Categories
News News Blog News Feature

Homeowners Here Should Expect a “Substantial” Property Tax Increase

Photo: Dillon Kydd on Unsplash

Taxes for Shelby County homeowners could surge in the wake of the 2025 reappraisal, warned a local official. 

Melvin Burgess, Shelby County’s assessor of property, issued a warning Monday of “an anticipated substantial increase in property taxes” ahead of next year’s scheduled countywide reappraisal.

Home values here haven’t been appraised since 2021. Burgess said recent property sales data and escalating property values since then suggest “a significant increase” in tax assessments for homeowners.   

His office will conduct a series of public meetings to offer guidance on how to manage potential tax ramifications, explain the reappraisal process, and examine the factors raising property values here. 

“We recognize that property reappraisal can be a complicated and bewildering process,” Burgess said in a statement. “Our goal is to ensure that all properties are appraised equitably and accurately, and we are dedicated to fostering transparency and open communication throughout this process.” 

Categories
Film Features Film/TV

Music Video Monday: UNCL AUNTI

Natey Woloshin and Joshua Aguilar are half of the prog metal group Sunweight. While in the studio recording their new album, Woloshin says they messing around with some beats that were reminiscent of 90’s hip hop, “incorporating jazz and abstract influences with psychedelic and trancing vocals.” UNCL AUNTI was born.

Woloshin produced the first track “Facer” while Aguilar added the flow. The pair also collaborated on the music video, which leans hard towards the psychedelic. Check it out:

If you would like to see your music video featured on Music Video Monday, email cmccoy@memphisflyer.com.

Categories
News News Blog News Feature

Democrats Seek Answers After Surge in HIV/Syphilis in Shelby County

Photo: Deon Black on Unsplash

Amid a surge in HIV and syphilis cases in Shelby County, a group of Democratic lawmakers is pressing state health officials for answers.

Cases of HIV and syphilis in the Memphis region increased by 100 percent over the past five years, according to the Shelby County Department of Health, which has, thus far, not released total case numbers. Among young people aged 15 to 19, diagnosed cases increased 150 percent.

“This disturbing trend underscores the urgent need for effective public health strategies and resources to combat the spread of these infections,” read the letter, sent late last week.

The lawmakers are demanding an explanation from Tennessee Department of Health Commissioner Dr. Ralph Alvarado about a series of state policy changes that they believe are exacerbating the crisis, rather than addressing it.

Among the changes: a new parental rights law requiring parental consent for teens seeking healthcare services.

The Lookout reported last month that the Tennessee Department of Health quietly instructed public health clinics to turn away teens seeking access to routine healthcare without a parent, citing new legislation known as the Family Rights and Responsibilities Act.

Dept. of Health denying teens preventative healthcare, citing new parental consent law

It’s a significant shift in policy for teens accustomed to seeking out birth control, sexually transmitted disease testing, pregnancy tests, and routine healthcare in public health clinics — which serve as the only accessible source of healthcare for teens living in some rural Tennessee communities.

Advocates have warned that the way the Department of Health is interpreting the new law — by concluding it supersedes prior laws that allow teens to access birth control and sexually transmitted disease testing — will deter young people from visiting clinics entirely, exacerbating outbreaks of sexually transmitted disease.

The Department of Health has not yet publicly acknowledged the shift in policy for teens and did not respond to a renewed request for information from the Lookout on Tuesday.

“There hasn’t been anything concrete in writing,” said Rep. Aftyn Behn, a Nashville Democrat. “There hasn’t been any communication from the commissioner.”

Behn said she is concerned that the growing influence of a parental rights movement in Tennessee, which has ushered in a series of laws in recent years giving parents more legal control over teens, shares blame for the surge in HIV and syphilis cases among young people.

“The actual, tangible consequence of the movement is this public health crisis,” she said.

The Democrats are also seeking information on how Gov. Bill Lee’s decision to reject federal HIV funding is impacting the current Shelby County outbreaks.

The reality is this is 2024. Teens are having sex. What they don’t have is the information they need.

