VOL. 132 | NO. 116 | Monday, June 12, 2017
The Week Ahead: June 12-18
Daily News staff
Get ready to groove, Memphis, because this week we're welcoming the inimitable Ruthie Foster to town, along with the return of both the Juneteenth Urban Music Festival and the Soulsville Record Swap. Plus, we've got details on the state House District 95 election, free MATA rides and what else you need to know in The Week Ahead...
Goner Records and the Stax Museum of American Soul Music are presenting the second annual Soulsville Record Swap Saturday, June 17, at the Stax Museum (926 E. McLemore Ave.) The event – for which general admission is free – runs from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. DJs will play sets all day, and food trucks from Arepa 901, Sandwiches & More and MEMpopS will also be on hand.
The Memphis Area Transit Authority is taking part in National Dump the Pump Day this Thursday – and that means free bus rides all day in Shelby County and West Memphis. The American Public Transportation Association, the group that sponsors this annual event, says a two-person household can save more than $9,800 annually by downsizing to one car. Plus you get the warm-feelies of knowing you’re helping the environment.
Check out MATA’s trip-planning tools for routes and schedule info.
A Juvenile Justice Summit gets underway Tuesday morning at 9 a.m. at Hickory Ridge Mall. The summit is being organized by the Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative and the Annie E. Casey Foundation, a group Memphis-Shelby County Juvenile Court has been working with for several years.
The event, which run until 2 p.m. and is free and open to the public, includes retired Philadelphia Police Deputy Commissioner Kevin J. Bethel, who helped develop that city’s school diversion program. He’ll be talking about the school-to-prison pipeline and the impact of diversion programs.
The Juneteenth Urban Music Festival is celebrating 25 years with a whole host of activities, including a concert by The Bar-Kays and Confunkshun at the Cannon Center and a three-door outdoor festival in Robert R. Church Park. And while music is a huge part of the Juneteenth festival, there’s plenty more on the schedule… like a job and career fair, a lifetime achievement awards gala, and awards for kids doing amazing things in Memphis. (Get the whole schedule here.)
Juneteenth, for the record, is the oldest known celebration observing the end of slavery – centered around the date that Union soldiers landed in Galveston, Texas, with news that the Civil War was over and slaves were free.
Thursday is election day in state House District 95. What do you mean you don’t know which House district you live in? This is the district that covers mostly Collierville, part of Germantown and part of Eads. Polling places are open Thursday from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., and while this is a special election for a district seat with nothing else on the ballot, it will be watched pretty closely as a precursor of partisan sentiment going into the 2018 elections.
The contenders are Republican nominee Kevin Vaughan, who is on the Collierville Schools board; Democratic nominee Julie Byrd-Ashworth, who is an attorney; and independent candidates Robert Schutt and Jim Tomasik. Tomasik, who does not live in District 95, has run for office before under the Libertarian Party banner. Schutt, the son of Peter Schutt, president and chairman of The Daily News Publishing Co., is a Vanderbilt student who lives in Eads and works on Winchester Farm. He is making his first bid for public office.
Once the polls are closed at 7 p.m., join us @tdnpols for live coverage of the vote count. DEMOCRACY.
As Democracy would have it, Thursday at noon is also the filing deadline for the candidates who intend to run in the September Arlington municipal elections. Four of the city’s six positions on the board of aldermen and three of the five school board positions are on the September ballot. Also stayed tuned to @tdnpols for word on who is in by the deadline. DOUBLE DEMOCRACY.
Ruthie Foster plays the Levitt Shell Thursday evening as part of the Shell’s summer concert series. If you were introduced to her a few years ago via the music sampler that comes with the Oxford-American’s annual music issue, you know she has a powerful voice that defies musical genres and labeling. She’s been nominated three consecutive years for best blues album Grammy, signed with Atlantic Records out of the U.S. Navy, then moved back to Texas to do things her way with recordings for independent labels starting in 2002. When we say “do things her own way,” we refer you to her cover of Black Sabbath’s “War Pigs.”
The Memphis Redbirds will play four games vs. Colorado Springs Sky Sox (Milwaukee Brewers) at AutoZone Park beginning with a 7:05 p.m. game Tuesday. First pitch Wednesday is at 11:05 a.m., and Thursday and Friday game times are both 7:05 p.m. Tickets can be purchased at the AutoZone Park Box Office, or via phone at 901-721-6000.
Shelby County Commissioners meet Monday to take the first of three votes between now and July on a new county property tax rate and possibly a final vote on an operating budget for the new fiscal year that begins July 1. In committee sessions last week, six commissioners voted to recommend a county property tax rate of $4.10. That would be a tax cut of 3 cents from the new certified rate of $4.13 taking into account the 2017 countywide property reappraisal. It takes seven votes to make this happen.
Shelby County Mayor Mark Luttrell told us on this week’s “Behind the Headlines” TV show on WKNO that he is open to the idea and working with commissioners to make it happen. Third and final reading on this will be at the first commission meeting in July.
The commission meeting today starts at 3:30 p.m. at the Vasco Smith Administration Building, 160 N. Main St.
Meanwhile in Lakeland Monday, the Lakeland Schools board meets to consider a contract extension for schools superintendent Ted Horrell.
The Bartlett Board of Mayor and Aldermen closes out its budget season Tuesday with a final vote on a 34-cent tax hike, which if approved on third and final reading sets in motion the financing for a reconfiguration of the Bartlett High School campus over several years.
Like Shelby County and the six others towns and cities in the county, Bartlett’s property tax rate was adjusted this year to take into account the 2017 countywide property reappraisal. The rate is currently $1.62. The new certified rate approved by the state to produce the same amount of revenue as the current rate taking into account the reappraisal is $1.48.
With the 34-cent tax hike to finance the Bartlett High renovation and other city budget items, the rate for the fiscal year that begins July 1 would be $1.83. The meeting is at 7 p.m. at Bartlett City Hall.
Earlier in the day Tuesday, Bartlett Schools superintendent David Stephens is the speaker at the Bartlett Area Chamber of Commerce monthly luncheon at noon at Unique Catering and Event Center, 2751 Bartlett Blvd. He will talk about the $60 million master plan for Bartlett High, which you can read about here.
“Five hundred twenty-five thousand six hundred minutes…” If you started singing that to yourself just now, you’ll probably be excited to know, if you don’t already, that a 20th anniversary touring production of the hit Broadway musical “Rent” comes to The Orpheum Friday through Sunday. Tickets run from $35 to $100.
Twilight Tuesdays Outdoor Movie Series continues with “Space Jam” at 8:30 p.m. Tuesday. Enjoy movies under the stars, on a 24-foot screen at the south end of Beale Street Landing – Memphis' largest grass roof.
The Memphis Farmers Market Crop Hop 5K is Friday, so get your yee-haw on at this Downtown run benefiting the Memphis Farmers Market. Party time at the pavilion (South Front and G.E. Patterson) includes live music, lots of eats, beer and a fun time, all starting at 6:30 p.m.
The Daily News staff compiles The Week Ahead for you, our readers, every week. You'll receive it as part of our Monday online edition. Email associate editor Kate Simone at ksimone@memphisdailynews.com if you have items for consideration.