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News News Feature

Five Habits of Successful Retirement Savers

Be a successful saver. (Photo: Annie Spratt | Unsplash)

A recent report indicated that a mere 46 percent of American households have savings in a retirement account. Of those who have saved, 6 percent reported having more than $100,000 in retirement savings, and only 9 percent have more than $500,000, indicating a significant retirement savings gap between the amount they say they need for retirement and the actual amount saved for many Americans. 

The good news is that successful retirement savers can teach us a lot about how to set aside money for the future. The following habits of successful savers can help you bridge the retirement savings gap.

1. They start saving early in life.

Successful retirement savers understand the importance of saving early and consistently throughout life. This practice allows them to maximize the benefits of compound interest over time because as investment gains accumulate, they increase an account’s balance and begin earning their own interest. Over the years, this cycle can lead to significant earnings. 

2. They gradually increase the amount they save. 

Successful retirement savers understand that gradually increasing the amount they save over time can have a significant impact on their assets, with a minimal impact on their current lifestyle. These savers often make an effort to increase the amount they contribute to their retirement accounts by 1 percent to 2 percent each year. Over time, small, regular increases such as these can have a big impact on your retirement savings, and you’re unlikely to even notice the difference in your net income. 

3. They prioritize saving for the future. 

Saving for the future requires focus and dedication. Successful savers often prioritize saving over paying for nonessential expenses. A great way to prioritize saving is by incorporating it as a line item on your budget. Just as you need to pay the electric bill each month, so should you save for the future.

4. They remain focused on the long term. 

Successful retirement savers understand the importance of taking a long-term approach, both with their investment allocation and their savings behavior. For example, they tend to establish a long-term investment allocation and stick with it rather than trying to time the market. 

In addition, successful savers typically avoid behaviors that could derail their savings goals, such as taking 401(k) loans or withdrawals before retirement. 

5. They save in multiple accounts. 

Successful savers often save in multiple accounts. For example, you may wish to start by saving enough in an emergency fund to cover three to six months of unexpected expenses. At the same time, be sure to contribute to your workplace retirement account. If you have additional funds available, make regular contributions to an IRA and a health savings account (HSA). Regularly contributing to multiple accounts can help maximize your savings over time. 

Gene Gard, CFA, CFP, CFT-I, is a Partner and Private Wealth Manager with Creative Planning. Creative Planning is one of the nation’s largest Registered Investment Advisory firms providing comprehensive wealth management services to ensure all elements of a client’s financial life are working together, including investments, taxes, estate planning, and risk management. For more information or to request a free, no-obligation consultation, visit CreativePlanning.com.

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We Recommend We Saw You

WE SAW YOU: Memphis Chicken & Beer Festival

Reid Halford, Seth Cartwright, and Eli Christenbury (Photos: Michael Donahue)

More than 2,000 people attended the sixth annual Memphis Chicken & Beer Festival, which was held August 10th at Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium.

“We say ‘a beer fest with a chicken twist,’” says Caroline Hall, regional events director for iHeartRadio, which puts on the festival. “Our goal is a tailgate for adults. Having a big play area for adults.”

Big Sue and Caroline Hall
Stewart Kerby and Zachary Mashburn
Aniseya and Michael Butler Jr.

The play area included inflatable basketball, cornhole, and other games, as well as, for the first time, a mechanical bull.

Courtney Archer and Brandon Williams
Lernard Chambers

The event included 16 food vendors. The beer, which included brew from Meddlesome Brewing Company, Memphis Made Brewing Co., and Beale Street Brewing Co., was from Ajax Distributing Company Inc.

Marcus, Big Bang, and Phyouture

The next big iHeartRadio event will be the annual Wine on the River, which will be held October 5th at Tom Lee Park.

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We Recommend We Saw You

WE SAW YOU: Skol-astic Book Fair

Michael and Diana Townsend (Photos: Michael Donahue)

Guests could raise a glass and shout “Skol” to toast the Skol-astic Book Fair, which was held August 10th at Soul & Spirits Brewery.