Sen. London Lamar, D-Memphis

Last year Lee announced he would reject millions in funding from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for HIV prevention and treatment that previously went to Planned Parenthood clinics in Tennessee.

GOP lawmakers have, for years, fought to remove public funding from the clinics, which also provided abortion services until the state’s strict ban took effect in 2022.

Sen. London Lamar, a Memphis Democrat who signed onto the letter, cited another GOP backed measure as contributing to the current outbreak in Shelby County.

A so-called “Gateway Law” enacted by GOP lawmakers in 2012 requires abstinence-only sexual education in public schools.

“The reality is this is 2024. Teens are having sex. What they don’t have is the information they need,” she said.

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.

Categories
Food & Drink Hungry Memphis

New Wing Order Closing

Irfan Sattar tries a hot wing at the Southern Hot Wing Festival. (Photo: Michael Donahue)

New Wing Order, a Best Food Truck winner in Memphis Flyer’s Best of Memphis, posted on X (formerly Twitter) that it’s closing.

According to the post, “It’s been a great ride Memphis, but we’ve made the tough decision to close. We love y’all and appreciate the support you’ve shown us these past six years. It’s been a privilege to share our culinary creations with you and develop some great friendships along the way.”

New Wing Order owner/operator Jesse McDonald posted the history of the food truck on Facebook. He says he decided to start a food truck 10 years ago. The concept was “Award-Winning Hot Wings.”

The food truck opened six years ago. But, McDonald writes, “Costs have risen so much in the last couple years and lately we’ve run into some unexpected expenses. Unfortunately, we are at a crossroads and I’m having to make another really hard decision. I’m sorry to say, we have to shut down the food truck.”

New Wing Order founders Cole Forrest and Jesse McDonald with their wives Beth Forrest and Cindy McDonald. (Photo: Michael Donahue)

However, he adds, “While this is a goodbye for now, I really hope it’s just a break. I still have dreams for New Wing Order and I hope I can bring it back in some kind of capacity some day. In the meantime, soon you’ll still be able to come eat food that I cook so stay tuned y’all. I’m not done yet.”

Categories
News News Blog News Feature

Housing Programs For Those Affected By HIV Receive City Funding

Photo by Tierra Mallorca on Unsplash

HIV infections continue to grow in Memphis, prompting a closer look at not only new diagnoses but the livelihood of those currently living with the virus. 

Shelby County has historically had one of the highest new infection rates for HIV. The Shelby County Health Department posted a notice on its website in May saying it had noted an “alarming increase in newly diagnosed cases of HIV in our community.) Officials said the highest increase affected people aged 14 to 45, and was not “spread evenly throughout the county.”

As the virus is no longer considered a “death sentence” by professionals, strides are being made to ensure that those living with HIV are able to have an enhanced quality of life in all areas, including housing.

The city’s Division of Housing and Community Development presented its Fiscal Year 2025 (FY25) grants back in July to nonprofit organizations in Memphis. According to information from the department, this funding was granted via the HCD Strategic Community Investment Fund (SCIF).

Close to $5.5 million was awarded to these organizations for community-based projects and initiatives through June 30, 2025. These grant awards included the Emergency Solutions Grant (ESG), HOME-Funded Tenant-Based Rental Assistance (HOME-TBRA), Neighborhood Partnership Grant (NPG), and Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS/HIV (HOPWA)

HOPWA grants totaled $3,755,700 with organizations Friends For All receiving $1.7 million, Hope House Day Care Center Inc receiving close to $1.6 million, and Case Management Inc. receiving $449,400.

Lenox Warren, CEO of Hope House, said out of all their programs, housing has the most “immediate and huge” impact for families, and funding from the city will help increase the amount of people they’re able to help.

The organization opened in 1995 and started as a day care center for mothers living with HIV who needed childcare, Warren said.

“It has quickly evolved into so much more,” Warren said. “We’re now a full-service, wrap-around organization that includes a variety of services including our housing program.”

In addition to adding mental health, education,  prevention and outreach services Hope House has added housing aid in hopes of “breaking down barriers that come to living a healthy life with HIV” Warren said.

