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Politics Politics Beat Blog

ACLU, Governor Speaking “Same Language” on Justice Reform, Weinberg Says

JB

Hedy Weinberg at Rotary Club of Memphis

Hedy Weinberg, executive director of the Tennessee chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, wants it on the record: She is confident that Governor Bill Lee is “very committed to criminal justice reform” and that “we speak the same language” on that issue.

Weinberg made the declaration as part of an ACLU goals review on Tuesday of this week in a luncheon address to the Rotary Club of Memphis. And, after she had concluded her remarks, she submitted to a question-and-answer session and was asked by Rotarian Otis Sanford of The Daily Memphian and the University of Memphis if she was “confident” that Lee “will follow through on this and make a difference with this very ultra-conservative legislature.”

Weinberg answered in the affirmative: “I don’t agree with [him on] everything, but I do have confidence and will be very happy to partner with him.”

In his inauguration address last week, Lee addressed the goal of “safe neighborhoods” and promised to be “tough on crime and smart on crime at the same time.” He elaborated: “[H]ere’s the reality. 95 percent of the people in prison today are coming out. And today in Tennessee, half of them commit crimes again and return to prison within the first three years. We need to help non-violent criminals re-enter society, and not re-enter prison.”

In her remarks to the Rotarians, Weinberg praised Lee as well as the Tennessee County Services Association, the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce,(the Tennessee Association of Goodwills, and the Beacon Center of Tennessee as partners committed to provide progressive remedies to issues of recidivism, non-violent crime, and what she termed Tennessee’s current policies of “over-incarceration.”

The General Assembly has in recent years seen an increasing incidence of cooperation between legislators of the left and right in bills aimed at criminal justice reform. Though she noted remaining islands of obstruction among legislators, Weinberg hailed what she saw as a dawning era of bipartisan agreement on reform issues.

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News News Blog

Five Memphis Drug Offenders Face Lengthy Prison Sentences

A Cordova woman and her accomplice admitted to distributing heroin resulting in death, and now the U.S. Attorney’s Office for Western Tennessee plans to seek the maximum penalty — life imprisonment.

Glenda Aldape, 42, pled guilty to conspiracy to distribute heroin resulting in death and possession of heroin with intent to distribute, D. Michael Dunavant, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Tennessee, announced Thursday.

In March 2016, Aldape sold heroin to Sean Heywood, who would later die from a lethal dose of the drug, according to court documents. Over the phone, Heywood agreed to buy a half of a gram of heroin from Aldape for $75.

Aldape subsequently sent a text to the co-defendant in the case — David Mitchell Murray — who would deliver the drugs to Heywood at a nearby Huey’s. Surveillance footage shows Heywood getting into the car with Murray, receiving the heroin, and being driven home.

Within a couple of hours, Heywood’s father found him on the bathroom floor unresponsive. When emergency personnel arrived, Heywood was pronounced dead, and an autopsy later revealed he died from a lethal dose of heroin.

A plastic bag of heroin in Heywood’s pocket, a syringe, a spoon with .19 grams of heroin, and his cell phone were collected as evidence. Heywood’s cell phone records led police to Aldape.

The next day, looking to arrest Aldape, detectives with the Memphis Police Department (MPD) used Heywood’s phone, pretending to be Heywood to set up another buy. Aldape showed up to make the sale, detectives identified her, and then arrested her.

At the time of Aldape’s arrest, police found just under a half of a gram of methamphetamine, .08 grams of heroin, and various pills on her person. Aldape gave a statement to police admitting to setting up the sale with Heywood the previous day and intending to sell to him that night.

Murray also pled guilty to conspiracy to distribute heroin resulting in death in August 2018. Aldape will be sentenced on April 26th and Murray on March 1st. The pair faces a minimum sentence of 20 years and up to life imprisonment.

U.S. Attorney Dunavant said cases involving heroin distribution resulting in death is a top priority for his office.

