Memphis Grizzlies center Zach Edey (14) shoots the ball against the Toronto Raptors during the first quarter at FedExForum on Dec 26, 2024 (Wes Hale / The Memphis Flyer)
If Santa didn’t bring you what you wanted for Christmas, the Memphis Grizzlies have got you covered with an epic win in their last home game of 2024.
After a disappointing loss to the Los Angeles Clippers the day before Christmas Eve, the Grizzlies returned to their home court for a Boxing Day beatdown of the Toronto Raptors of astronomic proportions.
With a final score of 155-126, the Grizzlies set a franchise-record and the highest-scoring game of any NBA team this season.
The Grizzlies took the floor like a raging bull in the first period, countering every Raptors attempt at an offensive run while exploiting Toronto’s defensive weakness, forcing their defenders into shooting fouls that sent them to the free throw line five times.
Ja Morant earned all four of his first-quarter points from the charity stripe.
Memphis Grizzlies guard Ja Morant (12) dribbles against the Toronto Raptors during the first quarter at FedExForum on December 26, 2024. (Photo: Wes Hale)
Memphis was outshot 60.9 percent to 55.6 percent from the field and 45.5 percent to 30 percent from beyond the arc in that first quarter, but the Raptors’ foul trouble led to a 10 to three free throw disparity that the Grizzlies used to close out the first quarter with a 43-35 lead.
Their perfect 10 of 10 free throw shooting made the difference in the score, but Desmond Bane, Jaren Jackson Jr., and Zach Edey were the stars of the show, combining for 24 points in the first quarter.
Memphis Grizzlies forward Jaren Jackson Jr. (13) drives to the basket against the Toronto Raptors during the first quarter at FedExForum on December 26, 2024 (Photo: Wes Hale)
Despite Toronto overcoming a 19-point deficit to tie the game at 66 with less than three minutes remaining in the second quarter, the Grizzlies never allowed the Raptors to take the lead. Memphis pushed back in the final minutes of the period and took an eight-point lead into the second half.
A 43-point third quarter propelled the Grizzlies to a franchise-record 121 points through three quarters. Unlike in the first quarter, Memphis had only one free throw attempt, scoring the remaining 42 points the old-fashioned way — by stomping the Raptors hard into the ground on every possession, destroying them on the boards (21-13), limiting their shot attempts (37-29), and outscoring them 18-6 from beyond the arc.
The fourth quarter went off the rails quickly for the Raptors after Toronto head coach (and former Memphis assistant coach) Darko Rajaković was ejected for a heated outburst at a referee.
There was 10:29 left on the game clock when Rajaković exploded over the lack of a foul call, charged onto the court, and had to be restrained by members of his staff. There will no doubt be a fine coming for Rajaković from the league, and he certainly got his money’s worth, as seen in the video below:
The remainder of the game was mostly the Grizzlies bench playing with their food.
Three of the five starters (Jaylen Wells, Desmond Bane, and Ja Morant) sat for the fourth quarter.
Luke Kennard scored 12 of his 15 points in the final frame, shooting three of four from the field, two of three from beyond the arc, and four of four from the free-throw line. John Konchar scored six of his nine points in the fourth, finishing the night with a perfect three-of-three shooting from three-point range.
Memphis had eight players finish the night in double-digits, including all five starters.
Zach Edey scored a career-high 21 points, 16 rebounds, two assists, and two blocks.
Jaren Jackson Jr. got 21 points, 11 rebounds, six assists, and three blocks.
Desmond Bane put up 19 points, five rebounds, and two assists while shooting three of six from beyond the arc.
Jaylen Wells finished the night with 17 points, one rebound, one assist, and one steal while shooting a game-high five of 10 from three-point range. Wells has been shooting 40 percent from beyond the arc and has made more three-pointers (58) than any other rookie this season.
Ja Morant added 15 points, two rebounds, and nine assists.
From the second unit:
Luke Kennard scored 15 points, eight assists, and one steal.
Scotty Pippen Jr. added 15 points, two rebounds, three assists, and four steals.
Brandon Clarke finished with 11 points, nine rebounds, and one block.
Who Got Next?
The Grizzlies are back at it tonight, facing off against the New Orleans Pelicans in the first game of a five-game road trip. Tip-off is at 7 p.m. CST.
Tennessee Democrats recently unveiled legislation they’ll push in January’s session of the Tennessee General Assembly on issues of jobs, universal pre-K, and roads — and they issued questions on repealing the state sales tax on groceries.
