Good morning, Mid-South! Today is Wednesday, June 23, and the 6th Annual “We Mean Business” symposium, from the City of Memphis’ Office of Business Diversity & Compliance, begins at 9 a.m.

And if you are looking for something fun to do — not that the symposium wouldn’t be — Gumbo Grits & Gravy, Marcella Simien’s new trio with bluesman Guy Davis and violinist Anne Harris, will be at Bar DKDC tonight in Cooper-Young.

THE NEED TO KNOW

Shelby County Health Department COVID-19 contact tracing team members Linda Anne (bottom) and Greg Dixon (top) discuss a case in the fall of last year. (Mark Weber/The Daily Memphian file)

All over the Delta: Four additional cases of the Delta variant of COVID-19 have been identified here. And while that might not seem like that many, the concerning bit is that none of the new cases are related to each other or any of the existing cases. Says Shelby County Health Department deputy director David Sweat, “one did have a travel history to California, but the rest were infected locally.” The Health Department has not identified which ZIP codes the Delta cases originated from but instead say that we’re getting so many introductions to the variant, it’s “kind of like everywhere.”

The Collierville Board of Education is looking into expanding Collierville High School. (Daily Memphian file)

State-of-the-art school needs more room? Collierville’s new, roughly $95 million high school boasts a state-of-the-art performance facility, a large cafeteria, a 5,000-seat football and track stadium and a 3,000-seat basketball arena. And even though it’s only been open for three years, it’s expected to be slightly over its 3,000-student capacity during the next school year — and to only grow from there. That has the district considering a $5 million, two-story, 26,000-square-foot addition.

Buttoning up our budgets: With the new fiscal year just days away, the Tennessee Comptroller does not want the county to reopen budget deliberations after July 1. The Shelby County Commission expected to pass a one-cent tax increase earlier this week, but when several commissioners were absent, that measure failed. Only, some commissioners are talking about another vote at their next regular meeting, on July 26. Comptroller Jason Mumpower was in town yesterday to advise local governments about their federal American Rescue Plan funds: “I want to assist them in making sure they don’t run afoul of the federal rules in how they spend this money.”

MEET MEMPHIS 

Three-year-old King Lee, with his parents Whitney and Floyd Lee III, has attended Brown Christian Academy since it opened. (Mark Weber/The Daily Memphian)

Brown Missionary Baptist Church began researching its own school about 10 years ago and was just about ready to open it in August 2020. But with the COVID pandemic, the Southaven church decided to postpone the opening instead, and the extra time allowed the school to add early childhood care, beginning with infants six weeks old. “The plan was to add early childhood down the road,” said Brown Christian Academy executive director Gwen Neal. “When the world was shut down, that gave families time to make more babies, and we are really growing in early childhood.” 

THE NICE TO KNOW

Frontier Airlines is beginning a new nonstop flight from Memphis to Las Vegas. (AP Photo/John Locher, File)

Viva Las Vegas: Frontier Airlines is adding to its flights from Memphis. Beginning in August, the low-cost carrier is returning a nonstop flight between the Bluff City and Las Vegas. The service will be offered twice a week and will leave Memphis around 10:15 p.m. — getting into Sin City just shy of midnight.

Two go all in: University of Memphis football got two new commitments yesterday, the first being defensive end Eric Gaston out of Cane Ridge High School in Antioch. Gaston is ranked as the No. 33 player in Tennessee and had offers from Indiana, Kentucky, Ole Miss and Tennessee. Just hours later, a second commitment came from Milan linebacker Antwain Barham Jr., who was a priority for the U of M program. Memphis beat out Tulane, Indiana and Coastal Carolina for Barham.

Now turning to basketball: One of the best high school basketball players in the country is visiting the University of Memphis this week. Jalen Duren is the No. 2 player in the class of 2022 and is reportedly deciding between Memphis, Kentucky and Miami. But there’s even more competition. Duren is also considering going straight to the pros or reclassifying to 2021 and beginning to play college ball this upcoming season.

WE’RE TALKING ABOUT

Theatre Memphis’ scenic and lighting designers … 

Super impressive. Bravo to Yates, Heath and everyone on their team! 

Hope you have a great Wednesday, and we’ll meet you back here around this same time tomorrow.

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