Tag: Memphis

Categories
Politics Politics Feature

Punching Down

Brent Taylor (Photo: Senator Brent Taylor | Facebook)

It surely hasn’t gone unnoticed that state government is continuing to flex its muscles vis-à-vis local government in Memphis and Shelby County. 

Officials aligned with the administration in Nashville are threatening outright takeover of the Memphis-Shelby County Schools (MSCS) system at the same time that state Senator Brent Taylor and helpers continue to implement their would-be coup d’état against the county judiciary and the office of District Attorney Steve Mulroy.

In the case of MSCS, the sudden out-of-nowhere power struggle between an apparent school board majority and first-year superintendent Marie Feagins has prompted what amounts to an ultimatum from Governor Bill Lee and the presiding officers of the state legislative chambers: Keep Feagins or else!

And Taylor has enlisted the same officials in his campaign to oust Mulroy, involving them in his bill of particulars against the DA at a press conference last Thursday that followed by a day a quickly improvised “summit” called by the senator to consider the case for a new crime lab in Memphis, something Mulroy has put forth as a major need for facilitating effective local law enforcement.

The list of invitees to the crime lab conference, styled as a “roundtable discussion,” included Tennessee Bureau of Investigation director David Rausch and a virtually complete roster of public figures, state and local, who could be considered stakeholders in the matter of law enforcement.

There was one glaring omission, however: DA Mulroy, who was not only not invited; he was not even informed of the meeting, which was held at the City Hall of Germantown and concluded with Taylor suggesting an ultimate consensus that processing of local crime data in sensitive cases could be easily expedited via an existing crime lab in Jackson, obviating the need for a new Memphis lab.

A cynic could be pardoned for assuming that the entire thrust of the meeting in Germantown was to undermine the absent DA’s call for such a lab.

There was no doubt about the senator’s minimizing motive in his press conference the next day at the Memphis Police Association headquarters. It was overtly to “reveal the causes to be considered for the removal of District Attorney Steve Mulroy.”

Taylor’s bill of particulars against Mulroy was a duke’s mixture of complaints, ranging from prerogatives asserted by the DA that could be, and in several cases were, countered by ad hoc state legislation to innovative procedures pursued by Mulroy, some of them reflecting purposes that Taylor acknowledged sharing himself.

A case of the latter was an agreement reached by the DA with Juvenile Court Judge Tarik Sugarmon to allow trial court judges access to Juvenile Court records. Taylor had sponsored a bill to do just that in last year’s session of the General Assembly.

A similar instance was Taylor’s inclusion in his list of Mulroy’s declared support of gun safety referenda placed by the Memphis City Council on the 2024 general election ballot and overwhelmingly passed.

“Many of us” could sympathize with the referenda points, Taylor said, but his point was that the referenda — calling for local ordinances on behalf of gun permits, an assault rifle ban, and judicial confiscation of firearms in at-risk instances — ran counter to state law.

Sponsors of the referenda had made it clear that they called for “trigger” laws that could be enforced only if and when state law might be amended to allow them.

And there’s a further anomaly here, given Taylor’s stated goal to “Make Memphis Mattter” and safeguard the city from crime.

One has to wonder why he isn’t pursuing an altogether different strategy, one calling for a legislative “carve-out” of Shelby County from current state law prohibiting the immediate implementation of the ordinances called for by the referenda.

Such a course would be consistent with the principle of home rule; it would also be supportive of a position taken by Mulroy’s Republican opponent in the 2022 DA’s race, then-incumbent Amy Weirich, who inveighed against the iniquitous consequences of the state’s increasingly permissive stripping away of gun safety regulations. 

Categories
News News Blog News Feature

Lee Confirms He’ll Use National Guard If Trump Wants It

Governor Bill Lee speaks at TCAT Nashville. Photographs by John Partipilo/Tennessee Lookout ©2025

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee confirmed Wednesday for the first time he would deploy National Guard troops to deport undocumented immigrants if President-elect Donald Trump makes the request.

Speaking to reporters after a groundbreaking event at the Tennessee College of Applied Technology on White Bridge Road in Nashville, Lee said no plan exists for Trump’s strategy to remove criminals who came into America illegally and no requests have been made to use Tennessee National Guard troops for deportation. 

Yet Lee said he fully supports Trump’s plan to remove criminals that are undocumented immigrants, even though the next president has talked, not necessarily about removing criminals, but about deporting some 18 million immigrants, including U.S. citizens who are the children of undocumented parents.

“What I believe is that President Trump was elected saying what he wanted to do and the people elected him in a very strong fashion,” Lee said. “And I am supportive of his strategies going forward, and if that includes utilizing the national guard at the president’s request, then I’ll work together with governors across the country to do that.”

Lee previously issued a statement saying he asked state agencies to prepare to support Trump’s efforts to secure the nation’s borders and keep communities safe. That came after he spoke vaguely about the matter in a December press conference, saying the next president will set his strategies and the state would work to “implement strategies that work for Tennessee.”

