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City Council Unable to Reach Decision on District 1 Appointee


After more than 100 rounds of voting, the Memphis City Council was unable to reach a decision and fill the vacant District 1 seat Tuesday night.

The meeting stretched into the early hours of Wednesday morning, as council members stood deadlocked on the the top two vote-getters from earlier rounds: Rhonda Logan and Lonnie Treadaway.

Throughout the rounds, Logan repeatedly received six votes — one shy of winning. While, Treadaway consistently received two or three votes. In many of the rounds, Council Chairman Berlin Boyd passed.

Tensions flared Tuesday night about three hours in as councilwoman Jamita Swearengen told the council “it’s a shame” that they’ve been there for so long when Logan only needs one more vote. Swearengen also told Boyd he should “join us in the process,” and vote for one of the candidates.

“Don’t get pissed at me because I don’t want to vote for someone,” Boyd said.

Councilman Reid Hedgepeth, also looking to reach a decision in a timely manner, said “vote for Lonnie Treadaway and end this.”

Logan, the executive director of the Raleigh Community Development Corp., said she has been involved with the community in District 1 for over 20 years now. Treadaway, sales manager of Flinn Broadcasting Corp., told the council that he’s only lived in the district since July.

Supporters of Logan were council members Swearengen, Martavious Jones, Patrice Robinson, Joe Brown, as well as Edmund Ford Jr. and Janis Fullilove, whose last council meeting was Tuesday.

Council members Worth Morgan, Frank Colvett Jr., J Ford Canale, Hedgepeth, and on a handful of occasions Boyd, supported Treadaway.

After three motions to recess the meeting failed, Boyd, despite objections, calls for the meeting to picked up in two weeks.

After an earlier attempt to recess the meeting, Brown told Boyd that was “corruptible,” and was echoed by Swearengen who expressed concern that recessing until December 4th would mean that Fullilove and Ford won’t get to vote, as their resignations become official November 23rd and 25th respectively.

Now, a 10-member council will vote on the District 1 appointee at its Tuesday, December 4th meeting.

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News News Blog

TBI: Investigating All Officer Shootings Here Could Stretch Resources


Representatives from the Tennessee Bureau of Investigations (TBI) told a Memphis City 

Council committee Tuesday that the agency is concerned about the amount of personnel it would require to investigate all officer-involved shootings in Shelby County.

Jimmy Musice, attorney and policy adviser for TBI said the bureau has limited resources and that other small Tennessee counties could lose some of those resources if TBI investigated all officer-involved shootings here.

“It’s difficult to be tasked with something we may not have the appropriate resources to do,” Musice said.

Musice said historically TBI has investigated the majority of officer-involved shooting cases in rural counties, as they typically don’t have the resources to investigate independently.

[pullquote-1]

It wasn’t until after the 2014 shooting of Mike Brown in Ferguson, Missouri that the state’s four large counties — Shelby, Knox, Davidson, and Hamilton — began asking TBI to step in, Musice said.

Of the 70 officer-involved shootings that TBI said took place between 2013 and 2018 in Shelby County, the bureau has only been asked to investigated 15 incidents.

Councilman Martavious Jones asked how much of TBI’s resources would be strained if the policy only applied to Davidson and Shelby Counties and added that because Tennessee’s four big counties are the largest contributors to the state’s budget, some of that money should go back to Shelby County for these investigations.

“The only contention I make is why not give us a return on our investment,” Jones said. “We send all of this money to Nashville for it to be dispersed throughout the 94 counties. I don’t think it’s too much to ask.”

However, Shelby County District Attorney Amy Weirich, Shelby County Sheriff Floyd Bonner Jr., and Memphis Police Department Director Michael Rallings all agreed that the policy that is in place now is working. The policy, or memo of understanding (MOU), now only requires that TBI be asked to step in to investigate officer-involved shootings that result in death.

“We’re trying to be as transparent as possible,” Bonner said. “We want people to know that all law enforcement officers in this area are doing the right thing. Nobody’s trying to hide anything.”

Rallings added that no one ever talks about the law, which he said is very simple: “An officer can use deadly force to protect themselves when threatened with deadly force or a third party is.”

