Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee confirmed Wednesday for the first time he would deploy National Guard troops to deport undocumented immigrants if President-elect Donald Trump makes the request.
Speaking to reporters after a groundbreaking event at the Tennessee College of Applied Technology on White Bridge Road in Nashville, Lee said no plan exists for Trump’s strategy to remove criminals who came into America illegally and no requests have been made to use Tennessee National Guard troops for deportation.
Yet Lee said he fully supports Trump’s plan to remove criminals that are undocumented immigrants, even though the next president has talked, not necessarily about removing criminals, but about deporting some 18 million immigrants, including U.S. citizens who are the children of undocumented parents.
“What I believe is that President Trump was elected saying what he wanted to do and the people elected him in a very strong fashion,” Lee said. “And I am supportive of his strategies going forward, and if that includes utilizing the national guard at the president’s request, then I’ll work together with governors across the country to do that.”
Lee previously issued a statement saying he asked state agencies to prepare to support Trump’s efforts to secure the nation’s borders and keep communities safe. That came after he spoke vaguely about the matter in a December press conference, saying the next president will set his strategies and the state would work to “implement strategies that work for Tennessee.”
He said that a day before the Republican Governors Association issued a letter signed by Lee saying it stands “united” in supporting Trump’s commitment to deal with the “illegal immigration crisis and deporting illegal immigrants who pose a threat to our communities and national security.”
The governor declined to speculate Wednesday about whether troops from some states might go into other states to deport immigrants if governors refuse to follow Trump’s orders to deploy their national guards.
A one-time mass deportation of about 11 million people who lack permanent legal status and 2.3 million more who crossed the U.S. southern border from January 2023 through April 2024 could cost an estimated $315 billion, according to the American Immigration Council.
The Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition previously condemned Lee’s commitment, saying the move would hurt families and the local economy. The immigrant rights group said business leaders, economists, faith leaders and legal experts believe such a plan would be “disastrous.”
Republican leaders in the Tennessee legislature back Lee’s willingness to use troops, while Democrats criticize it as an attack on the immigrant community.
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.
To celebrate the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. this MLK weekend, Volunteer Odyssey is mobilizing Memphians to engage in service projects across the city.
Throughout the year, the nonprofit connects other nonprofits with volunteers, provides a free platform for volunteer management, and coordinates corporate volunteer opportunities. “So MLK Days of Service is a great opportunity for us to gather several small projects from a lot of nonprofits around the city,” says Volunteer Odyssey executive director Caroline Norris, “doing everything from cleaning up T.O. Fuller State Park and making it even more beautiful, to working with Thistle & Bee to paint their new clinic and get it ready for some of their clients, to packing up food at the Mid-South Food Bank.”
In total, there are 11 organizations for volunteers of all ages to serve this MLK weekend, with opportunities on Friday through Monday, at different hours through the day. “Our hope is that that will inspire every Memphian to find something, to find a way to plug in,” Norris says. “If it made them fall in love with Room in the Inn, and they had never heard of them before, and now they want to go and serve meals once a month, that can be transformational for some of these organizations.”
Photo: Courtesy Volunteer Odyssey
Spots for MLK Days of Service’s opportunities are already filling up, but Norris says not to worry. “Memphis is a last-minute kind of town, and so I know that there’s going to be spots available, especially down with the Wolf River Conservancy at T.O. Fuller State Park. They got hundreds and hundreds of spots.”
“What’s most important is rolling up your sleeves alongside your neighbors and getting your hands dirty, not just talking about what’s going on in our city, but really getting to work,” Norris says. “These organizations need people power, and so there is definitely an organization that is either the cause that you care about or is looking for the skills that you already have or simply just fits into your schedule.”
This year, for its MLK Days of Service, Volunteer Odyssey is also partnering with the National Civil Rights Museum (NCRM) and Leadership Memphis in promoting their celebrations. Leadership Memphis will host its MLK Health and Wellness Fair on Saturday, January 18th, from noon to 2 p.m. at the Hollywood Community Center, with the goal to promote health, wellness, and access to resources. In addition to offering free health screenings and activities for the kids, the fair will showcase organizations focused on healthy living.
