Here comes Trader Joe’s with a Friday opening in Germantown after lots of mystery and delays and changes for what is a pretty simple concept. For so many of us, this has been a long-hoped for goal. It’s kind of up there with smuggling in Coors beer from the west in the 70s before it became available everywhere and Coors had a brewery here.

2. Last Word: Jagger, Jerry Lee, Whalum & More and Harris' Plans on BTH - Thursday, September 13, 2018

Sir Mick Jagger and Jerry Lee Lewis walk into Sun Studio Wednesday. That’s not the start of a joke. Variety has reported that Jagger’s film company has signed on to the Elvis biopic being made from Peter Guralnick’s definitive two volume biography of the king. You connect the dots or don’t – who knows if there is a connection? Yes, but they aren’t talking.

3. Some Tennessee Lawmakers Living the Life - Thursday, September 13, 2018

Early in his U.S. Senate campaign, former governor Phil Bredesen shied away from talking about his opponent, Republican U.S. Rep. Marsha Blackburn, preferring to focus instead on ideas.

4. Bredesen Says Senate Race is Different Than Previous Statewide Runs - Wednesday, September 12, 2018

Democratic U.S. Senate nominee Phil Bredesen says his fourth statewide campaign is different. It’s different even from the two campaigns for Nashville mayor before his three campaigns for governor.

5. Last Word: Keeping Kirby Together, Out of State Tuition and Memphis at Navy - Friday, September 7, 2018

I’ve seen school officials have some pretty interesting conversations with parents and students over the last few decades – explaining the school merger comes to mind immediately, of course the demerger too, along with the always charged conversations surrounding busing and even the kidnapping of a child from a school building. But when SCS superintendent Dorsey Hopson met parents and students from Kirby High School Thursday evening in Hickory Hill, it was new ground. The subject was rats – lots of rats.

6. Gridiron Thespians? Florida State Coach Believes So - Friday, September 7, 2018

Sports and theater often merge. We’ve got high drama in Pittsburgh right now where the Steelers are wondering when running back Le’Veon Bell will show up for work (more on that in a moment).

7. Last Word: Tiger Fortunes, Union Mission Expansion and Beale Cause and Effect - Friday, August 31, 2018

The Tigers open the football season Saturday at the Liberty Bowl against Mercer and many of you are ready for football season – college or NFL but rarely both – to begin. Never mind that the World Series still awaits in October or that every time I look up at an NFL pre season game someone is running a kickoff back from one end zone to another because no one wants anyone to hit too hard out there until it counts.

8. Around Memphis: August 27 - Monday, August 27, 2018

The Daily News offers a weekly roundup of Memphis-related headlines from around the web, adding context and new perspectives to the original content we produce on a daily basis. Here are some recent stories worth checking out…

9. Lee-Dean Debate Dates Set - Monday, August 27, 2018

Republican gubernatorial candidate Bill Lee and Democratic nominee Karl Dean are committing to three debate dates this fall in advance of the Nov. 6 election.

10. Last Word: Court Watch, Haslam on Education and George Will on the Senate Race - Friday, August 24, 2018

The last of the testimony concluded in Memphis Federal Court Thursday with legal briefs due from all sides in the case of Memphis Police Department surveillance of protesters by Sept. 24. Then U.S. District Judge Jon P. McCalla will make his ruling on whether the Tennessee ACLU has standing to bring the lawsuit. And if he rules the organization does have standing, he will then rule on what sanctions the police department will face for the surveillance over the last two years.

11. It’s Lee’s to Win Unless He Makes a Rookie Mistake - Thursday, August 23, 2018

When Bill Lee drove a tractor through tiny Eagleville last October, hardly anyone noticed. Only a handful of supporters milled around in the parking lot of the Farmers Co-op in southwest Rutherford County that morning where Lee spent a few minutes talking to people inside the store before emerging to ride to another town as part of a statewide tour, a precursor to an RV ride he would take later in the Republican primary race.

12. Last Word: Day Two in Federal Court, Cohen on Manafort and Saturation Concerns - Wednesday, August 22, 2018

Memphis Police Director Michael Rallings on the witness stand Tuesday in Memphis Federal Court for day two of the trial on police surveillance of protesters.

And Rallings testified that he had only a “vague” knowledge of the 1978 federal consent decree banning such surveillance prior to the lawsuit filed in 2017 by protesters put on the City Hall security list. As a supervisor at the police training academy, Rallings also testified that the rules set by the decree to prevent political surveillance of protesters were not taught to police officers to his knowledge.

13. Last Word: Police Surveillance on Trial, Elvis Alternatives and Firestone's Dilemma - Monday, August 20, 2018

In Memphis Federal Court Monday morning, Memphis Police surveillance of protesters over the last two years is on the docket of U.S. District Judge Jon P. McCalla. McCalla ruled earlier this month in advance of the nonjury trial that police conducted “political surveillance” of protesters in violation of a 1978 federal court consent decree.