“If that’s applicable to the situation, then that shooting is probably going to be ruled justified,” Rallings said. “It’s not pretty. It’s never pretty when an officer uses deadly force, but it’s necessary.”

Still, Rallings said officer-involved shootings have not been an issue in Memphis, despite the high number of violent crimes.

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Without the support of the aforementioned officials, Councilman Worth Morgan said it would be bad policy to support the move.

“I don’t see any way we can support this without having our experts who are sitting right in front of us in agreement with it,” Morgan said. “I don’t think that’s good policy or government. They have my full confidence unless somebody can show me real evidence that proves otherwise.”

Rep. G.A. Hardaway disagreed with the officials and Morgan, saying that the MOU is just the starting point. The MOU is open to interpretation and not does include any repercussions for not adhering to it, he said.

“It’s not about what the state is willing to spend for public safety, but about what the people of Shelby County and Memphis deserve,” Hardaway said.


TBI has access to funds that local agencies don’t, Hardaway added. “The bottom line is that the state has the resources.”

“That’s what your legislators from this area are charged with,” Hardaway said. “We go to Nashville and put in place public policy to get the appropriations to serve our community.”

[pullquote-3]

Hardaway also said that it’s not that TBI can’t conduct the investigations because “they’re already doing it for somebody else who isn’t paying their full part.”

“What will it [the legislation] do again?” Hardaway said. “It will deliver truth and justice by collecting the facts in a timely fashion with objectivity.”

The council didn’t vote on a resolution Tuesday, but Councilman Edmund Ford Jr., whose resignation from the council and transition to the Shelby County Commission becomes effective on November 25th, said he “would like to see this body act.”


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Sports Tiger Blue

Three Thoughts on Tiger Football

CREDIT: Larry Kuzniewski

• First of all, my sincere apologies for misreading the tea leaves for the American Athletic Conference standings last week. I was guilty of applying linear logic to the Tigers’ chances for winning the West Division: They’d need one more win than Tulane to advance to the AAC championship game, the Green Wave having beaten Memphis earlier this season. Lesson learned: no linear logic in three-way or four-way ties. Tulane beat the Tigers, indeed, but the Green Wave lost to Houston and SMU. Memphis beat the Mustangs, so if they beat the Cougars this Friday, they’ll have a better record within the three-way (or four-way) tie than Tulane’s. Were I a Tulane football player, I’d cringe at the sight of Memphis playing for the league title. But I’d especially regret the losses to those teams from Texas.

Larry Kuzniewski

Memphis coach Mike Norvell

• Memphis football desperately needs an annual conference “rivalry game.” Well, we have it Friday at the Liberty Bowl. With Southern Miss and UAB no longer annual clashes, the cat-fight between the U of M and UH has become the most meaningful contest on the Tiger schedule. (Memphis has dominated its series with Tulane for too long, owning a 22-12-1 advantage even after this year’s Green Wave victory.) The Tigers have won the last two meetings with Houston after dropping six straight from 2006 to 2015. (Houston leads the series, 15-11.) The aggregate score of the the last four games between these teams (split two each): Memphis 148, Houston 145.

• I love Senior Day, and love the way it falls near Thanksgiving. Commitment to a football program — from its players — is the only chance a program has to succeed. The annual pregame salute to departing players honors this commitment, and with families on the field. It’s wonderful.

Two of this year’s seniors — Sam Craft (WR) and Jackson Dillon (LB) — played their first games for Memphis in 2013. They each endured two redshirt seasons to recover from injuries so have been a part of all five winning clubs since 2014. Craft even snuck in some basketball for coach Josh Pastner’s squad in 2016.

I don’t like the expression “supporting role” for young men who have donned helmets and pads in heat and cold for years without any limelight while helping their team improve on a daily basis. So let’s say the following seniors have played building roles for Memphis: Ross Anderson (DB, White Station High School), Noah Arrindell (DB, Houston High School), Tim Belles (LS, Houston High School), Hayden Ferrari (WR, Christian Brothers High School), and Brandon Murphy (DL).

