Categories
Politics Politics Feature

The Last Straw?

Paul Young (Photo: Brandon Dill | MLK 50)

Push is coming to shove in the public outrage stemming from the shooting death last week of MPD Officer Joseph McKinney. And the shoving, on behalf of stouter crackdowns on local crime, is coming from more sources than ever before.

Mayor Paul Young, who has arguably been somewhat slow on the draw in fleshing out his crime program, cruising along with an interim police chief and nobody yet to fill his ballyhooed position of public safety director, is suddenly all cries and alarms.

Sounding almost like some of the more active Republican critics of Memphis crime in the legislature, Young released a statement including these words: “Together, let’s petition our judges and the DA for stronger, swifter sentencing for violent offenses. If you are part of the judicial system, hear my voice first. We need to work together to do better for our community.”

DA Steve Mulroy himself expressed anger that a $150,000 bond that he’d previously set for previous crimes committed by the youth suspected in the death of Officer McKinney had been somehow amended by a judicial commissioner to allow the youth back on the streets through his own recognizance.

And Shelby County Commissioner Mick Wright, a leading critic of the current crime wave, was warning, on behalf of his commission mates, “We are not finished. … You’re going to see some judges get exited stage left if I have anything to say about it.”

It was a definite irony that, scarcely a week after the MPD had announced the 100th homicide in Memphis this year, Young scheduled this week’s public celebration of his first 100 days in office at Mt. Vernon Baptist Church.

Perhaps the mayor will use that occasion to outline further his and the city council’s plan for a new nonprofit organization to reverse the crime trend.

• Former Shelby County Democratic chair Gabby Salinas, who in recent years ran two close races against established Republican office-holders, has a different situation on her hands this year.

She’s running for the state House District 96 seat being vacated by Democratic incumbent Dwayne Thompson. Not a Republican contestant in sight so far, but Salinas has four Democratic rivals — Eric Dunn, Telisa Franklin, Orrden Williams Jr., and David Winston. She remains the favorite.

• As mentioned in this space of late, Democrats are seriously contesting the state House District 97 seat now held by Republican John Gillespie. Mindful of the potential perils of procrastination, they brought out some heavy artillery last week.

At a fundraiser for party candidate Jesse Huseth at the home of attorney Robert Donati last week, an important attendee was 9th District U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen, the county’s senior Democratic office-holder, who formally bestowed his endorsement on Huseth and was critical of Gillespie for legislative actions intended to shift various aspects of law-enforcement authority from the city to the state.

Cohen noted that the 97th, which was redistricted by the legislature last year, would now seem to be tilted demographically to Democrats in this election year — “up three points for Huseth and up five points for Biden.”

As Huseth himself put it, the East Memphis-based district had lost “four solid-red precincts and picked up two light-blue precincts and two light-red precincts.”

The point of the redistricting, which was carried out by the General Assembly’s GOP supermajority, remains something of a mystery, although it is said that Gillespie signed off on it, thinking it gave him more potential access to‚ and opportunity to serve, the business community.

• No doubt emboldened by the local unpopularity of Governor Bill Lee’s school-voucher program, which was formally opposed by the Memphis-Shelby County School Board and by the boards of the six municipal school districts as well, Democrats are taking another crack at the state House District 83 seat held by Mark White, House education chair and a champion of vouchers.

At least one Democrat is: political newcomer Noah Nordstrom, an MSCS Spanish teacher.

Categories
At Large Opinion

Gettysburg, Wow

Robert E. Lee (Photo: Julian Vannerson | Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)

“Gettysburg, what an unbelievable battle that was. It was so much and so interesting and so vicious and horrible and so beautiful in so many different ways, it represented such a big portion of the success of this country. Gettysburg, wow. I go to Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, to look and to watch. And, uh, the statement of Robert E. Lee, who’s no longer in favor, did you ever notice that? He’s no longer in favor. ‘Never fight uphill, me boys, never fight uphill.’ They were fighting uphill. He said, ‘Wow, that was a big mistake.’ He lost his great general. And they were fighting. ‘Never fight uphill, me boys!’ But it was too late.”

