Hello, morning people! Today is Thursday, Sept. 16, and we should have another COVID-19 task force briefing. Plus, it’s Mexico’s Independence Day, and Yom Kippur ends this evening. 

Bruce Hornsby & the Noisemakers will be at the Germantown Performing Arts Center tonight while The Crosstown Arthouse Film Series will screen “The Muthers.” There was also supposed to be a 30th anniversary concert at B.B. King’s on Beale Street but, perhaps in light of a recent tragedy, that has been canceled. 

Last thing, if you’re doing the St. Jude Ironman 70.3 in October, you can practice the swim tonight at Shelby Farms Park.

THE NEED TO KNOW 

Raymond James & Associates left its namesake Downtown office tower for a move to East Memphis’ Ridgeway Center. Now the building looks to be converted to apartments. (Jim Weber/Daily Memphian file)

Working from home leads to homing from work? One of Downtown’s most recognizable office buildings won’t be mostly office space much longer. Citing the current realities of the pandemic, the owner of what is commonly still known as the Raymond James building is adding residential apartment units to the skyscraper in addition to ground-floor commercial space. The building will become Memphis Waterfront Tower and Jacob Sofer said, in a statement, “I hope to see real viability in what could be the new era of this prominent waterfront building.”

(Left to Right) Jared Isaacman, Dr. Sain Proctor, Hayley Arceneaux, and Chris Sembroski have become the first all-civilian crew to travel to space. (John Kraus/Netflix)

Our stars: Yesterday, at 7:02:56 p.m. Central Time, four people associated with St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital became the first all-civilian crew in space. The Inspiration4 took to the sky in a SpaceX Falcon rocket, using the same Cape Canaveral launch pad used by Apollo 11, and 29-year-old Hayley Arceneaux — the former St. Jude patient and current St. Jude physician assistant on the crew — “beamed as she waved to friends and family gathered to wave the crew goodbye. She practically danced as she walked down the access arm to the space capsule, stopping to peer out the windows at the scene below.”

In the future, those “Jackson” signs could say “Odyssey.” (Mark Weber/The Daily Memphian)

Redefining home: It may be hard to imagine Memphis without a Jackson Avenue or an Audubon Park, but that could be the case before the end of the year. The Memphis City Council’s Renaming Committee presented its findings to the public earlier this week and is suggesting changing Jackson to Odyssey Avenue and Audubon to DeCosta-Willis Park (after the late Miriam DeCosta-Willis), among other changes around the city. The committee expects to have two more virtual town hall meetings before it presents its recommendations to the City Council in October.

Masks on or off? An official ruling on Tenn. Gov. Bill Lee’s student mask opt-out order could come as early as today. You may remember that a temporary restraining order was issued and now prohibits students from opting out of Shelby County’s mask mandate at school. But it expires tomorrow afternoon. As it stands, a few notable attorneys expect federal judge Sheryl Lipman to extend the injunction but there may also be some sort of compromise in the case.

MEET MEMPHIS

Andy Pouncey is Germantown’s city historian and the driving force behind a new online museum. (Courtesy City of Germantown)

The Germantown Historical Preservation Association has been wanting to open a museum for years to showcase the suburb’s history. But it wasn’t until recently that it was possible. Sort of. The group’s president, Andy Pouncey, was in New Zealand when he seized upon an idea used there: an online museum. The result is a new site that showcases Germantown’s major events, its people and its places.

THE NICE TO KNOW

Frank Balton Sign Company installers Francisco Patino (kneeling) and his daughters (left to right) Esmeralda and Michelle Patino install the newly made “Luciann” sign atop the building’s marquee on Wednesday, Sept. 15. (Tom Bailey/Daily Memphian)

More signs of Summer: A new, red neon sign has gone up on the former Paris Adult Entertainment Center on Summer Avenue — and it may be a promise of things to come, both for the building and the street. Luciann owner Bill Townsend originally planned to convert the front of the building to an antiques store but now he is thinking it may become an events center and music venue instead.

Big announcements in Arlington: Arlington is getting a new, state-of-the-art, free-standing emergency department, which will be the first of its kind in Shelby County. And the suburb is also getting a Whataburger. (I’m not kidding about this being big.) The chain has already announced five other restaurants in the Memphis area, with two planned for Southaven, one for Collierville, two on Germantown Road and zero in the heart of the city.

A group of notable Bartlett residents have come together to save the Side Porch Steakhouse. (Mark Weber/The Daily Memphian)

Steaking a claim: In early August, Bartlett’s oldest steak house seemed like it wouldn’t survive the summer. And that had local residents really upset, especially when they thought about the restaurant’s signature croutons. But the news about the Side Porch Steak House also gave Shelby County Commissioner David Reaves an opportunity to cross something off his bucket list. Reaves and his wife, along with two other couples, have stepped in to give the Side Porch — and its croutons — a second chance. 

Accounts of Robinson’s accounts: The second day of testimony in the federal case against state Sen. Katrina Robinson began with two bank employees and plenty of talk about deposits and withdrawals. Prosecutors called 10 witnesses yesterday, including the owner of a party rental business that provided decorations for Robinson’s 2016 wedding and the vice president of finance for the Memphis Grizzlies. 

WE’RE TALKING ABOUT

What you can — and cannot — bring to Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium this weekend ... 

Seriously, though, cowbells will not be allowed at the stadium. Though you may still hear some. 

On the other hand, cowbells’ whole purpose is to draw attention to themselves ... which is not generally what you want when you’re sneaking something in. 

It should make for an interesting game, though. 

Thanks for reading this morning, and I hope you have a great rest of your day.

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