People put their noses in beer and in books at the event, which featured “Lyric,” a brew made for the occasion. Ryan Allen, who owns the brewery with his wife, Blair Perry, describes it as “a farmhouse ale with Earl Grey tea.”

Brandon Lea and
Dominique Bonten
Blair Perry and Ryan Allen
Blake Helis and Cheryl Mesler

“We just do it for the book fair every year,” he says. “So, it’s really only available that day. This year I doubled the amount I made last year, and it still sold out in the same amount of time.

Jim and Taryn Spake
Lisa Kroger
Austin Sanchez and
Marisol Palomo

“We call it ‘Lyric’ because lyrics are the words of a song. It’s a way to tie in the theme of the book fair and being a wordsmith.”

Melissa Justice, DJ Reitzel, and Rian Taylor

Describing their event, Ryan says, “We invited all the bookstores in town. And this year, I think a little more uniquely, we invited individual authors that could come in and sit and speak with people and sell their books.”

They want people to “connect directly with the authors.”

Categories
Fun Stuff Metaphysical Connection

Metaphysical Connection: Wheel of Life

Our spiritual lives often work in cycles just like our mundane ones. (Photo: European Space Agency | creativecommons.org | via Wikimedia Commons)

Learning the Wheel of the Year and the cycle of the year is one of the core teachings in many Wiccan and witchcraft traditions. As a person learns and practices their path, they may find themselves becoming more and more attuned to nature. They may notice they behave differently during certain seasons or are more affected by things at other times of the year. 

Over the years, I have learned to honor and accept the cycles I see in my life and my path. We are each the universe in microcosm, which means we each have cycles in our lives that are unique to us too. If we take a step back and look at our lives from a bigger perspective, we may notice there are cycles or patterns that our lives follow. These patterns may be dictated by work or school. They may be more influenced by family and traditions, or they may be all your own. Most people’s cycles are some combination of all of these.

I own a metaphysical store and a ghost tour company. My patterns and cycles often reflect the busy seasons of my businesses, with most of my downtime happening in January and February. The last quarter is our busiest time and there is no rest for the Wiccan until the new year.

We have more than just physical, busy cycles. Our mundane work and school life have their own flow. But our spiritual practice and our emotional lives also have their own patterns. Sometimes all these cycles align, but usually they do not. Which means we are often living in different cycles all at the same time. Perhaps that is part of the beauty of life.

There are going to be times when your spiritual practice is the first thing you do when you get out of bed. There may be times when you don’t even think to pray all week. I get it; I’ve been in both places on my path.

Try not to beat yourself up about missing your spiritual routine if it happens. Our spiritual lives often work in cycles just like our mundane ones. There are times when my guides are very active and close, and it gets very noisy in my head. Then there will be times when it’s completely quiet and I wonder if I’m alone in the universe. I’m not; I don’t really believe that, but at those times it does feel like all of my spirit team is off doing other things.

Sometimes when it’s very quiet, I reach out to see what is happening on the astral plane. Lately when I do this, I get the impression that everyone is busy, doing other things just slightly out of my reach. It can be annoying, but I understand. The gods, ancestors, and guides all have many things to do and many people to see, not just me. Your guides might feel like you are where you need to be and therefore do not need their constant attention now. Something might have happened to one of their other devotees that they need to attend to. Our guides are mighty beings with incomparable skills, but they cannot be everywhere at once.

Things happen in our lives that cause us to focus more on the physical world and less on the spiritual. It’s okay. Life happens. If you are working on a big project or have a lot going on, it’s natural to put off what you feel like doesn’t have to get done. Yet I know many of us will feel guilty for skipping out on visiting our altars or doing our regular meditation practice.

Every spiritual teacher, including myself, will tell you that the best way to grow your relationship with your gods and guides is to create a regular practice. Spirituality is something we learn by doing, just like tarot and divination or any other skill we want to acquire. But when we fall off our routine wagon, we have to learn to accept it and get back on, without guilt and without fear. 

