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News News Blog

Investor Buys Royal Furniture Building

DCA

The Royal Furniture building at 122 South Main.

A New York investor has purchased the Downtown Royal Furniture building, but the store owners have no immediate plans to move.

The building at 122 South Main was purchased recently by Tom Intrator. He recently purchased the 18 South Main building, the vacant, former home of Murray’s Clothing. Intrator owns seven apartment properties here for a total of 1,630 units.

“This Royal Furniture space is particularly compelling for ground-floor retail and either hospitality, residential, or office space above,” Intrator said in a statement. “We aim to use discretion in verticality — building up, not out.”

He said the building was attractive as it sits on the trolley line and is close to the Orpheum Theater and Beale Street. For the building’s future, “we’re exploring all options,” Intrator said.

“With the momentum that is currently growing in Memphis, Downtown is increasingly attractive to investors,” said Jennifer Oswalt, president and CEO of the Downtown Memphis Commission. “We welcome the opportunity to work with developers like Tom who have real vision, not just in property acquisition but in supporting and enhancing the local culture of Downtown through thoughtful tenant-mix and experiences.”

The building was constructed in 1948 and has long been the retail showroom for Royal Furniture.

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Intermission Impossible Theater

Quark Theatre Announces New Season, New Nonprofit Status

Sims v the Detective in Quark’s ‘The Nether’

In only a few short seasons, Quark Theatre has built a reputation for producing thoughtfully staged work that’s conceptually ambitious, intellectually challenging, and technically do-able: little plays full of big ideas. Keeping with the Quark tradition, Season Four is exploring themes like the meaning of life, the meaning of death, the meaning of meaning, and what all that means. It marks the company’s fifth year of making theater together, and its first as a nonprofit.

September, 2019 
WAKEY, WAKEY by Will Eno

Wakey, Wakey is a funny, sad, tragic, comic examination of life and the leaving of it. In the first line of the show, GUY, the protagonist, seems to rouse from a nap and says “Is it now? I thought I had more time.”

And then we’re off to an examination of GUY’s life as he comes to the end of it. But it’s not a wake we’ve come to attend, but rather a celebration of GUY’s life, and OUR lives, too. A funny, thoughtful, at times tearful examination of what it means to be human.

The New York Times called “A glowingly dark, profoundly moving new play.”

March, 2020
A NUMBER by Caryl Churchill

When an adult son confronts his father about the reality behind his existence and identity, a dark world of truths, half-truths and lies is exposed…and nothing will ever be the same. The son learns he is but one of a number of clones, each with his own distinct personality and life. When multiple versions of a person exist, how can he be sure the love of his father is real?

The New York Times called it “A gripping dramatic consideration of what happens to autonomous identity in a world where people can be cloned.”

Quark’s next show is Radiant Vermin. The comedy by Philip Ridley opens March 15th. 

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News News Blog

Council Will Again Try to Reach Consensus, Fill Vacancies

Maya Smith

The 10-member Memphis City Council will convene for the first time in 2019 this afternoon, January 8th, and attempt to fill its three vacant seats.

The District 1 seat has been vacant since the resignation of Bill Morrison on November 1st. Since then, the council has been at an impasse, unable to award any one candidate the seven votes needed to win.


Council members spent hours debating, cast more than 100 votes, and four council members staged a walkout over the course of the two months spent trying to fill the seat.

Lonnie Treadaway, Rhonda Logan

Both of the top two contenders for District 1 — Lonnie Treadaway of Flinn Broadcasting Company and Rhonda Logan, director of the Raleigh Community Development Corp. — are no longer in the running. Logan was eliminated by the council at its December 18th meeting, and Treadaway pulled his bid for the seat earlier last month.

Now, only Tierra Holloway, Paul Boyd, Mauricio Calvo, and Danielle Schonbaum remain as candidates for the District 1 seat.

Councilman Worth Morgan said Monday he is unsure how the votes will go Tuesday afternoon, but his main goals are finding a resolution to fill the empty seats and reconciliation among his colleagues.

The council will also look to fill the the vacant District 6 and Super District 8-2 seats vacated by now-Shelby County Commissioner Edmund Ford. Jr. and Janis Fullilove, who was elected to be the Shelby County Juvenile Court Clerk in August.

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The six candidates for the District 6 seat include Edmund Ford Sr., father of Ford Jr.; Arveal Turner, a youth tennis coach; and Memphis Police Department officer Davin Clemons, who is the LGBTQ liason for the police department.

The others are Perry Bond, Lynette Williams, and Vera Holmes.

Among the 11 vying for the Super District 8-2 seat are Austin Crowder, teacher at Soulsville Charter School; Steve Lockwood, executive director of the Frayser Community Development Corp.; and Mark Jones, a local filmmaker seeking to be the first openly gay person to serve on the council.

