
Notably, her genre studies aren’t always on the nose. “I diagnose myself with the internet, minor aches and pains, death is imminent, I think the twitch in my eye might be permanent, you got a cure for it?” she sings in “Help Myself,” and it almost sounds like Supertramp with it’s bouncy keyboards. Yet she returns to the land of soul for the album’s closer: “Don’t ya give me the floor and then leave the room/I know that I’m speaking for myself but I’m talking to you,” she sings in “You Got Today.”
The latter song underscores the strong streak of women’s empowerment in Maggie Rose’s career. And that goes beyond her music. She also hosts a podcast, Salute the Songbird, which features her conversations with fellow women artists about their lives in and out of music, not to mention music industry-adjacent women like music journalist Marissa Moss, whose book Her Country is an inside look at the world of women in country music. Other guests have included erstwhile Memphis artists like Valerie June and Shannon McNally.
This sensibility of solidarity is echoed in Maggie Rose’s music, which spans over a decade now, making her Thursday show at Lafayette’s (with a full band that includes Kaitlyn Connor on keys, Kyle Lewis on guitar, Judd Fuller on bass, and Tim Burkhead on drums) the perfect way to wrap up National Women’s History Month.
Pat and Anne Halloran at his 80th birthday celebration at the Halloran Centre for Performing Arts & Education (Credit: Michael Donahue)
In addition to being St. Patrick’s Day, March 17th was St. Pat Halloran’s Day. Or make that “Night.”
More than 200 turned out to celebrate Halloran’s 80th birthday that evening at the Halloran Centre for Performing Arts & Education.
Halloran retired as The Orpheum president and CEO on December 31st, 2015.
The Centre was decorated with an Irish theme, which included artificial shamrocks, plastic green derbies, and gold foil-wrapped chocolate candy coins. Some tables featured tall glass votive candles bearing a likeness of Halloran, looking very saintly.
Pat Halloran votive candles graced tables at Pat Halloran’s 80th birthday party. (Credit: Michael Donahue)
The buffet included turkey sandwiches and meatballs, which was OK for the Catholic contingent because Bishop David Talley declared a dispensation for St. Patrick’s Day because it fell on a Friday. That meant Catholics could eat meat.
Following cocktails and dinner, guests converged to the auditorium for a video of Halloran’s life and career. This was followed by entertainment from Stax Music Academy performers.
Halloran’s birthday, actually, was on Tuesday, March 7th, but his wife, Anne, said that wasn’t a good night to have a party. “Anne said, ‘None of your friends will come on a Tuesday night ‘cause they don’t drink on Tuesday,” Pat says.
She suggested they hold the party on a weekend. “St. Patrick’s Day just seemed like a perfect date.”
When Anne asked him what he wanted to do for his 80th birthday, Pat says he told her, “First of all, I don’t want a surprise party.
“I just don’t like those. They usually backfire on you. My 50th birthday party was a surprise. And I was dating four or five different women. Nothing serious. Just dating around. The people coordinating the surprise party invited all five of them. And so I’m dodging them all night.”
For his 75th party, Pat and Anne held a private party. “With just our good friends in our condo complex. That was nice. Small.”
This year, when Anne asked him what he wanted to do for his birthday, Pat said, “I don’t think I’m going to get another 80 in. So, I think what I want to do is I want to thank all the people who have helped me since I have been in Memphis.”
Melissa and Patrick Halloran at Pat Halloran’s 80th birthday party (Credit: Michael Donahue)Tawanda and Cordell Pirtle at Pat Halloran’s 80th birthday party (Credit: Michael Donahue)Dr. Scott and Mary Gilliland Morris at Pat Halloran’s 80th birthday party (Credit: Michael Donahue)Eleanor Williams and Shirley Ford at Pat Halloran’s 80th birthday party (Credit: Michael Donahue)
“I’ve had a phenomenal life here. Ran for city council after I lived here four years. Won that city-wide without a runoff. Ran for mayor. Got my butt kicked. But that was a good thing because it opened the door for the Orpheum.
“Before that I was assistant dean of men at University of Miami, Florida from ’65 to ’69. I came to Memphis to run my college fraternity. It was bankrupt. Having trouble. I had that job for 11 years.”