Emily Guenther is a co-owner of The Broom Closet metaphysical shop. She is a Memphis native, professional tarot reader, ordained Pagan clergy, and dog mom.

Categories
Fun Stuff News of the Weird

News of the Weird: Week of 08/22/24

Least Competent Criminals

Thanks to tracking devices in two Lamborghinis, a couple of car thieves were found in Wyoming, KDVR-TV reported on June 12. The two supercars were stolen in Salt Lake City and headed east on I-80, where Wyoming State Patrol officers tracked them near Rawlins. When troopers caught up to them, one of the vehicles was going over 100 mph; both drivers were taken into custody. [KDVR, 6/12/2024]

That Rule Doesn’t Apply to Me

At Brights Zoo in Limestone, Tennessee, squeezable fruit snack pouches are prohibited inside the zoo, NBC News reported. Nonetheless, on June 8, Lief, a 7-year-old sitatunga antelope, choked to death on the plastic cap from a snack pouch. Lief “still had a lot of life to live,” the zoo said in a statement. In fact, sitatunga antelopes live about 22 years in captivity, according to the Smithsonian National Zoo. “Some ask why we don’t allow squeezable pouches in the zoo,” zookeepers posted on Facebook. “The reason is simple — the packaging is dangerous to our animals.” [NBC News, 6/12/2024]

The Aristocrats

According to the Surfrider Foundation, a water quality nonprofit that tests beaches around the country, Mecox Bay in Southampton, New York, has some of the worst fecal matter levels in the United States. The New York Post reported that the beach, surrounded by multimillion-dollar homes, has dangerous levels of enterococcus, an intestinal pathogen. Residents say that the bay there collects a lot of the runoff from businesses, farms, and homes in the area. Along with old septic systems and cesspools, a heavy rain can mean a lot of human waste filtering into the popular beach. Scott Horowitz, president of the Southampton Town Trustees, said they would fight to keep Mecox Beach safe. “It’s sad to see that you have areas that are absolutely magnificent and at times they’re regarded as public health hazards,” he said. [NY Post, 6/12/2024]

It’s a Dirty Job 

Perhaps the stresses of HOA board membership just weigh heavily on some people. An unnamed 74-year-old woman in New Palestine, Indiana, is facing charges of criminal trespass, criminal mischief, and public nudity after she was caught not once, but twice, defecating in broad daylight against the side of a neighbor’s home, Fox59-TV reported. According to court documents, the homeowner was mowing his lawn on May 29 when he discovered a pile of human feces next to his air conditioning unit. His surveillance cameras had first caught the culprit on May 2, but after the second incident, he contacted police. The woman can clearly be seen in the video lowering her trousers and squatting to empty her bowels. She initially denied the act but admitted it once confronted with the evidence; she said she had nothing against the homeowner and simply had to go. She has stepped down from her position on the HOA board. [Fox59, 6/26/2024]

The Continuing Crisis

Edward Kang, 20, is facing a long stretch without gaming after he allegedly assaulted a fellow online gamer on June 22, ABC News reported. Kang, who lives in New Jersey, flew from Newark to Jacksonville, Florida, on June 21, where he checked in to a hotel and purchased a hammer and flashlight at a hardware store. Late on June 22, he arrived at the victim’s home in Fernandina Beach, entering the home through an unlocked door, “apparently to confront the victim,” said Nassau County Sheriff Bill Leeper. When the victim got up from gaming to use the restroom, Kang allegedly attacked him with the hammer. The victim’s stepfather heard the altercation and helped to wrestle Kang to the ground; officers said the victim sustained severe head wounds and they found “a significant amount of blood.” Kang told deputies that the victim is a “bad person online.” He was charged with attempted second-degree murder and armed burglary. [ABC News, 6/24/2024]

Send your weird news items with subject line WEIRD NEWS to WeirdNewsTips@amuniversal.com.