“Under our district-specific opioid strategy, heroin distribution cases resulting in death receive top priority for investigation and federal prosecution, regardless of quantity of heroin involved or the prior criminal record of the offender,” Dunavant said. “Our Heroin Initiative also provides time-sensitive case coordination between law enforcement agencies and medical examiners, to ensure that opioid overdose death cases are investigated quickly and thoroughly to identify the nature and source of the drug distribution.

“The U.S. Attorney’s Office will aggressively prosecute and seek the maximum guidelines sentences in these cases in order to disrupt trafficking organizations, hold the distributor accountable for the death of the victim, and to deter others from selling poison to our citizens.”

Justin Fox Burks

Dunavant also announced Thursday that, a 39-year-old Memphis man, Antonio Rucker, will serve 151 months in the Federal Bureau of Prisons for possession with intent to distribute heroin, cocaine, and oxycodone pills.

In March 2018, Rucker was stopped for a traffic violation when officers smelled marijuana coming from his car. The officers, a part of the MPD Organized Crime Unit, searched the car and found a box in the floorboard with 100 grams of heroin, 125 grams of cocaine, and over 100 oxycodone pills.

At an October hearing, Rucker admitted to the aforementioned offenses and because of his several prior felony drug convictions, was determined to be a career offender under the United States Sentencing Guidelines at his sentencing hearing.

Dunavant said Rucker’s 151-month sentence demonstrates his office’s commitment to removing career drug traffickers.

“Drug trafficking is an inherently dangerous business that is often conducted by recidivist offenders who have dedicated their lives to criminal activity, and who have no regard for the addiction, injury, and death caused by their sale of illegal drugs,” Dunavant said. “This sentence demonstrates our commitment to remove career drug traffickers from our streets by seeking significant mandatory sentences for selling poison in our community.”

U.S. Attorney D. Michael Dunavant

Two more Memphis men face up to 47 years imprisonment for their robbery of a CVS pharmacy in April 2018.

Jesse Robert Coop, 41, was convicted by a federal jury in August for his involvement in the armed robbery. Coop, along with another individual, Keith Harrington, 41, demanded drugs from the pharmacy safe, while brandishing a revolver.

They had stolen $44,250 worth of drugs including oxycodone, Oxycontin, morphine, hydrocodone, and Nucynta. However, a tracking device was previously installed on one of the pill bottles, leading MPD officers to a residence where both Coop and Harrington were found and arrested.

Coop admitted to his participation in the robbery and Harrington was identified using surveillance footage and eye-witness accounts. Both were charged with robbery affecting interstate commerce, use and carry of a firearm in a crime of violence, and conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute controlled substances.

Harrington pled guilty earlier this year and Coop was later found guilty after a two-day trial. Sentencing for Harrington and Coop will take place on April 12th and May 3rd respectively.

Dunavant said robberies involving controlled substances present the risk of more addiction and death in the community from illegal opioids.

“Robberies of businesses with a firearm are especially dangerous and violent due to the high risk of death and serious bodily injury to innocent victims,” Dunavant said. “Pharmacy robberies for controlled substances present the further dangerous risk of hundreds of prescription opioids being unlawfully distributed into the community, causing further potential addiction, injury, and death.

“As demonstrated in this case, we will not tolerate this senseless gun violence and will use all available resources to remove dangerous offenders from our communities for a very long time. Gun Crime is Max Time.”

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News News Blog

New Plan for Tom Lee Park to be Unveiled Next Week

Studio Gang

A view of Tom Lee Park from Studio Gang’s 2017 Riverfront Concept Plan.

Riverfront leaders will unveil the vision of the future for Tom Lee Park next Saturday and, with ideas from the community and guidance from two design firms, they say, ”We’ve finally nailed it.”

Last year, the Mississippi River Parks Partnership (MRPP) picked Studio Gang, a Chicago-based design firm, and SCAPE, a New York landscape and urban design firm, to lead the redevelopment of the massive park, perhaps best known as the festival grounds for Memphis in May. The Riverfront Development Corp. (RDC), the precursor of the MRPP, hired Studio Gang to deliver a new concept plan for the riverfront, which it did in 2017.