Pat managed the financing and housing for the fraternity — Pi Kappa Alpha — for 11 years, which was during the time he was involved in politics.
Then, he says, “Lucia Gilliland and her executive committee from the Orpheum Foundation called me. She said, ‘Hey, I want to talk to you about something.’
“I told them I didn’t see me being in a theater for the rest of my life. I just lost the mayor’s race. I said, ‘I’ll try to raise the money you need to save the Orpheum.’”
By “save” he meant “Make sure it’s on solid ground.”
Pat said he’d work for the Orpheum for two years, but he discovered his two-year term kept coming up. And he didn’t leave.
But, he says, “I loved every minute of it. I told Anne I wanted to thank all the people who helped me in the city council race and those that helped me in the mayor’s race. And those tens of thousands of people at the Orpheum.”
That included people who were “sponsoring things, buying tickets, or just supporting the Orpheum. Get as many of them together as I can. And I want to say, ‘Thank you.’ And then I want to walk off the stage.”
Jeff Sanford and Cynthia Ham and Nickie and Chris Coleman at Pat Halloran’s 80th birthday party (Credit: Michael Donahue)Leighanne and Jack Soden at Pat Halloran’s 80th birthday party (Credit: Michael Donahue)Jeanie Gundlach and Steve Conley at Pat Halloran’s 80th birthday party (Credit: Michael Donahue)Bill and Donna Wolf at Pat Halloran’s 80th birthday party (Credit: Michael Donahue)Ron Jewell, David Pickler, Ron Olson, and a photo bomber wannabe (Credit: Michael Donahue)
Guests moved to the auditorium after Pat’s birthday party had been going for an hour or so. “They had a little video showing pictures from when I was born with my butt sticking up. And then all the way through my political career and then the Orpheum.”
There was another group of people Pat wanted to thank. After he retired, he started the “Positively Memphis” organization. “Our mission was to raise money to feed hungry children in our community. We raised over $400,000 during our initial campaign. Now we’re in our second phase. It’s just starting now. We also have periodic luncheons where we feature speakers that represent the most positive developments in our city. Crosstown Concourse conversion, the Tom Lee Park project, and so many others like that. I wanted to thank those people who donated the $400,000. And many of them were in the audience.”
Pat says he then took the stage and told the audience, “I just want you to know why you’re here. You all helped me and I want to thank you. And you made my life fabulous.”
Asked if life was good right now, Pat says, “It’s great. Anne and I are both retired. We’re sitting here collecting our social security checks and cutting out grocery coupons. And we’re loving life. We’re having a good time.”
Orpheum president and CEO Brett Batterson and his wife, Veronica, at Pat Halloran’s 80th birthday party (Credit: Michael Donahue)Onterreo and Quiana Harris at Pat Halloran’s 80th birthday party (Credit: Michael Donahue)Rockie Reinach and Richard Reinach at Pat Halloran’s 80th birthday party (Credit: Michael Donahue)Penny Aviotti and Caroline Williams at Pat Halloran’s 80th birthday party (Credit: Michael Donahue)Kevin Adams, Mike and Gay Williams, Dr. James Eason, Sara Adams, Laura Eason, and Terry Lynch at Pat Halloran’s 80th birthday party (Credit: Michael Donahue)Pat Halloran’s 80th birthday party (Credit: Michael Donahue)We Saw You
According to the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department, three children and three adults were killed after being shot by an armed former student at Covenant School located at 33 Burton Hills Drive on Monday, March 27th.
The children were identified as 9-year-olds Evelyn Dieckhaus, Hallie Scruggs, and William Kinney. The adults were identified as Cynthia Peak, 61, Katherine Koonce, 60, and Mike Hill, 61.
The shooter, 28-year-old Audrey Hale, was killed by police. The shooting has garnered local and national attention, with many sharing their thoughts via social media.
Sen. Marsha Blackburn said that she was “heartbroken,” to hear about the shooting. “My office is in contact with federal, state, & local officials, & we stand ready to assist.Thank you to the first responders working on site. Please join us in prayer for those affected.”
Sen. Bill Hagerty released the following statement on his Twitter account: “Devastated and heartbroken about the tragic news at Covenant School. I’m grateful to law enforcement and first responders for their heroic actions. I am monitoring the situation closely, and my office is in contact with local officials & available to anyone needing assistance.”