Warren noted that while HIV is classified as a “chronic disease” as opposed to a “death sentence,” it can be more difficult to manage while living in poverty.

“If you don’t know where you’re going to send your kids the next day, where y’all are going to sleep that night, or even how you’re going to eat so you can take your medications, that’s a really hard thing to figure out how to keep yourself healthy, while also surviving day-to-day.”

Yolanda Fant, housing supervisor for Hope House, said they are currently serving 74 clients, with six of those clients being added as a result of the city’s funding.

“It takes them from not being secure in where they’re going to be able to take care of their family, to knowing that they have secure housing,” Fant said. “That also helps them to take their medication and helps with viral suppression.”

Viral suppression refers to reducing the levels of the virus in the body so that it isn’t spreadable. Warren said their viral suppression rate among the people who use their services is 13 percent higher than the rate across the city.

Hope House’s goal is to help more people and to increase the city’s viral suppression rate, and said the funding from the city helps them meet their goal. Warren said they can’t do this work alone and there hasn’t been enough funding, so partnering with the City of Memphis has been “huge” for them.

Warren said they are always seeking funding from other sources as there is always a need for these services. They’ve historically had “hundreds” of people on their waitlist for their housing program, with Fant saying she turns “at least three people away” a day. Warren reiterated that they plan to expand these services with the help of their HOPWA grant.

Categories
Film Features Film/TV

Now Playing in Memphis: Cuckoo for Borderlands

Borderlands (Courtesy Lionsgate)

It’s August, traditionally the tail end of the summer blockbuster season. But there’s still plenty of choices for your big screen viewing pleasure.

Cuckoo

Gretchen (Hunter Schafer), an American teenager, moves to the German Alps to live with her divorced Dad (Jan Bluthardt). But things are not all as they seem in the picaresque mountain town. Her father’s wealthy boss Herr Koing (Dan Stevens) has some plans that seem … unnatural. This psychological horror by German director Tilman Singer is giving off heavy Midsomer vibes.  

It Ends With Us

Gossip Girl’s Blake Lively stars in this adaptation of Colleen Hoover’s popular romance novel of the same name. Lily (Lively) has just opened her own floral shop in Boston when she has to return to her Maine hometown to eulogize her abusive father. She finds herself with a choice between an emotionally distant neurosurgeon boyfriend (Justin Baldoni) and an old flame (Brandon Sklenar). 

Borderlands 

The first person shooter hit from 2009 gets a film adaptation. The great Cate Blanchett stars as Lilith, an adventurer who descends to the planet Pandora (no relation to the Avatar homeworld) in search of a rumored vault full of alien treasure. To help her navigate the savage planet, she bring along her robot Claptrap (Jack Black), the mercenary Roland (Kevin Hart), demolitionist Tiny Tina (Ariana Greenblatt) and more familiar characters from the game. 

Lawrence of Arabia

If you loved Dune: Part Two earlier this year, now you can see the inspiration for Denis Villaneuve’s sweeping desert landscapes. David Lean’s Lawrence of Arabia is one of the great masterpieces of cinema, and was actually one source of inspiration for Frank Herbert’s original novel. On Sunday Aug. 11 and Monday Aug. 12 at the Paradiso, there’s a special Fathom screening of the film, which starred Peter O’Toole as British intelligence officer T.E. Lawrence who tried to rally Arab resistance against the Ottoman Turks during the First World War. If you’ve wondered why things in the Middle East have been so screwed up for so long, this film will give you a little bit of insight. Lawrence was, depending on who you ask, either the guy whose arrogance started the still-roiling conflicts or the guy who saw the future and tried to head it off. Both points of view are aired in Lean’s immortal epic, and O’Toole’s legendary performance hints that maybe they’re both right. Unlike some films, this is one you’re going to want to watch on the biggest screen available. But don’t take my word for it, ask Steven Spielberg.

Breakin’

Breakdancing is making its debut as an Olympic sport this weekend, so it’s appropriate that Crosstown Arts is screening the first film focused on the dance phenomenon. Breakin’ is about as 1984 as you can get. Helmed by exploitation director Joel Siberg, who tried to recapture the dance magic a few years later with Lambada, it’s got a paper thin plot, but memorable characters and no shortage of great dance moves. Check out this scene, featuring a very young Ice-T.

