Month: October 2024

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Memphis Allies Reports Growth In Youth Crime Intervention Service

Photo Credit: Memphis Allies

Memphis Allies, an initiative launched by Youth Villages, has decided to tackle youth crime and violence with a collaboration and accountability-centered approach.

Support with Intention to Create Hope (SWITCH) is a service currently offered in Orange Mound, Hickory Hill, South Memphis, Raleigh and Frayser. It aims to reduce gun violence and homicides, while also helping participants “reach their full potential,”

Originally started in the summer of 2022, SWITCH has served 512 people in fiscal year (FY) 2023-24. According to Youth Allies, the program brings community partners and other resources into these communities to stop cycles of gun violence and poverty.

Memphis Allies’ 2024 Progress Report said 398 people were killed in the city of Memphis last year, including 36 children. Officials said these statistics exemplify a “cycle of destruction” they hope to stop.

“The reality is that 99 percent of our SWITCH program participants have some affiliation with a gang, clique, or crew,” the report said. “Many of our participants either have a previous gun-related charge and/or have been shot or shot at.” 

Besides being affiliated with a gang and directly involved in gun violence, people who have had a friend or family member shot/shot at, a history of criminal justice involvement, are unemployed, and have not completed school face these challenges at a higher rate.

Officials went on to say that 87 percent of people in the  SWITCH program have not been involved in gun violence since their involvement. 

SWITCH relies on “timely intervention” for its effectiveness, the report says.  The 12-18 month long service puts those most susceptible to gun violence — both the victim and the perpetrator — in individual and group sessions. Participants are also engaged in family involvement, employment training,educational support and more to prepare them for success. 

“SWITCH Youth is community-based, with life coaches and specialists meeting with participants face-to-face many times a week and staying in touch by phone and text,” the report says. “As participants progress through stages, they work on practical matters such as education and employment and on ways to overcome trauma, modify behavior and make better decisions in the moment.”

The organization uses a four-stage process to help participants, which includes engagement and alignment, self management, relationships and community connection, and vocational and educational connection.

Memphis Allies said involvement in the program is 24-7 work, with outreach specialists, life coaches, case managers, and clinical therapists working around the clock to help participants.  

“Many of these adult SWITCH participants already have been incarcerated, sometimes on gun-related charges,” the organization added. “For some, this program represents [the] last chance at making transformative change.”

Renardo Baker, founder of “I Shall Not Die but Live,” is a partner for Memphis Allies and provides SWITCH outreach in Orange Mound. Baker said he “destroyed his community” by being a drug dealer, but has been a positive influence on his community for the past few decades by creating job opportunities for those at risk through his lawn business.

Twins Brandon and Bryan Mathis started the nonprofit TWINS which stands for “together we can impact neighborhoods and nations.” The brothers used their experiences from joining a gang at age 10 to not only implement SWITCH in Frayser, but they also provide life coaching and case management in Hickory Hill through their organization.

“[The partnership] gives us the freedom to do what has been successful and have the resources of Memphis Allies, including data,” Bryan said.

Memphis Allies has a number of partners in their network including The Braid Foundation, City of Memphis, Grind City Cares, Guns Down Orange Mound, Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital, Young Man University and more.

Officials said that in the future they hope to help four times the number of people they served for FY 2023-24.

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As Waters Recede in East Tennessee, Officials Turn to the Long Recovery Ahead

The Tennessee Valley Authority is releasing water from tributary dams like Douglas Dam, shown here, in Sevier County. The controlled release is intended to minimize additional flooding. (Photo: Tennessee Valley Authority)
A map from the Tennessee Department of Transportation shows road closures and compromised bridges in East Tennessee.

Four days after Hurricane Helene unleashed devastation across parts of rural East Tennessee, emergency officials are switching from rescue to recovery operations.

Scores of people are still reported missing — a number that has shifted up and down since Saturday — underscoring the immense challenges in accounting for residents in areas with no power, impassable roads, and limited cell service.

As of Monday night, 102 were missing in four counties, according to the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency (TEMA), which stressed that the missing may include those cut off from roads and cell coverage. State officials confirmed at least six Tennessee weather-related deaths thus far, according to TEMA. They include three in Unicoi County, and one person in each of the following counties: Knox, Johnson, and Washington.

Thousands of homes and businesses remain without power, and hundreds of roads and bridges can’t be traveled, including nearly every road linking Tennessee to North Carolina. There is no official toll yet on the number of homes and businesses damaged or destroyed. At least four wastewater treatment plants have been thrown offline due to flooding and water utilities in six counties have reported “operational issues,” according to TEMA.

“Search and damage assessments are ongoing and we’re beginning to be able to start to put the pieces back together,” said Myron Hughes, a public information officer for TEMA’s All-Hazards Incident Management Team.