While some shared that their thoughts were with those affected, many demanded change and to open a conversation around current gun control laws.
Sen. Raumesh Akbari(D-Memphis,) explained that Tennessee currently has pending legislation to include “18+ and long guns,” to its open carry law. She explained that “people over politics shouldn’t be a partisan issue.”
“When is enough going to be enough to empower my colleagues to have some sort of capacity for courage to do the right thing,” said Akbari. “If you actually want to make an impact to stop gun violence, a tweet is not going to cut it. A statement is not going to cut it. You’re actually going to have to have the courage to act, and do the right thing.”
“Today in Nashville, the lives of three children and three adults were taken in another mass shooting at a school,” said Tennessee House Majority Leader, Karen Camper. “ This cannot continue to be normal in our country. I will continue to work as the Democratic Leader to find REAL solutions to this very REAL problem of guns being used to harm our children. Governor Lee, we must make change now.”
Memphis Congressman Steven Cohen (TN-09) called the incident “horrifying,” and said that this was a reminder to “keep guns from the wrong hands. … Whatever the senseless motive for this killing, Tennessee must find a way to strengthen its comparatively weak gun laws in an effort to save innocent lives.”
NAACP Memphis branch president Van Turner also called on the Tennessee General Assembly to strengthen gun control laws “In light of the recent tragedy at the Covenant School in Nashville, we again call on the Tennessee General Assembly to pass sensible gun legislation and for the Governor to enact an immediate moratorium on current legislation which continues to harm our communities.”
The Basketball Hall of Fame will announce its 2023 class this weekend in Houston, part of the festivities at what is certainly the least likely Final Four in the sport’s history. Among the finalists for induction, Dirk Nowitzki and Dwyane Wade are first-ballot locks. And if Tony Parker and Pau Gasol don’t get in this year, they will be Hall of Famers soon.
I’ve got a question for you. On their best days as basketball players — or best months, or best season — were Parker and Gasol better than Anfernee Hardaway? Any living person who saw the three players in their primes would answer this question with a resounding … no. Yet Parker and Gasol will stroll into the Hall of Fame, while Hardaway has yet to even be named a finalist. It’s a glaring omission for basketball’s shrine to greatness, for Penny Hardaway should be a Hall of Famer.
Here we are, more than 15 years since the pride of Treadwell High School played his last NBA game (December 3, 2007) and Hardaway cannot be found among the greatest to play the sport he commanded for an all-too-brief professional career. And that’s the catch for Hardaway: However great he may have been, we’re tortured by the question of what he could have been, perhaps what he should have been with stronger knees. (Note: Hardaway played in more NBA games than Pete Maravich, and the Pistol was inducted without pause.)
There’s actually an advantage Hardaway holds as a former basketball great. His sport’s Hall of Fame has a significantly lower standard for induction than baseball’s Hall, and even lower than pro football’s. Unless your name is Sandy Koufax, a career abbreviated by injury eliminates you from consideration for Cooperstown. You have to have played ten seasons just to reach baseball’s ballot, and most inductees enjoyed careers of at least 15 years. As for football, Kurt Warner and Terrell Davis have been inducted, joining Gale Sayers among gridiron greats who starred brightly enough during brief careers to earn enshrinement.
Then there’s the hoop Hall. Here’s a look at four recent inductees to factor into the equation of Penny Hardaway’s qualifications:
• Maurice Cheeks (inducted in 2018) — Four-time All-Star. Never named to an All-NBA team. Played a supporting role (to Julius Erving and Moses Malone) on one of the greatest teams in NBA history, the 1982-83 Philadelphia 76ers. Played 15 years in the NBA.
• Sarunas Marciulionis (2014) — The face of Lithuanian basketball (particularly at the 1992 Olympics). Played seven seasons in the NBA. Never an All-Star.
• Jamaal Wilkes (2012) —Three-time All-Star. 1974-75 NBA Rookie of the Year. Played supporting role (to Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar) for three L.A. Laker championship teams. Never named to an All-NBA team.