Emmanuel Cooper (DL) has been part of the Tigers’ pass rush and contributed 4.5 tackles-for-loss this season. Tito Windham (CB) has been a two-year starter and leads the Tigers this year with two interceptions. Linebacker Curtis Akins is a three-year starter and leads Memphis with 72 tackles this season (43 of them solo). No unit has been more impacted by seniors this season than the Tigers’ offensive line. Center Drew Kyser will play in his 51st game (and make his 50th start) against Houston. (Kyser is the first and only Tiger to share an alligator-hunting story with me.) Left tackle Trevon Tate will make his 46th start against the Cougars and was a preseason all-conference pick by Athlon. Right tackle Roger Joseph will make his 24th start Friday.

Get to the Liberty Bowl early (kickoff is 11 a.m.) to help send these Tigers off the right way. A winning tradition requires time . . . and players like these.

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News News Blog

Metal Museum Eyes Overton Park Expansion

CREDIT: Photographs by Justin Fox Burks

Photographs by Justin Fox Burks

Metal Museum leaders are looking to expand the museum to Memphis College of Art’s (MCA) Rust Hall in Overton Park in a $45 million proposed project.

MCA officials announced in October 2017 the school would close because of ”declining enrollment, overwhelming real estate debt, and no viable long-term plan for financial sustainability.” The school is expected to be fully closed by 2020.

Earlier this year, city leaders launched Project Overton Park to envision the future for Rust Hall and the Brooks Museum of Art, as its leaders eye a move to a new location on the Memphis riverfront.
[pullquote-1] Carissa Hussong, the Metal Museum’s executive director, said when the city issues a request for proposals for Rust Hall, the museum intends to submit an application.

The museum would keep its French Fort location on the river for residency programs. Rust Hall would be the site of the museum’s exhibition spaces, metalworking facilities with apprentices, commissions, and repairs, and an expanded education program, Hussong said.

To get there, the Metal Museum has kicked off a $45 million capital campaign. It includes $21 million for renovations to Rust Hall, $4 million in renovations to its existing campus, and a $20 million endowment “to ensure the museum’s ongoing financial stability and to provide adequate resources to maintain Rust Hall.”

“At first, when the idea of Rust Hall was mentioned to me, I thought, why would we do that?” Hussong said. “We have such a beautiful location that is such a part of our history. But the more I thought about it, I thought, maybe we could do both.”

The Metal Museum is six years into a process to re-envision its campus, Hussong said. They’ve been working with Looney Ricks Kiss, a local architectural, planning, and interior design firm, on a new campus master plan. They’ve also been conducting surveys “to see what people want and to what we’re doing well and not doing well,” she said.

“What we’ve gotten from that process is more — people have said we want more of everything,” Hussong said.

Metal Museum/Facebook

Should the museum be chosen for expansion into Rust Hall, the French Fort location could be home to am artist-in-residency program that “does not exist elsewhere in the United States.“ Metalworking requires lots of heavy equipment, Hussong said, and moving it is expensive. That makes traditional metalworking residencies long (lasting years) and costly.

The Metal Museum’s on-site equipment would give ”emerging metalsmiths access to equipment they not afford early in their careers.” Its onsite housing could also lower the cost and shorten the time of residencies.

At Rust Hall, the museum would have the opportunity for a “more robust class offering.” It has no dedicated classrooms now, Hussong said. Also, no indoor space means they haven’t offered summer camps or courses.

“There are a lot of things we would be able to do in a larger location and we’d really be able to expand our programming,” she said.

The museum now has about 25,000 square feet, a staff of 19, an annual operating budget of about $1.5 million, and about 30,000 visitors each year.

Museum leaders have said the move would also allow the museum to triple its exhibition space, triple its annual visitor number, educate at least 3,800 students each year, triple the metalworking space, enlarge the museum store, and more. 

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News News Blog

Former TVA and MLGW Heads Criticize Nuclear Power Proposal

CREDIT: TVA

TVA

Bellefonte nuclear plant

The former chairman for the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) joined former Memphis Light, Gas, and Water (MLGW) president in speaking out against a proposal for Memphis to switch to a nuclear power source.

Dave Freeman, former TVA head, and Herman Morris Jr., former MLGW leader, sent a letter dated November 19th to the Memphis City Council and Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland, urging them not to support the proposal for MLGW to switch from TVA to the Alabama-based nuclear plant, Bellefonte.