Tennessee immigrant rights group condemns Gov. Lee’s commitment to support Trump deportations

He said that a day before the Republican Governors Association issued a letter signed by Lee saying it stands “united” in supporting Trump’s commitment to deal with the “illegal immigration crisis and deporting illegal immigrants who pose a threat to our communities and national security.”

The governor declined to speculate Wednesday about whether troops from some states might go into other states to deport immigrants if governors refuse to follow Trump’s orders to deploy their national guards.

A one-time mass deportation of about 11 million people who lack permanent legal status and 2.3 million more who crossed the U.S. southern border from January 2023 through April 2024 could cost an estimated $315 billion, according to the American Immigration Council.

The Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition previously condemned Lee’s commitment, saying the move would hurt families and the local economy. The immigrant rights group said business leaders, economists, faith leaders and legal experts believe such a plan would be “disastrous.”

Republican leaders in the Tennessee legislature back Lee’s willingness to use troops, while Democrats criticize it as an attack on the immigrant community.

Tennessee Lookout is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Tennessee Lookout maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Holly McCall for questions: info@tennesseelookout.com.

Categories
News News Blog News Feature

Community Unity Council To Host MLK Day Event and March

Photo Credit: Keedran Franklin via Facebook

Street organizations are continuing their efforts to sustainably integrate themselves into Memphis’ community, while also improving relationships with each other.

The Community Unity March on Memphis is scheduled for January 20th to commemorate Martin Luther King Day on January 20. Participants will begin their day at 201 Poplar with a brief program at 9 a.m. before marching to the National Civil Rights Museum.

This march is a continuation of the Community Unity initiative that seeks to fix citywide problems while also engaging marginalized groups in Memphis. 

Community organizer Keedran Franklin has worked with city leaders and the public to change the conversation around what most people call “gangs.” 

“We don’t use the word gangs, right,” Franklin said. “That’s code word for local municipalities to get from the feds to say we have a gang problem. We don’t have a gang problem. What we have is under-resourced and underserved people who are creating their own avenue.”

This distinction prompted Franklin to have some “tough” conversations with people, including Mayor Paul Young.

“Mayor Young and myself had to get through some past issues,” Franklin said. “I used to be hard as hell on Paul, back when he was part of HUD(Housing and Urban Development)  and MHA (Memphis Housing Authority), I was hard as f*ck on Paul, because he was with the previous regime. We had to work through our bullsh*t first, which was being open and honest.”

Franklin explained that he also took this as an enrichment opportunity and gave the mayor a copy of King David and Boss Daley: The Black Disciples, Mayor Daley, and Chicago on the Edge by Lance Williams, to help him understand that street organizations originated as political ones that were “left behind because of government interference.”

“It’s not about gangs, [the] streets, and killing,” Franklin said. “They’re actually bettering themselves and growing themselves.”

As an organizer across the country, Franklin said his colleagues would call him after these conversations and after spotting Young in places like Mississippi, they spoke highly of him. Franklin said these instances gave Young the opportunity to see these individuals doing work in the community to better themselves, thus helping to change the narrative around them.

“[To Mayor Young] People are all in these spaces man, doing the work that needs to be done,” Franklin said. “That’s it. Just a lot of tough dialogue, and again, just showing and proving that we aren’t as bad as people saying we are.”

Martin Luther King Day not only provides an opportunity for street organizations to continue their work on a more visible level, but an effort to return civil rights to its mission of inclusivity.

Franklin said the day is about both remembrance and community – including that of the streets. He said the initially planned on participating in another march scheduled for that day, but never heard back from organizers when he reached out.

“I was like, well we’ll do our own march,” Franklin said. “You don’t see these types of guys down there. You don’t see the streets at this event. This is to open their eyes to like, ‘hey there’s something that goes on and we should participate in.’ Don’t be afraid to participate.”

The lack of response seemed to work in Franklin’s favor, as it gave way for him and street organizations to create their own event with the support of groups from the community and around the world. He emphasized this is a “multifaceted effort” from both “inside state and federal prisons,” to outside to ensure that all populations are accounted for.

“The idea is us creating this program, creating these new norms, dropping off at 201, and then marching to the Civil Rights Museum where we will also announce these new norms that these organizations have agreed to move by,” Franklin said. “Pushing the effort for us to move, so we can do better by our community.”

Categories
News News Blog News Feature

Winter Storm: Here’s How Local Agencies Have Prepared

Credit: Tennessee Department of Transportation

We know winter (weather) is coming. 

So, how are local agencies preparing for this? Memphis Light, Gas & Water (MLGW)? City of Memphis? Memphis International Airport (MEM)? Tennessee Department Of Transportation (TDOT)? 

Here’s an unfiltered look at what they’ve told us (with links to follow the latest from the agencies).