You may or may not be familiar with the preceding paragraph. It depends to some extent upon how much of a political junkie (or masochist) you are. But even if you’re not familiar with it, you can probably guess the source. And if you guessed, Donald J. Trump, you win.

The presumptive GOP presidential nominee scatted the forgoing brain jazz at a speech in Schnecksville, Pennsylvania, on Saturday. It was just one discursive, rambling aside in an oration that consisted of more than 75 minutes of discursive, rambling asides. Some highlights:

“China is sending illegals here to start a little army in our country.”

“I will not give one penny to any school that has a vaccine mandate.”

“I love women more than I love anything. I looove women.”

“Last night we had 20 people come to our country from the Congo. Welcome to our country. Where do you live in the Congo? We live in prison. They’re bringing them in from Africa!”

“The 2020 election was rigged, pure and simple. It was a disgrace and we can never let it happen again.”

“I’m perhaps the most honest guy in the world.”

Perhaps. And if you believe that, well, you’re an idiot. We’re past the point of pretending any of this is remotely normal, but here’s the worrisome thing: It actually is normal in one sense. It’s “normal” because it happens every day that Trump says something in public. After nine years of listening to this guy, Americans have become inured to it; our politics have literally transformed. Trump has normalized things that would have destroyed the career of any politician before he came along.

Gary Hart was the front-runner for the 1988 Democratic presidential nomination when revelations of an extramarital affair emerged and he was finished. In 2004, presidential candidate Howard Dean was deemed unelectable because he screamed “Yeah!” at a rally in Iowa. See ya, Howard. You’re not “presidential” enough.

And Jimmy Carter was so concerned about a possible conflict of interest that he put his little Georgia peanut farm in a blind trust during his presidency, so as not to appear to be in the pocket of Big Peanut.

In contrast, Trump and his family made millions from his businesses while in office, including from a hotel in Washington, D.C., where foreign diplomats and lobbyists stayed in order to curry favor with the American president.

And just imagine the merde-storm that would engulf the mass media if Joe Biden bumbled his way through anything remotely similar to Trump’s lie-filled Schnecksville speech. Think of the outrage from the Confederate-loving MAGA types if Biden invented a Robert E. Lee quote that made the general sound like a surfer-pirate.

Argh, dude.

As this presidential campaign stumbles into summer, and as Trump’s trial in New York takes center stage, it is becoming more and more obvious that the GOP presidential candidate has some real issues with, well, reality. Trump is quite literally making things up — creating stories, statistics, and personal anecdotes out of whole cloth. This is not an opinion; it’s a verifiable fact: He’s a full-service gaffe station.

The question becomes: Is he doing it knowingly — just running a hustle to get elected again — or is he truly losing sentience, unable to tell fact from fiction? Does he truly believe all vaccines are bad, and that he is the most honest person in the world, and Robert E. Lee said “wow.” If it’s the latter, well, that is so interesting and so vicious and horrible and so beautiful in so many different ways. And we are so in trouble.

Categories
Book Features Books

1666: A Story of Survival

One of the most intriguing aspects of Lora Chilton’s historical novel 1666 may be the task of keeping the phonetically spelled names of people and places straight.

The story, based on a combination of what author Chilton refers to as “historical records and oral tradition,” is an inspired imagining of the struggle for survival of two members of the Indigenous Patawomeck (PaTow’O’Mek) tribe of Virginia (TseNaCoMoCo) following the attempted annihilation of the tribe by white colonial authorities in the year indicated by the novel’s title.

The primary characters, based on two women who may actually have existed, do indeed survive (though just barely), as, in the long run of history, has the tribe itself via surviving descendants, one of whom is Chilton herself. Her fellow Memphians may recall her as a prominent school board member and political activist (as Lora Jobe) of a few seasons back.

The aforementioned matter of phonetic spellings is really no obstacle to an immersion in the tale, functioning rather to ground one in a gripping sense of Being There in a present-tense reality. (And there are welcome recognitions, as when one of the story’s ultimate locations turns out to be a teeming place called MaNaHahTaAn (Manhattan).)