Studio Gang

Studio Gang’s concept plan shows a reactivated Wolf River Harbor.

Early reports of the Tom Lee Park redesign have included adding rolling hills and trees to the park, and sectioning the now-wide-open space into a series of outdoor rooms. Such features were shown in Studio Gang’s concept. But no new concept renderings have been published.

That will change at noon Saturday, February 2nd. The public is invited to see new pictures, a scale model, animations, and “an immersive virtual reality experience,” according to a news release from MRPP. The event will be held at a new “engagement center” located at the north end of Tom Lee Park.  [pullquote-1] MRPP

Coletta

“Memphians have been imagining what this riverfront can be for almost 100 years,” said MRPP president and CEO Carol Coletta. “After two-and-a-half years of studying every riverfront plan and hearing from more than 4,000 Memphians, I think we’ve finally nailed it.

“Memphians are going to be so excited by what’s coming to Tom Lee Park. This project is already making national news and will be an unequaled civic statement we can all be proud of as we begin our third century.”

MRPP is halfway to its goal of raising $70 million to support riverfront projects. Some of the money has already been spent on the design and build of the new River Garden park, the River Line bike and pedestrian pathway, and the restoration of the historic cobblestone landing. The remaining funds will be spent to redesign Tom Lee Park.

Justin Fox Burks

An aerial view of the new River Garden park.

Construction on the park is slated to begin in June and wrap up by the end of 2020.

The new Tom Lee Park Engagement Center will be open from 9 a.m.-4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, for anyone interested in learning about the future of the park. MRPP staff will be at the center from 4 p.m.-7 p.m. every Wednesday and from noon-3 p.m. every Saturday through May.

For more information on the unveiling event, check it out on Facebook.

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News News Blog

Permit Shows $1.5M Renovations for Clayborn Temple

Clayborn Temple/Facebook

Major renovations appear to be getting under way at Clayborn Temple.

A $1.5 million building permit was pulled Thursday for the building, located at 294 Hernando. The church and community gathering place was scheduled to close this spring for renovations. The permit did not include any details of the work to be done.

The building was purchased in 2015 by Memphis entrepreneur Frank Smith.

“This place is way too important for it just to be a church on Sunday,” Smith said in Memphis magazine last year. “It needs to be alive and breathe with the same kind of energy it did all of its life.”

Clayborn Temple/Facebook

Here’s a bit of history on the church from the Clayborn Temple website:

“In 1979, Clayborn Temple was added to the National Register of Historic Places. The AME congregation continued to worship in Clayborn until the doors were closed due to the congregants, similar to Second Presbyterian before it, moving away from Downtown.

[pullquote-1] “For over 25 years this formative institution in Memphis has sat vacant. One of our nation’s most significant church buildings, vibrant gathering places, and a landmark in the civil rights movement still stands here in Memphis awaiting restoration.

“It would be a great loss if this legacy ended because of an inability to restore the building in time. After years of non-use, Clayborn Temple is on track for restoration. This is likely Memphis’ last chance to see Clayborn Temple not only preserved but utilized as a worshipping, gathering, working place and symbol for the new Memphis that is growing within the city, particularly Downtown.

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Politics Politics Beat Blog

Covington’s Rose Easily Wins GOP Nomination for State Senate District 32

On a flood of Tipton County votes, most of them from  JB

THE AGONY OF DEFEAT: Lonnie Treadaway, who recently lost his bid to join the Memphis City Council, consoles Heidi Shafer as she confronts the numbers at her election-night party at Exline’s Pizza on Stage Road. Shafer was one of three Shelby Countians to lag behind GOP nominee Paul Rose of Tipton County in voting for the Republican nomination for state Senate District 32.

early voting, Covington businessman/farmer Paul Rose easily won the Republican nomination to succeed federal judge Mark Norris in the vacated District 32 state Senate seat.