NEWS OF THE WEIRD
© 2024 Andrews McMeel Syndication.
Reprinted with permission.
All rights reserved.

Categories
Astrology Fun Stuff

Free Will Astrology: Week of 08/22/24

Dario Bronnimann | Unsplash

ARIES (March 21-April 19): Some centenarians testify they have lived more than a century because they smoked many cigarettes, drank a lot of booze, and ate a steady diet of junk food. Should the rest of us adapt their habits? Of course not. The likelihood of remaining healthy while following such an unsound regimen is infinitesimal. Just because a few lucky people miraculously thrived like that is not a sound argument for imitating them. I bring this to your attention, Aries, because the coming weeks will be an excellent time to upgrade your commitment to healthy habits. If you’ve been waiting for the right time to love your body better, this is it.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Taurus stage magician Doug Henning had lavish ambitions. They served him well as he became a star performer in theater and on TV. “If I produce a 450-pound Bengal tiger,” he said, “it’s going to create a lot more wonder than if I produce a rabbit.” That’s the spirit I invite you to embrace in the coming weeks, Taurus. The cosmos is authorizing you to expand your understanding of what you can accomplish — and then accomplish it. Dream bigger dreams than you have previously dared.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): The color of planet Earth is predominantly blue with green, brown, and white mixed in. And for people all over the world, blue is more often their favorite color than any other. Why? In part because blue typically evokes peace, tranquility, security, and stability. It’s often used in therapeutic environments, since it makes us feel more at ease about expressing our feelings. I bring these thoughts to your attention, Gemini, because you are entering a blue phase of your cycle. It will be a favorable time to harvest the benefits of relaxing and slowing down. You are more likely to feel at home with yourself and accept yourself just as you are.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): Harvard Business School professor Gerald Zaltman, born under the sign of Cancer, says that 95 percent of our buying choices originate in our subconscious minds. Behavioral psychologist Susan Weinschenk believes 90 percent of all our decision-making is unconscious. But I propose that in the coming weeks, you increase the amount of conscious awareness you bring to sorting out your options. Cosmic energies will conspire in your favor if you do. You will receive unexpected boosts and generate creative enhancements if you resolve to rouse more lucid analysis and careful thoughtfulness.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): A wealthy hedge fund manager named Raj Rajaratnam paid Leo singer Kenny Rogers $4 million to perform at his epic birthday party. But the night turned nightmarish for Rogers when Rajaratnam insisted that he sing his hit song “The Gambler” over and over again. Finally, after 12 repetitions, Rogers refused to do more. I wonder if you, too, might soon have to deal with a situation that’s too much of a good thing. My advice: Make sure all agreements between you and others are clear and firm. Get a guarantee that you will receive exactly what you want, and don’t do more than you have promised.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Now and then, zoologists decide that their classifications of species need to be revised and refined. For example, three subspecies of soft-furred, teardrop-shaped hedgehogs in Southeast Asia were recently elevated to distinct species of their own. They are no longer considered to be subspecies of Hylomys suillus, but are now named H. dorsalis, H. maxi, and H. peguensis. I bring this to your attention, Virgo, because I suspect that you, too, are ready for an upgrade to a new category all your own. It’s time for you to claim greater sovereignty. You will be wise to define how distinctive and unique you are, to distinguish yourself from influences that are superficially like you.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): When mega-famous artist Pablo Picasso was asked how he felt about NASA landing people on the moon in 1969, he said, “It means nothing to me. I have no opinion about it, and I don’t care.” I invite you to use his statement as one of your power mottoes in the coming weeks. Now is an excellent time to identify the experiences, influences, events, and people about which you have absolutely zero interest. Once you do that, I predict you will have a rush of clear revelations about the most interesting experiences, influences, events, and people you want in your future.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): The ancient Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu made an observation that could serve as your watchword in the coming months. “Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength,” he wrote, “while loving someone deeply gives you courage.” In my astrological opinion, Scorpio, you are now primed to embody and express these states with unique intensity. If you embrace the inspiring challenge of loving deeply and being loved deeply, you will reach new heights of strength and courage.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Many musical instruments must be constantly adjusted to ensure they stay in tune. This usually means that the note A above middle C vibrates at 440 cycles per second — with all other notes tuned in relation to it. Having sung in bands for years, I have seen how guitarists, bass players, violinists, and even drummers have to continually attend to their tuning during performances. Imagine the diligent finesse it takes to keep an entire orchestra of many instruments in tune with each other. I suspect that one of your jobs in the coming weeks, Sagittarius, will have similarities to this kind of management and coordination.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Dancing is always good for you, but it will be extra healthy and energizing in the next four weeks. I hope you will be inspired to dance as often as possible, even if you just do it alone in your kitchen or bedroom while listening to music that moves you. Do you need rational explanations for why this is a good idea? Okay, here are the hard facts: Dancing reduces stress, raises serotonin levels, enhances well-being, and is excellent physical exercise. Here’s another motivational reason: Dancing literally makes you smarter. Scientific research clearly says so (https://tinyurl.com/SmartDancing). Furthermore: In the near future, you will be in a playful, sexy, exuberant phase of your astrological cycle.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): “Quo signo nata es?” is the Latin expression for “What’s your sign?” Did anyone in ancient Rome ever say that? Probably not, since it’s a modern idiom. However, astrology was very popular in that society and era. According to scholar Rhianna Padman in her essay “Astrology in Ancient Rome,” Romans “believed that the specific positions of celestial bodies at the moment of a person’s birth could greatly impact their life and character.” Back then, Thrasyllus of Mendes was a prominent astrologer who became a key advisor to Emperor Tiberius. Anyway, Aquarius, I bring “Quo signo nata es?” to your attention so as to inspire the following assignment: Update all your old favorite things. Put new spins on symbols and ideas that have served you for a long time. Take the best parts of your traditions and transplant them into the future.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): The coming weeks will be an excellent time to declare amnesty about all matters affecting your close alliances. Dissolve grudges, please. Tussle less, play more. Relax your demands and expectations — and nicely ask your companions to relax their demands and expectations. If possible, forgive others and yourself for everything; failing that, forgive as much of everything as feels right. You might even convene a ritual in which you and your intimate collaborators chant the following affirmation: “We are gleefully free to reimagine and reinvent the ways we fit together!” 