Memphis Light, Gas & Water: 

MLGW prepares for cold weather by tracking the weather, having additional crews on standby, and ensuring vehicles are equipped with necessary tools. Tree-trimming crews cleared more than 1,600 miles in 2024 to help reduce electric outages caused by falling limbs.

Credit: Memphis Light, Gas & Water

To combat water main breaks (which can occur when temperatures drop) MLGW has made several capital improvements like installing additional wells. It’s also been insulating water pump motors and conducting a system-wide water valve survey that will keep water flowing from pumping stations to the community.

To combat winter weather challenges, MLGW has implemented the following measures:

· Fleet maintenance: MLGW’s fleet vehicles receive monthly preventive maintenance, with extra attention to charging systems, tires, heaters, windshield wipers, and washer fluid in the winter months.

· De-icer supply: Garages are stocked with de-icer for locks, door handles, and windshields, ensuring crews can work efficiently in icy conditions.

· Cold weather diesel additive: To enhance vehicle performance, a cold weather diesel fuel additive is added to the tanks at MLGW fueling stations.

· Snowplows and brine spreaders: Six fleet vehicles are outfitted with snowplows and brine spreaders to clear access to MLGW facilities and community offices, ensuring essential operations can continue during winter storms.

City of Memphis: 

Credit: City of Memphis

The city of Memphis has a new strategic snow and ice mitigation plan. Under the plan that went into effect on January 1, 2025, Division of Public Works crews will focus on specific routes when wintry weather affects our area, clearing one lane in each direction. 

Previously, crews only treated inclines and declines,  overpasses, and bridges. Clearing one lane in each direction on targeted routes aligns with what is done in other cities in Tennessee and nationwide.

Instead of a salt/sand mix, crews will treat the streets with straight salt. Using salt only should more effectively melt snow and ice on our roads. Crews will still pretreat with brine when conditions allow.

Instead of a salt/sand mix, crews will treat the streets with straight salt. Using salt only should more effectively melt snow and ice on our roads. Crews will still pretreat with brine when conditions allow.

Check the map to see which routes the city of Memphis will treat. The map also highlights routes cleared by TDOT. This new, focused approach is expected to better serve residents and drivers during winter weather.

Memphis International Airport: 

Credit: Memphis International Airport

• When winter weather is forecast, MEM schedules crews based on the amount, duration and type of the expected precipitation. Snow and ice require different types of treatment.

• The goal is to prevent the buildup of ice and snow on runways and taxiways so that aircraft can continue to operate safely. Crews also work around the clock to clear ramps, service roads, terminal roadways, fuel farm loading areas, and more.

• MEM has more than 40 vehicles dedicated to snow/ice removal, including snow brooms, plow trucks, snow blowers, liquid and granular de-icing trucks, and tractors.

MEM has more than 40 vehicles dedicated to snow/ice removal, including snow brooms, plow trucks, snow blowers, liquid and granular de-icing trucks, and tractors.

• About 140 employees from airfield and building maintenance are available for snow operations, along with staff from operations, communications, airport police, procurement, and other areas. The vast majority of the [Memphis and Shelby County Airport Authority’s] 300 employees are involved in winter weather operations in some capacity.

• Airfield crews will work around the clock to clear runways.

• MEM’s centralized de-icing facility will be active for airlines to perform de-icing operations as needed.

Airlines:

• Passengers should contact their airline before traveling. Airlines manage all aspects of scheduling and will have the most up-to-date information. Early morning flights in particular could be affected.

• Even if MEM is open with flights arriving and departing, weather across the U.S. could disrupt airline schedules this week.

• Airlines are responsible for all aspects of ticketing, baggage, and gate operations.

• While MEM is responsible for clearing runways and taxiways, airlines handle all aspects of de-icing aircraft including staffing, application and equipment maintenance.

Other passenger information:

• Allow for extra time to get to the airport due to road conditions. It is recommended to arrive at the airport at least two hours prior to scheduled departure. 

Flight Information

Airline Contact Info

Airlines at MEM

Tennessee Department of Transportation: 

Credit: Tennessee Department of Transportation

The Tennessee Department of Transportation’s (TDOT) Region 4 is prepared to tackle the ice and snow forecast for this week, ensuring the safety of drivers across the region’s 21 counties.

TDOT West Tennessee at the ready:

• Snow and ice budget: $5.2 million  

• 176 salt trucks

• 139 brine trucks

• 29,000 tons of salt

• 508,000 gallons of brine 

• 30 salt bins placed around the region

Maintenance crews are fully stocked with salt, brine, and other materials, to respond as winter weather moves into the area. Region 4’s [West Tennessee] snow and ice budget for this fiscal year is $5.2 million.

Drivers should expect to see crews in West Tennessee pre-treating the interstates and state routes region-wide for the upcoming impacts of winter weather. Crews will prioritize clearing interstates and heavily traveled state routes first, followed by secondary routes. TDOT strongly encourages drivers to prepare to stay off the roads on Friday, January 10, 2025, for their own safety and the safety of workers, giving crews the room they need to do their jobs.