Universal pre-K
Sen. Charlane Oliver (D-Nashville) and Rep. Aftyn Behn (D-Nashville introduced a bill to provide free, universal pre-kindergarten for all 4-year-olds in Tennessee. The proposal aims to reduce childcare costs, boost family incomes, and improve educational outcomes statewide.
The bill would require all school districts to offer pre-K, using a new funding mechanism: a 9.5 percent tax on social media advertising by major tech companies operating in Tennessee. Universal pre-K increases parental earnings by 21 percent and delivers $5.51 in benefits for every dollar invested, according to the nonpartisan National Bureau of Economic Research.
“Every child deserves access to a great education, and universal pre-K is the best way to ensure that opportunity begins at the earliest stages of learning,” Oliver, a working mother of three, said in a statement. “This isn’t just an investment in our kids; it’s an economic lifeline for working families. Universal pre-K reduces childcare costs, boosts family incomes, and strengthens Tennessee’s workforce. It’s time to deliver real relief to families who are stretched too thin.”
Only 20 percent of Tennessee’s 4-year-olds are enrolled in state pre-K programs, according to the nonpartisan National Institute for Early Education Research. Oliver and Behn argue their plan will close this gap and bolster Tennessee’s economy.
“Working families are the backbone of Tennessee, but far too many struggle to afford high-quality preschool for their children,” said Rep. Behn. “This legislation cuts costs, gives families a raise, and ensures every child gets a strong start in life. The research is clear: when families have access to free pre-K, parents can work more, earn more, and build a more secure future for their children. It’s a win for families, businesses, and the state economy.”
Waste to Jobs
Sen. Heidi Campbell (D-Nashville) introduced the Tennessee Waste to Jobs Act, a bill to transform the state’s waste management system by expanding recycling access, reducing landfill waste, creating over 7,700 jobs, and having packing producers to pay for it.
Under the legislation, the producers who create product packaging would join a statewide Producer Responsibility Organization (PRO), which will work with local governments to manage and fund recycling programs using an innovative extended producer responsibility model. Producers will finance recycling services based on the type and volume of packaging they produce, freeing local governments from bearing these costs.
The network would also work with local governments to implement programs to educate consumers, reduce waste, and expand recycling access underserved areas. Counties with a population of less than 200,000 would have to opt into the program.
Campbell said the bill could divert and repurpose 950,000 tons of waste bound for landfills.
“Tennessee is at a crossroads,” Campbell said in a statement. “We can continue to watch our landfills overflow, and our resources go to waste, or we can lead the Southeast in building a robust recycling economy that works for our families, businesses, and future.
“The Tennessee Waste to Jobs Act creates over 7,700 jobs, brings $300 million annually into our state, and ensures local governments save millions while providing access to recycling for every community that opts in to the program.”
Tennessee fell one spot on Ball’s annual recycling report. The state recycles 5 percent of its waste. This is down slightly from 2021 to earn Tennessee a 48th ranking of 50 states.
Read more about Tennessee’s recycling trends from Ball here:
Tennessee Democrats are also expected to push an infrastructure plan next year to battle the state’s “growing traffic crisis,” and “crumbling transportation infrastructure,” laying blame at the feet of the Republican supermajority.
In a Nashville news conference in October, lawmakers launched the “Rocky Top, Not Rocky Roads” campaign, highlighting road conditions and traffic congestion. They pointed to an annual state infrastructure audit that said the state now faces a $34 billion backlog in transportation projects.
The plan would have Tennessee’s government issuing debt rather than relying on in-hand revenues to increase the state’s ability to invest in large-scale infrastructure programs, the lawmakers said.
Grocery tax cut
Democrats have pushed the GOP supermajority to cut the taxes on groceries in Tennessee. When Gov. Bill Lee paused the tax for 30 days back in 2017, Democrats said they’d pushed the idea for a decade.
Oliver and Behn worked this past legislative session to eliminate Tennessee’s sales tax on groceries. The effort was thwarted and the two said, “Republicans in the state legislature opted to pass a $5.5 billion tax handout for large corporations instead.”
But the GOP seems poised to review the tax cut next session. House Bill 21 says it would exempt “from the state sales and use tax the retail sale of food and food ingredients.” Its sponsors are state Rep. Elaine Davis (R-Knoxville) and House Majority Leader William Lamberth (R-Portland).
Democrats said, based on this year’s review of cutting the tax, it would leave a $755 million hole in the state budget. So far, Republicans have not said how they’d replace that money.
My mother died from cancer in the spring of 2023 at the age of 86. I was her only child, 55 and heartbroken. While she lived many years with chronic arthritis pain, my mother Earline Duncan was joyful, energetic, and always eager to share with others. I called her “Mama.” But she was more than that to me. Earline Duncan was my good friend.