A representative from the group Nuclear Development LLC told the council last month that the switch could save Memphis $500 million a year.

“We write to express our grave concern that the city of Memphis is considering the purchase of electricity from the unfinished Bellefonte nuclear power reactors,” the letter reads. “This plant is so outdated that even TVA couldn’t complete them after a half of century of trying.”

The letter continues, urging the mayor and council to heed the advice of current MLGW president J.T. Young, who told the council he was skeptical about the proposal at its October 9th meeting.

One of Young’s concerns was whether or not Nuclear Development would be able to complete the construction of the plant.

The pair said that the plant’s two unfinished reactors, which were first designed in the 1960s are “woefully out-of-date.”

Even if construction of the reactors is completed, Morris and Freeman argue that the cost to maintain the plant would be “enormous,” meaning the price of power would be more expensive than from TVA or from other “clean, safe, renewable resources like solar and wind power.”

“This fact is why old nuclear power plants around the country are closing,” the letter reads. “They simply cannot compete against safer, cleaner, and better 21st century energy technologies.”

Additionally, the letter cites that Memphis is TVA’s largest customer, and that Bellefonte could not provide power to all of the city, as it is “too small to meet all our needs.”

“At best, Bellefonte could provide only a fraction of the power supply that Memphis would need,” while the rest would have to come from other sources outside of Nuclear Development’s ownership.

The duo urged the council to await the December release of MLGW’s study on long-term power supply options

“We therefore urge you to say ‘NO!’ to an attempt by Nuclear Development LLC to mislead Memphians with unsupported claims of cost savings in order for it to obtain a handout from the federal government.”


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News News Blog

Man Indicted for Transporting Several Undocumented Immigrants Through State

An undocumented Mexican national was indicted for illegally transporting undocumented immigrants through Tennessee.

Rufino Valldovinos-Ramirez, 41, was charged with illegally transporting nine undocumented immigrants by a grand jury who maintained that he “knew and disregarded the fact that his passengers were illegally present in the United States, and then transported them in furtherance of their violation of law, for the purpose of his own financial gain.”

Valldovinos-Ramirez was also charged with illegal re-entry to the country after having been deported. If convicted, he faces a maximum of five years in prison for each of the nine counts of illegal transportation and up to two years and/or a $250,000 fine for the illegal re-entry charge.

U.S. Attorney D. Michael Dunavant said promoting lawful immigration is a priority for his office.

“Because the Department of Justice is the only agency that can prosecute violations of our sovereign immigration laws, it is critical that our work focuses on criminal cases that deter and reduce illegality whole promoting lawfulness in our immigration system,” Dunavant said. “This is a high priority for the U.S. Attorney’s Office, and we will aggressively prosecute any persons who engage in unlawful smuggling, transportation, or harboring of multiple undocumented aliens to illegally enter the United States.”

The case will be prosecuted by assistant U.S. Attorneys, Lauren Delery and Stephen Hall. It was investigated by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Homeland Security Investigations.

Jere Miles, the special agent over the Homeland Security Investigations stationed in New Orleans, said illegal border crossing poses a threat to the country’s security and that the department is committed to investigating and prosecuting those that “flagrantly violate U.S. law.”

“Criminal networks who engage in illegal cross-border smuggling pose a security vulnerability to the U.S.,” Miles said. “Further, these groups routinely place profit over the well-being of their human cargo, which often has tragic results for those taking this dangerous illegal path.”


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News News Blog

Group: ‘Coliseum Is Officially Saved’

CREDIT: Justin Fox Burks

Justin Fox Burks

The Mid-South Coliseum has been saved, according to the group that has worked for years to preserve the structure.

Demolishing the Coliseum was a central part of previous plans to transform the Memphis Fairgrounds into a youth sports mecca. But state leaders gave their blessing on a new plan Monday that — at least — leaves the building in place. That was enough for the grassroots Coliseum Coalition to celebrate.

Group: ‘Coliseum Is Officially Saved’ (4)

“The Coliseum is officially saved!” the Coalition wrote on Facebook and Twitter Monday.