TDOT strongly encourages drivers to prepare to stay off the roads on Friday, January 10, 2025, for their own safety and the safety of workers, giving crews the room they need to do their jobs.

“Our crews have been working diligently to ensure our equipment is ready and materials are on hand to keep the roads clear and safe,” said Jason Baker, Region 4 director. “We encourage all drivers to also prepare for the conditions and adjust their driving habits to stay safe on the road.”

For more information on TDOT’s snow and ice preparations, winter safe driving tips, preparing your vehicle for winter travel and links to road conditions in Tennessee and neighboring states visit: Ice & Snow.

From your desktop or mobile device, get the latest construction activity and live streaming SmartWay traffic cameras. Travelers can also dial 511 for travel information, or follow TDOT on Twitter for statewide travel or in West Tennessee follow here.

As always, drivers are reminded to use all motorist information tools wisely and Know Before You Go! by checking travel conditions before leaving for your destination. Drivers should never tweet, text, or talk on a cell phone while behind the wheel.

Categories
News News Blog News Feature

$137 Million Central Yards Project is Back

Carlisle Development Co. will bring its new, $137 million plans for Central Yards — a mix of condos, retail, parking, and a hotel — to a Downtown Memphis Commission (DMC) board next week, seeking a tax break of $24.6 million to make them real. 

The Central Yards development idea has been around a long time. An original development project was stymied when an investor was snarled in a Bitcoin scandal. The property was seized by the government and sold at auction to Carlisle.  

The roughly 6-acre site in Cooper-Young sits near Central and Cooper. (Right around the Taconganas stand and Bluff City Sports.) The area was once home to a plumber supply shop, which closed. For years now, the vacant shop has stood dilapidated and alone in an empty, weedy field surrounded by chain link topped with concertina wire. All buildings on the site now would be demolished, according to the new plan. 

Carlisle’s plan for the spot includes 250 condos, 27 townhomes (each with a two-car garage), a 325-car parking deck, all with resident amenities like a pool. It will also have a five-story hotel with 125 rooms and an 82-car parking lot. The hotel will have 4,160 square feet of commercial space. 

Credit: Downtown Memphis Commission

“An investment of over $125 million in the site will revitalize a blighted portion of an otherwise thriving neighborhood, and help bridge the gap between Cooper-Young and other Midtown neighborhoods to the north,” Carlisle said in its application to the DMC’s finance branch, the Center City Revenue Finance Corp. That board can finance, own, lease, and dispose of properties and give tax breaks. 

Carlisle plans construction to begin the second quarter of this year and have it wrapped up in 2027. 

DMC staff reviews each project brought before the board and gives board members its recommendation on them to approve or not. The DMC staff recommended approval of Carlisle’s plan for Central Yard and to give a tax break lasting 20 years. Staff liked that the plan brought new homes and retail spaces, activating now-vacant property, and its new parking spaces. 

“The Cooper mixed-use project will bring new vibrancy to area to support the many established businesses in the Cooper-Young neighborhood,” staff said. 

Categories
News News Blog News Feature

Feagins Says Ouster Move is “Politically Motivated”

Superintendent Marie Feagins on a visit to Grandview Heights Elementary School soon after she took the job in April 2024. She denounced a pending effort to oust her as “personally driven” and “politically motivated.” (Ariel J. Cobbert for Chalkbeat)

Sign up for Chalkbeat Tennessee’s free newsletter to keep up with statewide education policy and Memphis-Shelby County Schools.

Memphis-Shelby County Schools Superintendent Marie Feagins wants to make clear what she thinks about the attempt to oust her: She plans to defend herself and has no intention of resigning.

In a written response to the school board Monday, Feagins said the allegations cited as a basis for firing her are “meritless” and described the effort as “personally driven” and “politically motivated.”

The board agreed to discuss the matter at a scheduled work session on Jan. 14, after deciding Dec. 17 to defer a vote on whether to end Feagins’ contract.. Any vote to fire her would have to take place at a formal board meeting. The next one is Jan. 21.

In her response Monday, which board attorney Robert Spence shared in an email to Chalkbeat, Feagins said, “I will not resign,” and urged members to reconsider an action that “does not serve the best interests of our district, children, or the broader community.”

Feagins said her attorney received no response when asked about specific policies and procedures she is alleged to have broken.

“To directly speak to the meritless claims, I have never, under any circumstances, intentionally or unintentionally misled a board member or the board as a whole,” she said in her response. “Furthermore, I have not mismanaged district funds.”

The allegations were contained in a resolution that Board Chair Joyce Dorse-Coleman presented to the board on Dec. 17, seeking to terminate Feagins immediately on grounds that she breached the terms of her contract.

The resolution claims that she:

• Failed to provide evidence of her statement that district employees were paid $1 million in overtime for time not worked.