14. A Tiger in the 2019 Memphis WCG Field? The Odds Keep Getting Better - Monday, August 20, 2018

Tiger Woods matters again and so do Sunday afternoons on the PGA Tour (witness the 69 percent spike in TV ratings). Tiger gave us 18 holes of long-anticipated theater at the PGA Championship in St. Louis. The Tiger fist-pump returned and so did the huge galleries and the moving roar that are all part of Tigermania.

15. Last Word: Suburban Elections, Charter Changes and Aretha Franklin - Friday, August 17, 2018

Almost there for the November ballot with Thursday’s qualifying deadline for the contenders in the five sets of elections in five of the six suburban towns and cities. Three mayor’s races – all contested -- in Germantown, Lakeland and Bartlett. 11 races decided at the deadline with candidates running unopposed. Something of a surprise in one of the Millington alderman races.

16. Bredesen Agrees To Four Senate Debates - Wednesday, August 15, 2018

U.S. Senate candidate Phil Bredesen has agreed to participate in four U.S. Senate debates with Republican contender Marsha Blackburn covering East, Middle and West Tennessee.

17. County Commission Considers Changes To EDGE Near Term's End - Tuesday, August 14, 2018

With only one more regularly scheduled meeting left in their four-year term of office, Shelby County commissioners are considering some changes to the joint city-county Economic Development Growth Engine – or EDGE.

18. Retiring Stephen Bush Supports DOJ Continuing to Monitor Juvenile Court - Monday, August 13, 2018

Stephen Bush, the chief public defender for Shelby County, said he supports the U.S. Department of Justice continued oversight over Juvenile Court, becoming the latest official to weigh in on the hotly debated issue.

19. Last Word: MIM Numbers, Feeding 700 Teenagers and Elvis Week Arrives - Friday, August 10, 2018

The honored country tradition of the Memphis In May International Festival is one of those things that gets called into question whenever there is some thought about changes to the city’s biggest party. And the keepers of the festival’s flame always defend the tradition against the notion that they should just go straight to the party and not worry about anything profound.

20. Managing Public Office With Private Lives is a Question of Balance - Saturday, August 11, 2018

They juggle work and home life just as their counterparts in the business world, but women in public office do so under the full-time weight of civic duties that sometimes lead to hazards in their lives.

21. Last Word: Election Day, Inland Bails Early and Cannons Out - Thursday, August 2, 2018

The TV breaks are wall to wall with political ads. The campaign robo-calls have crowded out the hang-up clone calls to your landline phone. Your mailbox has no fewer than three mailers a day. And all of the parties set for Thursday night are “victory” parties at least until the polls close. Here comes election day.

22. Hard To Find an ‘Adult In The Room’ in This Year’s Ads - Thursday, August 2, 2018

Television executives, ad reps and political consultants will hate to see this governor’s primary race end. But they can take solace from all the pain they’ve helped dole out while dining on caviar and grilled halibut while in the Caribbean Islands this fall, if they like fish eggs.

23. News Channel 3 ‘Sweeps’ Local Newscast Ratings - Wednesday, August 1, 2018

WREG-TV News Channel 3, Tribune Broadcasting’s Memphis TV station, won all local newscasts during The Nielsen Co.’s July “sweeps” ratings period.

24. Last Word: Early Voting Tea Leaves, More Sunflowers and Marketing the Airport - Friday, July 27, 2018

The blitz is on to the last weekend of campaigning as early voting finishes up Saturday and election day awaits next Thursday. Some of the contenders on the ballot have their second wind. Others are waiting for their political sails to fill. All of them are still moving at various speeds in the Memphis summer of unrelenting heat, sun screen, three changes of campaign t-shirts per day, 100-foot markers at early voting sites, robo-calls, replaced yard signs, new direct mail pieces and voters who swear they voted for you even if they have no idea what you are running for.

25. Officer Won't Be Charged for Fatal Shooting at Wrong Address - Friday, July 27, 2018

HERNANDO, Miss. (AP) – A Mississippi prosecutor said Wednesday that a police officer who shot and killed an armed man after going to the wrong house won't face criminal charges.

DeSoto County District Attorney John Champion told reporters that a grand jury last week declined to indict the unnamed officer on murder or manslaughter charges in the death of Ismael Lopez.

26. 2 Dems Give Final Debate Pitch Before Tennessee Gov Primary - Tuesday, July 24, 2018

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) – Two leading Democratic candidates for Tennessee governor were largely in agreement on the issues during their final debate Sunday night before the Aug. 2 primary.