The main characters themselves have a variety of names. Ah’SaWei (Golden Fawn) is also Twenty-nine (her number as a freshly enslaved prisoner) and Rebecca (while serving in a Barnados household). And, similarly, NePaWeXo (Shining Moon) is Eighty-five and Leah.

To repeat, none of this gets in the way. For each of the characters, the identities are both discrete and overlapping. Each stands for a different phase of the characters’ destinies — Alternately horrific, heroic, and (relatively) mundane.

Those destinies occur within a meticulously outlined span of historical time in which the terrors and atrocities of the colonial era, described unblinkingly, are a basic part of the background and essentially define the course of events. But so, too, are the natural circumstances of life — love and sex prominently among them.

What did people of that milieu eat and how did they cultivate it? In what ways were their domestic tensions, coupling rituals, and emotional realities like or unlike our own? Chilton has researched it all and knows it in depth and can tell you.

And she does so with a dramatic, thriller-like sense of urgency that has us turning pages compulsively.

Some advance readers of the novel, whose blurbs are included with the text, focus on the story as “tragedy.” That’s a way of saying that terrible things happen and are accounted for graphically.

But what the story really is about is humanity’s unquenchable spirit and, as such, is the furthest thing imaginable from being a downer.

Categories
Film Features Film/TV

Civil War

Kirsten Dunst is riveting in her role as photojournalist Lee Smith.

“I find that violence is very ambiguous in movies. For example, some films claim to be antiwar, but I don’t think I’ve really seen an antiwar film. Every film about war ends up being pro-war.”

Since Francois Truffaut, the great French filmmaker and critic, said that to Gene Siskel in a 1972 interview, many have speculated what he meant. Film and military propaganda have gone together practically since the invention of the medium. There are any number of great films that are antiwar in intent: All Quiet on the Western Front, Paths of Glory, and Apocalypse Now, just to name a few. But what I think Truffaut was getting at is that, for filmmakers, combat is just too sexy. There are the life or death stakes that plotting thrives on, plenty of kinetic motion, and lots of explosions. Who doesn’t love a good explosion?

And that is precisely the problem. Even if you want to condemn militarism, wanton killing, destruction, and weaponized rape, the viewer is going to thrill to the exciting images and start rooting for one side to “win.” But this isn’t college football, this is human tragedy.

Alex Garland makes his intentions quite clear in Civil War. Early in the film, photographer Lee Smith (Kirsten Dunst) muses to her old friend Sammy (Stephen McKinley Henderson) that when she sent images of war zones back to home to America, the implicit message was “Don’t do this! And, here we are …”

In this undefined near future, the United States has fractured into four warring alliances of states: The Loyalists, who stuck with the former Union after the unnamed President (Nick Offerman) took on an unconstitutional third term; the New People’s Army of the Northwest; and the Florida Alliance, which is basically the old Confederacy except for Texas, which has joined California in the Western Forces.

Sitting in a hotel lobby in Manhattan, Sammy convinces Lee and her writer partner Joel (Wagner Moura) to let him join them on a trip to Washington, D.C., where the President is besieged in the White House. Sammy compares the situation to the “race to Berlin,” when the Nazi war machine collapsed in 1945, and Russian and American forces pulled out all of the stops to see who could grab the most territory before the surrender. (A weary Sammy observes that, once D.C. falls, the other factions will inevitably turn on each other.)

The only thing that matters now is how the President goes down, and that’s the story Lee and Joel are after. The other passenger in their beat-up Ford Expedition is Jessie (Cailee Spaeny), a novice photographer who idolizes Lee. But Lee doesn’t think Jessie’s got what it takes to witness war and make news content out of it — or maybe, it’s that Lee sees herself in Jessie, before her heart went hard from watching countless people die.

Making the hero of the piece a journalist instead of a soldier is Garland’s way to make an actual antiwar film. The road trip across the Northeast is alternately harrowing and surreal — often both at once, as in the scene where Lee and Joel, caught between two dueling sniper teams, hide in a suburban yard decorated for Christmas.