Categories
Opinion The Last Word

Healthcare at a Crossroads

Kamala Harris plans to expand access to healthcare. (Photo: Hush Naidoo Jade Photography | Unsplash)

As the November election approaches, the nation again nears a crossroads on healthcare, with candidates diverging on a basic question of equity: Who is to bear the risks and costs of care? For Donald Trump, his congressional allies, and conservative policy analysts, the answer is clear: cut government spending and shift the risks and costs back onto individuals, employers, and states. For Kamala Harris, the priorities move in a strikingly different direction: expand access to healthcare, strengthening the federal government’s role in guaranteeing healthcare for all Americans, no matter what their socioeconomic status may be.

The differences show up most pointedly in the candidates’ positions on the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and Medicaid. Fourteen years after Congress passed the ACA, providing subsidies that enabled millions of Americans to obtain health insurance, the percentage of uninsured Americans has declined to a historic low of less than eight percent. Vice President Harris has advocated for, and defended, the ACA, and is expected to support the extension of enhanced subsidies, introduced during the pandemic, beyond their expiration date of 2025. These subsidies have made it possible for many people to obtain marketplace coverage.

Donald Trump tried and failed to repeal the ACA in 2017, and since then he has vowed he “would make it much better than it is right now,” though without providing specifics. One likely course of action, however, would be to target the ACA’s protection of individuals against insurance denial because of preexisting health conditions. As president, Trump authorized the expansion of short-term insurance plans as an alternative to the more comprehensive ACA marketplace plans. These short-term plans allowed insurers to bar people from coverage because of preexisting conditions, and to set rates based on their medical histories.