Isaac Wright, Pearl Walker, Yvonne Nelson, Tonya Cooper, Gerre Currie, Anita Drake, Edward Douglas, and Cheyenne Johnson are also in the running.

The appointments are slated for the end of the council’s meeting, which will begin at 3:30 p.m. at Memphis City Hall. Following the filling of the three seats, the council is also set to vote on a chair and vice chairperson for 2019. However, if tonight’s meeting follows suit of the previous attempts to fill the vacancies, it could extend late into the evening. 


If the council is unable to reach a consensus and fill the three seats, a special election could be held.

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News News Blog

More Than 100K Stayed in Airbnbs Here Last Year

Airbnb/Facebook

About 106,000 people stayed in Shelby County Airbnbs last year, earning hosts here about $10.9 million, the company reported Tuesday.

The digital, home-sharing platform made a tax agreement with city leaders here in 2017. It was the first of its kind in Tennessee. This move paved the way for a tax-collection deal with cities across the state through the Tennessee Department of Revenue.

Airbnb hosts pay a 3.5 percent short-term room occupancy tax and a $2-per-night assessment. In its first year, the agreement here added $647,000 in tax revenues to Memphis tax coffers. From May 2016 to May 2017, 87,000 stayed in Memphis Airbnbs. Information on taxes collected during the 2017-2018 term of the agreement were not immediately available.

The new figures from Airbnb show that the typical host in Shelby County earned $8,400 last year in supplemental income from sharing their home through the platform.

Airbnb said Tuesday that data shows that the platform is playing well with the Tennessee hotel industry, rather than competing with it. The company said hotels continue to report strong growth, “even as local hosts welcomed tens of thousands of guests.”

“This suggests that Airbnb is opening up the state to a new slice of prospective tourists by catering to travelers less able to afford hotels, those who desire to stay in neighborhoods or cities that lack hotels, and families who prefer to be together under one roof,” the company said in a statement Tuesday.

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Politics Politics Beat Blog

Caught in the Act…

…as he surely meant to be, was 9th District Congressman Steve Cohen, who once again (as he always seems to do for affairs of state in the House chamber) had an aisle seat when California Rep. Nancy Pelosi came down the aisle last week to be sworn in as Speaker. And the Memphis congressman was waiting with a congratulatory kiss.

Cohen has been a backer of Pelosi throughout his 12 years so far in the House. He is loyal to the point of putting aside the Articles of Impeachment he introduced last year upon Pelosi’s advising that such a strategy (for any Democrat just now) would be premature and possibly counter-productive.

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News News Blog

Haslam Grants Clemency to Cyntoia Brown

Raumesh Akbari/Facebook

Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam granted executive clemency to Cyntoia Brown, the sex trafficking victim convicted for killing a john at 16, Monday morning.

“This decision comes after careful consideration of what is a tragic and complex case,” Haslam said in a statement. “Cyntoia Brown committed, by her own admission, a horrific crime at the age of 16.

Yet, imposing a life sentence on a juvenile that would require her to serve at least 51 years before even being eligible for parole consideration is too harsh, especially in light of the extraordinary steps Ms. Brown has taken to rebuild her life.

“Transformation should be accompanied by hope. So, I am commuting Ms. Brown’s sentence, subject to certain conditions.”

Brown will be released to parole supervision on August 7, 2019, after serving 15 years in prison. Parole conditions will require that she not violate any state or federal laws, be subject to a release plan approved by the Tennessee Department of Correction, and special supervision conditions, including employment, education, counseling, and community engagement.

Parole supervision will continue for Brown until August 7, 2029. She will complete re-entry programming prior to her release from custody in August in order to facilitate a successful transition to the community, according to Haslam’s office.

In 2006, Brown was convicted by a Davidson County jury of first-degree murder and aggravated robbery for the 2004 murder of 43-year-old Nashville real estate agent Johnny Allen, which occurred when then-16-year-old Brown was picked up by Allen and taken to his home.

She received a life sentence with the possibility of parole after serving a minimum of 51 years in prison, which means she would not have been eligible for parole consideration until 2055, at the earliest, without the governor’s action.

Here’s what state Senator Raumesh Akbari posted on the move Monday morning:

Haslam Grants Clemency to Cyntoia Brown

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Food & Drink Hungry Memphis

Westy’s Expands into Midtown

Having a late-night craving for some that famous Westy’s hot fudge pie, but cannot — cannot! — put on shoes?

Well, you’re in luck. Westy’s has expanded into Midtown and is now offering delivery.

Westy’s owner Jake Schorr says he recognized a transition in the restaurant industry and that meant delivery.