For that exclamation, the group pointed to Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland’s plan for the Fairgrounds. In its third phase, the plan would put Tourism Development Zone (TDZ) funds with private investment to “achieve the reactivation, adaptive reuse, or redevelopment of the Mid-South Coliseum,” the Coalition said.
[pullquote-1] “These are huge wins for the Coliseum, and big steps forward to a great Fairgrounds,” reads the group post. “We still have to make Phase 3 happen and get the Coliseum open, but like the rest of Memphis, the Coliseum and Fairgrounds have some strong winds in their sails.”

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Beyond the Arc Sports

Grizzlies Beat Mavericks 98-88, Tie for #1 in West

CREDIT: Matthew Preston

On the second night of a back-to-back, the Grizzlies returned to FedExForum hoping to secure another win, and a tie for first in the Western conference, after 16 games.

The Dallas Mavericks arrived in Memphis on a four-game win streak, having beaten the Golden State Warriors on Saturday. Jaren Jackson had faced off against every other top 5 2018 draft pick except the Mavs’ Luka Doncic before tonight.
Matthew Preston

In his pregame availability, Grizzlies head coach J.B. Bickerstaff said the foundation has been set after 15 games and lauded the team’s solid identity and culture. In terms of improvement, Bickerstaff said better offense will come along as the Grizzlies get more comfortable with one another, and learn each others’ games and how to play toward their teammates’ strengths and tendencies.

The Mavericks started the game on a 5-0 run, but the game sank waist-deep into that Grindhouse mud soon after and remained bogged down, per the Grizzlies’ liking, from that point onward. Neither team pulled away by more than a few points, with the lead changing hands 17 times.

The Mavericks got an early boost from Dorian Finney-Smith’s two threes. Meanwhile, the Grizzlies shot 0-4 from deep to begin the game.

Jackson put on a showcase in the first quarter. Though he and Doncic were the star rookies in this matchup, Jackson spent more of his time guarding and being guarded by DeAndre Jordan.

Jackson made Jordan look downright foolish on a handful of possessions. On one play, Marc Gasol kicked the ball out to Jackson in the corner. Jackson dribble-drove into Jordan, backed up, then drove past him for a reverse-layup.

Grizzlies Beat Mavericks 98-88, Tie for #1 in West (2)

In another sequence, Jackson hit a deep two in Jordan’s face, then blocked Jordan’s dunk attempt on the other end. Jackson registered another block on Jordan in the post soon after. The Mavericks finished the first period shooting 29.2 percent from the field.

Between the first two quarters, the Grizzlies game-break entertainment featured a three-way competition between dental equipment. I’m only pointing that out because the competition and accompanying video made less sense than episode 8 of the recent Twin Peaks. I don’t know if it was ineffectual production or high art, but I didn’t like it (unlike episode 8 of Twin Peaks).

Another absurd thing that happened: Jackson had multiple highlights in one sequence. Doncic had a look from three, but didn’t want to take it with Jackson defending the perimeter. Instead, he drove towards the rim, but only made it about a step before Jackson picked his pocket, ran the court, and finished at the other end with an and-one spin move. It was sublime and deserving of the Black Unicorn nickname I’ve seen spreading on Twitter.

Grizzlies Beat Mavericks 98-88, Tie for #1 in West (3)

Mike Conley also had a sweet assist to Jackson in the second quarter, where he drove to the rim and no-look flipped the ball over his shoulder to the trailing rookie. I’m interested to see how the Grizzlies’ fast break offense unearths ways to leverage Jackson’s abilities for easy points.

After the game, Bickerstaff said Jackson has “… an offensive skill set that we’re just beginning to see.” I agree.

Through good overall team play, the Mavericks pulled ahead early in the second quarter, and held that lead til near the end of the half. But the Grizzlies clawed their way back to a four point lead after two quarters.

One thing I liked seeing: Gasol looking great on one of his rumbling hook shots in the paint, with bouncy footwork and an elastic finish. It’s nice to know that shot is still very much in his tool belt.

Bickerstaff called a timeout less than a minute into the second half, after Doncic and Smith Jr. hit quick threes. Doncic would finish with 8 points in the period.

The teams finished the third quarter tied at 74.

Memphis suffocated Dallas in the fourth quarter, holding the Mavericks to 14 points. I repeat: the Grizzlies held the Mavericks to 14 points in the final period of play, and did so on the second night of a back-to-back (when their previous game was on the road).

