Good morning and greetings, fellow Memphians. Today is March 12 and, as it’s Lent and Friday, I would love to revisit this story from Jennifer Biggs. It’s all about the killer fish dishes local restaurants serve. 

And the Memphis Tigers will take on No. 6 UCF tonight at 9 p.m. during their initial appearance in this year’s AAC Tournament.

THE NEED TO KNOW

A waitress at Sage Restaurant served a large table full of customers (!) during a lunch rush back in 2019. (Houston Cofield/Daily Memphian file)

Ch-ch-ch-changes: Doug McGowen, the city’s vaccination czar (though that is not his official title), spoke yesterday about big changes coming to the area’s distribution efforts. Soon, people in Shelby County will be able to get a vaccine right from their doctor’s offices. As of today, they’ll be able to access vaccination appointments through a new, and assumedly more robust, online sign-up system. And 222-SHOT (I’ve called it before and got a busy signal) will be manned by a call center staffed with more than 700 people, working in shifts, and phone lines will be open seven days a week, 12 hours a day. If all goes as planned, changes to restaurant restrictions are headed our way as well, with bars and eateries probably able to stay open until 1 a.m. and seat parties of up to eight together. I mean, they aren’t able to do so yet, but they could be later on this month. 

This was what it looked like this past year when Tigers fans celebrated a touchdown against Temple during an October 2020 game at Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium. Can you feel the excitement? (Mark Weber/The Daily Memphian file)

The year that was: It was essentially a year ago that the world — and sports, especially sports — ground to a halt. The World Health Organization began calling the situation a “pandemic” and it was sports that showed us kind of how unimaginable the year was going to be. “Historically, at a time of crisis,” writes Geoff Calkins, “we have turned to sports to help us affirm that together we will persevere. So it was that President George W. Bush put on a bulletproof vest and threw out the first pitch at Yankee Stadium in the wake of 9/11.” But this time, that wasn’t an option. Calkins looks at the effect on sports … and on us.

UK cluster contained: As the local number of UK variant cases of the coronavirus increased, there was at least one notable hot spot. When University of Memphis athletics ran more than 2,300 COVID-19 tests in February, 31 cases came back positive — and 29 of those were identified as the UK strain. But, with surveillance testing and other efforts, the university says that cluster did not reach the rest of the campus or the broader Memphis-area community. 

Memphis Police Department director Michael Rallings spoke during a memorial service held for George Floyd in June 2020. (Patrick Lantrip/Daily Memphian)

New top cop: The City of Memphis is looking at seven finalists to replace Memphis Police Director Michael Rallings when he retires in April. Three of those candidates are already senior members of the department; the other four have been in police leadership in cities such as Fort Worth, Philadelphia, and Tucson. And while we’re talking law enforcement, the city added information and data on excessive force complaints via an online dashboard earlier this week. For instance, the site details the five most common types of violations alleged to have been committed and how many instances were alleged in each of the past five years. 

MEET MEMPHIS

Since 2018, Lucas Trautman and his wife, Kristin Fox-Trautman, have run businesses right next to each other at the Binghampton Gateway Center. (Mark Weber/The Daily Memphian)

Three years ago, Kristin Fox-Trautman and her husband, Lucas Trautman, opened side-by-side businesses at the Binghampton Gateway Center with a goal of helping to strengthen the area. Both have been involved in Binghampton for nearly two decades and, as the coronavirus pandemic closed both their cafe and their jiu-jitsu studio last year, the couple found support and encouragement in each other. 

THE NICE TO KNOW

FedEx has been testing drone usage at the Memphis International Airport. (Courtesy FedEx)

Who’s wearing the cargo pants now? Hang on, Hong Kong. Looks like we took our title back. According to preliminary data, Memphis International Airport handled more cargo last year than any other airport in the world. That isn’t all good news, however, not in the global sense. The shift was brought on by the sizable increase in e-commerce due to the pandemic as well as political issues that hit Hong Kong’s trade volumes. 

Speaking of trade: With the NBA’s trade deadline looming toward the end of the month, well, the chatter is starting. Chris Herrington thinks there is a good chance the team won’t mess with the momentum and mix it’s got going now, but … he does identify five (five!) types of trades that we could see in the near future. 

VECA already is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, but now wants to protect its architectural integrity with historic-overlay zoning. (Tom Bailey/Daily Memphian)

Cup of sugar? As Vollintine-Evergreen leaders seek a historic designation — which would help protect the neighborhood’s Tudors, craftsmen, and four squares from those who might erode their architectural elements — a nearby area is asking to be included. To do so, the Land Use Control Board has kicked the application back to the Landmarks Commission. VECA wants to help their neighbors, but they’d prefer to help them with their own, separate application as opposed to starting what could be a lengthy process again.

Scratch that: There are next-generation drug therapies out there, and The Daily Memphian’s Dan Conaway is getting one next week. But, as he writes today, the cost for such a drug is more than his first house (and all the rest of his houses since then, too). How will he swing it? Oh, there’s a way, but as he says, it “should make every one of you itch more than me.”

WE’RE TALKING ABOUT

When all of us became this guy ...

This one definitely came from me. Just a few weeks ago, my daughter jumped on my lap while I was speaking on a Zoom and began licking my face … because she was, in her words, “a cat.” So, I did exactly what this chap did. I just kept talking but put my hand up to gently push her out of the frame ... while my coworkers died of laughter. 

Thanks for being in the thick of it with us. I’ll be off for a few days next week, but Chris Herrington will be here, bright and early, to make sure you start the week off right. 

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