• Satch Sanders (2011) — Played supporting role (to Bill Russell and John Havlicek) for eight Boston Celtic championship teams. Never an All-Star and never named to an All-NBA team. Never averaged more than 12.6 points in a season.
Sorry, but these four players don’t so much as approximate the star power of Penny Hardaway in his professional prime. Let’s consider 50 games a “full” season for an NBA player. Penny played nine such seasons, so it’s not as though he went down after five or six no-look passes and a reverse dunk. He was named All-NBA three times, and twice first-team (after the 1994-95 and 1995-96 seasons). Consider his company on the 1996 All-NBA team: Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, Karl Malone, and David Robinson (all members of the 1992 Olympic Dream Team). Hardaway was a four-time All-Star and averaged more than 20 points per game three times.
Let’s forget the stats and accolades, though. Basketball doesn’t have a significant counting number — 3,000 hits or 10,000 rushing yards — that introduces a player into discussions about Hall of Fame status. In nearly every case, it’s an eye test. Did the player do things on a basketball court we don’t see many (if any) others do? This is where Penny Hardaway’s creative, artistic case becomes lock-down secure. Beyond Michael Jordan or Magic Johnson, who can fill — to this day — a two-minute highlight reel like Hardaway? (Hardaway is on my Rushmore of basketball passers, along with Maravich, Magic, and Jason Kidd. He saw the court differently from others.)
Hardaway was the national high school player of the year (according to Parade magazine) in 1990. He was named first-team All-America as a junior at Memphis State in 1993. And he remains an unforgettable performer at basketball’s highest level, an Olympic gold medalist and a member of the only team to beat Jordan’s Chicago Bulls in the playoffs between 1991 and 1998 (the 1995 Orlando Magic). Get this: Every member of the 1996 U.S. Olympic team is a member of the Hall of Fame . . . except Penny Hardaway.
In 2018, SLAM magazine published an issue ranking the 100 greatest players of all time, and Hardaway checks in at 92. None of the Hall of Famers mentioned above made the cut. I’m convinced the Naismith selection committee will someday get this right. But make no mistake: the Basketball Hall of Fame is incomplete without Penny Hardaway.
Best Hair at the Healthier Memphis Gala: Andres Velasquez, Fanny Rodriguez, and some guy who likes to get in photos. (Credit: Pedro Velasquez Jr.)
If you missed the Memphis Food and Wine Festival last October, you could get a taste of what you missed at the Lifedoc Health “Healthier Memphis Gala,” held March 23rd at 409 South Main Street.
Lifedoc Health “Healthier Memphis Gala” at 409 South Main (Credit: Michael Donahue)
Chefs who participated in the earlier festival at Memphis Botanic Garden — along with others — took part in last week’s gala. In addition to great food, lots of great people were on hand.
Jose Gutierrez, chef/owner of River Oaks restaurant as well as Memphis Food and Wine Festival co-founder, was instrumental in gathering chefs for the event.
Jose Gutierrez and Stephen Leake at Lifedoc Health “Healthier Memphis Gala.” (Credit: Michael Donahue)
David and Amanda Krog and their daughter, Doris, manned the Dory restaurant booth, where they served braised short ribs with aerated potato, chicken demi glace, fried shallots, and thyme. It was delicious.
David, Amanda, and Doris Krog at Lifedoc Health “Healthier Memphis Gala.” (Credit: Michael Donahue)
Ditto for the caramelized salmon with cauliflower from Emily LaForce at the River Oaks station.
Emily LaForce at Lifedoc Health “Healthier Memphis Gala.” (Credit: Michael Donahue)
And more ditto for Ryan Trimm’s lobster bruschetta with fennel, dill, lemon honey, and pistachio. Trimm is owner of 117 Prime and Sunrise Memphis.
Ryan Trimm and Jake Smith at Lifedoc Health “Healthier Memphis Gala.” (Credit: Michael Donahue)
Well, actually, ditto for everything I ate. Including a special ditto for Franck Oysel’s black forest cake with vanilla bean, chantilly, griottes, and chocolate mousse. I ate two or three of those. Oysel is with the Flight Restaurant Group.
Franck Oysel at Lifedoc Health “Healthier Memphis Gala.” (Credit: Michael Donahue)
The gala also included a live auction, which featured suite seats for the Memphis Grizzlies/Orlando Magic game on March 28th, rare cigars, a wine tasting, and a piece of artwork from LaForce, who is a visual artist as well as a chef.