Garland takes inspiration from the breathless suspense of Children of Men, The Thin Red Line’s moments of transcendence amidst the carnage, and the journey into ultimate darkness of the aforementioned Apocalypse Now. But the film Civil War most closely resembles is Full Metal Jacket, which director Stanley Kubrick described as being about “the phenomenon of war.” Lee’s journalistic perspective lends the story objectivity. As she follows one unit of irregulars through a pitched firefight, we start to root for them. Then, Garland undercuts the emotional connection, as Lee photographs the victors gleefully machine gunning their prisoners.

It’s Kirsten Dunst’s job to make sure Kubrickian clinical detachment doesn’t sour into misanthropy. She’s absolutely riveting. As the horrors mount, Lee’s hard facade is slowly chipped away. Watching Jessie lose her rookie idealism and embrace the thrill of battle only makes it worse.

Civil War is as brilliant as it is harrowing. It’s been 160 years since we’ve seen real war in North America, even as we have been inundated with images of conflict from all over the world. This is not a film about who is right and who is wrong in our current political struggle. It’s about what war looks like up close — and what America will look like if the better angels of our nature fail.

Civil War
Now playing
Multiple locations

Categories
Beyond the Arc Sports

Disappointing Season Still Gives Grizzlies Fans Something To Look Forward To

Head Coach Taylor Jenkins of the Memphis Grizzlies seen speaking at the Memphis Grizzlies exit interviews at FedExForum on April 15, 2024 in Memphis, Tennessee. (Photo by Wes Hale)

If you had asked before the season what the expectations were for the Grizzlies in 2023-24, a host of injuries for most of the roster leading to a record of 27-55 and no postseason opportunities likely wasn’t it.

There were obvious questions about how the team would fare in the absence of Ja Morant during the first 25 games, as he served his league-issued suspension, but the consensus back then was that the rest of the roster could hold it down until Morant’s return in January and the Grizzlies would pick right back up where they left off as one of the most dominant teams in the league, near the top of the western conference.

Unfortunately, that is not how it went down. Ja Morant returned as energized and dynamic as before, but a shoulder injury that required surgery ended his season after just nine games played.

Ja Morant #12 of the Memphis Grizzlies seen speaking at the Memphis Grizzlies exit interviews at FedExForum on April 15, 2024 in Memphis, Tennessee. (Photo by Wes Hale)

In the aftermath of a season where nearly everything that could go wrong did go wrong for Memphis, there are still some vestiges of hope for Grizzlies fans.

While the rest of the league seems to have forgotten about their existence, the vibe in the room during Memphis Grizzlies exit interviews was that of a team that faced more adversity than was possible to overcome in the moment, but one that still had great hopes for the future.

I think it is more likely than not that the core of this Grizzlies team is going to return to action next season with a massive chip on their shoulders, ready to prove wrong any doubters or naysayers, and eager to remind the league that Memphis is still a force to be reckoned with.

Zach Kleiman, general manager of the Memphis Grizzlies, seen speaking at the Grizzlies’ exit interviews at FedExForum on April 15, 2024 in Memphis, Tennessee. (Photo by Wes Hale)

Grizzlies’ general manager Zach Kleiman has said that Morant’s recovery from injury was progressing well and expected that he would be cleared to resume basketball activities over the summer. Regarding other players on the injured list, Kleiman said the timetable for recovery was in terms of weeks, not months.

It should be some comfort to anyone who follows this team that the reason for their struggles was due to factors outside of their control, rather than players regressing. Player injuries had a huge impact on the season, so much so that it required the team to sign a plethora of 10-day contracts just to have eight players available for games, the minimum the league allows.

Memphis set two league records by using 51 different starting lineups and 33 different players this season.

The Grizzlies’ big free agency move of the summer was trading for former Defensive Player of the Year Marcus Smart from the Boston Celtics. Unfortunately, he wasn’t immune to the injury bug that plagued the rest of the team, and only played in 20 games. Smart remains under contract through the 2025-26 season and is expected to play next season.

Two of the team’s big three took on outsized roles in the absence of Morant.

Jaren Jackson Jr. #13 of the Memphis Grizzlies seen speaking at the Memphis Grizzlies exit interviews at FedExForum on April 15, 2024 in Memphis, Tennessee. (Photo by Wes Hale)

Jaren Jackson Jr. and Desmond Bane both took on a leadership role of sorts, and the pair did a lot of heavy lifting throughout the season, playing as hard as possible even when a game’s outlook was bleak. Jackson and Bane both saw an increase in average points per game, while also increasing their shot attempts and minutes played.