December 25th will be my second Christmas without Mama. To avoid debilitating woe, I look grief in the face. Nobody will escape. Life is death, and loss is love’s inheritance. I hug my anguish tightly and let tears wash over me like a flood. When I cannot cry another drop, I am refreshed. Then I rise from the couch and clean my house.
Mama’s death wounded my soul. I own a scab that Mercurochrome cannot heal. However, in the time since her death, besides crying, cleaning house, and writing for the Memphis Flyer, I have discovered another way to recalibrate. I call on Mama’s circle of octogenarian friends, who traveled this life with her from childhood to womanhood, and finally to the elevation of elder. I ask her lifelong friends to share their personal memories of Mama.
Earline Duncan with Snowden School students in the early ’70s (Photo: Courtesy Alice Faye Duncan)
Just like Earline Duncan, Dorothy Rozier, Claudette Lacey, Hollye Shotwell, and Verna Vaughn survived the humiliation of second-class citizenship in Jim Crow Memphis during the 1940s. They grew up and went to church in North Memphis’ Greenlaw Community. They graduated from historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) and they each served Memphis students as “Negro” schoolteachers until the vernacular changed to “Black” during the 1960s.
Once while I was collecting memories, Dorothy Rozier, who is 86, recalled my mother’s unmitigated boldness. When they were girls in middle school, Mama rode her bicycle to Dorothy’s house. At the time, Dorothy’s granddaddy sat on the porch in need of a shave because he was unable to do it himself. When little Earline arrived, she hopped off her bike and volunteered for the task. As a kid, my mother was given a straightedge razor. And according to Dorothy, “Earline shaved my grandaddy like she was a bona fide barber.”
Claudette Lacey and Hollye Shotwell are daughters of the late Lucille Martin Hinton. The sisters were frequent visitors in my mother’s childhood home on N. Third Street. Hollye is 84. Claudette is 88. As classmates, Claudette and Mama went to school together from first grade at Grant Elementary until they graduated from Manassas High in 1954. When I ask about Mama’s personality as a teenager, Hollye says, “Earline liked to read books and she loved to talk.”
When we speak on the phone, Claudette tells me, “Alice Faye! You sound just like Earline.” It pleases me very much that some audible part of my mother resides with me.
As for Verna Vaughn’s friendship with Mama, their herstory intersected through girlhood, fellowship at St. James AME Church, and their employment in the Memphis schools. Mama was eight years older than Verna, who recently turned 80. As children, Verna and her sister Carol deemed Mama to be an “authority figure.” Verna says, “Earline was the big girl who walked the little children to Sunday School. She would fuss and make us behave in church.”
When segregation was abolished in the Memphis schools, Mama and Verna joined a cohort of Black teachers who integrated the faculty at Snowden School. Verna was the librarian and Mama taught 6th grade. As her coworker, Verna discovered that my mother’s intolerance for foolishness was unchanged. She tells me often, “I would walk to her classroom to chitchat and socialize. But Earline would stop me at the door and say, ‘No-no, Verna!’”
Do you miss somebody this holiday season? An old adage says that we live forever if people continue to speak our names. Therefore, gather with others and call to mind your special person. Giggle, gush, and luxuriate in the glow of who they were. Raise your voice and speak many names. Remember love. Happy holidays!
Earline Duncan served as a Memphis teacher for 39 years. To hear her speak about the integration experiment in local schools, visit Rhodes College at vimeo.com/279358197. Alice Faye Duncan is a Memphis educator who writes for children. Learn about her books at alicefayeduncan.com.
• A state report found “out of control” inmates, drug overdoses, staff shortages, and more in Tennessee state prisons, especially at Tiptonville’s Northwest Correctional Facility.
• Cannabis industry leaders began working against new state rules that would remove smokeable products from their shelves and damage the industry.
• Memphis Police Chief C.J. Davis kept her job but on an interim basis.
• SmokeSlam BBQ Festival was introduced.
• We got to the bottom of the “Dicc Dash” car that had been seen all over Memphis.
• Winter Storm Heather left five dead in Shelby County, pushed a record-breaking demand for electricity, and put all residents under a boil-water advisory.
FEBRUARY
• Artis Whitehead was exonerated 21 years after he was convicted of a 2002 robbery at B.B. King’s Blues Club.
• Governor Bill Lee pushed for more school vouchers and big business tax cuts in his State of the State address.
• The Memphis-Shelby County Schools board picked Marie Feagins as its new superintendent.
• Data showed that Black residents got four times as many traffic tickets than whites.
• A bill was filed to mandate gun safety training for every Tennessee school student.