Hotline to coordinate missing person reports: 800-824-3463

Hughes briefed reporters Monday, alongside public officials in hard-hit Unicoi County, where a dramatic and ultimately successful rescue operation unfolded Friday morning to airlift more than 60 staff and patients stranded on the rooftop of Unicoi County Hospital in Erwin.

Unicoi County Emergency Management Director and Incident Commander Jim Erwin said personnel were conducting searches Monday, a task he expected to be complete in impacted areas by day’s end.

Meanwhile, residents and emergency crews continue to grapple with the damage left behind by high winds, rainfall and flooding in hard-hit counties, including Unicoi, Carter, Cocke, Greene, Hamblen, Hawkins, Johnson, Sevier, and Washington.

At Monday’s Unicoi County press conference, an unidentified man, speaking in Spanish through an interpreter, pressed emergency responders for answers about why his still-missing wife wasn’t rescued as she and co-workers tried to flee rising waters Friday morning outside their workplace, Impact Plastics.

The 911 call system swas inundated and many of the county’s resources were deployed to Unicoi County Hospital, Erwin responded, and noted he was also at the hospital. A crew rescued four people fleeing Industrial Park, where the plastics factory was located, Erwin said, then had to turn back.

“They did not get further because water was already so high,” he said. “Some people were saved and we’re still searching. … We all have hopes that we will find some more alive. Our hearts are deep and we’ll be here to work with families.”

Gov. Bill Lee’s request for a Major Disaster Declaration was approved by the Biden Administration Saturday, activating Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) assistance in 12 Tennessee counties.

The Tennessee National Guard and first responders from outside the disaster region were dispatched to assist in search and recovery efforts.

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation established a hotline number to coordinate reports of missing persons: The number is 800-824-3463.

The Tennessee Valley Authority is releasing water from tributary dams like Douglas Dam, shown here, in Sevier County. The controlled release is intended to minimize additional flooding. (Photo: Tennessee Valley Authority)

Roads and bridges

In the first 36 hours following the disaster, the Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT) assessed damages and inspected 100 bridges across seven counties.

“We still have hundreds to go,” a spokesperson said in an emailed statement on Monday.

More than 300 TDOT employees have joined in the inspection efforts, but the task ahead will surpass the capacity of the state agency.

TDOT is in the process of awarding multiple debris removal and construction contracts to supplement state crews, with contracted work expected to begin later this week.

Dams and Rivers

Over the weekend, reports of imminent dam collapses led to evacuations in some areas. But on Monday a spokesperson for the Tennessee Valley Authority confirmed that all 49 of its dams are “stable and operating as designed.”

“We are assessing any transmission infrastructure impacts, which are minimal on the TVA system,” Scott Brooks, an agency spokesperson, said in an email.

Right now, they’re asking for water and people from all over are bringing water to us. Budweiser just brought an entire tractor-trailer full. … Rep. Dan Howell from Cleveland is sending water from his district. When you’ve got 37,000 people and no water, we’re so grateful for everybody doing that.

– Rep. Jeremy Faison, Cocke County Republican

Brooks said most of the damage is on local utility systems. TVA is working with local power companies on restoration and repairs, he said.

State Rep. Jeremy Faison, a Republican who represents hard-hit Cocke County, said thousands are without water after utilities were knocked offline. “So, literally, unless you’re on a well, you have no water in my county right now,” he said.

“Right now, they’re asking for water and people from all over are bringing water to us,” he said. “Budweiser just brought an entire tractor-trailer full. … Rep. Dan Howell from Cleveland is sending water from his district. When you’ve got 37,000 people and no water, we’re so grateful for everybody doing that.”

TVA is monitoring extensive flooding in its tributary dams, which control water movement throughout the power provider’s system. The extensive flooding in reservoirs has prompted record high releases at places, including Douglas Dam in Sevier county.

“We are aware these record releases are causing localized flooding on the Tennessee River,” Brooks said.

River levels monitored by TVA illustrated the enormity of rising water in the region. The French Broad River in Newport, Tenn, reached 23 feet — 13 feet above flood stage. The Pigeon River, also in Newport, set a new record stage of 28.9 feet, 20.9 feet over flood stage. And the Nolichucky River at the Nolichucky Dam in Greene County also recorded record high levels of water.

Senior reporter Sam Stockard contributed to this report.

Tennessee Lookout is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network 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 X.

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Film Features Film/TV

Megalopolis

(Courtesy Lionsgate)

It is beyond dispute that Francis Ford Coppola is one of the greatest filmmakers of all time. That would still be true if he had retired in 1972 after The Godfather won Best Picture. By the time Marlon Brando was sending a Native American rights activist to accept his Best Actor Oscar, Coppola was already making The Conversation, a film about what surveillance does to individuals and society so far ahead of its time that we’re just now catching up to it. Then there was The Godfather Part II, which for my money is actually better than the original. With Apocalypse Now, he tackled Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, a book which none other than Orson Welles had tried and failed to adapt. It remains the definitive screen treatment of the Vietnam War. And there are so many more: Bram Stoker’s Dracula; The Rainmaker, which was filmed in Memphis; the list goes on. 