Breakin’ screens on Thursday, August 15 at Crosstown Theatre.

Categories
On the Fly We Recommend We Recommend

On the Fly: Week of 8/9/24

Lainey Wilson brings her Country's Cool Again Tour to the BankPlus Amphitheater this Friday. (Photo: BankPlus Amphitheater)

Lainey Wilson
BankPlus Amphitheater
Friday, August 9, 7 p.m.
The country singer-songwriter and Yellowstone actress is coming to Memphis — well, Southaven — as part of her Country’s Cool Again Tour with special guests Ian Munsick and Zach Top. Tickets start at $75 and can be purchased here.

Rachel Maxann Vinyl Release Party 
Bar DKDC
Friday, August 9, 7 p.m.
Rachel Maxann’s newest vinyl, Black Fae, is out! To celebrate, Rachel Maxann and the Rackett boys will play songs off the vinyl, brand-new songs, and surprise covers at Bar DKDC. And they’ll be joined by Oakwalker, and there may even be some duets. (Oh, and before you go, Alex Greene caught up with Maxann earlier this year. Read his article here.)

Skate Night
Growlers
Friday, August 9, 8 p.m.
Skateboarding is a part of the Olympics as you may know, but roller-skating is not, and that has the roller community up in arms. And maybe they’re right, but if you’re not up to Olympic-level skating, that’s alright ’cause Adult Skate Night at Growlers is a chance for you to lace up your skates and just roll, baby. The $5 admission includes your choice of drink or snack ticket. 

Community Q&A on xAI
Southwest Tennessee Community College Whitehaven Campus
Saturday, August 10, 9-11 a.m.
Do you have questions/comments/concerns about Elon’s xAI? (I mean, who doesn’t?) Councilwoman Pearl Eva Walker is hosting a Q&A with representatives from MLGW. You can submit questions beforehand using this Survey Monkey or in person via comment card. Register to attend here. 

Southwest Twin – The Plot Continues
Southwest Twin
Saturday, August 10, 9-11 a.m.
Southwest Twin, the old drive-in site in Westwood that’s under redevelopment, is putting on a series of free community events, kicking off this weekend. Enjoy arts and crafts, yoga classes, story time with the Memphis library, and learn how to grow your own garden with free herb and vegetable seedlings in recurring workshops. Upcoming events include Grow Basics for Gardening at Home (August 24), Planting Your Fall Garden (September 7), Managing Your Garden & Your Health (September 21), and Harvesting & Eating From Your Garden (October 5). Admission is free; reserve a spot here. Entrance is adjacent to Walgreens at Third and Raines.

Skol-astic Book Fair
Soul & Spirits
Saturday, August 10, 1-7 p.m.
It’s fantastic! It’s scholastic! No, it’s skol-astic, skol being the Scandinavian word for “cheers.” Yeah, this event takes what you loved about Scholastic Book Fairs and adds beer. What more can you ask for? Details, I guess. Fine. Here are some details. Bookstores will be setting up shop, and they are: Burke’s Books, Cafe Noir, Demoir Books, Novel, and Friends of the Library. Local authors will be signing books, and they are: Holly Whitfield, Lisa Kröger, Toby Sells (we know him), Diana Townsend, Russ Thompson, and Sammi Usher. There will be a made-in-Memphis vendor market with an emphasis on book-themed makers, and food trucks — Hot n’ Heavy Dogs, Smoke & Toast, and Tacos Mon Dragon. Oh, and a special beer. 

Memphis Red Sox Night
AutoZone Park
Saturday, August 10, 5:30 p.m.
Take me out to the ball game — take me out, specifically, this Saturday for Red Sox Night, which honors Memphis’ longest-lasting Negro League team. The team will play as the Black-owned Memphis Red Sox, one of the founding members of the Negro American League. The first 1,500 fans to enter the ballpark will receive a Memphis Red Sox 20 oz. tumbler for free. Immediately after the game ends, there will be a postgame fireworks show shot off from centerfield. Buy tickets here and learn about Memphis Red Sox history here.