27. Last Word: MemFix 4's Big Weekend, Early Voting Six Days In and Grizz Moves - Friday, July 20, 2018

A big weekend to avoid the interstate with a rare closing of I-240 between the 385 split and the I-40 split and Poplar over I-240 also closed in both directions. This kicks in Friday evening and runs up to Monday morning’s rush hour as TDOT crews work to replace four bridges in East Memphis using a relatively new process in which parts of the bridges are assembled in advance and then moved into place. The bridges are both Poplar bridges, the Park Avenue bridge and the Norfolk Southern rail bridge. And this will happen all over again in about a week’s time using the same schedule, weather permitting. Weekenders on the interstate already have some experience with a milder version of this with the interstate projects on the south leg

28. There’s an App for That - Tuesday, July 17, 2018

Cole Giovannetti is one of those weekend athletes who can’t stop training, or finding different ways to train.

“I found I like to work out at high-end gyms doing different things,” the 37-year-old Red Door Wealth Management executive said. “My wife said, ‘Enough with all these gym memberships,’ but I didn’t want to stop.”

29. Efforts To Grow Black Business Face Wealth Gap - Tuesday, July 17, 2018

The story of a business founded by maxing out personal credit cards or using home equity or both is usually told when that big financial risk works. You don’t hear a lot about when it doesn’t work.

30. WKNO’s Abernathy Retires After 50 Years in TV - Saturday, July 14, 2018

Russ Abernathy, the longtime director of television and technology at WKNO-TV/FM, has retired after 50 years in broadcasting, including 27 years at WKNO.

Over the course of his career, Abernathy built and ran mobile production units, served on the PBS Engineering Committee through the development of digital television, served as executive producer of Emmy Award-winning programs, and helped design and oversaw construction of the 40,000-square-foot WKNO Digital Media Center.

31. Last Word: Opening Day at the Polls, Court Square Sighting and Different Moonlight - Friday, July 13, 2018

For some candidates summer heat is a campaign tradition that they thrive on. Governor Ned McWherter was one of those candidates. But for most of those running for political office in an election year, it amps up the grueling pace immeasurably, especially the pace of a statewide campaign in a state whose northeastern most point is closer to Canada than it is to Memphis. That is the atmospheric setting for Friday’s first day of the early voting period. And a look at the past turnout for this election cycle shows the statewide primaries on the ballot will likely tell a good part of the story.

32. Grizzlies’ TV Voice Pete Pranica Loving his Dream Job - Friday, July 13, 2018

As the tip-off of another Memphis Grizzlies game nears, television play-by-play announcer Pete Pranica will tell viewers on FOX Sports Southeast, “We have three officials, and they have been assigned by the NBA …”

33. Former Football Player Mario Reed Spreads Message of Never Losing Hope - Tuesday, July 10, 2018

It took relatively little time for Mario Reed to figure out that to survive in a life without the use of his arms and legs – taken from him in a split second during a high school football game in 1997, he would have to look inward – as deep as he could go.

34. Late Entry, Different Strategy Set Tone In Harwell’s Run for Gubernatorial Nomination - Tuesday, July 10, 2018

Her campaign got a later start than her rivals seeking for Republican nomination for Tennessee governor.

House Speaker Beth Harwell has also conducted a basic campaign built around her experience in government.

35. City Looks Broader for Shared Mobility Services - Tuesday, July 10, 2018

In its first 19 days of operation, the Bird system of electric scooters has averaged 1,200 rides a day for a total of 24,000 total rides an average distance of 1.9 miles and 8,600 individual riders.

36. WKNO’s Abernathy Retires After 50 Years in TV - Monday, July 9, 2018

Russ Abernathy, the longtime director of television and technology at WKNO-TV/FM, has retired after 50 years in broadcasting, including 27 years at WKNO.

Over the course of his career, Abernathy built and ran mobile production units, served on the PBS Engineering Committee through the development of digital television, served as executive producer of Emmy Award-winning programs, and helped design and oversaw construction of the 40,000-square-foot WKNO Digital Media Center.

37. New Beale Street Hotel, A Vehicle ‘Vending Machine,’ and New Life on Former Buccaneer Site - Monday, July 9, 2018

380 Beale St.
Memphis, TN 38103

Project Cost: $16 million

Application Date: July 10

Owner: Miller Memphis Inc.

Tenant: TCH Memphis LLC

38. Last Word: River Museum Review, Tigers' Blended Family and Oxford Crackdown - Friday, July 6, 2018

It’s not the Gulf. It’s Lake Pontchartrain that draws the crowds on Mud Island. The Riverwalk replica of the Gulf of Mexico’s neighbor that is. A few adjustments is all it took to return authorized wading to the area at the end of the scale model of the Mississippi River. The river park is changing as it continues to make its way through the annual season from the summer and into the fall.