Desmond Bane #22 of the Memphis Grizzlies seen speaking at the Memphis Grizzlies exit interviews at FedExForum on April 15, 2024 in Memphis, Tennessee. (Photo by Wes Hale)

Bane’s points per game average increased from 21.5 points last season to 23.7 points =this season, while his overall field goal attempts increased from 16.2 attempts per game last season to 18.5 attempts this season. His minutes per game increased from 31.7 in 2022-23 to 34.4 this season.

Jackson’s trajectory shows a similar increase, with his points per game average increasing from 18.6 last season to 22.5 points this season. His field goal attempts rose from 13.0 attempts per game in 2022-23 to 17.6 this season. His minutes per game increased from 28.4 last season to 32.2 this season.

There were other positive aspects of this lost season, in terms of player development.

The emergence of Vince Williams Jr. and GG Jackson was a balm for an otherwise sore season. Likewise with the return of Brandon Clarke for a handful of games near season’s end.

Brandon Clarke #15 of the Memphis Grizzlies seen speaking at the Memphis Grizzlies exit interviews at FedExForum on April 15, 2024 in Memphis, Tennessee. (Photo by Wes Hale)

Clarke needed hardly any time to return to his previous form, which is both a good sign for the future and a testament to how seriously he took his rehab and recovery.

Williams Jr. and GG Jackson both started the season on two-way contracts and spent a portion of the season playing with the team’s G-league affiliate, the Memphis Hustle, until having those contracts converted to a regular contract with the team and earning official roster spots.

GG Jackson #45 of the Memphis Grizzlies seen speaking at the Memphis Grizzlies exit interviews at FedExForum on April 15, 2024 in Memphis, Tennessee. (Photo by Wes Hale)

It is unlikely that either player would have seen significant NBA minutes this season without the spate of injuries. Williams Jr. appeared in 52 games, with 33 of those in the starting lineup. Similarly, Jackson appeared in 48 games, and started in 18 of those.

Vince Williams Jr. #5 of the Memphis Grizzlies seen speaking at the Memphis Grizzlies exit interviews at FedExForum on April 15, 2024 in Memphis, Tennessee. (Photo by Wes Hale)

Signing Williams Jr. and Jackson to regular team contracts left more two-way contracts available, and Memphis used those to add center Trey Jemison and point guards Scotty Pippen Jr. and Jordan Goodwin.

Jemison appeared in 23 games, with 14 appearances in the starting lineup, and averaged 7.4 points in 24.9 minutes per game.

Pippen Jr., son of Chicago Bulls legend Scottie Pippen, played 21 games, 16 as the starting point guard. He averaged 12.9 points and 25.1 minutes per game.

Goodwin appeared in 17 games, including 12 as a starter, while averaging 10 points and 29.2 minutes.

There is no disputing that the season’s outcome was a disappointment, but despite finishing 13th in the Western Conference, the outlook for the Grizzlies going forward seems bright.

Categories
News News Blog News Feature

Memphis River Parks Partnership Names John Best First ‘Maker of Culture’

Photo Credit: Memphis River Parks Partnership.

Memphis River Parks Partnership (MRPP) has created and filled its newest role with a community leader dedicated to maintaining immaculate vibes and experiences on the riverfront.

The organization named John Best as its first “Maker of Culture” in early April. Best is a DJ who has performed at multiple park events, and is also the general manager of Memphis-Shelby County Schools’ 88.5FM and Cable 19 TV.

“The Maker of Culture (MC) will actively promote the values and mission of Memphis River Parks Partnership and work to create a fun, welcoming and safe environment for visitors to the Memphis riverfront,” the Partnership said in a statement.

Carol Coletta, president and CEO of MRPP said Best has performed in this capacity for “several years” and that it was time to make it official. She added that his work “provides a fun musical backdrop that helps us maintain a warm and inviting culture.

Jasmine Stokes, director of programming and engagement for MRPP, said Best knows the values of the Riverfront, and is an “amazing steward of promoting those values in a fun and effective way.