On Monday, January 20th, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., the National Civil Rights Museum will have its King Day, with free admission to the museum and a full day of activities including music, performances, children’s activities, and an online presentation. The museum is also asking for food donations to the Mid-South Food Bank in exchange for discounted admission to be used at a later date, and NCRM is hosting a blood drive. Those who donate blood will receive free admission for up to two people and an MLK Spirit of Service T-shirt (while supplies last).
“We’re really trying to amplify what our community partners need,” Norris says of Volunteer Odyssey’s partnerships with Leadership Memphis and NCRM. “And so, this collaboration with MLK Days of Service is just a beautiful vision that there’s so much good happening. … Even if you can’t participate in the MLK days of service, use this opportunity to see how you might give back the rest of the year.”
Find out more about the volunteer opportunities available below or follow the link here, where you can also register.
Photo: Courtesy Volunteer Odyssey
National Civil Rights Museum: Passionate volunteers are needed to help coordinate #KingDay2025. This year’s celebration will also mark the launch of the museum’s yearlong observance themed Community Over Chaos, highlighting pivotal anniversaries in civil rights history, including the 60th anniversary year of the Selma March and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. | Monday, January 20, 8 a.m.-6 p.m.
Girls Inc.: Get your hands dirty for a great cause! Girls Inc. needs volunteers to prep their urban farm for the spring. This is a great way to support a mission that inspires and empowers young girls in Memphis. | Saturday, January 18, 9:30-11:30 a.m.; Sunday, January 19, 8:30-10:30 a.m.; Monday, January 20, 8:30-10:30 a.m.
Wolf River Conservancy: This MLK Day of Service event will focus on preserving T.O. Fuller State Park, a historically significant site for the African-American community. Volunteers will assist with hiking trail restoration, playground surface renewal, and invasive species removal. | Saturday, January 18, 10 a.m.-noon
Thistle & Bee: Thistle & Bee is transforming lives, and you can be part of their journey! Help paint walls, organize supplies, and clean their new clinic space. Your efforts will directly support survivors of trafficking as they rebuild their lives with dignity and hope. | Saturday, January 18, 9 a.m. to noon | Sunday, January 19, 9 a.m. to noon
Memphis City Beautiful: Join Memphis City Beautiful and partners in Midtown and Orange Mound on Saturday or the Mitchell Heights community on Sunday. Volunteers will plant native trees, clean-up intersections, and help create more inviting spaces in our city. Wear weather-appropriate clothing and get ready to dig in. | Saturday, January 18, 10 a.m.-noon, Sunday, January 19, 10 a.m.-noon
Overton Park Conservancy: Repair the Limestone Trail after recent storm damage. Bring a pair of work gloves and a couple of friends. Meet at the East Parkway Pavilion in Overton Park. | Monday, January 20, 9 a.m.-noon
Room in the Inn: Room in the Inn provides a welcoming, safe space for those experiencing homelessness, built on love and respect. Lend a hand with projects that directly support their mission. | multiple projects and shifts available
Shelby Farms Park: Take part in the Helping Hands project, an ongoing effort to pick up 2,025 pieces of litter by the end 2025. By volunteering, you’ll contribute to keeping one of Memphis’ most cherished green spaces clean and beautiful for everyone to enjoy. | ongoing/open availability
Mid-South Food Bank: Join the Mid-South Food Bank to pack meal boxes for the Care Like King Days of Service. Your time and effort will help fight hunger and ensure families across Memphis have access to nutritious meals. | Friday, January 17, 10 a.m.-noon
V&E Greenline: Help out on the V&E Greenline. There’s plenty to do to prepare for the spring growth. Meet at Kirby Station (1625 Tutwiler) at 9 a.m. for donuts, coffee, community, and lots of hard work. | Saturday, January 18, 9-11 a.m.