Tyre Nichols (Photo: Dakarai Turner)
MARCH
• American Queen Voyages closed.
• Eighteen anti-LGBTQ bills were introduced from GOP lawmakers in the state legislature.
• State House members voted to stop the Memphis City Council from a proposed ban on pretextual traffic stops, which came in the wake of the beating death of Tyre Nichols by MPD officers.
• The Overton Park Conservancy (OPC) gave an early look at new trails on land ceded to the park by the Memphis Zoo.
• Memphis ranked as most dangerous city for pedestrian deaths.
• Renting a home in Memphis became more affordable than buying one.
• Elon Musk announced Memphis would be the new home for his supercomputer, Grok.
• New census data said nearly half of Tennesseans could not afford the basic cost of living in their counties.
• Tina Sullivan announced she would step down from the OPC.
• The Memphis Area Transit Authority (MATA) asked the city council for $30.5 million after revealing a $60 million deficit.
• A federal judge blocked some protections of transgender people in Tennessee allowed by new Title IX rules.
JULY
• Planned Parenthood of Tennessee and North Mississippi said more than 10,000 people had left Tennessee for an abortion in the two years after Roe v. Wade was overturned.
• The U.S. Supreme Court announced it would hear Tennessee’s ban on gender-affirming care for transgender minors.
• The Memphis Brooks Museum of Art’s new Memphis Art Museum project was allowed to move ahead after a judge denied a challenge from Friends for Our Riverfront.
• City council members asked for more transparency from MATA after the announcement of its big budget deficit.
• New state laws went into effect including a death sentence for child rapists, one against “abortion trafficking,” a declaration of the Bible as a state book, one against “chemtrails,” and another for singers’ protection from AI.
• A court denied former state Senator Brian Kelsey’s (R-Germantown) request to rescind his guilty plea for campaign finance violations.
• The former leader of Shelby County’s Covid vaccine rollout lost a bid to declare she was wrongly blamed for allowing hundreds of doses to expire.
• A court ruled transgender Tennesseans cannot change the gender marker on their birth certificates.
• Memphis International Airport was green-lit for a $653 million modernization of its main terminal.
• The school board settled with the Satan Club for $15,000 and a promise to end its discriminatory practices.
• A court ruling allowed a ban on drag shows in public places.
• Tennessee tourism hit a record spend of more than $30 billion in 2023.
AUGUST
• Environmental groups asked Memphis Light, Gas & Water (MLGW) to deny an electricity deal for xAI’s supercomputer.
• The Links at Audubon Park opened.
• Memphis cases of HIV and syphilis spiked 100 percent over the past five years.
• Leaders warned of a tax surge coming after property reappraisals next year.
• Black Lodge closed.
• Serial scammer Lisa Jeanine Findley was arrested in Missouri for her attempt to steal Graceland from the Presley family.
• MATA suspended trolley service.
• Kaci Murley was named OPC’s new executive director.
• The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) raised electricity rates by 5.25 percent.
SEPTEMBER
• Carol Coletta stepped down as CEO of the Memphis River Parks Partnership.
• A state land deal could protect the Memphis Sand Aquifer.
• Cannabis industry leaders sued the state over new rules that would ban smokeable products.
• Tennessee ranked near the top for arresting people for cannabis.
• For the third year in a row, water levels were down in the Mississippi River after Midwest droughts.
• AG Skrmetti proposed warning labels for social media.
• Social media threats made for a turbulent week at local schools with disruptions and some lockdowns.
OCTOBER
• Lawmakers want to replace the now-fallen statue of racist newspaper editor Edward Carmack at the State Capitol Building with David Crockett.
• A court decision mandated schools offer “reasonable accommodation” for transgender students to use bathrooms of their choice.
• Three MPD officers were convicted in the beating death of Nichols.
• Memphis Mayor Paul Young replaced every member of MATA’s board.
• State Democrats pressed for financial reforms to address the state’s “crumbling transportation infrastructure.”
• Judges blocked discipline for doctors who provide emergency abortions.
NOVEMBER
• Atomic Rose closed.
• A new school voucher bill was filed.
• The Memphis-area crime rate fell.
• Tuition at state schools looked likely to rise again next year.
• TVA approved xAI’s request for power.
• Teachers scoffed at Lee’s $2,000 bonus as a “bribe” to go along with school vouchers.
• 901 FC left Memphis for Santa Barbara.
• University of Tennessee Health Science Center began a plan to demolish the “eyesore” former hotel building on Madison.
• Gun Owners of America sued the city of Memphis to block the gun referenda approved by voters from ever becoming law.
• A new $13 million plan will help redesign the intersection of Lamar, Kimball, and Pendleton.
