VOL. TMN-8 | NO. 52 | Saturday, December 19, 2015
Six new members unpacking on City Hall’s 5th floor
They ran in the considerable shadow of the most competitive Memphis mayoral race in a generation. The new Memphis City Council that takes office with Mayor-elect Jim Strickland in January isn’t necessarily a generational shift. It doesn’t signify a wholesale ousting by the electorate, either.
THE MEMPHIS NEWS EDITORIAL
The new Memphis City Council will face some old issues and questions at the outset of their four-year term.
Even John Calipari lost to Ole Miss at FedExForum. It was Dec. 11, 2004, and the Tigers were on the short end of a 65-53 score.
Methodist Healthcare is preparing to invest $275 million into Methodist University Hospital, the Methodist system’s flagship, with plans that call for the addition of a 700-space parking garage and a new 440,000-square-foot building at the campus.
A norm on the East and West coasts – and an even older tradition in Europe and other international cities – indoor food markets are making their way to the Southeast in cities like Nashville, Atlanta, Little Rock and St. Louis.
THE MEMPHIS NEWS ALMANAC
2014: The University of Memphis Tigers play Brigham Young University in the first Miami Beach Bowl, marking the first bowl appearance by a Tigers football team in 10 years. The Tigers win 55-48. The game ends with a brawl between the two teams following the Memphis interception that ended it.
REAL ESTATE & DEVELOPMENT
A plan approved Wednesday, Dec. 16, at the Board of Adjustment meeting effectively doubles the residential units in the Brewery District development.
At its Dec. 16 board meeting, the Memphis-Shelby County Economic Development Growth Engine approved selling $40 million worth of taxable bonds to help finance the 120-acre Graceland Revitalization Plan.
The mixed-use project at Union Avenue and McLean Boulevard got a $4 million federal boost with a proposal from developers Belz Enterprises and Harbor Retail Partners clearing the Memphis City Council Tuesday, Dec. 15.
Plans for a used-car lot on Vance Avenue have been shot down by the Shelby County Board of Adjustment.
An applicant seeking to operate a used car lot at 704 Vance Ave. will go before the Shelby County Board of Adjustment Wednesday, Dec. 16, in what seemingly would be a cut-and-dry affair with the BOA staff recommending conditional approval.
The “entertainment destination” planned for the corner of Carolina and Florida streets garnered $65,425 in funds from the Center City Development Corp., and the partners behind the Loflin LLC were revealed.
One last amendment was filed before the city’s new Beale Street lease was a done deal Tuesday, Dec. 15. But as the Memphis City Council approved the agreement with the Beale Street Tourism Development Authority, the widow of the Beale Street Development Corp.’s former director pushed her claim that the city still hasn’t settled the old 52-year lease with the BSDC that the new authority replaces.
Considering how spread out Memphis is, most residents have to get behind the wheel to get to their destination. In reflecting the flux of a vibrant city, homegrown tech company Meridian Econometrics has developed a new commercial real estate site selection program that capitalizes on mobility.
Power and automation technology group ABB is bringing 300 jobs to Senatobia, Miss., with a recently announced manufacturing facility.
REAL ESTATE RECAP
3411 Elvis Presley Blvd., Memphis, TN 38116 -
Holiday Inn Express and Suites is ready to shake up the Graceland area with a $4.8 million construction loan recently arranged by the Memphis office of Financial Federal Bank.
AIRPORT
American Airlines announced Tuesday, Dec. 15, that it would add a third daily flight between Memphis and New York. The Bluff City’s largest carrier will add the flight beginning March 3.
ECONOMY
Memphis-based FedEx Corp. is reporting net income growth and a slight uptick in revenues for its fiscal second quarter compared to the same period a year ago.
Borrowers and savers aren’t likely to see an immediate impact from the historic move Wednesday, Dec. 16, by the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates by a quarter point for the first time in almost a decade, according to several Memphis-area financial industry professionals.
HEALTH CARE
St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital is now treating patients in its new proton therapy center with an advanced form of radiation technology and a system that was designed, developed and implemented in partnership with Hitachi.
Maria Stevenson has been passionate about clinical laboratory science for much of her life, and now she’s preparing to bring a franchise location of full-service national laboratory company ARCpoint Labs to Memphis next month.
From groundbreaking research to big-dollar grants and awards, startup launches and breakthrough innovations, Memphis’ health care, life sciences and biotech community took some significant leaps forward in 2015.
The Memphis Bioworks Foundation is capping off another busy year as the city’s go-to organization for seeding and promoting bioscience companies and investment by expanding its executive team and incorporating a new division into the organization.
NONPROFIT SECTOR
Sarah Cronk is 22 years old and a recent graduate of Whitman College in Walla Walla, Washington. She’s also new to the Bluff City, making the move to Memphis in September to begin a career in marketing at Varsity Spirit.
The Community Foundation of Greater Memphis has announced its latest round of grants, some $220,000 in “capacity building” funds for area nonprofits.
Debra Melton did just about the best thing a young African-American woman in Memphis – or anywhere – can do in the fight against breast cancer.
Ornament-covered trees strung with twinkling lights are among the enduring symbols of the holidays for many people. And so it is with Shelby Farms Park, which through Dec. 27 is playing host to visitors coming to marvel at an abundant display of lights illuminating scores of trees as part of its annual Orion Starry Nights holiday display.