39. Lessons From Ronald McDonald - Friday, July 6, 2018

CIRCLES AND ARCHES. Our son, Gaines, called the other night and we talked a bit about business, his now and mine once.

My mind wandered to a convertible in a Christmas parade in Jonesboro, or maybe Jackson, Tennessee, or it could have been Tupelo. Wherever it was, Ronald McDonald jumped off the back of the convertible, ran along the edge of the crowd shaking hands with kids and doing the Funky Chicken with any volunteers he could find.

40. Size of Memphis Police Force Study Weighs Numbers in Ranks and How to Use Them - Tuesday, July 3, 2018

The Memphis Police Department is zeroing in on an exact number of officers it should have with a “zero-based” study to be completed in the fall.

“There is pretty much a consensus that we need at least about 2,300 officers,” Bill Gibbons, president of the Memphis Shelby Crime Commission, said on the WKNO-TV program “Behind The Headlines.”

41. ‘Christmas at Graceland’ Producers Lease Downtown Space - Monday, July 2, 2018

The producers of a Hallmark Channel original movie called “Christmas at Graceland” have leased 7,000 square feet of Cutler Property Group’s Crane Company building, located at 254 Court Ave. in Downtown Memphis.

42. U of M Selling Tickets For Football Road Games - Saturday, June 30, 2018

The University of Memphis ticket office now has tickets for the Tigers’ five regular season road games on sale. Memphis will open conference play in week two at Navy on Sept. 8. Tickets for that game are $45. Kickoff is set for 2:30 p.m. Central and the game will air on CBS Sports Network.

43. Last Word: Early Voting Guess, V Live Memphis Closed and Grit and Grind Redux - Friday, June 29, 2018

The Shelby County Election Commission meets Friday afternoon to talk about early voting locations for the Aug. 2 ballot – the county general election and state and federal primary elections as well as a special Memphis City council race. And if I had to guess, I would say the odds are pretty good that the commission will vote to open all 26 early voting sites on July 13, the start of the 14-day early voting period. That would be a change from the original plan of having just the Agricenter location open for the first four days of the voting period.

44. Hearing Ann - Friday, June 29, 2018

KEPT IN MIND. As a copywriter and producer, radio has always been my favorite advertising medium. Radio is theater of the mind. Using sound alone, the medium must create images and experience, conjure up a world if you will, to take and place listeners just where you want them to be.

45. U of M Selling Tickets For Football Road Games - Thursday, June 28, 2018

The University of Memphis ticket office now has tickets for the Tigers’ five regular season road games on sale. Memphis will open conference play in week two at Navy on Sept. 8. Tickets for that game are $45. Kickoff is set for 2:30 p.m. Central and the game will air on CBS Sports Network.

46. Last Word: Almost Fixed, Early Voting Flap and New Chandler Numbers - Wednesday, June 27, 2018

Less than 500 MLGW customers still without power Tuesday evening going into Wednesday when the utility’s goal is to have all power outages from the weekend storms fixed. Right after the storm and when this recovery effort began, 35,000 customers were without power.

47. Nonprofits And Fundraising in The Latino Community - Tuesday, June 26, 2018

Contrary to what we may read in the papers or see on TV, Latinos are not all “illegal, uneducated, and in need of help.”

Yes, there is a heart breaking crisis on the border with Mexico. Children from El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras are being separated from their parents, the suffering is real, and the outcry is loud.

48. Bike Share, Greenway and Bike Lane Efforts Point Toward Common Goal - Tuesday, June 26, 2018

Four years after it made its tentative debut with the opening of the Overton Park Bike Gate, the Hampline, across East Parkway from the eastern end of Overton Park, is about to become permanent.

“The Hampline that exists today is about to be changed,” city bikeway and pedestrian program manager Nicholas Oyler said on WKNO-TV’s “Behind The Headlines.”

49. Suburban Mississippi area to spend $3 million on flood study - Monday, June 25, 2018

HORN LAKE, Miss. (AP) — Governments in the Mississippi suburbs of Memphis, Tennessee, will spend more than $3 million to study flooding.

WHBQ-TV reports that half the money will come from the federal government, while half will come from DeSoto County and local cities.

50. Duffy-Geiger Named CFO At Monogram Foods - Wednesday, June 20, 2018

Cheryl Duffy-Geiger has joined Monogram Foods as chief financial officer. In this role, Duffy-Geiger will be responsible for developing strategic business plans, partnering with operations and supply chain, building relationships with banking partners and overseeing accounting, among other duties. She joins Monogram from Kellogg Co., where she was chief financial officer for its largest global business unit, U.S. domestic snacks.

