Former Tiger Joe Jackson Faces Gun, Drug Charges

Joe Jackson, who played four years for the University of Memphis basketball team after being a standout player for White Station High School, was booked into the Shelby County Jail on Wednesday, Aug. 16, on gun and drug charges.

Jackson, according to multiple media reports, was charged with felony possession of a firearm and felony possession of a controlled substance with intent to manufacture and sell. He also faces misdemeanor charges.

Memphis police reportedly pulled Jackson over making an improper left turn. A search of his vehicle uncovered two guns, $4,500 in cash and about 100 pills in a backpack; the pills were believed to be ecstasy.

Jackson, 25, most recently played in the NBA Summer League for the Phoenix Suns. He also has played overseas. A point guard with the Tigers under coach Josh Pastner, Jackson appeared in four NCAA Tournaments.

– Don Wade

King’s Daughter Among Freedom Award Recipients

The daughter of Martin Luther King Jr., the co-founder of the Southern Poverty Law Center and a groundbreaking South African jazz trumpeter and composer are the recipients of the National Civil Rights Museum’s annual Freedom Awards.

NCRM president Terri Lee Freeman announced the recipients Thursday, Aug. 17, in advance of the Oct. 19 awards ceremony and student forum.

The honorees are:

• Rev. Bernice A. King, CEO of The King Center in Atlanta, a resource center and nonprofit dedicated to nonviolent social change. The center was founded in 1968 by her mother – Dr. Martin Luther King’s widow, Coretta Scott King – in the aftermath of her husband’s assassination in Memphis that year.

• Morris Dees, a civil rights attorney who co-founded the Southern Poverty Law Center in 1971 with attorney Joseph J. Levin Jr. and civil rights activist Julian Bond. The Montgomery, Alabama-based not-for-profit agency was created to fight discrimination, intolerance and hate through education and litigation.

• Hugh Masekela, a South African composer, band leader and trumpeter who was an outspoken and influential critic of apartheid policies. Apartheid and political unrest caused Masekela to leave South Africa in 1960 and spend some 30 years away.

Freeman said the Freedom Awards also will include a tribute to the Memphis sanitation workers who went on strike in 1968.

Because of upcoming renovations to the Memphis Cook Convention Center, the awards ceremony moves this year to The Orpheum Theatre Oct. 19 at 7:30 p.m., with a red carpet reception and pre-awards gala at the neighboring Halloran Centre starting at 5 p.m.

– Bill Dries

Rotary Club Moves Weekly Lunch to Clayborn Temple

The Memphis Rotary Club is moving its weekly luncheon meetings to Clayborn Temple starting next month after being held for several years at the University Club.

The service organization, chartered in 1914, announced its decision Wednesday, Aug. 16, after a debate and vote by the club’s board.

“Our move is meant to help bring attention to the historical importance that Clayborn Temple played in the civil rights movement as our city approaches the 50th anniversary of the sanitation workers’ strike in April,” club president Arthur Oliver said in a written statement.

The church was a strategic center for coordination of the 1968 strike and a staging area for the start of daily marches during the strike to City Hall by sanitation workers.

Located south of FedExForum, Clayborn Temple had been vacant for almost 25 years when Neighborhood Preservation Inc. bought it in late 2015, with Frank Smith and Rob Thompson working to fully renovate the building and find permanent uses for it beyond Sunday services of The Downtown Church.

The Memphis Rotary Club has held periodic luncheons in the church sanctuary since a partial restoration and stabilization made the building safe enough to start hosting events last October.

The club routinely draws 100 to 130 people at its weekly luncheons, which feature speakers about various civic issues and causes.

– Bill Dries

Rep. Cohen to Introduce Impeachment Articles

U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen of Memphis said Thursday, Aug. 17, he intends to introduce articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump, based on Trump’s comments about recent violence and marches by white nationalists in Charlottesville, Virginia.