EDUCATION
Shelby County Schools leaders formally began a move toward a short-term strategic plan this week that took a turn toward a possible endgame in the school system’s competition with the Achievement School District.
Four Memphis schools will be added to the state-run Achievement School District in the 2016-2017 academic year. All four will be paired with charter operators.
Westwood, Douglass and Mitchell high schools will become part of Shelby County Schools’ Innovation Zone in the 2016-17 academic year.
GOVERNMENT
Before the Memphis City Council’s final session of 2015 on Tuesday, Dec. 15, the 13 council members got around to something they should have done four years ago: take a group picture in the Hall of Mayors at City Hall.
Memphis Mayor-elect Jim Strickland spent most of Wednesday, Dec. 16, with his transition team ending one phase of his move from the city council to the mayor’s office.
Memphis Mayor-elect Jim Strickland made another significant staff announcement to start the week.
Memphis Mayor elect Jim Strickland still has some appointments to make, but he is methodically filling key positions in his administration ahead of taking office Jan. 1.
LAW & THE COURTS
When the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation began its investigation this summer into the fatal police shooting of Darrius Stewart, it met resistance from Memphis Police Department officer Connor Schilling, who talked to police internal investigators but not the TBI.
U.S. Attorney Ed Stanton says his office, the FBI and the U.S. Justice Department’s civil rights division are conducting a “comprehensive review” of the July fatal police shooting of Darrius Stewart.
It was the second shot that killed Darrius Stewart, that most of the witnesses said they saw. And that was the shot several of them questioned.
If a picture is worth a thousand words, local law enforcement and criminal justice officials are finding cameras on police officers are worth many more questions about what happens to the video they produce.
The Memphis independent book publishers who sued the trust of the late author J.D. Salinger last March over three Salinger short stories published in 2014 have dismissed the federal lawsuit.
Eric Collison has joined Kemmons Wilson Insurance Group as insurance sales manager. In his new role, Collison’s duties will include development and mentoring of the current and new sales force, marketing campaigns and initiatives, developing and fostering carrier relationships, and identifying new profitable areas for growth within the agency.
Evaporcool Solutions is doing its part for the environment from its home base in Memphis.
SPORTS
Every player wants to start. Trahson Burrell is no different.
The University of Memphis announced Thursday, Dec. 17, a future nonconference football series with Mississippi State, Louisiana-Monroe and Texas-San Antonio.
In their last game of the regular season, the Kansas State Wildcats were sitting on five wins and down 10 points at halftime. They rallied to defeat West Virginia 24-23.
In the TV commercial, banished Hit King Pete Rose is walking down a hallway lined with trophies and baseball memorabilia. His stated purpose: to promote Skechers Relaxed Fit shoes.
TENNESSEE LEDGER
Nashville Edition
Anybody got a spare $2 billion lying around? If so, the Tennessee Titans could be yours. Despite statements to the contrary by Titans management, there is growing sentiment locally and around the NFL that the team soon will be available to the highest bidder.
With Tennessee Vols legend Peyton Manning likely in his final season as an NFL player, there has been speculation that he will be pursued by the Titans for a front-office position with the organization.
As the Tennessee Titans sink toward the end of another lackluster season, they head into the off-season with still more holes to fill for 2016.
Knoxville Edition
Barnes’ first squad might not be great, but he feels good about the future
Tennessee coach Rick Barnes isn’t complaining about the shortcomings of his basketball team.
Here’s a glimpse at the Vols’ roster, and what’s happened through the first eight games (in order of scoring).
LOCAL COLUMNISTS
THE INS AND UNS OF OUR TRUTH. Truth is the truth. It isn’t inconvenient, inconsistent or incomplete. It isn’t uncomfortable or unpleasant and certainly not untrue.
Ray’s Take Conventional wisdom says that the money in your emergency fund should be set aside for unexpected expenses. By definition, an emergency is unexpected. But sometimes it is more difficult to maintain that fund.
U.S. Sen. Bob Corker says he believes the nation needs to stop admitting Syrian refugees until security problems are solved, but the nation’s “bigger risk” in letting terrorists slip into the country lies with the nation’s Visa Waiver Program.
A Back End of Innovation 2015 Talk
Oil prices traded near $110 a barrel in June of 2014, supported by escalating demand and a stable U.S. dollar. Advances in drilling technology in the U.S. led to a tremendous surge in investments and productivity.
On Nov. 27, 1945, a poet named Pound, married to a woman named Shakespear, was arraigned before a judge named Laws. No joke.
Every now and then events occur that seem small, routine, just part of the job until they collide with such force that they explode with meaning, renewing your work with a sense of purpose and change a job into a mission.
It’s that time of year again. The time of year that you’re required to attend an awkward holiday party with your co-workers during the day. I’ve gotten the sense that most people mainly are looking forward to receiving any sort of holiday bonus and leaving work early for the day.
This column is the fifth in an 11-part series on the Top Ten 2016 Marketing Trends. Check back for the remainder of the series and a deep dive into each of these trends.
As the year comes to an end there will be family celebrations, travels and delicious meals. In between the many activities we hope you will also have time to reflect. We hope you can let your thoughts wander over the year that is ending, and to extend into the year that is to come.