Lichterman Nature Center: Helping with trail maintenance, invasive plant removal, trash clean-up, resetting the children’s Discovery Forest, and helping to plant native plants. | Saturday, January 18, 9 a.m.-12:30 p.m.
Street organizations are continuing their efforts to sustainably integrate themselves into Memphis’ community, while also improving relationships with each other.
The Community Unity March on Memphis is scheduled for January 20th to commemorate Martin Luther King Day on January 20. Participants will begin their day at 201 Poplar with a brief program at 9 a.m. before marching to the National Civil Rights Museum.
This march is a continuation of the Community Unity initiative that seeks to fix citywide problems while also engaging marginalized groups in Memphis.
Community organizer Keedran Franklin has worked with city leaders and the public to change the conversation around what most people call “gangs.”
“We don’t use the word gangs, right,” Franklin said. “That’s code word for local municipalities to get from the feds to say we have a gang problem. We don’t have a gang problem. What we have is under-resourced and underserved people who are creating their own avenue.”
This distinction prompted Franklin to have some “tough” conversations with people, including Mayor Paul Young.
“Mayor Young and myself had to get through some past issues,” Franklin said. “I used to be hard as hell on Paul, back when he was part of HUD(Housing and Urban Development) and MHA (Memphis Housing Authority), I was hard as f*ck on Paul, because he was with the previous regime. We had to work through our bullsh*t first, which was being open and honest.”
Franklin explained that he also took this as an enrichment opportunity and gave the mayor a copy ofKing David and Boss Daley: The Black Disciples, Mayor Daley, and Chicago on the Edge by Lance Williams, to help him understand that street organizations originated as political ones that were “left behind because of government interference.”
“It’s not about gangs, [the] streets, and killing,” Franklin said. “They’re actually bettering themselves and growing themselves.”
As an organizer across the country, Franklin said his colleagues would call him after these conversations and after spotting Young in places like Mississippi, they spoke highly of him. Franklin said these instances gave Young the opportunity to see these individuals doing work in the community to better themselves, thus helping to change the narrative around them.
“[To Mayor Young] People are all in these spaces man, doing the work that needs to be done,” Franklin said. “That’s it. Just a lot of tough dialogue, and again, just showing and proving that we aren’t as bad as people saying we are.”
Martin Luther King Day not only provides an opportunity for street organizations to continue their work on a more visible level, but an effort to return civil rights to its mission of inclusivity.
Franklin said the day is about both remembrance and community – including that of the streets. He said the initially planned on participating in another march scheduled for that day, but never heard back from organizers when he reached out.
“I was like, well we’ll do our own march,” Franklin said. “You don’t see these types of guys down there. You don’t see the streets at this event. This is to open their eyes to like, ‘hey there’s something that goes on and we should participate in.’ Don’t be afraid to participate.”
The lack of response seemed to work in Franklin’s favor, as it gave way for him and street organizations to create their own event with the support of groups from the community and around the world. He emphasized this is a “multifaceted effort” from both “inside state and federal prisons,” to outside to ensure that all populations are accounted for.
“The idea is us creating this program, creating these new norms, dropping off at 201, and then marching to the Civil Rights Museum where we will also announce these new norms that these organizations have agreed to move by,” Franklin said. “Pushing the effort for us to move, so we can do better by our community.”
So, how are local agencies preparing for this? Memphis Light, Gas & Water (MLGW)? City of Memphis? Memphis International Airport (MEM)? Tennessee Department Of Transportation (TDOT)?
Here’s an unfiltered look at what they’ve told us (with links to follow the latest from the agencies).
Memphis Light, Gas & Water:
MLGW prepares for cold weather by tracking the weather, having additional crews on standby, and ensuring vehicles are equipped with necessary tools. Tree-trimming crews cleared more than 1,600 miles in 2024 to help reduce electric outages caused by falling limbs.
Credit: Memphis Light, Gas & Water
To combat water main breaks (which can occur when temperatures drop) MLGW has made several capital improvements like installing additional wells. It’s also been insulating water pump motors and conducting a system-wide water valve survey that will keep water flowing from pumping stations to the community.