The restaurant, in the old Beeker’s space at 1607 Madison near Pho Binh, has a small dine-in area and offers pick-up as well.

Schorr says Westy’s Express will eventually offer the full Westy’s menu as well as some additional items, including a package meal, such as country-fried steak with three vegetables, and a number of dessert items.

Westy’s Express opens at 4 p.m., but will eventually be open from 11 a.m. to 2 a.m.

Westy’s is using its own drivers, but Schorr expects to sign up with Door Dash.

When asked why he’s opened an second location, Schorr jokes, “I don’t know better.”

He says, “I wanted to expand our presence but I couldn’t do that Downtown. That’s how I looked at it.”

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Film/TV Film/TV/Etc. Blog

Music Video Monday: Dirty Streets

Dirty Streets are here to kick your butt into this week on today’s Music Video Monday. 

Memphis gunslingers Thomas Storz, Justin Toland, and Andrew Denham have a new album, Distractions. The first video, directed by Waheed Alqawasmi, documents the band working at Sam Phillips Recording.

Here’s a little shot of adrenaline called “The Sound.”

Music Video Monday: Dirty Streets

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

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News News Blog

INFOGRAPHIC: Top 10 Property Code Violators

Neighborhood Preservation Inc./University of Memphis

Categories
Sports Tiger Blue

Numbers Game

Herewith, six numeric takes on an already memorable Tiger basketball season.

90 — From his opening press conference as Tiger coach, Penny Hardaway has stressed a desire to run opponents out of FedExForum, to leave players in dark jerseys gasping for breath at the first media timeout. There are various ways to measure the pace of a basketball team: number of possessions, number of shots, frequency of turnovers (for either team). But the best measure of a fast team is in the scoring column. The Tigers recently sprinted through five consecutive games in which they scored at least 90 points, a streak unmatched in these parts since the 1975-76 season (when Bill Cook and Marion Hilliard were leading the Tigers to the NCAA tournament). Memphis has struggled at times (including shooting accuracy from the field), but it hasn’t been muddy basketball at FedExForum. As the current team continues to grow — yes, college teams can grow after New Year’s Day — Penny’s pace may indeed end a game or two before halftime.
Larry Kuzniewski

Kyvon Davenport

0 — Kyvon Davenport’s uniform number has become a paradoxical reflection of his value to this team. After a rocky first five minutes in last week’s AAC opener against Wichita State, Hardaway was pleading (loudly) for his team to get Davenport the basketball. They did. And the senior, freshly shorn of his signature dreadlocks, scored a game-high 25 points in a relatively comfortable win over the Shockers. Don’t confuse Davenport coming off Hardaway’s bench with his place in this roster’s pecking order. He’s pulled down 30 more rebounds than any teammate. Jeremiah Martin may be the anointed leader of the 2018-19 Tigers, but you get the impression that, come March, this team will go as far as Davenport takes it.

77.9 — The Tigers rank 12th — dead last — in the American Athletic Conference in points allowed per game. Hardaway has insisted his team will play fast with the ball and apply the clamps defensively. Memphis has done one of these well to date.

9 — Hardaway has gone nine-deep with his rotation, and it might be ten had freshman sharpshooter David Wingett not been sidelined by injury. Five seniors, a junior, and three freshmen have played at least 13 minutes per game, with only three — Martin, Tyler Harris, and Alex Lomax — averaging 25 per game. There is no true “A unit” (the team’s best player currently comes off the bench). Hardaway can go small and, as he says, “speed [an opponent] up.” He can lean on veterans like Martin, Davenport, and Brewton, or go with the hot freshman hands of Harris, Lomax, or Antwann Jones (a trio that disappeared in last Sunday’s loss at Houston). These Tigers aren’t just deep, they’re versatile.

1 — There appears to be but one killer team in the American Athletic Conference, and the Tigers 13-point loss to Houston last Sunday will be the only time Memphis faces that team until (possibly) the league tournament in March. According to the NCAA’s new NET rankings, only the Cougars (4) belong among the country’s top 30 teams (through last Saturday’s games). Perusing the list, you find UCF (32), Cincinnati (33), and Temple (61) before locating Memphis (75). Houston may dominate this league, but there’s room for another team (or two) to accumulate wins and enter the conversation for an at-large NCAA tournament berth.

119,828 — The Tigers sold more tickets for their first eight home games (all nonconference) than they did for the entire 19-game home schedule in 2017-18 (118,277). Hardaway has a delightfully ironic nickname. A math wizard needs to calculate the pennies generated not just for the U of M, but for sponsors, bars, hotels, and vendors that support Tiger basketball since Hardaway took over coaching duties. And you get the sense this is much more than a honeymoon. A crowd of 13,000 for South Dakota State on a Tuesday in December? That’s money, Penny.