“He is representative of park values and what we’re trying to convey through music and having a fun time,” Stokes said. “We couldn’t just say ‘ Yeah, he’s the DJ of the Riverfront.’ We wanted it to feel more special and know that he’s more than just the DJ. He is the Maker of Culture.”

Best said before the music, before being a DJ, he’s for the community, and wants to see it grow. He said he reminds park-goers to pick up trash and to be stewards of the space, while also cultivating a fun and engaging environment.

“I have the same mindset from day one to day now: Let’s lift Memphis by bringing positive energy and positive events for the whole family to come to,” said Best.

Part of Best’s commitment to diversifying and boosting engagement in riverfront culture is by playing multiple genres of music for different age groups. He said his goal is to bring all cultures together, no matter race, creed, or religion. “We know that the park is open to all, so I must be able to cater to all,” Best said. 

Best also plans to bring DJs specializing in different genres, such as Salsa and House. Best will train and coach the DJs on “park culture and crowd control.”

“The DJs will monitor activity at the Sunset Canopy, interact with park visitors to reinforce good neighbor behavior and sample multiple music genres each week,” the Partnership said in a statement. DJs will also present three-hour sets “during peak park hours” on Saturdays and Sundays through November 30th.

According to the Partnership, Best will also “provide an extra layer of park oversight” by providing the organization with feedback for “continuous improvement in operation.”

“I’m observing the crowd all the time,” Best said, “By me being on this platform, I have a nice view of what’s going on. When I make announcements about things that the park doesn’t allow, and creating commercials that play every 30 minutes to stress whatever the park is pushing, I’m pushing on the microphone. It’s not in an accusatory way.”

Stokes added that while it’s still in its draft stages, Best will help develop and maintain the Tom Lee Park Music Policy.

“Music is so powerful — so powerful — so we want to make sure it’s positive and family friendly,” Stokes said. “It doesn’t have to be Baby Shark all the time, but just making sure it’s not influencing negative behavior at the base level,” Stokes said.

Categories
News News Blog News Feature

Public Invited to Weigh In on Proposed $787M Bridge over Mississippi

Tennessee Department of Transportation

Memphis residents are invited Thursday to hear about the $787.5 million bridge proposed to replace the Memphis-Arkansas Bridge, also called the I-55 Bridge or “old bridge.” 

The Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT) will host the session scheduled for Thursday from 5 p.m.-7 p.m. at the Central Station Hotel’s Amtrak Station. Another public meeting will come next week in West Memphis at the Eugene Woods Civic Center Center on April 25th, from 5 p.m.-7 p.m.

Tennessee Department of Transportation
Tennessee Department of Transportation

As those talks begin, work continues on the current I-55 Bridge and its interchange. For more than a year, crews have replaced the old cloverleaf interchange and replaced much of the bridge’s worn-out decking. 

That work began back in 2009 with public hearings at Central Station, before its conversion into a hotel and when it was still owned and operated by the Memphis Area Transit Authority (MATA). Hearings and approvals continued until the project was sent of for bids in 2022. That project is slated for completion early next year.

The new bridge, which TDOT is calling, “America’s River Crossing,” would completely replace the old bridge, which would be demolished. Construction on the new 1.5 mile span over the Mississippi River could begin as soon as 2026 and be complete as early as 2030, according to state documents. 

“America’s River Crossing” was the name given to the idea of a new, third bridge over the river pushed by the Greater Memphis Chamber in 2021. At the time, the Memphis-Arkansas Bridge was the only bridge across the river in Memphis. The newer Hernando DeSoto Bridge was closed at the time after officials discovered a crack in the structure. 

Even though the new bridge project would still leave Memphis with only two bridges (St. Louis has 10), the Chamber appears to be on board the new project, retweeting information to Thursday’s public meeting.  

The old bridge needs replacing, officials say, because its condition and recent appraisals have “raised concerns.” The bridge is 75 years old. It does not meet current seismic standards, which could put drivers in dangers should an earthquake occur. Retrofitting the bridge could cost between $250 million to $500 million, according to a state report. 