51. MEM Grows Five Years After Delta De-Hub - Tuesday, June 19, 2018

Five years after Delta Air Lines de-hubbed Memphis International Airport, the airport’s transition to most of its customers being origin and destination passengers has had mixed results in other ways.

52. Last Word: Bird Is The Word, Governors Quartet and Charlie Morris's Secret - Friday, June 15, 2018

Former Vice President Joe Biden plays the Orpheum Friday evening. Maybe that isn't the right way to put it -- unless there's a drum solo no one is talking about. Free Bird?

I'll take it as further evidence of the new American politics that is evolving and is far from settled at this point. Politicians do paid speaking gigs all the time. And at times it is controversial. But the gigs are usually some kind of speaking fee to make remarks at a corporate function -- not selling individual tickets on line. This is ostensibly to promote Biden's new book and book deals and politicians go way back. But in a lot of cases, those are free events in a book store. When Biden was last here, it was as vice president at the Norfolk Southern intermodal rail yard in Rossville.

53. Longtime Elvis Drummer D.J. Fontana Has Died - Friday, June 15, 2018

D.J. Fontana, the drummer who helped launch rock ‘n’ roll as Elvis Presley’s sideman, has died at 87, his wife said Thursday.

Karen Fontana told The Associated Press that her husband died in his sleep in Nashville Wednesday night. She said he had been suffering complications from breaking his hip in 2016.

54. Carpenter Talks Strikeouts, Coaching and the State of Baseball - Friday, June 15, 2018

Of all the starting pitchers that followed Bob Gibson to the mound in a St. Louis Cardinals uniform, perhaps none came as close to matching Gibson’s fierceness as Chris Carpenter did. In nine seasons with the Cardinals, he won a Cy Young Award, a franchise-high 10 playoff games, and was part of two World series-winning teams (2006 and 2011) and four National League pennant-winning clubs.

55. Midstate Transit Future is Paved With Tired Ideas - Thursday, June 14, 2018

If you ask state Rep. William Lamberth, Davidson County voters gave a resounding answer on the future of mass transit in this region. Based on their overwhelming defeat of an early May referendum, they don’t want to raise taxes for mass transit, preferring to be more like Atlanta and Los Angeles and less like New York.

56. Standing in the Gap - Thursday, June 14, 2018

There are statistics that tell a story. Always, there are statistics that tell a story. The city of Memphis’ story cannot be told without mentioning a poverty rate of 26.9 percent (Tennessee’s is 15.8 percent). The child poverty rate in Memphis is even more staggering, at 44.7 percent.

57. Luttrell, Jones: County Budget Talks Center on Property Tax Allocation - Tuesday, June 12, 2018

Shelby County government’s budget season turns on the county’s property tax rate. It’s not about decreasing the current $4.11 rate to $4.05, as proposed by Shelby County Mayor Mark Luttrell. It’s about how the $4.05 rate would be allocated among various county uses.

58. Trump Commutes Sentence In Memphis Drug Case - Saturday, June 9, 2018

President Donald Trump commuted the sentence Wednesday, June 6, of a woman serving a life sentence in a Memphis drug case whose cause was championed by reality TV star Kim Kardashian West in a recent visit to the White House.

59. Last Word: Firestone's Legacy, Malco In Lakeland and Alexander on Cell Phones - Friday, June 8, 2018

What about Firestone? That’s the quick way of getting into the latest turn in our ongoing civic discussion about whether there should be changes to how Memphis approaches economic development and the growth it brings. Eric Robertson, the president of Community LIFT, which works with community development corporations across the city, says the definition of economic development should be broader and the approach to it should go beyond answering the questions of site consultants to keep them from walking away to the next city on their list.

60. Back in Memphis, Alice Johnson Thanks Trump for ‘Mercy’ in Commuting Sentence - Friday, June 8, 2018

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) – A woman whose life sentence was commuted by President Donald Trump thanked him on Thursday for "having mercy" and said reality TV star Kim Kardashian West saved her life.

61. Trump Commutes Sentence for Drug Offender in Memphis Case - Wednesday, June 6, 2018

WASHINGTON (AP) – President Donald Trump commuted the sentence Wednesday of a woman serving a life sentence in a Memphis drug case whose cause was championed by reality TV star Kim Kardashian West in a recent visit to the White House.

62. Last Word: Storm Damage, Overton Square Parking and Corker's Tariff Plan - Monday, June 4, 2018

The week begins with recovery across the river in Arkansas where high winds, possibly tornadoes, did quite a bit of damage Saturday evening – the Delta Regional Airport just outside Colt in St. Francis County destroyed, by the National Weather Service preliminary damage estimate Sunday.

