Author: Maya Smith

Thunderstorms with possible damaging winds are expected to hit the Mid-South today starting early in the afternoon, according to the National Weather Service.

Everyone is encouraged to postpone outdoor activities and find shelter before the storm hits.

The Shelby County Office of Preparedness (SCOP) says a basement or underground shelter provide the best protection, but if not available, interior rooms, away from windows, in the lowest level of your home or building is the next best option.

In addition, windows and doors should be secured, electrical appliances unplugged, and plumbing and corded phones should be avoided.

Lastly, it is advised to have an emergency kit ready with essentials such as a radio (battery-powered), extra batteries, helmet, whistle, flashlight, water, non-perishable food items, blankets, and pillows.

SCOP also stresses the importance of staying informed by looking for darkened skies, lightning, high winds, hail, and heavy rains, as well as, listening to radio weather updates and heeding all watches and warnings.

The City of Memphis Division of Engineering has plans to repave ten city roads, including Riverside Drive, once again adding bike lanes.

City officials and Bike/Ped Memphis invited the public to the central library yesterday, March 27, to give feedback on the proposals in order to determine how they will proceed with each of the ten projects below.

Riverside Dr. – Jefferson Ave. to Beale St.

Cooper St. – Washington Ave. to Central Ave

N. Highland St. – Summer Ave. to Walnut Grove Rd.

N. Perkins St. – Summer Ave. to Walnut Grove

Hickory Hill Rd. – Mt. Moriah Rd. to Winchester Rd.

Knight Arnold Rd. – Hickory Hill Rd. to Ridgeway Rd.

Riverdale Rd. – Winchester Rd. to Shelby Dr.

Getwell Rd. – Park Ave. to I-240

Airways Blvd. – Shelby Dr. to TN/MS State Line

Mendenhall Rd.– Knight Arnold Rd. to Mt. Moriah Rd.

Nicholas Oyler, Bikeway and Pedestrian Program Manager for the City of Memphis believes that the new design for Riverside Drive is much improved from the pilot proposal (2014-2015), and expects to receive the most feedback on this road as well as Cooper Street.

“We expect people to be much happier because after hearing many valid complaints, we considered them when conceiving the new design,” Oyler said.

According to city officials, the new design for Riverside Drive mitigates most of the concerns from the pilot construction, by providing a turning lane near the Tom Lee Park entrance and additional room on the sides of the road for vehicles to pull over in case of emergency.

The key improvement of the design though is placing the median in the middle of the road with a bike lane, car lane, and pedestrian lane on each side instead of having the bike lanes pushed to one side of the road and the cars to the other. 

Overall, the priority of the projects is the safety of everyone who uses the street, whether by foot, bike, or car.

For those who were unable to make it to the meeting yesterday, a survey for each project will be available online for the next 21 days.

Given that the proposals receive positive feedback, construction will begin as early as fall of this year. 

One hundred and fifty undocumented high school students and educators, including 30 from Memphis, headed to the Capitol in Nashville on Wednesday, March 22, to meet with legislators, share their stories and goals, and ask for legislative support for equal tuition opportunities.

As a result, the Senate Education Committee voted 7-2 in favor of the bill sponsored by Senator Todd Gardenhire (R-Chattanooga) and Representative Mark White (R-Memphis), officially known as SB1014/HB0863, which would allow Tennessee graduates to receive in-state tuition regardless of immigration status.

The bill will now advance to the Senate Finance Committee.

The Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition (TIRRC) has led the campaign for Tuition Opportunity since 2012, building a team of partners from the business and education community, to change the fact that undocumented students end up paying almost three times as much as their documented classmates for college tuition at public universities.

“While we still have a long way to go before Tuition Opportunity is a reality for undocumented students, yesterday’s vote was a big step forward,” said Cesar Bautista, the youth organizer for TIRRC.

Steamed vegetables, grilled chicken, a whole wheat roll, with a side of jello and two percent milk.