To combat winter weather challenges, MLGW has implemented the following measures:
· Fleet maintenance: MLGW’s fleet vehicles receive monthly preventive maintenance, with extra attention to charging systems, tires, heaters, windshield wipers, and washer fluid in the winter months.
· De-icer supply: Garages are stocked with de-icer for locks, door handles, and windshields, ensuring crews can work efficiently in icy conditions.
· Cold weather diesel additive: To enhance vehicle performance, a cold weather diesel fuel additive is added to the tanks at MLGW fueling stations.
· Snowplows and brine spreaders: Six fleet vehicles are outfitted with snowplows and brine spreaders to clear access to MLGW facilities and community offices, ensuring essential operations can continue during winter storms.
City of Memphis:
Credit: City of Memphis
The city of Memphis has a new strategic snow and ice mitigation plan. Under the plan that went into effect on January 1, 2025, Division of Public Works crews will focus on specific routes when wintry weather affects our area, clearing one lane in each direction.
Previously, crews only treated inclines and declines, overpasses, and bridges. Clearing one lane in each direction on targeted routes aligns with what is done in other cities in Tennessee and nationwide.
Instead of a salt/sand mix, crews will treat the streets with straight salt. Using salt only should more effectively melt snow and ice on our roads. Crews will still pretreat with brine when conditions allow.
Instead of a salt/sand mix, crews will treat the streets with straight salt. Using salt only should more effectively melt snow and ice on our roads. Crews will still pretreat with brine when conditions allow.
Check the map to see which routes the city of Memphis will treat. The map also highlights routes cleared by TDOT. This new, focused approach is expected to better serve residents and drivers during winter weather.
Memphis International Airport:
Credit: Memphis International Airport
• When winter weather is forecast, MEM schedules crews based on the amount, duration and type of the expected precipitation. Snow and ice require different types of treatment.
• The goal is to prevent the buildup of ice and snow on runways and taxiways so that aircraft can continue to operate safely. Crews also work around the clock to clear ramps, service roads, terminal roadways, fuel farm loading areas, and more.
• MEM has more than 40 vehicles dedicated to snow/ice removal, including snow brooms, plow trucks, snow blowers, liquid and granular de-icing trucks, and tractors.
MEM has more than 40 vehicles dedicated to snow/ice removal, including snow brooms, plow trucks, snow blowers, liquid and granular de-icing trucks, and tractors.
• About 140 employees from airfield and building maintenance are available for snow operations, along with staff from operations, communications, airport police, procurement, and other areas. The vast majority of the [Memphis and Shelby County Airport Authority’s] 300 employees are involved in winter weather operations in some capacity.
• Airfield crews will work around the clock to clear runways.
• MEM’s centralized de-icing facility will be active for airlines to perform de-icing operations as needed.
Airlines:
• Passengers should contact their airline before traveling. Airlines manage all aspects of scheduling and will have the most up-to-date information. Early morning flights in particular could be affected.
• Even if MEM is open with flights arriving and departing, weather across the U.S. could disrupt airline schedules this week.
• Airlines are responsible for all aspects of ticketing, baggage, and gate operations.
• While MEM is responsible for clearing runways and taxiways, airlines handle all aspects of de-icing aircraft including staffing, application and equipment maintenance.
Other passenger information:
• Allow for extra time to get to the airport due to road conditions. It is recommended to arrive at the airport at least two hours prior to scheduled departure.
The Tennessee Department of Transportation’s (TDOT) Region 4 is prepared to tackle the ice and snow forecast for this week, ensuring the safety of drivers across the region’s 21 counties.
TDOT West Tennessee at the ready:
• Snow and ice budget: $5.2 million
• 176 salt trucks
• 139 brine trucks
• 29,000 tons of salt
• 508,000 gallons of brine
• 30 salt bins placed around the region
Maintenance crews are fully stocked with salt, brine, and other materials, to respond as winter weather moves into the area. Region 4’s [West Tennessee] snow and ice budget for this fiscal year is $5.2 million.