63. TV Times for Memphis Tigers Football Games Released - Monday, June 4, 2018

CBS Sports Network and ESPN have announced some of the game times and television partners for their respective 2018 schedules and five games featuring the University of Memphis were a part of those announcements.

64. Let’s See What You Got - Friday, June 1, 2018

THE REAL GAME. I’ve handled two kinds of Canadian Grizzlies. The first furry transplants played football in the World Football League, changing one of their two names from Northmen to Southmen when they arrived here from Toronto, and keeping their Grizzlies name/mascot/logo, too. I inherited all that as their ad agency.

65. Kardashian West Asks Trump to Pardon Woman in Memphis Drug Case - Thursday, May 31, 2018

WASHINGTON (AP) – Reality TV star Kim Kardashian West was scheduled to head to the White House Wednesday to make a star-powered case for prison reform and advocate on behalf of a great-grandmother serving a life sentence.

66. FedEx to Sponsor Grizz Gaming - Wednesday, May 30, 2018

Grizz Gaming, the NBA 2K League video game team of the Memphis Grizzlies, has announced a sponsorship with FedEx. The union will explore the rapidly growing esports base and expand on a deep, Memphis-based alliance through two organizations that heavily prioritize technology and logistics.

67. Last Word: St. Jude's Reach Across A Divide, One Beale Numbers and Draft Math - Friday, May 25, 2018

To no one’s surprise the legal skirmish over Confederate monuments is on its way to the Tennessee Court of Appeals. Sons of Confederate Veterans and the Forrest family filed notice Thursday of their appeal of the Davidson County Chancery Court ruling of last week holding that the city of Memphis broke no laws in selling two parks, including the monuments in them, to a private nonprofit which then had the monuments removed.

68. Running Pony Wins Seven Telly Awards - Friday, May 25, 2018

Memphis video production company Running Pony has won seven national awards in the 39th Annual Telly Awards, in categories including Animation, Social Media and Branded Content.

The awards were for videos produced for AHS, Terminix, TruGreen, Ronald McDonald House of Memphis, the Memphis Convention & Visitors Bureau, Harvest Group and Memphis Jewish Home and Rehab.

69. Penny Mania - Saturday, May 19, 2018

Derek Jett was coming home from a business trip on the West Coast and making a connection at the airport in Dallas. It was football season, and because it was football season (and not basketball season), he was wearing his University of Memphis cap.

70. Last Word: Bar-B-Foo, Grizz Draft Prospects and The Hampline - Friday, May 18, 2018

Alleged sightings of Dave Grohl at the barbecue contest Thursday in Tom Lee Park and a photograph from a distance that might or might not be the head Foo Fighter. This does happen at the barbecue contest – celebrities quietly coming in with a team. Sometimes not so quietly as when Vice President Al Gore returned in the 1990s to a contest he had a booth at during his time as a U.S. Senator.

71. Common Table to Discuss Opioid Crisis Tuesday - Tuesday, May 15, 2018

The Common Table Health Alliance will discuss “The Opioid Crisis: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly” when it holds its ninth annual Board of Directors Meeting & Awards Program Tuesday, May 15.

72. Former Bears Legend Mike Singletary to Lead Memphis Football Franchise - Monday, May 14, 2018

If Memphis is going to have another pro football league that won’t be confused with the NFL – and it is – it can’t hurt for the first head coach to be a pro football Hall-of-Famer, a feared former linebacker who made the Chicago Bears proud.

73. Last Word: Singletary to Memphis, County Budget Notes and Buying NIN Tickets - Friday, May 11, 2018

It’s not a done deal yet. But there is at least the framework of a plan for the city’s tallest building. The city has signed a letter of intent with the current owners to convert the 100 North Main Building to a convention center hotel with retail, meeting space and a parking garage with a timeline to have this built and open for business by the end of 2022 – two years after the $175 million renovation of the Memphis Cook Convention Center is to be completed.

74. Events - Saturday, May 12, 2018

The Memphis in May World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest returns Wednesday through Saturday, May 16-19, in Tom Lee Park Downtown. Among the highlights are the annual Ms. Piggie Idol Contest; the Kingsford Tour of Champions, which gives the public a chance to taste and judge barbecue from competing teams; the Cooker Caravan, a free guided tour of some of the best competition teams; live music; and more. Visit memphisinmay.org for tickets and a daily schedule.

75. Events - Friday, May 11, 2018

The Memphis Greek Festival returns Friday and Saturday, May 11-12, from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. at Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church, 573 N. Highland St. Greek food, music, dancing, marketplace, kids’ activities, a food drive-thru and church tours are all part of the festivities. Call 901-327-8177 or visit memphisgreekfestival.com for details.