“President Trump has failed the presidential test of moral leadership,” Cohen said in a written statement. “No moral president would ever shy away from outright condemning hate, intolerance and bigotry. No moral president would ever question the values of Americans protesting in opposition of such actions, one of whom was murdered by one of the white nationalists.”

Cohen said Trump’s recent remarks on the violence and the specific role of white nationalist groups in the events in Charlottesville make it “morally and legally incumbent upon me, based on my oath of office, to introduce articles of impeachment.”

– Bill Dries

Airport Authority Approves Construction Contracts

Construction contracts totaling nearly $50 million as part of Memphis International Airport’s $214 million concourse remodeling were approved Thursday, Aug. 17, by the Memphis and Shelby County Airport Authority.

Among them were Chris Woods Construction Co.’s $25.6 million contract to build a CONRAC maintenance facility, Chris-Hill Construction Co.’s $22.7 million to construct two airport taxiway bridges, and A&B Construction Co.’s $1.56 million contract for restroom and apron-level improvements on Concourse A.

Additionally, Jacobsen/Daniels Associates was awarded a contract, not to exceed $4.68 million, to continue work on the airport’s master plan, which includes sustainability upgrades to the master plan, updated forecast and growth projections, and establishing the airport’s developmental priorities.

– Patrick Lantrip

St. Jude Files $2.3M Building Permit

St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital has filed a $2.3 million building permit application with construction enforcement officials for interior renovations at 595 Danny Thomas Place.

Rusty Foster, principal with Evans Taylor Foster Childress Architects, and Rodney Hubbard with MEDFAC Engineering were tapped to handle the design work.

Earlier this month, St. Jude filed a $2.6 million building permit application for interior renovations on its 545 Danny Thomas Blvd. facility. Additionally, the hospital filed a $1.1 million building permit application in July to install a new nuclear magnetic resonance, or NMR, laboratory.

– Patrick Lantrip

Developers Close on Land For Rock Climbing Wall

Chattanooga-based High Point Rock Climbing and Fitness Memphis, doing business as High Point Memphis LLC, has purchased an undeveloped tract of land adjacent to Christian Brothers High School from Boyle Investment Co., doing business as BIC HH Partnership, for $1.9 million.

Matthew Hayden signed the deed as treasurer on behalf of Boyle.

Earlier this month, High Point submitted plans to develop a 31,600-square-foot rock climbing facility that backs up to CBHS’ baseball field near Humphreys Boulevard and Walnut Grove Road.

The application will be reviewed by the Land Use Control Board on Sept. 14.

– Patrick Lantrip

FedEx Names New EVP, General Counsel

FedEx Corp. has announced that Mark R. Allen will assume the roles of executive vice president, general counsel, and secretary effective Oct. 1.

Prior to the promotion, Allen, 61, served as the senior vice president and legal & international general counsel at FedEx Corp.’s subsidiary, FedEx Express.

Since joining FedEx in 1982, he has spent time with the company in Hong Kong, Toronto and Brussels prior to his return to Memphis. While based in Europe, Allen was responsible for all international legal, regulatory, and security matters, and will now take over for Christine P. Richards, who announced her retirement last month.

FedEx Corp. chairman and CEO Fred Smith said in a written statement that Allen’s leadership, business skills and international experience made him the ideal choice to lead the company’s legal, regulatory, governmental affairs and security groups.

With Allen’s addition, the company’s Strategic Management Committee includes six executives who have spent substantial portions of their careers working in FedEx’s international regions, Smith added.

– Patrick Lantrip

Tigers’ Ferguson Named To Manning Award Watch List

University of Memphis senior quarterback Riley Ferguson was one of 30 quarterbacks named to the Manning Award watch list. Ferguson is also a candidate on the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm watch list, the Davey O’Brien watch list and the Maxwell Award watch list.

Preparing for his second season at Memphis, Ferguson is coming off a season that saw him pass for 3,698 yards and a school-record 32 touchdowns in 2016. He ranked second in the American Athletic Conference with 284.5 yards passing per game and a 152.7 passer efficiency rating. His 3,698 passing yards rank second only to 2016 NFL First Round draft pick Paxton Lynch in the Memphis record book.