Drivers should expect to see crews in West Tennessee pre-treating the interstates and state routes region-wide for the upcoming impacts of winter weather. Crews will prioritize clearing interstates and heavily traveled state routes first, followed by secondary routes. TDOT strongly encourages drivers to prepare to stay off the roads on Friday, January 10, 2025, for their own safety and the safety of workers, giving crews the room they need to do their jobs.
TDOT strongly encourages drivers to prepare to stay off the roads on Friday, January 10, 2025, for their own safety and the safety of workers, giving crews the room they need to do their jobs.
“Our crews have been working diligently to ensure our equipment is ready and materials are on hand to keep the roads clear and safe,” said Jason Baker, Region 4 director. “We encourage all drivers to also prepare for the conditions and adjust their driving habits to stay safe on the road.”
For more information on TDOT’s snow and ice preparations, winter safe driving tips, preparing your vehicle for winter travel and links to road conditions in Tennessee and neighboring states visit: Ice & Snow.
From your desktop or mobile device, get the latest construction activity and live streaming SmartWay traffic cameras. Travelers can also dial 511 for travel information, or follow TDOT on Twitter for statewide travel or in West Tennessee follow here.
As always, drivers are reminded to use all motorist information tools wisely and Know Before You Go! by checking travel conditions before leaving for your destination. Drivers should never tweet, text, or talk on a cell phone while behind the wheel.
The new “90 for 90” exhibit at Graceland (Photo: Courtesy Elvis Presley’s Graceland)
The anniversary of Elvis Aaron Presley’s birth, January 8th, has always been a time of reflection and dual meanings, as it also marks the day in 1935 that his twin Jesse Garon was stillborn a half hour before baby Elvis emerged. Yet that’s just one among a host of dramatic moments that punctuated one of the 20th century’s most epic lives. And even after all these years, the exhibits at Elvis Presley’s Graceland have never captured the whole story.
With that in mind, Elvis Presley’s Graceland launched a new exhibit this Wednesday, January 8th, full of never-before-seen gritty objects from a life well lived. Four days of festivities surround the opening of the new yearlong “90 for 90 Exhibit” that celebrates Presley’s life.
The new exhibit features 90 curated “stories” told through items specially selected from the over 1.5 million artifacts housed at the Graceland Archives at Preseley’s home in Memphis. These artifacts, each embodying a unique moment from the singer’s life, range from iconic items easily recognizable by fans to rare, personal pieces that capture Presley’s private moments out of the spotlight.
The earliest known photo of the Presleys (Photo: Courtesy Elvis Presley’s Graceland)
One such artifact, never displayed until now, is the earliest known photo of the Presley family, taken around 1938, cataloged as inventory no. 1 in the Graceland Archives Collection database. This is the original black-and-white photo found inside the family’s steamer trunk. The exact date of the picture is unknown, but Elvis appears to be two or three years old. It’s a gripping slice of life from the earliest days of the young family.
Other artifacts range from the trivial to the profound. Few may realize that Presley’s ’70s passion for racquetball actually led to a business venture, Presley Center Courts, founded in 1976, intended to become a nationwide chain of branded racquetball and spa facilities. Commemorative paddle rackets from that time are included in the exhibit.
So is the original film reel of The Frank Sinatra Timex Show: Welcome Home Elvis television special; a poem, “Why God Made Little Girls,” that Presley treasured; a road case of stage scarves from 1977; and, arguably the most badass of them all, a special pair of nunchucks personalized for “Master Elvis Presley.”
Many of the artifacts in the new exhibit have never been seen on display until now. (Photo: Courtesy Elvis Presley’s Graceland).
This yearlong exhibit will run through December 2025 and can be toured as part of the Elvis Presley’s Memphis entertainment complex. Throughout the coming year, Graceland will unveil additional new exhibits and refresh some existing spaces to enhance the visitor experience, so stay tuned. A full schedule of events going on now is available at Graceland.com/Birthday.