More recently, the Republican Study Committee, a group comprising four-fifths of Republican congressional members and their leadership, released a budget proposal calling — among many other things — for an end to the federal government’s regulation regarding preexisting conditions, and allowing states to decide whether or not to keep the rule.

Medicaid also represents a major difference between the candidates. A joint federal-state program established in 1965 along with Medicare, Medicaid now provides health insurance for almost 75 million low-income Americans. When Congress passed the Affordable Care Act in 2014, it included a provision to expand Medicaid coverage to all Americans earning up to 138 percent of the Federal Poverty Level. Forty-one states, including the District of Columbia, adopted the expanded coverage, along with federal matching grants to go with it, and 10 states (primarily Republican-controlled states) rejected it, keeping insurance out of reach for many low-income residents. 

As president, Donald Trump approved waivers allowing states to set work requirements in order for people to receive Medicaid, and waiver programs have proved costly and ineffective. The Biden-Harris administration withdrew those waivers, claiming that work requirements do nothing to advance the purpose of Medicaid, which has been to expand access to healthcare.

What should voters make of these differences? One way to begin answering the question is to listen to people closest to the issues. An internist working at a San Francisco public hospital writes of treating an indigent man who requested hospice care rather than undergoing an amputation for a bone infection in his arm, an infection that didn’t respond to antibiotics. The man explained that with an amputated arm, he’d be much more vulnerable to assault on the streets, and thus he opted for hospice — unless he was able to get housing — a goal far out of reach in a city with a critical shortage of available housing.

The man eventually died of sepsis (the physician refers to the cause as “end-stage poverty”), and the internist explains, “ … that illness in our patients isn’t just a biological phenomenon. It’s the manifestation of social inequality in people’s bodies.”

The U.S. spends more money per capita on healthcare than any comparable nation in wealth and size, and yet life expectancy in the nation is lower than that of any peer nation. There are many reasons for this, one certainly having to do with the U.S. being the only advanced nation without universal healthcare for its citizens. Poverty and racism factor significantly as well, with persistent indicators like major racial gaps in maternal and infant mortality. A recent California study found that babies born to the poorest Black mothers have almost twice the mortality rate of the poorest white mothers, and even babies born to the wealthiest Black mothers have a higher mortality rate than the poorest white mothers.

The U.S. has been slowly moving in the direction of other advanced nations, gradually increasing the federal role in guaranteeing healthcare for all. This November’s election will be a referendum of sorts, indicating a continuation of the present direction or a significant reversal of policy. At stake is a choice between leaving individuals more or less to their own devices in a highly unequal society, or recognizing that healthcare — and the eradication of inequity — is a collective responsibility. 

Andrew Moss, syndicated by PeaceVoice, writes on labor, nonviolence, and culture from Los Angeles. He is an emeritus professor (nonviolence studies, English) from the California State University.

Categories
Food & Wine Food & Drink

Chukis Restaurants Are Humming Along

Abraham Valenzuela, Rogelio “Chuki” Barreto, Rafael Valenzuela (Photos: Michael Donahue)

Rafael Valenzuela doesn’t wear a chef’s hat when he cooks at Chukis Tacos No. 2 in Memphis and Chukis Deli Mexicana in Olive Branch, Mississippi.

Rogelio Barreto, aka Chuki, does most of the cooking at the restaurants, which are owned by Valenzuela and his brother, Abraham Valenzuela. “[Barreto]’s the main cook,” Rafael says. “He’s our foundation. He teaches everybody.”

And Rafael doesn’t wear a sombrero when he plays the vihuela (rhythm guitar) in his family’s mariachi band, Mariachi Guadalajara. “[Sombreros] are heavy. They’re hot. They’re usually just used when there’s a big presentation or something more elegant.”

And, he adds, “To tell you the truth, I’ve only worn it once in my whole life.”