Also, the old bridge is small. It has two, 10-foot travel lanes in each direction separated by a concrete divider, with two-foot shoulders on each side of the roadway.

”The existing I-55 bridge was not designed to handle the current or future volume of daily traffic, or truck volume, resulting in significant mobility and safety concerns,” reads the report, noting traffic counts there could be as high as 58,000 daily in 2030. “With traffic forecasts indicating substantial growth, the need for a new bridge becomes apparent, demanding increased capacity and improved traffic operations.”

The new bridge would add a new lane in each direction, for a total of six lanes, and have 12-foot shoulders on both sides of the roadway. 

The new version would increase capacity, making for smoother, safer flow of traffic and freight. For these and other reasons, the financial benefit of a new bridge could be as high as $529 million, the state said.

The old bridge has higher-than-normal rates of crashes and bottlenecks, too. The state report found the bridge crash rate was 86 percent higher than the statewide average. The bridge also  ranks in the top 10 percent of bottleneck headed south and 12 percent of bottlenecks northbound. Both are attributed to congestion. 

Tennessee Department of Transportation

A new bridge could cost up to $787.5 million. To pay for it, TDOT has request $393.7 million from the Federal Highway Adminstration. The other half would be split between TDOT and the Arkansas Department of Transportation. Tennessee’s portion would flow from dedicated funds in the Transportation Modernization Act, which included $3.3 billion for public projects. 

Find a fact sheet here. 

Categories
Food & Drink Hungry Memphis

JEM Restaurant Opening April 25th in Edge District

JEM restaurant opens April 25th in the Edge District. (Photo: Courtesy JEM)

Get ready for JEM, a new restaurant slated to open April 25th at 644 Madison Avenue.

According to the news release, the restaurant, manned by chef/co-owner Josh Mutchnick, will feature a “modern American menu” that is “globally inspired and prepared by a world-class chef. The atmosphere is warm, inviting, and decidedly unpretentious.”

The food and menu will “represent Mutchnick’s attitude towards food, with a focus on local and seasonal ingredients, as well as recognizable flavors.”

Mutchnick is co-owner with his wife Emily. “JEM derives from the initials  of both of their names and is also an acronym for their slogan, ‘Just Enjoy the Moment.’”

According to the release, “Josh Mutchnick is no stranger to the world of haute cuisine. A graduate of The Culinary Institute of America, he has worked for some of the best chefs and restaurants in the country, including the Michelin starred El Ideas, Tru, Sixteen, and North Pond in Chicago.”

Located in the Edge District, JEM  “offers approachable dining. … The restaurant operates with the philosophy that food can be fun and comforting while still being refined and luxurious.”

Categories
Food & Drink Hungry Memphis

117 Prime Closing, Belle Tavern Stays Open

117Prime will close April 20th. Belle Tavern will remain open. (Photo: Courtesy of 117Prime)

No more prime steak or oysters after April 20th at 117Prime. That’s when the Downtown steakhouse at 117 Union Avenue closes.

But food lovers will still be able to get steak frites at Belle Tavern. The cozy bar/restaurant immediately behind 117Prime will remain open.

“The menu will get a little bigger,” says Ryan Trimm, chef/owner of both places. But, he says, “You won’t be able to enter through Union any more. You’ll have to enter through 117 Barboro Alley.”

Belle Tavern has been open longer than 117Prime, Trimm says. The bar, which opened around 2015, “closed during Covid” and reopened after they rebranded.

Asked about the attraction of Belle Tavern, Trimm says, “I always wanted a little bar. A place where I feel like I can hang out. And it’s just relaxing and low level and fits a need.”

He describes Belle Tavern as “a borderline dive bar. It’s not a dive bar. But it’s a little hole in the wall.”

Belle Tavern is a place where he can hang out with his friends with a good whiskey and beer selection.

Belle Tavern (Photo: Courtesy of Belle Tavern)

As for 117Prime, Trimm says, “Sales have not been what they were. A lot of fixed costs. A steak house, fine dining restaurant, it gets pretty difficult to keep that moving. And it just got to the point where we were like, ‘You know what? The environment downtown is getting more difficult to navigate. And we just need to try something else.’”