Meanwhile, solid and clutch play by Conley, Shelvin Mack, Garrett Temple, and Gasol enabled the Grizzlies to close out the game on the offensive end.

Grizzlies Beat Mavericks 98-88, Tie for #1 in West (4)

Conley had another stellar shooting night, filling the basket to the tune of 28 points, and going 7-11 from deep! Five of those triples came in the second half. He also dished seven assists, had two steals, and five rebounds.

His shooting was efficient — 10-18 from the field. Conley made it to the line for only two free throws, but I don’t mind him pouring in nearly 30 points without having to put his body on the line to get to the charity stripe this early in the season.
Larry Kuzniewski

Kyle Anderson was effective in this game as well. His passing and defense were stellar, and he’s shown much better touch around and near the rim in the last two games. He finished with 8 points on 4-6 shooting, and had 4 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals, and 2 blocks. He had one particularly clutch play late in the game, where he missed a corner three, stole the rebound away from the Mavericks, and finished with a jam.

JaMychal Green buoyed an otherwise disappointing performance by the Grizzlies bench. Wayne Selden and Marshon Brooks had trouble making good decisions with the ball, especially in the pick and roll, and combined for just 5 points. Mack had a lackluster shooting night, taking a small number of shots, but he made a timely three in the fourth quarter, and didn’t turn the ball over once.

Green had a nice return to the home court after his jaw surgery. He had a nasty block on Dennis Smith Jr., and scored 12 points on 5-8 shooting, 2-4 from three. He was one rebound shy of a double-double.

Gasol had a solid night on offense, contributing 17 points on 6-16 shooting, but missed all five of his three point attempts. He made up for it on the boards, however, pulling down 15(!) rebounds (all defensive).

Grizzlies Beat Mavericks 98-88, Tie for #1 in West

Memphis beat Dallas on the boards (45-43), and in the paint (44-36).

Defense won the game again for the Grizzlies. The Mavericks average about 110 points a game this season, but couldn’t break 90 at the Grindhouse. Gasol and Jackson had 4 blocks each. The team had 11 overall. The Mavericks finished shooting an anemic 34.1 percent from the floor.

One thing Dallas did differently for stretches at the beginning of the game and second half, pointed out by Chris Herrington, was put Jordan on Jaren Jackson and smaller forwards on Gasol. As a result, Gasol’s three-point game was taken away, and he spent much of his time down low with Jackson on the perimeter—when their positions are usually the other way around.

After the game, Bickerstaff and Gasol said they weren’t too worried about other teams trying a similar tactic, and attributed the scheme and its success to the type of personnel the Mavericks have.

The Grizzlies are now tied for first in the Western conference after 16 games. That’s not a tiny sample size. But the team isn’t thinking much about that. Bickerstaff said he won’t be paying too much attention to the rankings until after the All-Star break, and Gasol said he was happy, but that being happy isn’t the same as being satisfied.

The Grizzlies are off until Wednesday, when they’ll take on a dangerous and similarly slow-paced Spurs team in San Antonio.

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Music Music Blog

In Memoriam: Patrick Mathé of New Rose & Last Call Records

Today, the French journal Libération reports that Patrick Mathé, co-founder of New Rose Records and Last Call Records, has died. The details are not available at this time. He was 69.

Patrick Mathé

The importance of both labels to Memphis music, and underground music in general, can scarcely be overstated. After working to import punk music to France, starting in 1976, Mathé opened the New Rose record store in Paris in 1980. Soon after, he and partner Louis Thévenon started the label of the same name.

Their first release, the Saints’ Paralytic Tonight, Dublin Tomorrow, set the tone for a long track record of soulful garage rock, alternative, and punk music. Many Memphis-associated artists were eventually released on the label, including Alex Chilton, Tav Falco & His Unapproachable Panther Burns, the Hellcats, and the Country Rockers. Chilton, after releasing two Eps on Big Time, shored up his career revival in the mid-’80s with High Priest, Black List, and Clichés on New Rose. The label also released such Chilton-produced gems as the Gories’ I Know You Fine But How You Doin’? and Les Lolitas’ Fusée D’Amour.