It was music first for Rafael, Abraham, and their brother Pedro when they were growing up in Guadalajara, Mexico. “We were raised as musicians. Music was our first job. Actually, that’s the only work I’ve known before doing the restaurant.”

Guitar wasn’t Rafael’s first instrument. “I went through violin first in elementary. Then trumpet for a few years after that. Then, again, violin.”

When he was around 13, Rafael began playing violin in the family mariachi band, which also includes his dad, at “serenades and parties.”

Rafael began playing the vihuela in the band after the family moved to Memphis in 1994. Pedro plays the guitarron (the Mexican bass guitar), which, like the vihuela, is shaped differently from other guitars. “The back part is like a turtle conch,” he says. 

Both guitars are the “foundation of the rhythm for mariachis,” which also can include a regular guitar, violins, trumpets, and a harp. “The vihuela and the guitarron are always paired together.”

When he’s performing, Rafael wears a “mariachi suit. Black, most of the time.” The custom-made suits also come in brown and gray.

Abraham was the first to move to Memphis. They eventually reunited the family in the mariachi band.

In 1997, Rafael, Abraham, and Pedro opened a grocery store, Supermercado Guadalajara, at Winchester Road and Mendenhall Road. About a year and a half later, they moved to a bigger location, where they also opened a restaurant. It was the first time they ever thought about opening a restaurant, Rafael says. They said, “Let’s go for it.”

They hired cooks, but Rafael’s mother also pitched in. “Some of the cooks knew what to do. My mom said, ‘Hey, let’s do this this way.’ We just kind of got it together and it worked out.”

Then Barreto showed up. “He came in asking for work.”

He began working in the kitchen. “He always had a touch. Now, he did learn a lot from his mom.”

They eventually sold the grocery store/restaurant. Abraham opened another restaurant, Rancho Grande, in Southaven before branching out to an Olive Branch location. He later sold the Southaven location. 

Ten years or so later, Abraham learned the old Steak Escape space at 7425 Goodman Road next to Kroger was for lease in Olive Branch. “We jumped into it.”

Calling it “Chukis” began as a joke, Rafael says. “We were going to call it ‘Chukis’ and we just laughed. Probably a good two weeks we went through names. All sorts of names. And we didn’t like anything, but ‘Chukis.’ It sounded good.”

Barreto is now a partner in the restaurant, Rafael says. They also used “Chukis” in the name of their Poplar location, which they opened a year later at 3445 Poplar Avenue Suite Number 1.

The cuisine at both restaurants isn’t from any particular region, Rafael says. “The way a lot of people have described it is ‘a sit-in taco truck.’ To me, it’s like home-cooking. The flavor. The way it’s cooked is maybe street food or something like that. It’s really served the way we eat it at home. Same flavor.”

Tacos birria
Salsa bar at Chukis Tacos No. 2

The birria items are their most popular offerings, Rafael says. Birria is a soup made with brisket garnished with onions and cilantro. It’s served with tacos, nachos, or burritos. People dunk the items in the birria the same way they do with roast beef and au jus sandwiches.

The Torta Cubana is another popular item. The sandwich, which is like a Cuban sandwich, includes breaded chicken, steak, pastor, or hot dogs. Pastor is “marinated pork with a little bit of pineapple, red marinade, and achiote.”

The same menu is available at both Chukis locations, but breakfast is only served at the Olive Branch restaurant on Wednesdays through Sundays. 

Chilaquiles are one of their breakfast staples, Rafael says. “It’s chips that are simmered in red or green sauce and then it’s cooked. Once it’s cooked we put an over-easy egg on top. On top of the egg, sour creams and queso fresco. That’s like a Mexican fresh crumble cheese.”

Rafael and his family have performed with their mariachi band on Cinco de Mayo at the Olive Branch restaurant. They also play between 6 and 9 p.m. every other Thursday night at Rancho Grande. The band has played for many years at the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art’s Día de los Muertos Festival & Parade.

Abraham is slated to open another restaurant, which he will call Azaderos, in about six weeks on Forest Hill Irene Road. 