• Crime fell Downtown in 2024 compared to 2023.
• Cannabis industry leaders filed another suit against the smokeables ban after lawmakers left it in the final rules.
DECEMBER
• Buds and Brews, a restaurant featuring cannabis products, opened on Broad.
• Blended sentence laws could usher hundreds of kids into the adult criminal justice system.
• State revenue projections flagged on big business tax breaks.
• A blistering report from the U.S. Department of Justice found that MPD used excessive force, discriminated against Black people, and used “harsh tactics” against children.
• Houston’s abruptly closed.
• The SCOTUS heard Skrmetti’s case against gender-affirming care for transgender minors.
• The former Velsicol facility in North Memphis could enter into a state-run environmental response trust.
• Feagins narrowly survived the board’s ouster move but the situation will be reviewed in 2025.
ARIES (March 21-April 19): In 2025, I would love for you to specialize in making new connections and deepening your existing connections. I hope you will summon extra creativity and panache as you regularly blend your beautiful energies with others’ beautiful energies. I predict you will thrive on linking elements that should be linked but have never been before. What do you think, Aries? Does it sound fun to become a playful master of mixing and combining? Would you enjoy generating splashy unifications that serve your dreams?
TAURUS (April 20-May 20): “Confidence is 10 percent hard work and 90 percent delusion,” declared Taurus comedian Tina Fey. But I believe you will disprove that assessment in the coming months. The work you do will be unusually replete with grace and dynamism. It will be focused and diligent work, yes, but more importantly, it will be smart work that’s largely free of delusion. That’s why I’m inclined to revise Fey’s formula for your sake. In 2025, your brimming levels of confidence will be primarily due to your fine, conscientious, effective work.
GEMINI (May 21-June 20): In the 1960s, a Swedish journalist tried an experiment. He wanted to see if art critics could distinguish between abstract paintings made by skilled artists and those created by a four-year-old chimpanzee whose pseudonym was Pierre Brassau. Surprise! Many of the critics treated all the paintings with equal respect. One even gave special praise to Pierre Brassau, describing his strokes of color as having “the delicacy of a ballet dancer.” I’m authorizing you to unleash your inner Pierre Brassau in the coming months, Gemini. Be an innocent rookie, a newcomer with great instincts, an exuberant amateur who specializes in fun experiments. Do you know what beginner’s mind is? You approach every experience with zero assumptions or expectations, as if you were seeing everything for the first time. For more, read this: wikipedia.org/wiki/Shoshin.
CANCER (June 21-July 22): Ohio’s Cuyahoga River used to catch on fire regularly. The cause was pollution. For a hundred years, industries had poured their wastes into the waterway. The surface was often dotted with oil slicks. But after a notorious river fire in 1969, the locals decided to remedy the situation, aided by the newly established Environmental Protection Agency. Today, the Cuyahoga still isn’t 100 percent clean, but it’s far better. It hosts kayaking, fishing, and paddle boarding. I propose we use its rehabilitation as a symbol for you in 2025. You will have welcome opportunities to clean up messes that have lingered for far too long. Please take full advantage of these cosmic invitations to sweep karmic debris out of your life.
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Steve Jobs, founder of Apple computers, said, “The people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do.” I propose that you make this one of your mottoes in 2025. More than ever before, you will have exceptional power to transform the environments you share with others. You will have an enhanced ability to revise and reinvigorate the systems and the rules you use. Don’t underestimate your influence during the coming months, Leo. Assume that people will be listening especially closely to your ideas and extra receptive to be affected by you.
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): I will give you four related terms to describe your key motif in 2025: 1. Your Soul’s Code. 2. Your Master Plan. 3. Your Destiny’s Blueprint. 4. Your Mission Statement. All four are rooted in this epic question: What is your overarching purpose here on earth, and how are you fulfilling it? The coming months will be a time when you can make dramatic progress in formulating vivid, detailed visions of the life you want to live. You can also undertake robust action steps to make those visions more of a practical reality. I encourage you to write your big-picture, long-range dreams in a special notebook or a file on your tech device. Keep adding to the text throughout the coming months.
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): People in India were the first to discover diamonds buried in the Earth. Most historians believe it happened in the 4th century B.C.E. For the next two millennia, India remained the only source of diamonds. Finally, new stashes were found in Brazil in 1725 and in South Africa in the 1870s. Let’s use this 2,000-year gap as a metaphor for your life. I suspect that far too many months have passed since you have located a fresh source of a certain treasure or bounty you crave. That will change in 2025. Here come long-delayed blessings!