• Accepted a donation of more than $45,000 without board approval, then misrepresented what happened.

• Misled the board and public about a federal grant and its missed deadline.

While presenting the resolution in December, Dorse-Coleman said Feagins “engaged in conduct detrimental to the district and the families it serves.”

Under Feagins’ contract, if she is fired without cause, she would be entitled to a severance payment of $487,500. Feagins strongly denied the claims at the Dec. 17 board meeting, and the board appeared split on whether to vote to oust her.

Board members Stephanie Love, Sable Otey, Towanna Murphy, and Natalie McKinney opposed delaying a decision at the Dec. 17 meeting. But Michelle McKissack, Amber Huett-Garcia, Tamarques Porter, and Keith Williams spoke out against the resolution.

Ultimately, Dorse-Coleman cast the deciding vote on a proposal to move the discussion and decision to the new year, and give Feagins more time to respond. In a Dec. 26 statement, Dorse-Coleman said her stance on removing Feagins has not changed.

“She has a pattern and practice of not providing critical information and instead misinforming the board members,” Dorse-Coleman said in her statement. “I don’t think this is something we can overcome.”

Murphy shared similar concerns with Chalkbeat after the district’s attorney told her about Feagins’ response on Tuesday.

Murphy said the superintendent does not make an effort to communicate with her, and it “has gotten worse” since the Dec. 17 meeting.

“She does not follow the instructions of the board,” Murphy said. “It is about running the school board as a whole, and us doing it for the children. But we seem to keep forgetting about the children because we’re too busy putting out Dr. Feagins’ fires.”

Murphy said she wanted Feagins to work out but she no longer envisions a future with her.

Feagins’ said in her statement Monday that she feels “deeply disturbed” by some board members’ “unwarranted attacks” on her integrity and what she described as their disregard for her professional background.

“Despite the falsehoods and defamatory public remarks intended to damage my character and diminish public trust in me, I have upheld the highest standards of professionalism,” Feagins told the board in her response. “This includes navigating attempts by current and former board members to remove me and create an intimidating work environment — actions of which you have been aware for months — while also tactfully addressing this resulting national embarrassment brought on our city and district.”

Meanwhile, the district still grapples with academic and financial challenges while trying to rehabilitate a relationship with the community that weakened during the long superintendent search.

Feagins has a four-year contract that pays her $325,000 annually. Before coming to Memphis, she held a leadership position at the Detroit Public Schools Community District.

Feagins became the first outside leader of MSCS since the district was created through a merger a decade ago.

Chalkbeat is a nonprofit news site covering educational change in public schools.

Categories
Music Music Features

Remembering a Friend: Stanley Booth

Stanley Booth (Photo: Nanette Bahlinger)

My previous piece in 2018 on my friend Stanley Booth, whom I knew for 64 of his 82-plus years, had concluded with his revelation to me that he’d become a Catholic, achieving what he called “the greatest pleasure of my life … a complete redesign.” 

It was surely appropriate, then, for Stanley’s funeral to be a Roman Catholic mass, which took place at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception on Central Avenue on Saturday, December 28th, more than a week after his death at Harbor View Nursing Facility on North Second Street. 

The attending group of communicants was smaller than I would have anticipated and scattered throughout the venerable high-ceilinged Midtown church. A mass was a mass, after all, and this one kept pretty much to the standard litany, without allowances for the kind of open memorial that people of consequence so often receive these days.

And Stanley Booth was very much a person of consequence. His authorship of The True Adventures of the Rolling Stones Outlaw Band (published in 1984 as Dance With the Devil after years of dedicated effort and familiarity with the band) was arguably the War and Peace of the rock era. There were other notable books, like Rythm Oil, a compilation of shorter pieces about the people, places, and things of that era, which, after all, is still very much with us. (The purposely misspelled title was typical Boothian waggishness.) 

My favorite single piece of Stanley’s, a brief review of a Janis Joplin concert in Memphis during the mid-’60s, a failure through no fault of the singer’s own, somehow manages to encompass all the rights, wrongs, misadventures, and pretensions of the time.

A memorial for Stanley will be scheduled for later on, or so promises our mutual friend David Less (no slouch as an author himself), who had made a point of looking in on Stanley in his last days. According to David, Stanley had been lonely and depressed at the nursing home, where he had grown progressively more physically incapacitated, even as his mind strained, as writers’ minds do, toward articulation and purpose.

All that striving had ceased mere days earlier, as Stanley, after consultations between David and Stanley’s daughter Ruby, was entered into hospice care per se. He had become mute and incommunicative, hovering on the edge of vegetative.

Very regrettably, I had not gotten around to seeing Stanley as he neared his end. Many reasons for that, including a newly acquired auto that couldn’t be depended on to start and resisted all efforts to fix. The basic reason, though, was that our relationship, like the car, famously had its fits and starts.