They want to eventually open another Chukis location, but Rafael says, “We haven’t jumped into it yet. I guess once we find a spot it’ll be the same way that it’s happened with these: ‘Okay. Boom. Let’s go for it.’”

Categories
Politics Politics Feature

Snapshots of a Feeling

Joe and Kamala (Photos: Jackson Baker)

CHICAGO — All the president’s men, women, courtiers, and supporters and well-wishers of all stripes were surely attuned to his appearance Monday night at Chicago’s United Center.

It was not Joe Biden’s farewell to public life — he would continue to campaign for the Democratic ticket, he promised — but it was his sayonara song as head of that ticket. For all the pre-planned choruses of “We Love Joe!” and “Thank You, Joe!” emanating from the massive arena crowd, it was impossible not to see the man’s deep regret as he spoke, dry-throated, in anapestically rising cadences, of his achievements and unfinished ventures as president: the post-pandemic recovery act, the lessoning of Big Pharma, the infrastructure initiatives, the re-establishment of NATO solidarity, and all the rest.

“Bittersweet” doesn’t begin to do it.

Nevertheless, the torch was passed, the guard was changed, and Biden’s successor as standard-bearer, Kamala Harris, would make an appearance on stage to hug and embrace and celebrate her predecessor, along with members of Biden’s personal and official families.

The evening, first of a week’s worth to come in the 2024 Democratic National Convention, was replete with snapshots from the party scrapbook, new faces and old ones alike.

There was Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez — “AOC” in the vernacular — wildly applauded for the progressive congresswoman’s spicy personality and her recollections of working-class origins in New York.

There was Hillary Clinton, the defeated Democratic candidate from 2016, able now to voice rebukes of her conqueror (“We have him on the run now”) via hopes for the new avatar Harris (“Something is happening in America. You can feel it!”)

True Gretch with Tennessee delegation

• That there was a palpable feeling of hope and exhilaration as this convention began was undeniable. It was obvious, too, in the daily morning breakfasts of the Tennessee delegation at Chicago’s quite posh Hyatt Regency.

On Tuesday morning, another of the Democratic Party’s new stars, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer (aka “True Gretch,” after the title of her just-published memoir), came into the delegation’s meeting room to deliver an energetic pep talk. She was followed somewhat later by an energetic exhortation from New Jersey Senator Cory Booker, who, after being introduced by Memphis Congressman Steve Cohen, stood atop a chair and, sans mic, declaimed his largish hopes for 2024.

The two national party figures bracketed remarks from a Tennessee hopeful, Gloria Johnson of Knoxville, who hopes to win what is certainly a long-odds contest with the ultra right-wing Republican incumbent U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn.

Who knows? For the moment, all things seem possible for the Democrats, and their mood of optimism seems certain to crest at week’s end when Kam-ala (broad “a” in the accented first syllable) takes the stage for her official acceptance address. 

Stayed tuned for next week’s cover story on the Democratic National Convention. 

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News The Fly-By

MEMernet: Elvis Trump, Live Cam, and Deli or Young Ave.?

Posted to Truth Social by Donald Trump

Memphis on the internet.

Elvis Trump? 

A February Truth Social post by former president and convicted felon Donald Trump resurfaced last week. We’re not sure exactly why, but we thought you ought to see it.

Trump claimed people have said he looks like Elvis Presley for years, posted a photo of himself and Presley side by side, and asked his followers what they thought. 

Live Cam

Posted on Earthcam by Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium

Google “Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium renovation live cam” and watch huge machines demolish portions of the stadium brick by brick. It’s fascinating. 

Deli or Young Ave?

Posted to Facebook by Young Avenue Deli

Over the weekend, Memphis Reddit users debated the only real question: Do you call the Young Avenue Deli “The Deli” or “Young Ave.”? Results were mixed with younger folks mostly opting for “Young Ave.” Older respondents and Cooper-Youngers largely preferred “The Deli.”