76. Grizzlies’ Poor Draft History In Focus With Lottery Pick - Friday, May 11, 2018

When the NBA Draft Lottery is held on Tuesday, May 15, in Chicago, Grizzlies point guard Mike Conley will be watching on TV. The lottery show will air at 6:30 p.m. on ESPN, should you be inclined to join Conley and root along.

77. Alliance Football to Announce Memphis Coach Thursday - Thursday, May 10, 2018

Memphis recently joined Atlanta and Orlando as an entry in the new Alliance of American Football, which will kick off next February and play a 12-week schedule.

While former NFL receiver Hines Ward will be part of the new pro football enterprise as player relations executive and J.K. McKay will be vice president of alliance operations, the league to this point has only two announced coaches: former Florida and South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier will guide the Orlando team and former Minnesota Vikings coach Brad Childress will be coach of the Atlanta club.

78. Local Republicans and Democrats Regroup From May County Primaries for Unity - Thursday, May 10, 2018

Shelby County Republican Party chairman Lee Mills knows what it is like to lose an election. Four years ago he ran for alderman in Arlington and lost by 21 votes.

79. AutoZone Liberty Bowl to be Played on New Year’s Eve - Monday, May 7, 2018

The 60th AutoZone Liberty Bowl will be played at 2:45 p.m. on Monday, Dec. 31, and carried on ESPN. Last season, the University of Memphis appeared in the AutoZone Liberty Bowl for the first time after winning the West Division of the American Athletic Conference, but losing to UCF in the league title game.

80. Last Word: BSMF Opens, Germantown's New Elementary and Links at St. Jude - Friday, May 4, 2018

The Beale Street Music Festival opens Friday and the clouds appear right on cue. But that, in and of itself, doesn’t stop the proceedings in Tom Lee Park. Lightning is another matter, of course. Poncho and boots are a part of the Memphis In May identity. And one day there will be a digital map of the park’s terrain that shows the areas that are the mud pits and those that are largely mud proof. That’s for some of you to avoid them and others among you to find them and “celebrate” them.

81. The Kickoff is a Must-Keep Play in College Football, NFL - Friday, May 4, 2018

October 6, 2016, at Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium. From the sideline, then-University of Memphis quarterback Riley Ferguson was watching as history disappeared under scorched earth. In other words, as Tony Pollard raced 95 yards and erased a 20-year gap between Memphis kick returns for touchdowns.

82. Last Word: Graceland Offensive, Mural Lawsuit, and a TNReady Encore - Friday, April 27, 2018

It’s on in The Haven. Graceland’s managing partner, Joel Weinshanker, is looking to turn out Whitehaven residents in support of Graceland’s plans for a 5,000 to 6,000 seat arena and in the process a showdown over just what the city and county noncompete for FedExForum means. During a townhall meeting at Guest House Thursday evening, Weinshanker made his case to about 150 Whitehaven residents and around eight or nine candidates in this election year. And he said the chief problem is Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland won’t talk to him about projects he says will open up Whitehaven for future economic development and prosperity.

83. Our College Athletes Are Americans, Too, So Let’s Treat Them That Way - Friday, April 27, 2018

If you spilled an entire carton of milk on your kitchen table, you could count on the 12-member Commission on College Basketball to rush in and … not actually clean it up, just dab around the edges and leave a large and smelly stain in the center of your table cloth.

84. Baptist Expanding Telehealth Services - Friday, April 27, 2018

Patients at Baptist Memorial Health Care Corp. hospitals are increasingly being treated by health care professionals who aren’t on-site at the hospital.

85. A Work Home Found - Thursday, April 26, 2018

Growing up in Texas, just south of Houston, Michael Phillips always had been around people speaking Spanish. He took Spanish classes (and German, too) in high school and always liked the language.

86. Kosten Foundation Donates $15K to Hope Lodge - Tuesday, April 24, 2018

The Memphis-based Kosten Foundation for Pancreatic Cancer Support has donated $15,000 to the American Cancer Society Harrah’s Hope Lodge in Memphis to fund a dedicated guest suite. The suite, like those available at Hope Lodges nationwide, is available free of charge for cancer patient and their caregivers who travel to Memphis to receive treatment.

87. Coletta Talks About Phase One of Riverfront Redevelopment After Memphis In May - Tuesday, April 24, 2018

Once the Memphis In May International Festival ends, workers will move into Mississippi River Park to begin the $65 million first phase of redevelopment of the riverfront.

The redevelopment will move south from the park, across the cobblestones and to Tom Lee Park, the home of the major events of Memphis in May.

88. Last Word: TNReady Blinks Again, Gov. Debate Thoughts and Mud Island's Museum - Friday, April 20, 2018

There was a point Thursday morning during the troubled TNReady testing at some Tennessee school districts when there was a “brief” slow down in the online testing, according to the Tennessee Education commissioner’s office. By noon that had been resolved and more than 250,000 completed tests had been submitted since testing began Monday. One can only imagine what some of the thoughts were in the office during the slow down and the gap between how long the slow down seemed and how long it actually was.