A few years ago, after a reasonably longish period of keeping close company (which meant, significantly, carting Stanley around and making sure he had things — e.g., wheelchair, TV, what-have-you — and passing on periodic feelers from music media types trying to connect with him), we’d had a bizarre interruption. Out of the proverbial blue, he’d asked me why, some 60 years earlier, I’d referred to his girlfriend of that time as “simian.”

I remembered no such shocking incivility toward a lady whom I had in fact admired and, reasonably enough, therefore, could offer no explanation. Many protests and back-and-forths later, there had been an exchange of over-the-edge remarks between us, resulting in a breach. Inevitably, there would have been a healing, something we’d gone through more than once during those aforesaid 60-odd years, but — time ran out.

Sadly, this kind of thing was not atypical for Stanley. His persona, like his sense of language, filled all the obvious, and most of the imaginable, spaces. Though he had reservoirs of charm, many of his relationships ran into stormy weather. Long on talent and short of stature, he had his share of the Napoleon syndrome. He could be modest, but never exactly humble. Or maybe that should be stated the other way around. His earliest literary model had been Ernest Hemingway, that paragon of basic English and exact phraseology. 

At a public function some years ago, the late George Klein introduced him, molto con brio, as a celebrated music writer. No, Stanley objected, for better or for worse, he was a writer, pure and simple. This was an echo of Hemingway’s famous late-career admonition to his overly self-concerned contemporary F. Scott Fitzgerald, “You see, Bo, you’re not a tragic character. Neither am I. All we are is writers.”

Over the years, I’ve known numerous highly talented individuals whose abilities transcended various categories of the usually recognized earthly disciplines. Even as we speak, I could name you a handful, right here in Mempho. Would-be Renaissance men (and women).

Though he was not without a generous amount of self-regard (as the high proportion of references to himself in all his work indicates), Stanley Booth was not among these across-the-board pretenders. A writer is all he was. No scatterer of loose energy across the lines. No diluter of his essential being.

And for that he deserves to be called a Master.

I did not mean to confer, earlier in this article, any slight upon the reach and scope of the Roman Catholic litany. Its very universality and subordination to a (lowercase) catholic whole may have been the aspect of the religion that most appealed to Stanley and caused him to embrace it. 

“I am not after any pie in the sky,” he would tell me, by way of an awkward attempt to account for his conversion. In this piece, I have not listed any of the earthly honors conferred upon him, and there were many, including a lifetime achievement award from the Smithsonian Institute. But as Stanley once said, wistfully, “You can’t eat reputation. If I had a nickel for every good review I’ve had …” letting that sentence fade out rhetorically. 

As the aforesaid litany notes, “we know partially, and we prophesy partially.” But it holds forth the idea for the striver of attaining the company of the saints, and that ain’t hay. 

Categories
News News Blog News Feature

Lee Rejects Money to Give Free Summer Meals to Children

Posted to Facebook by Tennessee House Democrats

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee rejected $1.1 million in federal grant funding at the beginning of the year, an action that will end free summer meals for up to 700,000 Tennessee children. 

Lee’s adminstration indicated last year that it would not renew the state’s participation in the federal Electronic Benefits Transfers Program for Children (Summer EBT). His office told NBC News last month that it costs too much to administer the program, noting that the federal government began shifting the adminstration cost to the states.  

The program issued a $120 EBT card, called Sun Bucks, to 700,000 children in Tennessee last year, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which administered the program for the federal government. They were available for children aged 6- to 17-years-old for June, July, and August, when most children are on summer vacation. The money could only be spent on food. 

Lee’s adminstration did not formally announce the rejection on any public platform. Instead, his office quietly missed the January 1 deadline renewal. 

The rejection brought questions and anger from many. 

U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen (D-Memphis) requested an explanation of Lee’s decision by January 17th. He said child hunger is “especially pressing in Tennessee,” where 40 percent of families report food insecurity, according to data from Vanderbilt Center for Child Health Policy. 

“While I understand your office issued a statement claiming that the program was ‘established in the pandemic-era to supplement existing food assistance programs in an extraordinary circumstance’ and that the program is ‘mostly duplicative,’ I urge your administration to reconsider,” Cohen wrote in a letter to Lee this week. “Congress’s decision to make the Pandemic Electronic Benefits Transfer (P-EBT) a permanent summer program through the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023 reflects the bipartisan recognition of its success and necessity. 

“Feeding our children is not just a matter of public policy — it is a moral imperative. Well-nourished children are better able to learn, grow, and lead healthy, well-adjusted lives.”

Knowing that Lee’s decision on the matter was at hand, many Tennessee relief agencies advocated for him to keep the program. 

The Nashville-based Tennessee Justice Center urged its followers to send Lee a form letter, which asked him to keep the program. 

“In 2024, Summer EBT served over 650,000 children in Tennessee and brought nearly $79 million into the state economy,” the center said. “Tennessee children aren’t going anywhere. They will continue to need food during the summer months in 2025 and beyond.”