Other artwork included a custom piece from Gabriel Velasquez.
Gabe’s 18-month-old son, Chet, did the bidding for his dad on a custom-tailored Ermenegilda Zegna suit from Oak Hall. Gabe got the suit.
Bill Ganus with Chet and Gabriel Velasquez at Lifedoc Health “Healthier Memphis Gala.” (Credit: Michael Donahue)
Terri Walker was auctioneer.
Lifedoc Health came about after Gabe’s brother, Pedro Velasquez Jr. was diagnosed with leukemia more than 20 years ago. Their parents, Drs. Pedro and Astrid Velasquez, who had just completed their fellowships at Harvard Medical School, moved to Memphis from Caracas, Venezuela, to put Pedro Jr. in St. Jude. According to the event program, they “made a plea to God that their son be spared. One year later, these prayers were answered, as Pedro Jr. made an unbelievable recovery and entered his second remission.”
Pedro “made an enduring commitment to the city that granted his son a second chance.”
“What started as a weekly, single-room clinic, seeing only 19 patients a month at UT’s College of Nursing is now among Tennessee’s largest private practices in terms of patient volume. Since transitioning to a non-profit in 2020, Lifedoc has made great strides in its mission to build healthier communities, with Pedro Jr. as its executive director.”
Pedro Velasquez Jr., Andres Velasquez, Pedro Velasquez, and Fanny Rodriguez at Lifedoc Health “Healthier Memphis Gala.” (Credit: Michael Donahue)
The gala “couldn’t have been better,“ Gabe says. “Everything was beautiful. Looked well done. The food was off the charts.”
The event raised $180,000 to help build a new multi-speciality outpatient facility to focus on diabetes and obesity in East Memphis. “It was a good night,” Gabe says.
The last part of Pedro Jr.’s speech got to him, Gabe says. “Where he said, ‘We’ve taken a page out of St. Jude’s model, striving to cure diabetes through prevention in Memphis, then in the state of Tennessee, then to the nation, and then hopefully the world.’ It had me fired up.”
In addition to helping their patients, they also want to “help pave the way for what others do,” Pedro Jr. says. “Like St. Jude. By helping our patients, we can find out what works. That way we can help other clinics and organizations around the world. St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital helps thousands of patients every year, but impacts millions across the world through the protocols that they share.”
The Soul Shockers performed.
Audrey Parker and Cameron Jehl at Lifedoc Health “Healthier Memphis Gala.” (Credit: Michael Donahue)Alexia Jones, Calvin Whitcomb, Dr. Claudia Neira, Landon Neira, Courtney Smith Williams at Lifedoc Health “Healthier Memphis Gala.” (Credit: Michael Donahue)Jerry Braxton and Alvin Averyhart at Lifedoc Health “Healthier Memphis Gala.” (Credit: Michael Donahue)Cole Giovannetti, Matt Haaga, and Daniel Pouget at Lifedoc Health “Healthier Memphis Gala.” (Credit: Michael Donahue)Dominic Greer, Andreas Kistler, and Brian Williams at Lifedoc Health “Healthier Memphis Gala.” (Credit: Michael Donahue)Melissa Summerfield and Alice Higdon at Lifedoc Health “Healthier Memphis Gala.” (Credit: Michael Donahue)Kert Kaiser, Chandler Meloni,and Witt Meloni at Lifedoc Health “Healthier Memphis Gala.” (Credit: Michael Donahue)Spencer Greenburg and Natasha Juarez Diaz at Lifedoc Health “Healthier Memphis Gala.” (Credit: Michael Donahue)Joel Le May, Tevin Pickens, Emily Davis, Reny Alfonso at Lifedoc Health “Healthier Memphis Gala.” (Credit: Michael Donahue)Sarah Leonard, DeMonie’ Chism, Austin Hopper, Michael Patrick at Lifedoc Health “Healthier Memphis Gala.” (Credit: Michael Donahue)We Saw You
HEELS is back, and the folk-punk duo of drummer Josh McLane and Guitarist Brennan Whalen is pissed. As usual.