A native of Matthews, North Carolina, Ferguson was 280-of-443 passing last season, posting seven 300-plus yard passing performances and becoming the third quarterback in school history to pass for over 400 yards in a game. His 400-yard game came in the regular-season finale win over Houston, where he finished with 406 passing yards.

After one season, Ferguson’s name is already on several Memphis career charts. He enters 2017 sixth in completions, eighth in attempts, seventh in yards, fourth in touchdowns and fourth in 300-yard passing games.

The Manning Award was created by the Allstate Sugar Bowl in honor of the football accomplishments of Archie, Peyton and Eli Manning.

The Manning Award is the only quarterback award that includes the candidates’ bowl performances in its balloting, which includes a panel of national media and each of the Mannings.

Midseason additions to the Watch List will be announced on Oct. 12. The list of 10 finalists will be released Nov. 30, and the winner will be announced in the week following the College Football Playoff National Championship.

– Don Wade

Collierville Frisco Locomotive Bell Restored

A 265-pound bell that was on Collierville’s Frisco 1351 locomotive has been restored and will be part of an exhibit that opened this week on the city’s railroad history at the Morton Museum of Collierville History, 195 Main St.

The bell’s restoration is part of a larger project that includes refurbishing the entire locomotive and repainting the train’s caboose red.

The bell was restored at no cost by David McPhail, owner of 901 Customs, a specialty automotive shop in Collierville.

While almost all of the parts are original, McPhail and his team made a new clapper that uses a hitch trailer ball at the base to replicate the weight and length of the original, thus giving it the same sound.

Once restored, it took three people, a dolly and a truck to deliver the bell to the museum, where it underwent more work, including rewiring of the bell’s headlamp.

Once the locomotive restoration is complete, the bell will be affixed to it.

– Bill Dries

Rhodes Names Wiggington Dean of Students

Russell Wigginton is the new vice president of student life and dean of students at Rhodes College. Rhodes president Marjorie Hass announced Wiggington’s appointment Tuesday, Aug. 15, effective immediately.

Wigginton has been a faculty member and senior administrator at the Midtown liberal arts college for 21 years and is a 1988 alumnus. He comes to the dean’s position from being vice president of external programs.

Wigginton’s duties in the newly created position include overseeing campus culture in student and residential life, athletics and recreation, career services and counseling, disability services and academic support services. Wiggington’s responsibilities will also include the Rhodes Learning Corridor, which is the school’s partnership with surrounding neighborhoods.

“Students thrive when the residential part of their lives are healthy,” Wigginton said in a written statement. “The classroom is the hub for their Rhodes experience, but they spend a lot of time outside of the classroom. The relationships they build informally and formally come together in life-changing ways and contribute to their intellectual, cultural and civic vibrancy as adults.”

– Bill Dries

Southaven Planning Industrial Job Fair

The DeSoto County Economic Development Council, Colonial Hills Church, and Trinity Church have come together to host the Southaven Industrial Job Fair.

The event will be held Sept. 14 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at 7701 U.S. 51 North in Southaven.

The economic development council reports as many as 15 local industrial employers will be on hand looking to make same-day hires, including Helen of Troy, Nidec Motors, Future Electronics, Scansource, Geodis, Synnex, WAI Global, Associated Wholesale Grocers, W.W. Grainger and Neovia Logistics, among others.

– Patrick Lantrip

Memphis Film Prize Announces Winners

The winner of the second annual Memphis Film Prize, who took home the competition’s top award of $10,000 cash, was “We Go On,” directed by Matteo Servente.

The Memphis Film Prize, which combines elements of a film contest and festival, invites filmmakers from all over the world to create and present a five- to 15-minute short film with only one rule – it must be shot in Shelby County. In addition to the Memphis Grand Prize of $10,000, the top three films are automatically selected to screen at the Indie Memphis Film Festival in November.

