Hello, Mid-Southerners. Today is Wednesday, Dec. 16, and Nashville favorite Slim & Husky’s Pizza Beeria will celebrate the grand opening of its first Memphis restaurant, located in the Edge District.

Tonight, the Memphis College of Art will receive the 2020 Mojo Award from MidtownMemphis.org. And Coach Penny Hardaway and his University of Memphis Tigers will be in New Orleans for their conference opener against Tulane. 

THE NEED TO KNOW

Workers at the FedEx Express world hub in Memphis handle packages of COVID-19 vaccine during sorting on Sunday, Dec. 13. (Courtesy FedEx)

State puts vaccine on ice? With all the talk about FedEx delivering coronavirus vaccines and when the doses first got to (or went through) Memphis, one might expect that we’ve already started vaccinating health care workers and first responders here. But, have we? The Tennessee Department of Health received its first shipment of Pfizer’s vaccine Monday but the state is currently keeping them as an “emergency backup supply.”

While we’re waiting for the vaccine: Shelby County added another 900 new coronavirus cases yesterday, but what’s more concerning is that the area’s ICUs recently hit 97% capacity, with only 15 beds available as of Monday evening. And, given what happened after Thanksgiving (again, 97% full ICUs), local leaders aren’t optimistic about what we’ll see in January after Christmas. In light of all of this, the Shelby County Health Department is prepping another new health directive, but it sounds like they’ve been postponing it — to see if we need additional restrictions — as we tiptoe closer to the area’s tripwires. 

Painters paint a bold tree-trunk mural on the Williamsburg Manor apartments. The murals are supposed to work with the shadows cast on them by the property’s oak trees. (Mark Weber/The Daily Memphian)

Berry good? The Williamsburg Manor apartments were once as staid as their name suggests. But their owners have rebranded them the Goji Luxury Apartment Homes and given them quite the paint job. Mimosa Gardens has also gotten a similar overhaul, although its new name — Kiwi Luxury Apartment Homes — isn’t as far afield from what it once was. To be fair, the renovations to the East Memphis apartment buildings also include new roofs, kitchens, windows, doors, fire pits, bocce courts and outdoor grilling stations, but it’s the exterior colors and mural designs that are really catching people’s attention.

On your marks. Get set. No: The Memphis City Council is poised to crack down on drag racing with an ordinance that would allow police to ticket drivers, organizers, passengers and even spectators. The council is also looking at two measures to discourage muffler modifications, but there is concern that, if passed, they would bring more people of color into the criminal justice system. 

MEET MEMPHIS

Joretha Lockhart

Leading with “a big open heart,” Lakeland Elementary School principal Joretha Lockhart was recently honored by the Tennessee Department of Education as the West Tennessee Grand Division’s principal of the year. Lockhart began her career at Southwind Elementary School, as a first-grade teacher, and joined Lakeland Elementary in 2001 as a curriculum coordinator/assistant principal. She became principal in 2013. But her path to success started early. When Lockhart was growing up, she ran into difficulty with reading; that stuck with her, and her personal commitment is that all of her students learn to read.

THE NICE TO KNOW

Andrew Ticer (left) and Michael Hudman are teaming up with Kellan and Davin Bartosch to open a pizza place in Wiseacre Downtown. (Patrick Lantrip/Daily Memphian file)

Wait, another pizza restaurant is opening, too? Yes, Andy Ticer and Michael Hudman, the restaurateurs behind Hog & Hominy, Bishop and Catherine & Mary’s, are working with the Bartosch brothers to open a pizza and snack shack inside Wiseacre’s new Downtown brewery. There will be chicken wings, onion rings, New Haven-style pizza and sfincione. And, for Hudman and Ticer, it’s perhaps a chance to right the ship a little on 2020, a year that started for them when Hog & Hominy caught fire on Jan. 9.

Grab a tiger by its Tail: A new beer should help both the University of Memphis’ athletic department and a future student. The Memphis Tigers now have an official craft beer partner in Grind City Brewing Co. and the brewery’s latest, a craft malt liquor called Tiger Tail. Grind City president Hopper Seely says the company’s goal is to make an impact beyond beer within the city, and because of the licensing deal with the University of Memphis, a portion of the sales will go back to the school and its athletic department. There is also a scholarship plan in the works.

Phillip Ashley Rix made chocolate candy at his store in February. Since the pandemic, he’s had to shift his business model. (Mark Weber/Daily Memphian file)

How a confectioner is coping: Local chocolatier Phillip Ashley Rix is to be featured on “ABC World News Tonight with David Muir” as the national news program dives into how small businesses have pivoted during the pandemic. For Rix, the pandemic has meant taking most of his business online, and that now includes doing about 20 chocolate tastings a week. 

When smaller is big: FedEx Express has received the first of 30 new freighters built to its specifications. The new planes — ATR 72-600Fs — will give the company the ability to carry heavier loads of freight and serve customers in locations that aren’t accessible with a larger, widebody jet. 

WE’RE TALKING ABOUT

Tennessee’s hot-spot status, where COVID-19 is spreading faster than anywhere in the U.S. ... 

and how much we miss our friends. And “Friends,” too, for that matter. 

But, seriously, be careful out there, and we’ll see you tomorrow. 

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