The platonic life partners are no strangers to Music Video Monday. “Last Man,” the new single from and second track on Pop Songs for a Dying Planet. “It’s about fury and being exhausted with pretty much everyone, and a warning about being in your own bubble,” says McLane.
For the video, McLane says “We asked Nathan Parten to make something simple, and he made another work of art for us.”
Parten is a popular Memphis tattoo artist and prolific animator who has created eye-popping videos for HEELS and Louise Page. His visual interpretation of “Last Man” will take your head clean off.
You can see HEELS this Friday at B-Side Memphis playing the “Freeloader” EP release party with Trash Goblin. Parton also did the artwork for Freeloader’s new record, so it’s gonna be a family affair.
If you’d like to see your music video featured on Music Video Monday, email cmccoy@memphisflyer.com.
Paul Young, with wife Jamila Smith-Young at LeMoyne-Owen meet-and-greet
Amid legal developments that could make it a potentially pivotal week in the Memphis mayoral race, it might be useful to hazard a brief synopsis of how the various campaigns are stacking up.
Floyd Bonner: The Shelby County Sheriff launched his candidacy last fall with good prospects of putting potential rivals in the dust. Bonner had handily won two successive county races, leading all candidates in vote totals both times. The fact that crime loomed as the likely major issue to be faced by city voters undoubtedly boosted his profile.
Almost immediately, Bonner attracted the same kind of influential bipartisan support that he enjoyed in his races for sheriff. His campaign team actually envisioned amassing enough cash reserves early enough to dissuade potential rivals from running. And indeed, with first-quarter receipts of some $300,000 this year, and with good numbers anticipated in the soon-t-be second quarter disclosures, he has delivered. But Bonner’s then anticipated opponents didn’t scare.
Paul Young: The Downtown Memphis Commission CEO matched Bonner dollar for dollar and even exceeded the sheriff somewhat. This was the result of months and even years of advance preparation and of a robust standing with the city’s business and civic elite. Young is thought to be the preferred candidate of the current city administration, though incumbent Mayor Jim Strickland is himself conspicuously neutral so far. He is also thought to be ahead in fundraising at this point, whether marginally or to larger degree.
Young’s major problem is that, however well he rates with insiders, he still lacks much name recognition with the public at large. In the long term, his campaign money will have to buy that.
In the short term, Young stands to benefit hugely if the Election Commission’s provisional ruling requiring a five-year prior residency in Memphis — one that would disqualify candidates Bonner, Van Turner, and Willie Herenton — is upheld. A ruling is expected shortly in Chancery Court. “Either way is fine with me,” Young said at an event Saturday. Sure.
Van Turner: The mayoral ambitions of the former Shelby County Commission chairman and current NAACP head have been known for years, and he is generally respected across the political spectrum, though his most significant following is among Democratic Party regulars — a fact not to be discounted, given the demographic edge demonstrated by the party in recent local elections.
Turner has struggled to keep up with the fundraising totals of Bonner and Young, though he was in the ballpark on the first quarterly report, with some $150,000 raised. Since then, he has figured prominently, in national as well as local media, in public reckonings of the tragic death of Tyre Nichols at the hands of Memphis police. This kind of free media is also not to be discounted, though its shelf life is unknown.
Turner’s suit challenging the Election Commission ruling on residency is one of two (the other is Bonner’s). The outcome is, of course, crucial.
Willie Herenton: The former longtime mayor is also vulnerable on the residency score on account of a brief sojourn in Collierville — an ironic fact, given that 30 years ago he personally created the sprawling (and enduring) Banneker Estates development in south Memphis.
There is in any case no questioning the historical cachet of the first elected Black mayor in Memphis history, one who served 17 years and claimed several achievements — notably his leadership of a defiant 1997 effort that successfully ended in a legal reprieve for Memphis vis–a-vis “toy town” legislation that would have blocked the city’s legitimate avenues for expansion.
Herenton remains a controversial figure, as much because of his strong and sometimes disputatious personality as for any lingering racial animus among the city’s Old Guard. But he can claim a substantially sized loyalist base in the inner city and has to be reckoned with in a crowded, winner-take-all field.
(Next: Part Two: J.W. Gibson heads a second tier with potential for rising.)