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): In my vision of your life in 2025, you will dramatically enhance how togetherness works for you. Below are four questions to help guide your explorations and breakthroughs. 1. Is it feasible to change yourself in ways that enable you to have a more satisfying relationship with romantic love? 2. Will you include your intimate relationships as an essential part of your spiritual path — and vice versa? 3. What work on yourself can you do to heal your old wounds and thereby make yourself a better partner and collaborator? 4. Can you help your best allies to heal their wounds and thereby become better partners and collaborators?
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): In Japanese, the word for “frog” sounds similar to the word meaning “to return.” That’s one reason frogs have been lucky in some circles of Japanese culture. They symbolize the blessing that occurs when travelers return home safely, or when health is restored, or when spent money is replenished. I bring this to your attention, Sagittarius, because I suspect 2025 will be a time when satisfying and enjoyable returns will be a key theme. Consider keeping the likeness of a lovable frog in your living space.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Since 1985, musician David Gilmour has led Pink Floyd. The band has sold over 250 million records. He’s in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in both the U.K. and the U.S. But my favorite thing about Gilmour is that he’s a passionate activist who has crusaded for animal rights, environmentalism, poverty, and human rights. A few years ago, he auctioned off 120 of his guitars, raising over $21 million for an environmentalist charity. In accordance with astrological omens, I propose we make him one of your inspirational role models in 2025, Capricorn. May he mobilize you to use your stature and clout to perform an array of good works that are of service to your world.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Aquarian author Virginia Woolf extolled the virtues of cultivating a supple soul that thrives on change. She pledged to be relentless in her commitment to be authentically herself and not succumb to groupthink. I recommend you make these two of your featured themes in 2025. To inspire your efforts, I will quote her radical perspective at length: “Movement and change are the essence of our being; rigidity is death; conformity is death: Let us say what comes into our heads, repeat ourselves, contradict ourselves, fling out the wildest nonsense, and follow the most fantastic fancies without caring what the world does or thinks or says.”
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): In 1992, two friends promised each other that if either of them ever won the lottery, they would share it with the other. Twenty-eight years later, that’s exactly what happened. In 2020, Thomas Cook bought a ticket that turned out to be the winner of the Powerhouse jackpot in Wisconsin. He called Joseph Feeney with the good news. After paying taxes, both men were $5.7 million richer. I am not predicting the exact same sequence for your future, Pisces. But like Cook and Feeney, I expect you will glean pleasing rewards generated from seeds planted in the past.
These are your horoscopes for the week of December 26th. For the week of January 2nd, visit freewillastrology.com.
Americans are notoriously generous when it comes to charitable giving. According to Giving USA, Americans gave $484.85 billion to charity in 2021, a 4 percent increase from 2020. The end of the year is the most popular time to give to charity, with 30 percent of annual giving occurring in the month of December, and a full 10 percent of donations made during the last three days of the year.
If you’re planning on making a charitable donation before the end of the year, it’s important to be aware of the following.
Cash isn’t always the most efficient option.
If you’re used to writing a check each year to your favorite charity, you may want to reconsider. Contributing appreciated securities, such as stocks, bonds, or mutual funds, can be a great way to both maximize your donation and lower your tax liabilities for the year. Selling stock to make a donation could trigger capital gains taxes, assuming the value of the stock has grown since you acquired it. On the other hand, if you transfer the appreciated stock in kind to the organization, you’d avoid triggering a taxable event, and the charity would receive the entire value of the stock. Because charitable organizations are tax-exempt, the charity could then sell the stock without triggering a taxable event. That’s a win-win for both you and your charity.
You may not want to give every year.
Following tax law changes that went into effect as part of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA), fewer taxpayers now have an incentive to itemize. And, because you must itemize in order to claim a charitable deduction, fewer individuals are eligible to receive end-of-year tax benefits for donating to charity.
So, how can you reap the benefits of donating to charity if you don’t currently itemize? One option is to use a bunching strategy. Instead of making a charitable donation every year, it may make sense to save up several years’ worth of donations and contribute them all at once.
For example, if you typically donate $4,000 per year to charities, it may make sense to instead “bunch up” those contributions and donate $20,000 every five years. The key is to make sure you donate an amount high enough that itemizing your taxes makes sense.
Your RMD can actually lower your tax liability for the year.
Many retirees dread taking required minimum distributions (RMDs) from their tax-deferred retirement accounts each year because RMDs are taxed as ordinary income. This increase in taxable income can cause you to fall into a higher tax bracket, increase your Medicare premiums, and even increase the taxable amount of your Social Security income benefits.