Ballet Memphis announced that president and CEO Gretchen Wollert McLennon will step down following the conclusion of its 38th season after five years under her leadership.
McLennon, herself a former student of the school and dancer in the junior company, succeeded founding artistic director Dororthy Gunther Pugh. In her role as president and CEO, she led Ballet Memphis through the challenges brought on by the pandemic, while leading year-over-year growth in main-stage ticket sales, garnering support from the Memphis City Council and Shelby County Commission, guiding the creation of new productions like Dracula and the company’s newly reimagined Nutcracker, and more.
A national search, led by the Nashville-based executive search firm ThinkingAhead, is already underway to find Ballet Memphis’ next leader as it prepares for its 39th season.
Season 38 concludes with its production of Angels in the Architecture to be performed on April 25th to 27th at Germantown Performing Arts Center. Ballet Memphis fans can also look forward to its Winter Mix, February 21st to 23rd, at Playhouse on the Square.
Elmwood Cemetery has announced its annual Snowden Spirit Series Writing Contest, asking for historical fiction short stories about Elmwood’s residents.
Entrants can choose to write about an individual, a couple, or a group, so long as they are buried at the cemetery. Prizes will be awarded to first through third place, with third place receiving $500, second $750, and first $1,000. Winners will be announced on Facebook and Instagram, and all three winning entries will be published on the cemetery’s blog. The winning stories will also be read aloud at a reception on a date to be announced.
Entries are due February 14th at 4 p.m. Stories are to be 1,500 words at maximum, with no more than two submissions per applicant. A $20 donation is required (donate here). Email your submission to amanda@elmwoodcemetery.org.
Read 2023’s winning stories by Jeffrey Posson, Katherine Fredlund, and Beverly Cruthirds here.
The Snowden Spirit Series is sponsored by the Snowden family in honor of the creative spirit of Memphis.
Lily Rose Depp feels the touch of the vampire in Nosferatu. (Photo: Courtesy Focus Features)
The thing Robert Eggers does better than any other director is fully inhabiting the historic worlds of his films. His characters are not 21st-century humans wearing horned helmets plopped into a longboat. In The Northman, the pagan Vikings blame the Christians for a series of gruesome murders because “their god is a corpse nailed to a tree.” In his first film, The Witch, the devil stalking his Puritan settlers is real because it’s real to them — even as Eggers hints that the actual reason bad luck has befallen their settlement is that they suck at farming.
When he approached his long-gestating passion project, a remake of Nosferatu, he gravitated towards the source material, Bram Stoker’s 1897 novel Dracula. Eggers works in the high melodrama of vaudeville theater and silent film, challenging you to throw yourself fully into the gloom.
The original Nosferatu is a haunted film. Director F.W. Murnau and star Max Schreck had both spent time in the trenches of World War I. The German producers didn’t get permission from the English estate of Bram Stoker, and when the author’s widow successfully sued, the court ordered all copies of the film destroyed. Luckily, they missed a few, and Nosferatu became one of the founding documents of modern horror. It’s also one of the few works of art to deal with the 1918 influenza pandemic, as the appearance of the vampire Count Orlok in Berlin is accompanied by a mysterious plague.
Nosferatu follows the broad outline of Dracula, but with a few important exceptions. It begins with Ellen (Lily-Rose Depp), a teenager in early 19th-century Prussia, being visited by a mysterious spirit. After it leaves, she seems to have epileptic convulsions. Years later, Ellen is a respectable young woman married to Thomas (Nicholas Hoult), a real estate agent hustling for a promotion. Thomas is assigned to visit “a very old account” in the Transylvania’s Carpathian mountains. No one knows why Count Orlok (Bill Skarsgård) wants to buy the ruined mansion down the street from Thomas and Ellen, but they’ll take his money anyway.