Three Shelby Countians —former County Commissioners George Chism and Heidi Shafer, and former state Representative Steve McManus — brought up the rear behind Rose, all trailing the Covington candidate even in Shelby County. In Tipton County, Rose’s margin was 83 percent. Cumulatively, he won something like two/thirds of the overall vote in both counties.

None of the Shelby County candidates had anything but marginal vote totals in Tipton. Rose won 4,132 of the 4,632 votes cast there. In Shelby the vote went this way: Rose, 2,266; Chism, 1,512; Shafer, 1,322; McManus, 1,055.

Given the fact of the much larger overall pool of voters in Shelby County, it would seem obvious that a much higher turnout rate in Tipton County, coupled with an apparent determination of voters there to elect one of their own, figured large in the outcome.

Democrat Eric R. Coleman, with 377 votes in Shelby County and 166 in Tipton County won his nomination without opposition and will be matched against Rose on the March 12th general election ballot.

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Sports Tiger Blue

Temple 85, Tigers 76

The Tigers managed to stay in Thursday night’s game at Temple despite one of the worst shooting performances in the history of the program. The Tigers missed 22 of their 23 attempts from three-point range, yet trailed by only four points (73-69) with four minutes left to play. Shizz Alston buried a three-pointer (his only one) with 2:20 to play to extend the Owls’ lead to eight (80-72) and all but end the Tigers’ three-game winning streak.

Quinton Rose scored 18 points in the game’s fist 13 minutes, helping Temple to a 25-8 lead, the margin peaking at 20 points in the first half. But an 18-10 Tiger run closed the score to 41-33 at halftime and Memphis pulled within three points (45-42) on a Jeremiah Martin layup just over three minutes into the second half. But the Tigers never found their long-range touch, while the Owls connected on 10 of 27 three-point attempts (including seven of their first nine).

Rose led Temple (now 15-4, 5-1 in the American Athletic Conference) with 26 points. Martin led the Tigers with 28 points while Kareem Brewton added 15 and Raynere Thornton 14. Saddled by foul trouble, Kyvon Davenport was limited to seven points (less than half his average).

The Tigers drop to 12-7 with the loss and are now 4-2 in AAC play. They return to FedExForum Sunday to host UCF. Tip-off is scheduled for 3 p.m.

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Beyond the Arc Sports

Grizz Front Office Woes? Pera Doesn’t Have To Look Far For a Solution

With the Grizzlies now on the verge of possibly trading the last two pillars of the Grit ‘n Grind Era in Mike Conley and Marc Gasol, many fans and media members have shown concern. Not so much a concern over whether or not it is a good idea to trade the two veterans, but more a concern about who would be in charge of trading them — namely Grizzlies General Manager Chris Wallace.

Larry Kuzniewski

Tayshaun Prince

Wallace has been connected to his share of baffling moves and blunders while serving as the team’s general manager. From the Hasheem Thabeet draft pick, the countless other picks that didn’t pan out, the questionable trades, the giving away of draft picks haphazardly, the overpaying for players, and the signing of Chandler Parsons to a max contract. Is it understandable fans might be gun-shy about trusting Wallace with another rebuild?

Yes it is. Especially when this rebuild is different — for many reasons.

This isn’t the fresh, cute and cuddly Grizzlies franchise that was new to a city that didn’t know what to expect. This team has grown on — and with — the city and the fans have tasted the spoils of victory. They won’t settle for years of bad basketball or a poorly run franchise. It’s a crucial time for the organization. A mishandled rebuild could be fatal to the organization by driving away its fan base. 

So let’s assume that Grizzlies majority owner Robert Pera also has concerns about Wallace’s ability to prepare the organization for its next phase. Where does he turn at this point in the season? Who would be willing to come on board with the organization (or lack thereof), with its seeming constant flux and instability? To me, the answer might be simple. In fact, the answer in this case might already be here.