However, if you’re a charitably minded individual over age 70.5, you may be eligible to contribute up to $100,000 from your retirement account directly to a charity without increasing your taxable income. This type of distribution is called a qualified charitable distribution (QCD). As with many gifting strategies, there are specific requirements you must follow to ensure your RMD donation qualifies as a QCD, so consult your wealth manager for assistance.
You can make a charitable gift without designating an organization right away.
Ready to make a charitable donation but unsure what organization(s) you’d like to support? No problem. A donor-advised fund (DAF) is a great option for individuals seeking both tax benefits and control over future donations. A DAF is a 501(c)(3) charitable fund that can receive irrevocable charitable gifts from you (as the donor), and you retain control over both the timing of distributions and the organizations to which donations are made.
As with most financial planning strategies, the charitable giving strategy that’s right for you depends on multiple factors, including your age, your current financial situation, your taxable income, your goals for the future, and more.
Gene Gard, CFA, CFP, CFT-I, is a Private Wealth Manager and Partner 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.
Sweden’s minister for gender equality and work life, Paulina Brandberg, has spoken in the past about her extreme phobia of bananas, The Guardian reported on Nov. 14. But recently leaked emails have made clear just how far her staff will go to protect her from the yellow fruits. For instance, staff will specify that “no traces of bananas must be in the room” before she arrives. Brandberg said she was getting professional help with her phobia, but Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson backed her up: “I am disturbed when a hardworking cabinet minister is almost reduced to a phobia and people make fun of it.”
Recent Alarming Headline
Passengers aboard an American Airlines flight from Milwaukee to Dallas on Nov. 19 went full-on MacGyver with an unruly Canadian passenger, ABC7-TV reported. While the plane was in flight, the passenger asked a flight attendant to open the cabin door; when his request was denied, he became agitated. He allegedly rushed toward the door, striking the flight attendant, before other passengers subdued him, eventually duct-taping his wrists and ankles and laying him on his stomach on the floor. Airport police and FBI personnel met him at the gate and took him for a medical evaluation.
Weird Science
University of Richmond professor and neuroscientist Kelly Lambert has been training rats to drive tiny cars since 2019, the New York Post reported. “Unexpectedly, we found that the rats had an intense motivation for their driving training, often jumping into the car and revving the ‘lever engine’ before their vehicle hit the road,” Lambert said. She and her fellow scientists concluded that the rats’ excitement was a Pavlovian response to treats and operating the vehicles — but even when the treats were removed, they were ready to put the pedal to the metal. “They remind us that planning, anticipating, and enjoying the ride may be key to a healthy brain,” Lambert said.
Great Art
The duct-taped banana “artwork” just won’t turn brown and mushy and find its way into the bin. On Nov. 20 in New York City, Sotheby’s sold the latest iteration for $6.2 million to Justin Sun, founder of the cryptocurrency platform Tron, WFAA-TV reported. Bidding started at $800,000. Sun said the art “represents a cultural phenomenon that bridges the worlds of art, memes, and the cryptocurrency community. … In the coming days, I will personally eat the banana as part of this unique artistic experience, honoring its place in both art history and popular culture.” Lucky for Sun, he technically bought the rights to duct-tape any other banana to any other wall and call it “Comedian,” as it was dubbed in 2019 by Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan.
Who Knew?
Fox News host Jesse Watters has laid down the law regarding man-to-man birthday etiquette, the Independent reported. On his show, Jesse Watters Primetime, on Nov. 20, the host said he would have wished President Joe Biden a happy birthday, but that would break his “rules.” “Men don’t wish men happy birthdays,” he said. He revealed the rule earlier this fall, when he said wishing another Fox host happy birthday “would not be manly.” Watters also apparently has rules about men eating soup and ice cream in public — “It’s not a good look.”
Suspicions Confirmed
Parents and teachers at Gosho Kodomo-en kindergarten in southwestern Japan thought for sure someone with a footwear fetish was swiping little shoes from cubbies at the school, the Associated Press reported. Police installed three cameras in the school, and on Nov. 11, zeroed in on another culprit: a weasel. “It’s great it turned out not to be a human being,” said Deputy Police Chief Hiroaki Inada. The stolen shoes have not been found, but the school has installed a net over the cubbies to keep the weasel, who is still on the loose, out.
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Chad Weatherly, Paul Stephens, Jake Behnke (Photo: Michael Donahue)
What’s going on at Belle Meade Social?
A lot. The restaurant at 518 Perkins Extended has a new chef and a new direction, says owner Paul Stephens.
Belle Meade Social, named after the nearby residential neighborhood where Stephens grew up, opened in May 2023. It had formerly housed two restaurants, Jim’s Place and Strano by Chef Josh.