Memphis Chicken & Beer Festival
Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium Field
Saturday, August 10, 6-10 p.m.“
If you appreciate your chicken friend, a cold beer on a Saturday night, a pair of jeans that fit just right, and the radio up, you’ll appreciate the Memphis Chicken & Beer Fest where you can get all that — except the jeans, you’ll have to figure that out yourself. Tickets are $42 and can be purchased here. Admission includes a souvenir glass and all beverage samples, plus live entertainment, yardgames, inflatables, and more. The event benefits Merge Memphis. 21+.

Memphis Matters
TheatreSouth
Saturday, August 10, 7 p.m.
At a Memphis Matters show by Playback Memphis, an audience member — a teller — will share a reflection, moment, or story — perhaps lighthearted or funny, perhaps moving or difficult. Then, the Ensemble plays that story back, reenacting the teller’s story with care, creativity, and compassion. This sharing and witnessing of stories affirms that each teller’s story deserves to be told, is valued, and is accepted. Tickets can be purchased here for $20.

There’s always something happening in Memphis. See a full calendar of events here.

Submit events here or by emailing calendar@memphisflyer.com.

Categories
News News Blog News Feature

Community Organizer Engages Street Organizations Through Unity Events

Photo: Keedran Franklin via Facebook

Looking to fix citywide problems, organizer Keedran Franklin has taken the initiative to organize around one specific “marginalized and apathetic” group — that of street organizations.

He explained that what most people refer to as “gangs” members call “street organizations.” Franklin added people often count them out, but in reality they are “innovative, smart, and strong.” He hopes he is able to create different programs and systems for these communities, as he saw their input had been absent in decision-making.

“Last year I had a few talks with a couple of billionaires,” Franklin said. “What they stated was they’re afraid to deal directly with the community. Their fear is that people only want to be gang members and cause destruction.”

However, he said, this rationale doesn’t consider that, as a result of being left out and ostracized for so long, members of street organizations are inclined to lean into public perception, as opposed to working to change people’s mind about them. Everyone has issues they deal with, he said, and if they dealt with the issues at hand, the crime issues in the city could “work themselves out.”

This led Franklin to try to change this crime-motivated perception of this demographic not only for the public, but also for those members. He knew if you actually speak and engage with some of them, you’ll find out how they can show up, with good ideas, too.

“There’s respect across the board,” Franklin said. “There are people who are like-minded across different fences. They want to do things differently also. That’s what I’ve been doing — this show of public support of getting guys on the street in the open, and let them not be afraid to organize and show themselves in a positive light.”

At the end of July, Franklin hosted a “Community Unity Barbeque” where he invited community members to “bring an open mind and a hungry belly.” Franklin’s goal in hosting this event was to have a “meeting of the minds while breaking bread.”

While community events with the purpose of providing unity are not new to the city, Franklin’s intention with his iteration was to engage members of different street organizations to “show up with love” for a “day of relaxation” that would also encourage these groups to transform the way they look at decision-making in “[their] respective spaces.”

“It was all smiles — not one frown that day, not one argument,” Franklin said. “We had different organizations there. These are guys that you would think are in opposition or at war with each other, so that was to show that’s not true — trying to change the narrative.”

The barbecue gave these organizations the opportunity to “break bread” in one place, Franklin also wanted to encourage them to create change in their own backyards. This led to him and others planning the “MemUnity Street Sweep Clean-Up” on Sunday, August 11th, from 10 a.m. to noon.

“Instead of us all showing up and congregating all in one place, we’re taking these ideas and we’re doing them in our area, our homes, and streets we grew up in or frequent,” Franklin said.

The support for the cleanup is rapidly growing with multiple neighborhoods participating, from people in North Memphis, Frayser, and more.

“For the community to see this effort take place all over the city, and for the people involved to see the goals we set become a reality, it’ll spiral into the next event, which is a street conference at the end of August,” Franklin said.