That’s just one example of a hot, nutritious lunch that over two thousand seniors across Memphis depend on each weekday to be delivered to their doorstep by a smiling face.

Under the national Meals on Wheels program, the Metropolitan Inter-Faith Association (MIFA) was able to serve 409,442 meals to 3,204 seniors who are homebound or at congregate sites and are nutritionally at-risk in Fiscal Year 2016.

However, MIFA worries about the future of Meals on Wheels following the release of President Donald Trump’s budget blueprint, also known as the “skinny budget,” to Congress earlier in the month. The budget focuses on federal discretionary spending levels for Fiscal Year 2018.

Non-defense discretionary programs, such as MIFA’s Meals on Wheels, could lose portions of funding, due to plans to invest in defense programs, as stated in President Trump’s preliminary budget, which will not take effect until October of this year.

“It’s really too soon to tell what the new budget’s effect will be on us,” Jim Seacat, MIFA’s director of marketing and communications, said. “But with the growing need for Meals on Wheels in Memphis, it would be ashame for the seniors in the community to have to scale back the program.”

While only plans of eliminating federal programs, including the Community Services Block Grant and the Community Development Block Grant, which fund other Meals on Wheels around the country, have been released thus far, details for budget cuts concerning the Older Americans Act, through which MIFA receives Meal on Wheels funding, have not yet been released.

The Act, which has supported senior nutrition programs for the past 45 years, provides 35 percent of funding for Meals on Wheels nationally. With a planned 17.9 percent cut to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services budget, which funds the Act, MIFA officials are wary that services will be negatively impacted as a result.

Despite the potential upcoming funding cuts, officials at MIFA are confident that Meals on Wheels, supported in part by local donors and corporations, will be able to continue in the future, but with a possible decrease in the number of meals served.

“The reality is, with or without potential budget cuts, federal funding for Meals on Wheels is failing to keep pace with the growing need,” Sally Jones Heinz, President & CEO of MIFA said in a letter to the public.

According to a 2014 Plough Foundation study, there are over 3,700 food insecure seniors, not knowing when their next quality, nutritious meal will come, in Shelby County with more than 1,000 of them on the Mid-South Aging Commission’s waiting list to receive MIFA meals.

Research shows that seniors who receive proper nutrition have increased mental sharpness and energy levels, strengthened immune systems, as well as, resistance to illnesses and diseases, such as Alzheimer’s.

“At a time when increased funding is needed, we fear that thousands of seniors who rely on us every day for a nutritious meal, a safety check, and a visit from a volunteer will be left behind,” Heinz said.

The Memphis Theological Seminary is calling for solidarity with their undocumented and refugee brothers and sisters.

In an official statement released on Wednesday, March 22, the school announced that they stand with undocumented workers and refugees seeking sanctuary in the country.

“Because of our faith, we welcome others as Christ welcomed us,” the statement said. “We also recognize that each person is created in the image of God. Therefore each person deserves dignity and respect. We are called to welcome all irrespective of race, class, creed, or country of origin.”

The seminary, an ecumenical, interfaith graduate school of theology, has been educating men and women in Memphis with a stated commitment to justice, peace, and piety since 1964.

“While we recognize the responsibility of our leaders to implement the laws of our nation, we urge that those laws be administered humanely, so as not to divide families, destroy basic human dignity, and deny refugees the welcome our nation.”

The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) is allocating $1 million dollars to be spent on energy efficiency and weatherization improvements in some of Memphis’s low-income neighborhoods, as announced today, March 22, at the Memphis, Light, Gas and Water (MLGW) Board of Commissioners meeting.

The funding, which will primarily affect fixed and lower-income families, will aim to lower unnecessarily high utility bills, due to poor housing with problems ranging from leaky windows and doors, to inadequately insulated walls and attics, to outdated appliances that waste energy.


“This investment in Memphis is long overdue,” Angela Garrone, an energy research attorney with the Southern Alliance of Clean Energy, one of the groups that pushed for the funding, said. “We need our energy providers, like TVA, to help lift these energy burdens in Memphis, which are some of the highest in the country. We’ve already seen MLGW work to secure more funding for low-income weatherization, by redesigning its Share the Pennies program, and we welcome this investment from TVA.”