In a December opinion piece in The Tennessean, Rhonda Chafin, executive director of Second Harvest Food Bank of Northeast Tennessee, said opportunities like the Summer EBT program are rare, and praised Lee for joining the effort in the first place.

“Opportunities to create such profound, positive change for children — at minimal cost to the state — are rare,” Chafin wrote. “By continuing Summer EBT, Tennessee can address child hunger, boost educational outcomes, and stimulate local economies simultaneously.

“Governor Lee has demonstrated compassionate leadership in this area before, and we trust he will do so again. The children of Tennessee are counting on us to stand up for their well-being. Let’s not let them down.”

Tennessee House Democrats were more direct in their assessment of Lee’s decision. Before Christmas, the group posted a photo of Lee dressed as The Grinch with a sack on his back, that reads “Food $$$.” The meme asks, “Will the Governor steal your child’s summer meals?” 

The post also carried this treatment of “’Twas the Night Before Christmas.”

“’Twas the week before Christmas, when all through the state,

Tennesseans were begging Gov. Lee to stop with the hate.

Letters were sent with stories of how,

Lee’s decision on summer EBT for children was needed now,

With hopes that he will renew the program with glee,

Call his office with a hopeful plea.”

Categories
News News Blog News Feature

State GOP Bill Would Tamp Down Hate Groups

A Neo Nazi group called there Goyim Defense League yelled anti semitic slogans at tourists in downtown Nashville. Photograph by John Partipilo/ Tennessee Lookout ©2024

With support from Metro Nashville’s mayor, two Republican lawmakers are sponsoring a measure designed to handcuff hate groups such as those that targeted a synagogue and marched in Nashville last year.

Notably, it prohibits the transport of people in box trucks, such as the rental vehicles used to carry neo-Nazi groups to Nashville locations, and gives police more latitude to charge people with violating the law.

But one First Amendment expert said the bill is on “constitutional thin ice” even though California adopted a similar law.

“It’s important to remember that hate speech is completely protected by the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. It’s not a close call. Hateful things are protected under the First Amendment no matter how ugly or disturbing or rude they happen to be,” said Ken Paulson, director of the Free Speech Center at MTSU in Murfreesboro.

Allowing government to define hate speech would be “extraordinarily dangerous,” Paulson added, because each administration could find different things to be hateful.

Those committing hate crimes need to be held accountable, says Tennessee House Majority Leader Rep. William Lamberth of a proposed bill. (Photo: John Partipilo)

House Majority Leader William Lamberth (R-Portland) sponsored a resolution in 2024 condemning neo-Nazis that marched through downtown Nashville carrying swastika flags and wearing masks. With the 2025 legislative session approaching on Jan. 14, Lamberth and Sen. Mark Pody (R-Lebanon) are sponsoring House Bill 55, which revamps state laws dealing with littering and trespassing, police procedures and obstruction of justice, and road safety to tamp down hate speech and intimidation.

Groups handed out anti-Jewish literature to members of a Nashville synagogue and held signs at overpasses promoting hateful messages.

“These tactics are deliberate efforts to terrify people and create profound distress,” Lamberth said in a statement. He added that people who commit hate crimes, “often anonymously,” should be held accountable. 

Pody, who represents part of Davidson County, said the bill represents the state’s “unwavering commitment” to protecting communities from antisemitism, intimidation and extremism.

Dubbed the Protecting Everyone Against Crime and Extremism Act (PEACE) Act, the bill sets up new limitations for littering and trespassing to keep hate groups from flooding neighborhoods and parking lots with fliers.

Lamberth said Monday the bill is “carefully crafted” to avoid problems with broad interpretation or the potential for police to crack down on rallies and protests that don’t involve hate speech.

The Metro Nashville Council passed an ordinance last year targeting hate groups after marches took place in Nashville, and Mayor Freddie O’Connell said in a statement he appreciates the effort to stop such intimidation and give law enforcement more tools to handle these situations.

“It sends the message that hateful acts will never be tolerated here,” O’Connell said.

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation reported 122 incidents in 2023 motivated by bias involving race, religion, sexuality, and disability, down slightly from 129 in 2022 and 135 in 2021. Some 35 percent to 41 percent of those were anti-Black or African American, the report shows.

It’s not a close call. Hateful things are protected under the First Amendment no matter how ugly or disturbing or rude they happen to be.

– Ken Paulson, director, Free Speech Center at Middle Tennessee State University

State Rep. John Ray Clemmons (D-Nashville) said Monday he appreciates the spirit of the legislation because he feels too many people, including his family, have been victims of the type of hate speech the bill is trying to prevent. Clemmons, though, indicated the measure might need changes.

“I hope to work with the sponsors to ensure that the legislation, in its final form, is constitutionally sound and achieves its stated, intended purpose,” said Clemmons, chairman of the House Democratic Caucus.

The measure makes it a Class A misdemeanor to pass out literature considered a form of hate speech or intimidate someone to prevent them from exercising constitutional rights such as religious freedom or the ability to vote.