89. Bickerstaff the Grizzlies’ Best Option for Coach - Friday, April 20, 2018

Would keeping interim head coach J.B. Bickerstaff be the easiest play for the Memphis Grizzlies? Absolutely.

Would keeping the 39-year-old assistant who was promoted after David Fizdale was fired amid a losing streak and conflict with star center Marc Gasol be the best budget move for the Grizzlies? Probably.

90. History Upgrade - Friday, April 20, 2018

Mud Island’s Mississippi River Museum will have a shorter season than the rest of the river park.

The park on the southern half of Mud Island opened for the season April 14 during a changing of the guard at the Riverfront Development Corp., which runs the park for the city.

91. Lee, Boyd, Black Talk Confederate Monuments, Oppose Pre-K Expansion - Thursday, April 19, 2018

Three of the four major contenders for governor in the Aug. 2 Republican primary disagree with the removal of Confederate monuments from city parks but also disagree with the state legislature’s decision to cut $250,000 of city funding in retaliation.

92. Sex Week Seems Tame Compared to Session Antics - Thursday, April 19, 2018

Why should UT Knoxville be limited to its annual Sex Week when Tennessee legislators are celebrating year-round?

Based on the scurrilous reports published in these parts over the last couple of years, state legislators are doing more than collecting per diems in Nashville, and there’s plenty of evidence to prove it.

93. Away From the Court - Thursday, April 19, 2018

For seven straight years, the Memphis Grizzlies made the playoffs. For seven straight years, the winning on the court provided momentum and opportunity for those working on the business side trying to sell season tickets and arrange corporate sponsorships.

94. Republican Gubernatorial Debate Wednesday Will Air Statewide - Wednesday, April 18, 2018

The Greater Memphis Chamber Chairman’s Circle announced Tuesday the organization will co-host the first statewide televised Tennessee gubernatorial debate for Republican candidates on Wednesday, April 18, at 7 p.m. at the Halloran Centre of The Orpheum Theatre, 225 S. Main St.

95. New Plans Would Change Memphis Medical District - Tuesday, April 17, 2018

With 27,000 people who either work or attend classes in the Memphis Medical District, and about 375 acres of parking space, something has to give.

Following last week’s release of a reconfigured city bus system plan and a new shuttle system that the Memphis Medical District Collaborative is working on, officials hope to convince 2,500 people to leave their cars at home.

96. Last Word: Mud Island Changes, Zoo Parking and Capitol Hill Revolt On UT Board - Friday, April 13, 2018

This could be your last chance to see the Mississippi River Museum at Mud Island River Park as it has been for about the last 30 years. The park on the southern half of Mud Island opens for the season Saturday. The museum will be open only through July 4 is what is billed as a “limited run” followed by a public engagement process for “reimagining how we tell the story of the Mississippi River in a 21st century way,” according to park general manager Trey Giuntini in a Thursday press release.

97. Doubleheader - Saturday, April 14, 2018

These days, Craig Unger calls himself the “corporate guy.” After all, he is now president of both the Memphis Redbirds and the United Soccer League (USL) team that will share AutoZone Park with the St. Louis Cardinals’ Triple-A club beginning in 2019.

98. Annual WFGM Awards Celebrate Contributions of Local Women - Wednesday, April 11, 2018

Three Memphis women who have dedicated their lives to improving life in the city they call home will be honored for their contributions this week.

The Rev. Sonia Louden Walker, Anita S. Vaughn and Fredrika “Freddi” Felt will be the recipients at this year’s Legends Awards sponsored by the Women’s Foundation for a Greater Memphis (WFGM).

99. Last Word: Pera's Move, The Catechism of 1968 and Whitehaven's ER - Tuesday, April 10, 2018

A day ahead of the last game of the season for the Grizz on the road, the team’s majority owner, Robert Pera, acted Monday to clear up questions about the ownership of the team going forward. Pera emailed season ticket holders Monday evening that he will not be exercising a buy-sell agreement with his partners who have minority shares of the franchise.

100. Last Word: I Am A Man Plaza, Graceland Clears EDGE and Filing Deadline Action - Friday, April 6, 2018

Sometimes the simplest concepts say more than an elaborate explanation can – even when the history it depicts is complex. A plaza dedicated to the 1,300 city sanitation workers who went on strike in 1968 formally opened Thursday on what had been a vacant lot just across Pontotoc from the south side of Clayborn Temple. And the occasion included more of the small moments that have made this week so compelling. Watching civil rights icon Rev. James Lawson walk around the plaza and discover it includes one of his quotes from the 1968 strike.