VOL. 133 | NO. 127 | Tuesday, June 26, 2018
Last Word
Bill Dries
Last Word: The Clean-Up, Strickland On Security and Memphis Urbanism
By Bill Dries
Clean up from weekend storms was the first order of business at the top of the work week and that continues into Tuesday around the city. As Monday became Tuesday, MLGW reported 123 power outages it was working on affecting 2,121 customers.
At its peak over the weekend 35,000 customers were without power. Out of town crews have been called in to work around the clock in what is MLGW President J.T. Young’s first power outage of this kind since becoming head of the utility. Young said Monday the goal is to have power full restored no later than Wednesday.
The storm debris that city sanitation crews will be picking up is another drumbeat in what is expected to be some effort to change the city’s policy of picking up yard waste at the curb within 21 days after a call to the city to come pick it up. Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland has said he is looking at overhauling the system.
Strickland also reacting Monday to $200,000 in Memphis Police overtime for his personal security including a look at some of the social media fan mail he’s been getting that has, in part, prompted the 24-hour police watch on his home. Much more on this to come in the Wednesday edition.
A field of seven at Monday’s withdrawal deadline holds its ground in the special city council race on the Aug. 2 ballot.
And Mississippi state auditor Stacey Pickering has resigned to head the state’s Veterans Affairs Board.
75 games into the season, it looks like the Memphis Redbirds are on their way to another playoff berth.
75 games into the current season, the Memphis Redbirds again appear to be on their way to the playoffs.
In our Architects and Engineers Emphasis, the LRK team talks about 30 years into an endeavor that has become about the Memphis influence on urbanism they’ve spread to other cities.
Allen & Hoshall is using gaming plaforms to bring new life to 3-D renderings and allow for quicker changes to plans.
Renderings – where the river is always blue, the days look carefree and the people are as well. Allen & Hoshall has taken 3D models and put them on gaming platforms to really put the ideas to the test. It’s not just a way of letting clients see what they are getting. It also saves time on planning and schematics. It also means Minecraft matters.
Memphis-based EdR is acquired by Greystar Student Housing Growth and Income Fund in a $4.6 billion deal expected to close later this year.
Bike lanes on Peabody Place have been removed but not without a protest ride and plans for bike lanes on nearby MLK Avenue.
War Logistics cutting the ribbon on a new 500,000 square foot facility in South Memphis that comes with its partnership with CoremanNet automotive parts repair and refurbishing.
The greenway, the greenline, bike share and bike lanes and the connections among them on “Behind The Headlines” where city bikeway and pedestrian program manager Nicholas Oyler makes the case for a network that is beyond just finding ways around other than a car.
With July 1, a new state law takes effect that aims to end stalking by legal action, filing numerous legal actions.
A new Tunica-based air charter starts flying next week to and from four cities.