The bill also gives law enforcement officers more leeway for enforcement.

For the second week in a row, neo-Nazis take to Nashville streets

It creates a buffer zone of 25 feet between officers and people who are ordered to stop and makes it a Class B misdemeanor to violate that space.

The bill also requires a person to give their name to an officer who asks them to identify themselves and makes it a Class C misdemeanor to refuse or to give a fake name.

Using a box truck to transport people would be made a Class B misdemeanor under the bill. At least one group used a rental truck to bring its members into town to rally.

Likewise, the bill would make it illegal to put a sign, signal or marking on a bridge, overpass or tunnel.

In addition, police could use “probable cause” to charge someone with violating the law regardless of whether they saw the person commit the act.

Paulson said most controversies have two points of view, and each side believes the other is hateful. 

Governments can ban all littering and banners hanging from overpasses, but they can’t prohibit only those pieces of literature and banners they regard as hateful, Paulson said.

“If you ban Nazi pamphlets, you also have to ban pizza joints passing out coupons in public. You cannot discriminate on the basis of ideas,” he said.

Tennessee Lookout is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Tennessee Lookout maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Holly McCall for questions: info@tennesseelookout.com.

Categories
News News Blog News Feature

City Dashboards Show Crimiest Memphis ZIP Codes

Credit: city of Memphis
Credit: City of Memphis

If you’ve been paying attention to news at all, you’ll know crime is down in Memphis.

Yes, it’s a national trend. But, like, who cares. Falling crime in Memphis is good news no matter where it comes from. 

Total crime across the city fell 13.3 percent from 2023 to 2024, according to data released from the city at year’s end. Crime was down in every ZIP code in the city, except for 38131 and 38152.

Credit: city of Memphis

Those two are head-scratchers. (We’re not data experts, so we’re not equipped to label them “aberrations” or whatever.) But 38131 is a neighborhood wedged between Memphis International Airport to the south and I-240 to the north. Last year saw 54 crimes there, and that’s up 42 percent from 2023. 

The other area — 38152 — is on the eastern part of University of Memphis campus, encompassing Ball Hall, Campus Elementary School, and big parking lots. Across a big ditch there, nice homes stand in the same ZIP code along Grandview. Last year saw 57 crimes there, and that’s up 83.9 percent from 2023. 

The city did not give any details on the crimes in these areas, aberrations or no. In his weekly newsletter Friday, Memphis Mayor Paul Young said, “We are working on it!”

Year-End-Crime-Presentation-Year-End-Crime-PresentationDownload

In addition to that year-end report, you can track Memphis crime now with two (new to us) crime stats dashboards. 

The first shows Memphis crime year to year. The Crime Analytics dashboard shows unfiltered stats on 40 different types of crimes (from credit card fraud to murder) in three major crime categories — property crimes, personal crimes, and crimes against society. 

In total, there were 101,363 total crimes in Memphis last year. Of those, 10,642 were deemed violent crimes. There were 42,647 property crimes, 299 homicides (235 of those were murders), and 9,821 car thefts. 

Credit: city of Memphis

Pulling way back, though, the dashboard shows a map of concentrations of crime. We know you can likely overlay a map of poverty and other factors over the crime map and get commanding results. We’re not here to issue judgments about anything. But (and you knew that was coming) you can see, objectively, where the most crime happened in Memphis in 2024. 

Top three ZIP codes for Memphis crime 2024: 

Credit: city of Memphis

1. 38118 (Oakhaven, Parkway Village): 8,565 crimes

2. 38115 (Hickory Hill): 7,900 crimes

3. 38116 (Whitehaven) 6,841 crimes

Top three ZIP codes for Memphis homicides 2024: 

Credit: city of Memphis

1. 38127 (Frayser): 33

2. 38109 (Raines): 31

3. 38118: (Parkway Village): 30

Top three ZIP codes for Memphis rapes 2024

Credit: city of Memphis

1. 38127 (Frayser): 56

2. 38116 (Whitehaven): 52

3. 38118 (Parkway Village): 50

Another dashboard, also maintained by the city of Memphis, shows weekly crime stats. This one does not give as much detail, like locations, nor does it break the crimes down much beyond the surface. But it still gives an interesting look at the state of the city. 

Credit: city of Memphis

For example, over the last seven days (as of Monday, Jan. 6th), 835 crimes were committed. The seven days before that, 827 crimes were reported. Aggravated assaults (152) led all crimes as of Monday, with robbery (40), and rape (5) following.

On one metric — though — the dashboard somehow makes the city’s homicide count feel more real. It seems hard to fathom 299 homicides for a community in one year. It can also seem perfectly reasonable to have 299 homicides in a city the size of Memphis. But when the dashboard reports three homicides over the last seven days (and four homicides the week before that), the data seem more personal — these were people — and sad — these were someone’s family and friends.