NBA.com

Chris Makris

The Grizzlies have two under-utilized members of their front office in former NBA player Tayshaun Prince, who serves as Special Assistant to the General Manager, and Chris Makris, the Director of Player Personnel. As a former highly respected and professional NBA player, Prince has clout around the league. Players, coaches, and executives, alike, respect Prince and his work ethic. He is highly intelligent in terms of seeing the game, identifying problems, and looking at the many intricate ways in which they can be addressed. He has a wealth of knowledge about the game — and knows what it takes to win. Most fans will also remember that he was a steadying presence on the Grizzlies’ Western Conference Finals team — and a major loss off the court when he was traded for Jeff Green two years later.

Prince is still relatively inexperienced in the area of day-to-day operations, but this is an area where Makris could come in and support Prince by filling that void. Similar to the Magic Johnson and Rob Pelinka partnership with the Lakers, I could see Makris and Prince being a tandem that accentuates each other’s deficiencies for a common goal — a successful NBA team built the right way, with no short cuts or ulterior motives. With the Lakers, Magic Johnson has the clout, pull, and credentials, while Pelinka handles the behind-the-scenes grind. Neither Prince nor Makris are yes men. And both choose to let their work and their actions do the talking.

I originally became aware of Makris when he was serving as General Manager for the Iowa Energy, after the Grizzlies acquired the team as a developmental league affiliate. He served in this capacity for 10 years, during a tenure that included four division titles and one league championship. Makris ran the basketball side, as well as the business side. He hired three Iowa Energy coaches that now serve as either NBA head coaches or assistants: Head Coach Nick Nurse and Assistant Coach Nate Bjorken in Toronto, and Sixers Assistant Coach Kevin Young. Makris and his revamped and refocused scouting team also identified Jaren Jackson Jr. early in the scouting process and saw his potential as the best player in this draft, when many others didn’t.

Are Prince and Makris experienced enough to handle this team for the upcoming trade deadline and beyond? Maybe not, but they have done the work and have all of the tools needed to succeed. And they would be a breath of fresh air in a front office that needs a major upheaval. The fanbase has seen what Wallace and Hollinger have to offer and most think it’s time for a change. I believe that Prince and Makris have the DNA that matches what the fans want to see, going forward.

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News News Blog

Major Expansion at Southland Gaming

At Southland Gaming & Racing’s Kennel Club, Delaware North chairman Jeremy M. Jacobs and co-CEO Lou Jacobs were joined this afternoon by several Arkansas government officials as the company unveiled plans for a major expansion to the casino. The $250 million project, the biggest ever investment in West Memphis, will include a new 113,000-square-foot casino complex and a high-rise hotel.

At the moment, Southland Gaming & Racing holds 2,000 gaming machines and several live tables games. The project is estimated to increase those numbers to 2,400 machines and 60 tables games. In addition, Southland will build a new dining space with an expanded buffet, larger steakhouse restaurant, new food hall and coffee shop, a player lounge, and bars.

The main component of the additions, however, is the 20-story high-rise. The hotel can accomodate 300 rooms: 216 standard, 72 corner suites, and 12 top-floor penthouses. To accommodate the extra guests, Southland will add a covered parking garage with space for 1,250 cars. Overall, construction on all the new structures is expected to take about 18 months. By then, Delaware North, which is privately financing the project, believes the new additions will be a major boon for the West Memphis community.

“When construction is completed, Southland will become even more of a destination than it is today. Our commitment is to being good neighbors,” said Lou Jacobs, “and we will continue to partner with nonprofit organizations in West Memphis.”

Southland expects the process to create 1,500 construction jobs over the next year. When the structures are completed, 400 permanent jobs will be available at the casino, bringing the total employment at Southland to around 1,200 jobs.

Senator Keith Ingram labeled Southland as an historic part of Arkansas. “Many people from my generation who grew up in West Memphis, we’ve never known the track not to be here. It’s provided so many jobs, a second a paycheck to people who wanted to help their families or put their children through school.”