Aubrey Plaza as Wow Platinum in Megalopolis (Courtesy Lionsgate)

Coppola semi-retired from filmmaking in the twenty-first century to concentrate on his other love, winemaking. The one that got away, the idea that he was never able to convince any studio to finance, was Megalopolis. A few years ago, Coppola sold some of his Sonoma County winery land for $500 million. The filmmaker, now 85 years old, put $120 million of his own money on the line to make his dream project real.

There’s an internet meme that men are always thinking about the Roman Empire. Coppola certainly has spent a lot of time thinking about Ancient Rome, specifically the era from 70-27 AD when the 480-year-old Republic decayed into the Roman Empire. It’s no coincidence that this period was also an obsession of the Founding Fathers. When Benjamin Franklin was walking out of the Constitutional Convention, a person on the street asked what kind of government they had come up with. Franklin replied, “A republic, if you can keep it.”

Megalopolis opens with a shot of the Chrysler Building bathed in golden light. But in this near-future world, it’s not in New York City, but in New Rome. Cesar Catalina (Adam Driver) steps out onto the roof, and for a moment it looks like he’s going to jump. As he steps over the ledge, he says, “Time, stop!” — and it does! The artist, Laurence Fishburne’s voiceover tells us, has the power to control time. 

Catalina has a Nobel Prize for inventing Megalon, a miracle material with near-miraculous properties. He wants to use it to transform New Rome into a utopia, a “school city” which will create happiness and prosperity for all. His rival is New Rome’s popular mayor, Franklyn Cicero (Giancarlo Esposito), who thinks Catalina is a “reckless dreamer who will destroy this world before we can build a better one.” Catalina’s mistress is a TV presenter named Wow Platinum (Aubrey Plaza), and the only thing bigger than her love for him is her ambition. When he refuses to marry her, she takes up with his uncle Crassus (Jon Voight), an elderly banker who has backed his nephew’s work but doesn’t approve of his hedonistic lifestyle. 

Shia LaBeouf in Megalopolis (Courtesy Lionsgate)

But it’s New Rome, so hedonism is the order of the day. Sex and drugs are everywhere. There are chariot races and gladiatorial games in Madison Square Garden. The mayor’s daughter Julia (Nathalie Emmanuel) seems to be a creature of decadence until she meets Catalina. At first she’s attracted to Catalina just to piss off her father, but then she discovers the depth of his imaginings and makes it her mission to unite the two warring houses. Meanwhile, Crassus’ son Claudio (Shia LaBeouf) is scheming to overthrow both of them and take power for himself at the head of a fascist movement he recruited out of the disaffected people left behind by Catalina’s utopian gentrification. 

Coppola wrote, produced, and directed Megalopolis. The direction is near flawless. The old master can still toss off stunning visual riffs at will, and since he doesn’t have to answer to frightened studio execs, Coppola has created a visual feast of a film that is completely unlike anything else coming out of Hollywood this century. The closest thing to it is probably Federico Fellini’s Satyricon, but really, there’s no comparison with anything. 

The Vestal Virgins (Courtesy Lionsgate)

Coppola’s problem is the writing. This is an art film, not a plot-heavy blockbuster, but a little more coherence would have gone a long way. Coppola wrote Megalopolis in fits and spurts over 40 years, and it shows — you can even tell how far along he was in the script when 9/11 happened. And yet, the language is frequently poetic and beautiful in its own right.  

Most of the cast is clearly so happy to be working with a legend like Coppola that they’re game for anything. Only the strongest survive this chaotic swirl of images with their dignity intact. Adam Driver flawlessly delivers the entire “To be or not to be” speech from Hamlet while walking on an unstable catwalk above a model of his utopian vision. Aubrey Plaza’s seduction of Shia LaBeouf will be the stuff of legend. Giancarlo Esposito switches freely between Latin and English without breaking a sweat. The less confident are set adrift, like the hapless Nathalie Emmanuel. 

Adam Driver in Megalopolis (Courtesy Lionsgate)

Megalopolis is not for everyone. Actually, it’s not for anyone except Coppola. He no longer cares what you think. He’s strolling through a century of cinematic history, contemplating the possibilities destroyed by the pursuit of profit and personal power. It’s up to you to get on his level, and that may be a daunting task. This is not cinematic prose, but poetry, with all the obscurity and difficulty that implies. It’s a meditation on the role of the art in the world, made by a genuine artist who is deeply ambivalent. It’s self-indulgent semi-autobiography. It’s a political manifesto against fascism delivered at this critical juncture in the American experiment. You can’t say they don’t make ’em like Megalopolis anymore, because they never did.