Filmmakers began shooting their films in February and submitted them in June, when a rough cut was due to contest organizers. From the eligible submissions, 10 filmmakers were chosen to participate in the Memphis Film Prize Festival and, through a jury vote and a public vote, competed for a $10,000 cash prize. The additional Memphis Film Prize films that will play at Indie Memphis will be “Favorites,” directed by Tracy Facelli, and “The Game,” directed by Robb Rokk.

– Andy Meek

U of M Ranks High For Charitable Support

The University of Memphis is ranked in the top quarter of higher education institutions for total charitable support, according to the Council for Aid to Education, an independent organization specializing in educational assessments.

Each year, CAE gathers data about charitable support through the Voluntary Support of Education survey, an authoritative national source of data on charitable giving to higher education and private K-12 institutions. The U of M is ranked 225 out of 971 higher-education institutions, both private and public, in the most recent survey.

“The generosity of alumni and friends not only directly benefits our students, but it helps the U of M fulfill our vision of becoming one of the nation’s top metropolitan research universities by providing much needed support across our campuses,” University of Memphis president M. David Rudd said in a statement.

– Daily News staff

Curb Market Hires Two to Shape Food Experience

The Curb Market has hired Andrew Edwards as executive chef to oversee the full kitchen and deli and Brad McCarley to run the in-house butcher shop and charcuterie program.

Edwards joins The Curb Market from Porcellino’s Craft Butcher, where he served as boucher and charcutier. He previously worked at New Orleans institutions Herbsaint and Cochon and at fine-dining restaurants in Vail and Beaver Creek, Colorado. Edwards will also host a farm-to-fork Chef’s Table Dinner once a month where a maximum of 12 guests can reserve a seat.

McCarley, meanwhile, will direct the craft butcher shop, which offers a wide selection of hand-cut, aged steaks, roasts, homemade sausages, house-cured bacon, hams, and the only locally grown and cured charcuterie in the area. Customers can also call ahead and place special orders.

The Curb Market, which is owned by The Daily News owner Peter Schutt, is located on the ground floor of the Crosstown Concourse.

– Andy Meek

Memphis Lands National Cyclocross Race

USA Cycling has chosen Memphis to be a part of its national Cyclocross racing series for the 2017-18 season.

On Saturday, Sept. 30 and Sunday, Oct. 1, Shelby Farms Park will host the Tri-Star CX race, part of the American Cyclocross Calendar.

The event will draw competitive cyclists from across the nation to try their wheels on a new pro-level course.

“The popularity of year-round competitive cycling is growing nationally,” says Tri-Star CX’s race director Jonathan Pence said in a release. “We’re not just excited to be a part of a USAC nationally-sanctioned race, we’re excited for what we think will bring exposure to the sport locally and attract more competitive cycling races to Memphis.”

Created in France, Cyclocross began as a way to give cyclists an alternative training option in the colder months.

Cyclists race many laps around a short, multi-dimensional course featuring pavement, wooded trails, grass, steep hills and obstacles.

“It’s a pretty physically demanding sport that requires a lot of speed, navigation and a course that accommodates it – think like American Ninja Warrior on bicycles,” says David Clark, captain of Ninetywest Racing, a local team helping to host the race.

Shelby Farms Park has been known to the Memphis biking community for how accommodating it has been to the sport.

“That’s why we’re thrilled to announce that our partners at Shelby Farms Park have agreed to allow this pro-course built specifically for this event,” Pence says.

Some 100-125 riders, both local and from across the country, are expected to be a part of the event.

When USA Cycling’s National Cyclocross Championship went to Bend, Oregon, in 2009, Bend saw a direct economic impact of $1.44 million generated by the race, according to the release.

Local food trucks and sponsor tents will be among the other attractions at the Memphis race.

Admission is free for spectators. Races will begin on Saturday and Sunday at 8:30 a.m. and last until 4:30 p.m.

– Daily News staff