In 2018, Southland saw over three million guests, and paid out a total of almost $46 million in taxes to the municipality. In addition, it contributed a further $215,000 to charity. Overall, Southland is estimated to have an economic impact of $144 million annually.
While the renovations will be a huge boost to Southland, Delaware North is looking to expand its options in the immediate future. The organization plans to take advantage of the recently passed amendment to legalize official casinos in Arkansas and include 40 live table games, comprising blackjack, craps, and roulette, while sports betting areas are also in the works.

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We Recommend We Saw You

901 Wrestling, Goodbye to Sears Southland Mall, Beale Street book find

It was fun catching up with some old and new friends at 901 Wrestling at the Rec Room.

901 Wrestling is the new name of UCPWS (Ultimate Championship Pro Wrestling South), the wrestling matches that take place every other week at the Rec Room. The name change was announced at its January 19th event.

“It’s been on our mind for a while,” says Stephen Thompson, an owner of the independent wrestling company “We never liked the name UCPWS. It was hard to pronounce and hard to remember. So, we were just trying to look for something to change to.”

They gave it some thought. “It’s kind of a rule in wrestling where you don’t want to be too local with the name if you want to branch out. But the Memphis crowds have been so good to us. And we’ve had so much success here over the year. With the 901 craze, what’s more Memphis than 901? The whole 901 craze (of) naming things you see everywhere now, we’ve got to get on board. What’s more Memphis than that? When someone hears ‘901,’ they know immediately it’s Memphis.

“We want to be Memphis everything. We’ve had thoughts of transitioning all the entrance themes to local Memphis artists. And the sponsors we’re going after, they’re all local. We’re trying to be 100 percent on everything.”

Their title belt also was changed to reflect Memphis, says wrestling manager Tommy Jax. “No one’s really made a Memphis belt before,” he says. “There’s been a Mid-Southern title, Southern heavyweight title, a thousand ways you can make a Southern title, but never a Memphis belt.

“So, what I set out to do when we did the design on it, I wanted to throw in themes that were Memphis-centric. So, that’s why at the heart of the belt is the city. That’s the skyline you see at the center of the belt.”

The skyline includes The Pyramid and the Hernando De Soto Bridge. “We could put our own logo there, but, to me, this is not about us. It’s about bringing something back to Memphis that shouldn’t ever have gone away. We put the city right there at the heart of the belt.”

The side plates include a tiger for the University of Memphis Tigers and a grizzly bear for the Memphis Grizzlies, which are among the “things written into the DNA of Memphis,” Jax says. “There’s music. There’s basketball. And there’s wrestling.”

901 Wrestling currently has 20 to 25 wrestlers on the roster, Thompson says. Most of the wrestlers are based in the area. “We pride ourselves on using a lot of our own local guys and not trying to bring in big names or anything,” he says. “We get big crowds regardless. We’re trying to be our own thing.”

901 Wrestling returns at 7 p.m. January 26th at the Rec Room, 3000 Broad. Admission is $5.

I know it’s hard to find me, but here I am with the 901 Wrestling wreslters at the Rec Room.

Michael Donahue

901 Wrestling referees: Billy ‘You Had Your Chance’ Robinson, Tracksuit Donny, Blue Shoes David Knight and Jay ‘No Fun’ Dunn.

……………………….

Michael Donahue

Josh ‘Next Level’ Matthews

Josh ”Next Level” Matthews recently has been a good guy, but he’s been a bad guy, too.

Matthews is one of the wrestlers on the 901 Wrestling roster.

“Most of the time I’m the bad guy,” says Matthews, 28. “Recently, I’ve had a change of heart and I’m doing the good guy a little bit to see how the fans like me. And get on their good side a little while.”

What does he do to become the “bad guy” wrestler? “Choking and low blows here and there. Raking the eyes with fingernails. Scratching the eyes. Running your fingernails down somebody’s throat. Hanging them over the ropes and choking them.”

A native of Tupelo, Matthews began wrestling when he was 14. His dad, Wayne “Bad Boy Burns” Blaylock, wrestled 22 years. “I actually started wrestling illegally in Mississippi. You were supposed to have a Mississippi wrestling license and be 18 and trained and all that. But I was 14. Everybody knew me. I kind of stood on my spot. I would put on some clothes over my wrestling attire and once the commissioner left, I would have my match.”