The 860 sq. foot space at 7 N. Main St.

The Downtown Memphis Commission is calling for pop-up tenants to occupy two spaces on Main Street near 

Court Square as a part of the OPEN ON MAIN Initiative.

The spaces at 7 and 9 N. Main St. will be available for increments of two weeks to two months, rent-free, beginning in May and ending in November of this year.

The goal of the initiative is to heighten the pedestrian experience, bring attention to open properties for lease on the Main Street Mall, and finally to support local entrepreneurs and their trade.

Find out more and how to apply for a pop-up shop here. The deadline to apply is rolling, but the suggested deadline is April 1.

A portrait of former Mayor A C Wharton was unveiled today at City Hall, joining the 62 mayoral portraits in the Hall of Mayors. 

City officials, judges, past mayors, and members of the community joined Wharton and his family members to celebrate his “public hanging” and all that he’s accomplished during his time as a public servant.

Wharton, described as skilled and honest, was deemed a friend and a mentor, who is committed to the growth of others. His attentiveness and dedication to the community was the motif of the afternoon. 

“A picture is more than just the physical aspects,” Andre Wharton, one of A C Wharton’s three sons said. “It’s about all that went into it and this is just the pinnacle of his service career.”

Wharton’s portrait, which resides on the north side of the hall adjacent to his predecessor, former Mayor Willie Herenton, will be only the second of an African American in the Hall of Mayors.

The artist, Larry Walker, says Wharton’s portrait, which features the past mayor posed on the Main St. Mall in front of both Memphis City Hall and the Vasco A. Smith Jr. County Building, reflecting his tenure as Memphis mayor (2009-2015) and as Shelby County mayor (2002-2009), is unlike any of the other portraits in the room.

However, Wharton says he would like to be remembered not by what’s hanging on the wall, but what strides he made as a public servant. 

“The portrait is great, but what is even greater is what I have tried to do for this city,” Wharton said.

The University of Memphis held its first board of trustee meeting this afternoon in the university’s ballroom.

The U of M is one of the six state universities that Gov. Bill Haslam has allowed to create an in-house board. It’s a key component of the governor’s Focus on College and University Success Act, which was created to help Tennessee reach the goal of 55 percent of adults in Tennessee having a postsecondary degree or credential by 2025.

Members of U of M’s historical first board of trustees include former interim president for the University of Memphis and retired chairman and CEO of Saks incorporated, Brad Martin, as well as Alan Graf, executive vice president and chief financial officer for FedEx Corp. and the lone U of M faculty board member, law professor, Katherine Schaffzin.

“There are a lot of good universities around this country that would die to have this board,” Gov. Bill Haslam, who was present at the meeting, said.

Following an introduction of the board members, U of M president, David Rudd moved on to the first official business of the meeting— electing the board’s chairman, trustee Graf.

A vice chairman, trustee Martin, as well as an interim secretary, Melody Murray, and student trustee, Jared Moses, the university’s Student Government Association president, were also elected by the board.

Further business of the meeting included adoption of board bylaws, policies, committees, and chapters, as well as proposals for an expanded nursing program and financing for a new football practice facility. Both proposals were approved by the board.

View entire meeting here.

The Masjid Al-Mu’minun mosque is sponsoring a community health and legal fair tomorrow, March 18, from 10:00 to 2:00 at the Hollywood Community Center located on N. Hollywood.

Free dental and health screenings, including breast cancer and sickle cell screenings will be available at the fair. Healthcare professionals and lawyers will also be on hand to advise and answer questions.

Additionally, vendors will be present such as, Firestone Dental, to give information on healthy living and offer products to demo.

Families are encouraged to bring their children, as there will be kid-friendly health demonstrations, as well as moon bouncers and other fun activities.

For more information call the Hollywood Community Center at 901-458-4084.