Nicolas Hoult suspects something is amiss with his new client in Nosferatu. (Photo: Courtesy Focus Features)
Once Thomas arrives in Transylvania, it becomes clear nothing is normal. The local Romani are on an active vampire hunt, and when they hear where Thomas is going, they rightly freak out. The count licks Thomas’ blood and makes him sign a document in a language he doesn’t understand. But even though that sounds like something a health insurance CEO would do, the mad alchemist Professor Albin Eberhart Von Franz (Willem Dafoe) rightly surmises that Count Orlok is a “nosferatu.” Once he has completed the real estate transaction and left Thomas for dead, the Count menaces an increasingly desperate Ellen, wanting to possess her body and her immortal soul.
Eggers plays all of this absolutely straight, as he has with all his movies. There is no winking to the camera. None of these characters have read Dracula, or seenWhat We Do in the Shadows, so every revelation of vampire lore is news to them. (The original Nosferatu, by the way, is the origin of the trope that vampires die when exposed to sunlight. Bram Stoker’s Dracula just didn’t like it.)
Willem Dafoe starts a fire in Nosferatu. (Photo: Courtesy Focus Features)
To describe Depp’s performance as “melodramatic” is a monstrous understatement. She goes full Linda Blair: shaking, foaming at the mouth, and performing a really impressive back bend while possessed with Count Orlok’s dark magic. Hoult equals her freak as the terrified husband trying to keep it together as he is faced with one mind-destroying horror after another. Dafoe pronounces every syllable like he’s driving a stake into the heart of a vampire.
The story starts out strong, but once Thomas and Orlok return to save/eat Ellen, the plot languishes in gothic ennui. Fortunately, Eggers drops one killer composition after another, so there’s always something incredible to look at onscreen. We never get the full picture of Count Orlok, who is always shaded in darkness, until the film’s extremely disturbing climax. It’s not a new observation to say that sex and death are always intertwined in horror, but few works have gone as far as Nosferatu in making the subtext so easy to read.
Carlisle Development Co. will bring its new, $137 million plans for Central Yards — a mix of condos, retail, parking, and a hotel — to a Downtown Memphis Commission (DMC) board next week, seeking a tax break of $24.6 million to make them real.
The Central Yards development idea has been around a long time. An original development project was stymied when an investor was snarled in a Bitcoin scandal. The property was seized by the government and sold at auction to Carlisle.
The roughly 6-acre site in Cooper-Young sits near Central and Cooper. (Right around the Taconganas stand and Bluff City Sports.) The area was once home to a plumber supply shop, which closed. For years now, the vacant shop has stood dilapidated and alone in an empty, weedy field surrounded by chain link topped with concertina wire. All buildings on the site now would be demolished, according to the new plan.
Carlisle’s plan for the spot includes 250 condos, 27 townhomes (each with a two-car garage), a 325-car parking deck, all with resident amenities like a pool. It will also have a five-story hotel with 125 rooms and an 82-car parking lot. The hotel will have 4,160 square feet of commercial space.
Credit: Downtown Memphis Commission
“An investment of over $125 million in the site will revitalize a blighted portion of an otherwise thriving neighborhood, and help bridge the gap between Cooper-Young and other Midtown neighborhoods to the north,” Carlisle said in its application to the DMC’s finance branch, the Center City Revenue Finance Corp. That board can finance, own, lease, and dispose of properties and give tax breaks.
Carlisle plans construction to begin the second quarter of this year and have it wrapped up in 2027.
DMC staff reviews each project brought before the board and gives board members its recommendation on them to approve or not. The DMC staff recommended approval of Carlisle’s plan for Central Yard and to give a tax break lasting 20 years. Staff liked that the plan brought new homes and retail spaces, activating now-vacant property, and its new parking spaces.
“The Cooper mixed-use project will bring new vibrancy to area to support the many established businesses in the Cooper-Young neighborhood,” staff said.