And, he adds, “I don’t think a steakhouse was a good fit for Downtown at this moment.” It was hard to stay open with “valet and linen tablecloths and heavy staff and food costs.”

Trimm isn’t sure what they will do with the 117Prime space after the restaurant closes at the end of this week. They might open something “a little more fitting” or “lease it to somebody else.”

Categories
Uncategorized

Denver Too Much for Memphis in Season’s Final Game

GG Jackson #45 of the Memphis Grizzlies dribbles the ball up the court during the first half against the Denver Nuggets at FedExForum on April 14, 2024 in Memphis, Tennessee. (Photo by Wes Hale)

In the last game of the season at FedExForum, the Denver Nuggets beat the Memphis Grizzlies, 126-111. 

The Nuggets held the Grizzlies to just two points through the first five minutes of the third period and broke the game open to take a 19-point lead going into the final frame.

No one expected the Grizzlies to wen the game with 13 injured players and Denver starting some future Hall of Famers. The Nuggets swept the season series, 4-0.

Denver finished the regular season with a 57-25 record and clinched the No. 2 seed in the NBA Playoffs. The Grizzlies were 27-55 overall and 9-32 at home. 

The Grizzlies set NBA season records by using 33 different players and 51 different starting lineups.

GG Jackson II led the Grizzlies with a career-high 44 points and 12 rebounds to secure his second double-double of the season. At 19 years old, Jackson II became the youngest player in NBA history to score at least 44 points in a game. The rookie’s performance was a welcome relief from a season plagued by injuries.

“I think what he’s been doing on the court is an absolute reflection of what he’s been doing off the court,” said Grizzlies head coach Taylor Jenkins on the rookie’s development. “GG has been unbelievable since day one when he came in as a wide-eyed rookie, which he still is — a wide-eyed rookie. But coming in, trying to figure out his routine, what are the habits he’s got to develop to be a consistent pro. I think his work ethic has been phenomenal every single day. I’ve said it all throughout the season, how he learns within the game, tries to not repeat the same mistake. He’s got this care factor.”

“There will be times where I don’t have to be ball-dominant, and I can just knock down shots and stuff,” Jackson, II said. “Then, there’s other times when I catch fire that I can still affect the game defensively. This is going to be huge for me to serve. We’ve been working on a lot, and I started to notice, but it took the last game for me to notice. All of our lifts are lower body based, and, in my mind, I was like, ‘They’re trying to build the foundation before they build on top.’” 

“I’m really comfortable in a sense, with Coach [Jenkins] trusting me and my teammates having my back,” said the South Carolina native. “There will be times where I’m frustrated and I’m like, ‘You should’ve hit me on that one.’ And I come to the bench, and I don’t want to be that guy. I got a bad rap for doing that in college. Even in high school, someone told me they didn’t like me because I had that kind of attitude and stuff. So, that was huge for me to keep that toned down. That behavior doesn’t really lead to a great performance.” 

Jake LaRavia added 29 points, five rebounds, and four assists in his third straight game with 25+ points. LaRavia has averaged 29.7 points per game over the last three games, including a career-high 32 points April 10 at Cleveland.

“That was my biggest goal coming back from All-Star break, after I had that little ankle injury, just playing through whatever I had, trying to play as many games as I could, trying to stay healthy,”LaRavia on his play after injury. 

“I think I did a really good job of that. I ended up missing those two games, but I think for the most part, I did a good job of staying healthy and playing through. … When you talked about confidence, I think I’m a very confident player, regardless. It might be showing more because I’m in a higher role right now, but this was my goal, to get as much momentum as I could going into next season.” 

Strictly for the fans 

Jenkins’ closing message to the fans: 

“I also just wanted to shout out our fans. They’ve been phenomenal. I know this was probably a difficult season, but the love our fans have for us, I could feel it all season long. I could feel it the last couple days. We’re going to miss them tremendously over the next couple of months. There’s nothing like coming here to work and compete at the FedExForum with our great fans. And hopefully, we’re going to put the work in behind the scenes to come out and set a great tone, come October 2024, for the next campaign. So, I want to just thank all of our fans, thank all of you all for your commitment throughout the season.”