Matthews, who weighs 190 pounds, looks leaner than some other wrestlers. “I actually started working out again. One of my friends used to call me a ‘wasted piece of muscle.’ I was all muscle and ripped, but I would just sit around and play Playstation and eat Baconators – the real big burgers from Wendy’s with all the bacon on it. It comes with like three patties. I’ve tried to get fat, but it won’t happen.”

He also looks like he might be in a rock band. “I can break instruments. I did break a guitar over somebody’s head.”

Asked how he got the name “Next Level,” Matthews says, “When Tommy Jax started managing me. One night we had our match and he looks at me, ‘Dude, you’re on another level.’ And he called me ‘Next Level’ one night on the microphone and the crowd just fell into it.”

Matthews, who wrestled in Indiana, Illinois, Louisiana, Arkansas, and Alabama, says, “Right now, I haven’t taken any bookings other than the 901 Wrestling.”

He’s a fan of the wrestling company. “I like 901 Wrestling because we’re going with the change wrestling is going through, but we still have that old school mentality.”

They believe in “keeping it traditional” at 901 Wrestling, Matthews says. “Like keeping wrestling the way it should be and still having moves they may have not done in the ‘80s and ‘90s. Climbing on the rope and doing a 450 splash. One front flip and a half of a flip and you splash your opponent.”

Splash? “Going for the win. You splash somebody, you land on them belly to belly.”

……………

Frank Sampietro, far right, with former Sears employees at a reunion at Sears Southland Mall.

Sears Southland Mall

The closing of Sears Southland Mall on January 27th will mark the end of an era for the once retail giant. That’s the last Sears store in Memphis.


Frank Sampietro, who worked for Sears for 43 years, organized a reunion of former employees. About 60 retirees met at noon on January 21st at Sears Southland Mall. They took a final walk through the store, touring the sales floor and offices they used to work in.

“It’s been coming and we all knew it for a long time,” says Sampietro, 79. “But we were all happy and sad. Happy to see each other. Some we hadn’t seen in years. But sort of sad ‘cause we remember the good times. We were all together. All full-time employees. We were one big family.”

Sears at one time was “the largest employer in the city of Memphis with as many as 11 stores/units,” Sampietro says. About 4,000 people worked for Sears “during its heyday in the ‘60s and ‘70s.”

The smaller Sears stores in the Memphis area are “independently owned franchise stores. As far as we know, they will remain open.”

A graduate of Christian Brothers High School, Sampietro went to work at the old Sears Crosstown in 1959 after he got out of the Air Force. “I started working in the old customer service behind the original furniture department. And I was working part time there going to Memphis State.”

He met his wife, Jo, at Sears Southland Mall. “She worked in the candy department. I was the manager of the sporting goods department. We’ve been married 47 years.”

Sampietro, who retired eight years ago, first retired as appliance manager from Sears Laurelwood, but, he says, “They called me back and I worked six years as district manager for the home improvement side of the company.”

He didn’t get a gold watch when he retired, but, he says, “I got a gold pin with a little diamond in it. That was about it.”

Sampietro described the years he and his co-workers spent at Sears at “just an unending journey from the time we started to the time each of us individually retired. As we retired, we noticed things were changing.”

For instance, they put in center aisle cashiers. Previously, individual departments had individual cash registers with people manning them.

People hated that and, after a time, they put the registers back in the departments, Sampietro says.

Millie Ungren, who taught sewing machine classes at Sears for those who bought sewing machines from the store, wrote a poem, “Sad Day at Southland Mall,” to commemorate the store closing.

One stanza mentions the store’s famous Whitehaven neighbor:

 “There were the nights when Elvis shopped

We were ordered ‘stay put, do not leave’

He bought his shirts, jeans and underwear

When he left us, how we grieved.”

………………

Michael Donahue

Chuck Guthrie with his 1934 copy of ‘Beale Street – Where the Blues Began.’