Jake Behnke joined as executive chef last January 1st. “He came in and didn’t make a bunch of noise at first,” Stephens says. “He just wanted to get to know everybody and wanted to know the space.”
But Behnke’s first menu was “a huge success,” he adds. “Since then, the items coming out of the kitchen have been extremely consistent and extremely good.”
“He basically focuses more on trying to get local food,” adds general manager Chad Weatherly. “Getting locally sourced items.”
“We’ve got a lot more sources for our food products and, I would say, our ingredients, actually,” Stephens says. “We make everything in-house. We prep all day long. And the sourcing of the food was something he was very big on.”
Wild mushroom risotto with scallops; grilled pan-seared fresh salmon (Photos: Chad Weatherly)
Behnke also made sure “his hands were on every plate before it came out,” Weatherly says. And Behnke doesn’t hesitate to try to improve on a dish to make it better, like his wild mushroom risotto with scallops. “That’s one of our favorites now. One of our top sellers.”
When they first opened Belle Meade Social, the vibe was casual, Stephens says. “I opened to compete with Houston’s.”
Weatherly, who previously worked at Colonial Country Club, the Flight restaurant group, Coastal Fish Company, and Ruth’s Chris Steak House in Fayetteville, Arkansas, joined Belle Meade Social in August 2023. “I walked in and I didn’t feel like we had a true identity of who we were and where we’re going,” he says. “I just didn’t feel like we knew where we were.”
They were making “a wider variety of food” than they needed to, he says. He thought they could narrow the menu down to more items people wanted. They ended up “shrinking it down and doing a more intimate menu.”
Weatherly wanted to cater to everybody with food that “looked good, tasted good” and had a “reasonable price point.”
He and Stephens “picked the brains” of customers and staff to see what items they wanted to see on the menu. Prime rib and crab cakes, both of which they now offer, were two suggestions.
One customer “wants a good shrimp cocktail with the huge shrimp,” Weatherly says. “Jake is working with him on it.”
Behnke is “getting his feedback and rolling with it.”
And, Weatherly says, “Guest interaction is our biggest driver in making sure of the direction we go on food and features.”
Originally, they were looking for a kitchen manager, not an executive chef, when they found Behnke. “He was like, ‘Let me cook for you,’” Stephens says. “Kind of Gordon Ramsay style, he went back there and made a five-course meal that knocked our socks off.”
While preparing the meal, Behnke called his dad and asked him to bring him a blow torch so he could make crème brûlées.
“I said, ‘Don’t let him leave the building without giving him the job as chef,’” Stephens says.
“We basically all turned to each other and said, ‘We didn’t find a kitchen manager, but we found an executive chef,’” Weatherly adds.
A lot of the previous menu had to do with the kitchen equipment they already had, says Stephens, noting that it was “what was here in the kitchen that we could salvage and make work.”
They closed the restaurant for a week last July. “We did a deep clean and reconfigured the kitchen. And now it’s run more efficiently.”
Behnke told them what new kitchen equipment he wanted. “We had two large flattops. He wanted to get rid of that and bring in a chargrill. He sourced it and brought it in himself.”
They also added a vacuum sealer to preserve spices sous vide, new mixers, and a new meat grinder “to make our own burger meat and to help with breaking things down for the Philly cheesesteak and French dip.”
“We knew his background and ability to butcher meat,” Stephens says. “We’ve taken that to the next level.”
As for the new bartenders they’ve brought in, Weatherly says, “They’re smiling. And they’re nice to people. And they can make a good cocktail.”
The restaurant now offers more bar finger food, including “fried honey whipped feta balls.” Behnke “made them originally for the Greek salad and people kept wanting extras,” Weatherly says.
Belle Meade Social offers a “social hour” from 4 to 6 p.m. every day except Monday when the restaurant is closed.
They’re talking about opening for lunch during the week instead of just Sundays. “Now that Houston’s isn’t there to fill that void,” Stephens says.
And people can now order lunch and dinner items online at bellemeadesocial.com.
They also do a lot of catering as well as hosting private parties and events at the restaurant, Stephens says. And they’re “trying to get involved with the local community” by hosting fundraisers such as the one they did for STREETS Ministries.
Live music might be featured one night a week, Stephens says. “I thought about putting a piano where the high-tops originally were before we opened.”
He adds, “We’re working on something with our patio next year.”
The restaurant is still casual as well as elegant. “The bar side is the casual and the garden dining room is the more intimate side,” Weatherly says.
Belle Meade Social is still a neighborhood bar, but not just for the immediate neighborhood, Stephens says. “A lot of our regulars live close by, but we have some regulars that come in from Lakeland.”