Superintendent Marie Feagins on a visit to Grandview Heights Elementary School soon after she took the job in April 2024. She denounced a pending effort to oust her as “personally driven” and “politically motivated.” (Ariel J. Cobbert for Chalkbeat)
Memphis-Shelby County Schools Superintendent Marie Feagins wants to make clear what she thinks about the attempt to oust her: She plans to defend herself and has no intention of resigning.
In a written response to the school board Monday, Feagins said the allegations cited as a basis for firing her are “meritless” and described the effort as “personally driven” and “politically motivated.”
The board agreed to discuss the matter at a scheduled work session on Jan. 14, after deciding Dec. 17 to defer a vote on whether to end Feagins’ contract.. Any vote to fire her would have to take place at a formal board meeting. The next one is Jan. 21.
In her response Monday, which board attorney Robert Spence shared in an email to Chalkbeat, Feagins said, “I will not resign,” and urged members to reconsider an action that “does not serve the best interests of our district, children, or the broader community.”
Feagins said her attorney received no response when asked about specific policies and procedures she is alleged to have broken.
“To directly speak to the meritless claims, I have never, under any circumstances, intentionally or unintentionally misled a board member or the board as a whole,” she said in her response. “Furthermore, I have not mismanaged district funds.”
The allegations were contained in a resolution that Board Chair Joyce Dorse-Coleman presented to the board on Dec. 17, seeking to terminate Feagins immediately on grounds that she breached the terms of her contract.
The resolution claims that she:
• Failed to provide evidence of her statement that district employees were paid $1 million in overtime for time not worked.
• Accepted a donation of more than $45,000 without board approval, then misrepresented what happened.
• Misled the board and public about a federal grant and its missed deadline.
While presenting the resolution in December, Dorse-Coleman said Feagins “engaged in conduct detrimental to the district and the families it serves.”
Under Feagins’ contract, if she is fired without cause, she would be entitled to a severance payment of $487,500. Feagins strongly denied the claims at the Dec. 17 board meeting, and the board appeared split on whether to vote to oust her.
Board members Stephanie Love, Sable Otey, Towanna Murphy, and Natalie McKinney opposed delaying a decision at the Dec. 17 meeting. But Michelle McKissack, Amber Huett-Garcia, Tamarques Porter, and Keith Williams spoke out against the resolution.
Ultimately, Dorse-Coleman cast the deciding vote on a proposal to move the discussion and decision to the new year, and give Feagins more time to respond. In a Dec. 26 statement, Dorse-Coleman said her stance on removing Feagins has not changed.
“She has a pattern and practice of not providing critical information and instead misinforming the board members,” Dorse-Coleman said in her statement. “I don’t think this is something we can overcome.”
Murphy shared similar concerns with Chalkbeat after the district’s attorney told her about Feagins’ response on Tuesday.
Murphy said the superintendent does not make an effort to communicate with her, and it “has gotten worse” since the Dec. 17 meeting.
“She does not follow the instructions of the board,” Murphy said. “It is about running the school board as a whole, and us doing it for the children. But we seem to keep forgetting about the children because we’re too busy putting out Dr. Feagins’ fires.”
Murphy said she wanted Feagins to work out but she no longer envisions a future with her.
Feagins’ said in her statement Monday that she feels “deeply disturbed” by some board members’ “unwarranted attacks” on her integrity and what she described as their disregard for her professional background.
“Despite the falsehoods and defamatory public remarks intended to damage my character and diminish public trust in me, I have upheld the highest standards of professionalism,” Feagins told the board in her response. “This includes navigating attempts by current and former board members to remove me and create an intimidating work environment — actions of which you have been aware for months — while also tactfully addressing this resulting national embarrassment brought on our city and district.”
Meanwhile, the district still grapples with academic and financial challenges while trying to rehabilitate a relationship with the community that weakened during the long superintendent search.
Feagins has a four-year contract that pays her $325,000 annually. Before coming to Memphis, she held a leadership position at the Detroit Public Schools Community District.
Feagins became the first outside leader of MSCS since the district was created through a merger a decade ago.
Chalkbeat is a nonprofit news site covering educational change in public schools.
