If you want to figure out the rhythm of Downtown there are a couple of time-honored indicators. One of my favorites is the church bells. The bell at Calvary Episcopal Church rang 60 times Tuesday for all of the lives lost in the Las Vegas massacre including that of the shooter. Old tones for new mourning as the seasons change in our city by the river.

2. Retired FedEx Exec Rodriguez Becomes City of Memphis CIO - Wednesday, October 4, 2017

Mike Rodriguez recently became the city of Memphis’ director of information services and chief information officer, a role he took on after retiring from a 27-year career at FedEx Corp. Rodriguez, who most recently served as FedEx’s director of information security, was nominated as city CIO by Mayor Jim Strickland and confirmed by the Memphis City Council Sept. 23.

3. Council Delays Downtown Advance, Approves Another - Saturday, September 23, 2017

Memphis City Council members Tuesday, Sept. 19, delayed for two weeks a vote on a $10 million advance to start renovation design work on the Memphis Cook Convention Center, seeking more specific information. City chief operating officer Doug McGowen said he would provide the council with a timeline and specific work to be done.

4. Council Delays One Downtown Advance, Approves Another - Thursday, September 21, 2017

Memphis City Council members Tuesday, Sept. 19, delayed for two weeks a vote on a $10 million advance to start renovation design work on the Memphis Cook Convention Center, seeking more specific information. City chief operating officer Doug McGowen said he would provide the council with a timeline and specific work to be done.

5. Boyd Drops Beale Contract, But Says It Wasn't A Conflict of Interest - Wednesday, September 20, 2017

Memphis City Council chairman Berlin Boyd ended his company’s fundraising contract with the Beale Street Merchants Association Tuesday, Sept. 19. But he again insisted the contract was not a conflict of interest in his duties as a council member voting on items involving the entertainment district.

6. City Council to Vote on Advancing Gateway, Convention Center Funding - Tuesday, September 19, 2017

Memphis City Council members vote Tuesday, Sept. 19 on two resolutions that would advance a total of $21.5 million to the Bicentennial Gateway project as well as Memphis Cook Convention Center renovations, which is also part of the Gateway project.

7. Redbirds Up 2-0 in PCL Title Series - Friday, September 15, 2017

As Game 2 of the Pacific Coast League Series moved from inning to inning without a run being scored, first-year Memphis Redbirds manager Stubby Clapp wasn’t worried.

Why should he have been? In an historic regular season and to this point in the postseason, the Redbirds were 12-0 in extra-inning games. So why fear another one?

8. Redbirds Still Perfect in Extra-Innings, Up 2-0 in PCL Title Series - Friday, September 15, 2017

As Game 2 of the Pacific Coast League Series moved from inning to inning without a run being scored, first-year Memphis Redbirds manager Stubby Clapp wasn’t worried.

Why should he have been? In an historic regular season and to this point in the postseason, the Redbirds were 12-0 in extra-inning games. So why fear another one?

9. Redbirds Still Perfect in Extra-Innings, Up 2-0 in PCL Title Series - Thursday, September 14, 2017

As Game 2 of the Pacific Coast League Series moved from inning to inning without a run being scored, first-year Memphis Redbirds manager Stubby Clapp wasn’t worried.

Why should he have been? In an historic regular season and to this point in the postseason, the Redbirds were 12-0 in extra-inning games. So why fear another one?

10. Council to Weigh Statues, Funding Projects - Tuesday, September 5, 2017

Memphis City Council members have a busy agenda Tuesday, Sept. 5: continued discussion regarding bypassing a Tennessee Historical Commission waiver process to remove Confederate monuments and a recently enacted ban on sewer connections to properties outside the city limits.

11. Lilly King Performs Like an American Hero; A-Rod More Like a Russian Drug Cheat - Wednesday, August 10, 2016

The NFL would not like Lilly King. Major League Baseball also would be uncomfortable with the U.S. Olympic gold-medal-winning swimmer.

King, 19, not only defeated Russia’s Yulia Efimova in the 100-meter breaststroke in Rio, she took on doping – Efimova was banned twice and reinstated just before the Olympic Games – and then noted after her victory that she won “clean.”

12. ZeroTo510 startup SweetBio raises another $900,000 - Monday, December 7, 2015

One of the most recent companies to participate in the Memphis Bioworks Foundation’s ZeroTo510 medical device accelerator program has raised another $900,000 in venture capital funding.

That new equity financing raised by SweetBio, a medical device startup specializing in wound-healing biomaterials with a dental focus, brings the venture’s total raise to more than $1 million in the past six months.

13. Strickland Names 26 to Eight Transition Committees - Thursday, October 22, 2015

Memphis Mayor-elect Jim Strickland announced Wednesday, Oct. 21, that he has named 26 people to eight committees that are the structure of his transition committee.

The transition committee members were chosen by Strickland along with the three co-chairs of the transition committee.

14. Life’s Unfair to the SEC. Right, Nick? - Friday, May 29, 2015

There’s a lot of injustice in sports these days.

From the FIFA scandal to serial PEDs cheat Alex Rodriguez passing Ruth and Gehrig on the all-time RBI list, from whatever the New England Patriots do with air pressure in footballs to what the Golden State Warriors do to opponents when launching basketballs from behind the 3-point line.

15. The Joy of Tony Allen; Inflategate Worse Than Deflategate - Friday, May 8, 2015

Wading in with a few quick takes …

If I had the money and the inclination to open up a bar on Beale Street, the name is set: One-Eyed Charlie.

Mike Conley’s masked-man performance in Game 2 as the Grizzlies defeated Golden State to even their Western Conference playoff series at 1-1 now stands atop the list of true grit-n-grind moments. And for the record, playing point guard with a broken face > than pitching with a bloody sock.

16. FTN Financial Grows With New Offices, Hires - Monday, February 11, 2013

First Tennessee Bank’s capital markets subsidiary has been on a tear lately. FTN Financial has grown on several fronts, including with the addition of a public finance department as it expands into the general market municipal bond sector and with the opening of new offices as part of that expansion. The company also has opened additional new offices around the country and added employees in other areas to handle general growth.

17. Final Holiday Shopping Weekend Keeps Retailers Edgy - Tuesday, December 23, 2008

CHICAGO (AP) – The deals were there and, by most accounts, so were the shoppers. But at the close of the final holiday shopping weekend, consumers confessed they were still nervous about buying.

18. U.S. House Debates Linking Insurance Rates to Credit History - Wednesday, October 3, 2007

WASHINGTON (AP) - The practice of insurers basing auto insurance premiums on a customer's credit rating was questioned at a House hearing Tuesday, with critics asking whether it disproportionately hurts young people and minorities.