Categories
Music Music Blog

Spiritualized Meets Eggleston in WYXR Fest

J. Spaceman and John Coxon of Spiritualized (Photo: courtesy of the artists)

The annual Raised By Sound Fest that WYXR stages in cahoots with Mempho Presents every December has become a destination for national tours that might not typically visit Memphis. Last year, Cat Power made Memphis one of their first stops when they began touring their Dylan tribute album, The 1966 Royal Albert Hall Concert. In 2022, when Jody Stephens’ reconstituted Big Star planned only a few shows in honor of #1 Record, the Raised By Sound Fest was a pivotal performance for them.

This December 7th, WYXR will have outdone itself once again, as it presents an incredible cinematic/photographic sound experience for Raised By Sound Fest: a live score to the William Eggleston film, Stranded in Canton, performed by J. Spaceman and John Coxon of Spiritualized.

Eggleston, of course, is known primarily for his still photography, but in 1973-74, he began experimenting with the then-new Sony Porta-Pak video recorder, more portable than any film or video camera preceding it, and, due to its sensitivity to the infrared spectrum, able to film in very low-light conditions. That not only allowed Eggleston to take the Porta-Pak into his regular nightlife haunts in Memphis, Mississippi, and New Orleans, it gave an eerie glow to the subjects he encountered. That they were often Eggleston’s friends, drinking buddies, and fellow artists only added to the easy naturalism of their behavior on-camera, complemented by the great photographer’s unflinching eye in the face of their uninhibited antics.

“Whiffs of Southern Gothic are not new to Mr. Eggleston’s work, but here they rise to the surface — fierce, tragic and proud,” as The New York Times observed upon the film’s release. And that release came long after the video was shot, its 30-odd hours of footage lying in storage for decades until Robert Gordon edited a feature-length version that premiered at the Toronto Film Festival in 2005, subsequently leading to a deluxe package by Twin Palms Publishers.

While the film is galvanizing, it is also a hot mess, with little in the way of narrative structure. Yet that very meandering quality lends itself to a musical interpretation, and that’s exactly what Spaceman and Coxon created. But that, too, was hidden away for far too long.

In 2015, Spaceman, Coxon, and friends premiered their original score live at a special film screening of Canton at the Barbican Gallery in London, as part of Doug Aitken’s Station to Station festival. The recording sat on a shelf for 10 years, but it will finally be unveiled through the Fat Possum release, Music for William Eggleston’s Stranded in Canton, due out this October 18th.

And then the duo will conduct a very limited tour. As a press release states, “Spaceman and Coxon will perform the work in London, New York, Los Angeles, and Eggleston’s hometown of Memphis, on the invitation of the photographer’s son Winston Eggleston.” Once again, it’s a coup for WYXR and an indication of the global reach of our thoroughly modernized, internet-savvy community radio station. That also means that seats at their events get swiped up fast: on Thursday, August 8th, tickets to the live score by Spaceman and Coxon will go on sale to the general public. Interested parties should act quickly.

Categories
News The Fly-By

MEMernet: Drama, Kinfolk, Damn

Posted to Facebook by Danielle Lewis

Memphis on the internet.

Drama

We’ve seen a lot of photos of Sputnik over the years but maybe never one so dramatic as Danielle Lewis posted to the Memphis In Pictures, Places and People Facebook group last week. 

Kinfolk

Posted to GoFundMe by Josh Clark

Josh Clark started a GoFundMe for Kinfolk restaurant last week after a water main busted and flooded their shop. 

“They are gonna be out of business for a little bit so they won’t have any cash flow to come in and help cover employee cost,” Clark said. “In a city where all of our favorite restaurants are closing down, let’s show our support to our favorite spot.” 

As of late last week, the GoFundMe had raised $1,380 of its $2,500 goal. 

Damn

Posted to Facebook by The Damn Weather of Memphis

The Damn Weather of Memphis can’t stop messing with AI. He recently asked it to write a weather forecast for the city. 

“Yo, listen up, cuh!” it began. “It’s finna be hot as hell out here, mane. On god, from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., it’s gon’ feel like 112 degrees. Not gonna lie, fam, it’s serious out here.”