In Memoriam: Patrick Mathé of New Rose & Last Call Records

Even renegade country groups like the Country Rockers or Our Favorite Band, some of the first artists recorded by Memphis’ Doug Easley (who would doubtless be rejected by today’s gatekeepers of Americana), were welcomed by New Rose, as were many other unclassifiable combos. Many of them were featured on compilations like the multi-band Everyday is a Holly Day, a tribute to Buddy Holly, as well as on albums under their own names. 

In the 90s, New Rose was put on ice, as Mathé launched Last Call Records with much the same aesthetic as its predecessor. Perhaps that label’s greatest achievement, subjectively speaking, was the brilliant Cubist Blues, an improvised album by Alex Chilton, Ben Vaughn, and Alan Vega, released in 1996. It also re-released many older New Rose titles, and continued to operate well into the 21st Century. As Vaughn wrote in a Facebook post today, “He was the first true ‘bon vivant’ I ever met. A great music man. He will definitely be missed.”

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News News Blog

BREAKING: Fairgrounds TDZ Wins State Approval

City leaders cleared a major hurdle Monday morning with a positive vote from state leaders on the city’s plan for the redevelopment of the Memphis Fairgrounds.

Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland and Paul Young, the city’s director of Housing and Community Development, won approval of the city’s revamped Tourism Development Zone (TDZ) from the executive committee of the State Building Commission during a meeting Monday morning in Nashville.

The move would allow state taxes inside the zone to be redirected to pay for the possibly $181 million plan that would transform the fairgrounds into a youth sports mecca.

“Competitive youth sports is a huge business and, if you’ve ever been, it’s a lot of fun, too,” Strickland told the four-member committee Monday morning. “It’s multiple thousands of families taking mini-vacations all across the area. Retailers, restaurants, and hotels do a booming business. I know because my son did it all over the Midwest and Southeast playing basketball.”

Young noted the TDZ proposal before the board Monday was completely different from the plan put before them in 2013. He said his team looked again at competitive youth sports market reports and ensured the plan focused only on those sports with which they could compete (basketball, volleyball, mat sports, and indoor cheerleading).

Also, Young said his team “right-sized“ the retail spaces, the sports facilities, and made sure the complex would not compete with existing sports facilities in the Mid-South.

“The only similarities at this point is that it’s at the Fairgrounds site and it’s youth sports,” he said.

Young explained the project would move through three phases. Phase one is complete, with Tiger Lane, improvements to Liberty Bowl stadium, and site work for phase two. That part of the project would include the construction of the youth sport complex, which would front Southern on the south end of the Fairgrounds.

But before hammers begin to swing on the complex, state officials will have another review of the plan before it moves ahead at all. Monday’s approval of the TDZ allows city officials to begin collecting commitments of the $61 million in private funds needed to fuel phase two of the project. State finance officials will only sign off on the the $90 million in bonds city leaders will issue for their part of the project if they can raise those private funds.

“If the money and the numbers do not work out, we will not move forward with the project,” Young said.

During Monday’s meeting, Justin Wilson, the state Comptroller of the Treasury, said at first he was “very suspicious of this project.” But with those financial assurances from city leaders (that they’d halt the plan if the money didn’t work) and that state officials would get another look at it later, “I’m satisfied this is the appropriate thing to do.”

If the finances are in line, city leaders could issue the bonds next year or early 2020. With that, the plan said the complex could open by 2021 or 2022.

Phase three of the project would begin within five years of the completion of phase two. Phase three cold cost up to $30 million and include “iconic” entrances and exists, improvements to the Pipkin building, expanded parking, a tourist attraction at Melrose High School, and more.

The Mid-South Coliseum would remain mothballed under the plan. but Young told committee members Monday that private funding to revive the building would emerge if the area around it were reactivated.  

Larry Martin, Commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Finance and Administration, commended Strickland and his administration for a “job well done.”

“The city of Memphis has come a long way with this TDZ from 2013 to the plan we have in front of us today,” he said.

State Rep. Mark White (R-Memphis) spoke in support of the city’s TDZ. He pointed to re-development projects all over the city including Crosstown Concourse, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, the city’s riverfront, and South Main. He said he considered the Fairgrounds part of the city’s “Golden Horseshoe.”