Chuck Guthrie wants to know “what are the chances” of him discovering a circa 1934 book, Beale Street – Where the Blues Began the same week the International Blues Challenge takes place in Memphis.

It was sitting in his showcase at Market on Madison, which he owns with Larry Tyger, but he never looked at it until recently. “Several times during the week someone will come through and say, ‘Hey. I’ve got such and such. Will you give me a few dollars for it?’ It may be a piece of art, might be a book, little antiques.

“This has been half a year ago. A gentleman came in and he had a few knick knacks and a couple of books. He said, ‘I think that one book [the Beale Street book] might be something. But everyone who comes in says, ‘It really is old and it’s an antique.’ I usually give them two or three dollars to give them lunch or bus fare.”

He put the Beale Street book in the showcase without putting a price on it. “I never looked at it. Then Sunday afternoon, I decided I was going to make things in the case look better.”

He started to arrange the books. “I picked up the book and it said, ‘Beale Street. Where Blues Began.’ I said, ‘That’ll be interesting.’”

The book, which was was written by George W. Lee, includes a forward is by W. C. Handy.

Guthrie went on line and found a copy of the book that was selling for $1,550.

If anybody wants to look at the book and talk to him about it, Guthrie says to come on down to Market on Madison at Madison and Cleveland. He still hasn’t put a price on it.

…………..

[slideshow-1]

Categories
Intermission Impossible Theater

“A Song For Coretta” Sounds Good But the Timing’s Off

At first I blamed the material. And then it hit me: Pearl Cleage’s odd little one act may end with, “This Little Light of Mine,” but A Song For Coretta is a funeral dirge. It presents as the intertwining stories of women standing in line, patiently waiting to pay their last respects to Civil Rights icon, Coretta Scott King. It’s really the allegorical story of voices that have forgotten how to harmonize and of five individual fingers that have forgotten how to make a fist.

For starters, A Song for Coretta isn’t a musical. It’s a play about generation gaps. We meet a proper, older matriarch, full of bootstraps stories, proud to have participated in Civil Rights events with her parents and satisfied with how far her generation has come. King died in 2006, so millennial bashing wasn’t a thing yet, obvs. But the elder is quick to scold anybody younger and ungrateful enough to complain about anything. We’re also introduced to a free-thinking artist and Hurricane Katrina survivor; an ambitious reporter; and a younger, directionless woman from the neighborhood, who’s easy to dismiss but almost impossible to refute.

The secret gag is that this show has very little to do with Coretta Scott King or her husband Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. It’s not about the movement and what’s been won or what’s yet to be achieved. It’s about missing pieces. Things like a common purpose and leaders binding everybody together like glue.

A lot’s changed since 2006. Barack Obama replaced George W. Bush in the Oval Office, riding in on a wave of hope and change. He’s since been replaced by the overtly racist Donald Trump. In this time the spirit of protest has rekindled and movements like Black Lives Matter, the Fight for 15, and #TakeEmDown901, have restored at least some  lost momentum. That spirit was just beginning to smolder again to the moment of King’s death, as America was slid into an era of endless war and rapidly expanding income equality. Long story short: There may be plenty left to learn and laugh over in Cleage’s script, but some if its complaints ring at least a little less true today than they might have, even a few years ago. That’s no knock, but something to consider in production design.

Speaking of … Hattiloo’s flat, storybook set is a good-looking charmer, but maybe too much. It’s a shame, at any rate, that so very little of the designed space is ever really used by the actors. And even two weeks into the run, the show’s cast seemed less than confident with blocking and lines. Even the nicest individual performances were incomplete and the relationships never clicked. A Song For Coretta might clip along with all the quirk of an absurdist farce, but in this environment, it limps forward, wounded by an absence of crispness and clarity.

I didn’t think I liked A Song for Coretta till I sat down and wrestled with it for a while. But the more I struggled the more I came to regard it as a special little gem searching for the right setting and a whole lot of polish. Hattiloo solved one of these wants, but not the other.