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The Daily Memphian | The Early Word
 
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The Early Word: The aftermath of Collierville’s active shooter and 2,000 other deaths

Hi, friends. Good to see you. Quite a day here yesterday

Today is Friday, Sept. 24, and the 38th Annual Memphis District Senior Olympics begin today (and run through Oct. 8). The annual Pink Palace Crafts Fair also begins today, and goes throughout the weekend, at Audubon Park. And lastly, The Secret Garden opens at Theatre Memphis.

THE NEED TO KNOW

A survivor of the mass shooting at a Collierville Kroger makes a call from the scene Sept. 23, 2021. (Patrick Lantrip/Daily Memphian)

Tragedy in Collierville: The “most horrific event” in Collierville occurred yesterday, as a gunman walked into an area Kroger and opened fire, killing Olivia King, injuring at least 12 others and then taking his own life. We don’t yet know who the gunman was, but witnesses said the shooting began near the deli. Employees and customers fled the store around 1:30 p.m. yesterday, with other store staffers taking cover in freezers and locked offices. The event drew reaction from area leaders as well as notice from multiple media outlets across the country, and Kroger has closed the store until further notice.

White flags are part of artist Suzanne Brennan Firstenberg's "In America: Remember," a temporary art installation to commemorate the Americans who have died of COVID-19, on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

Pandemic takes its toll: Locally, we’ve now lost more than 2,000 people to the pandemic. We lost the first 1,000 over a roughly 10-month period from March 2020 to January 2021. We lost the second thousand over eight months. Despite that, our other COVID numbers are currently trending in the right direction. The reproduction rate is down to .81, and there are almost 100 fewer COVID patients in area hospitals than there were a week ago.

MATA CEO Gary Rosenfeld explained how MATA is funded during a work session in early 2020. (Jim Weber/Daily Memphian file)

MATA ‘Ready!’ for change? The Memphis Area Transportation Authority is looking at cutting four bus routes in North Memphis, Boxtown and Germantown, but MATA’s plan is to expand its Ready! curb-to-curb transit program in those areas instead. Though MATA’s CEO said earlier this year that some of those fixed routes would not be eliminated, the transportation system’s continued driver and mechanic shortage and the “surprising” success of the curb-to-curb program are helping to drive the proposed changes.

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MEET MEMPHIS 

Victory Bicycle Studio owner Clark Butcher (left) and new operations manager Lynn Greer in the Broad Avenue store earlier this month. (Mark Weber/The Daily Memphian)

After 17 years of owning and operating Gran Fondo Cycles in Nashville, Lynn Greer closed the shop, perhaps disenchanted with Tennessee’s capital city. “It had just become difficult to run any local business in a boom town,” he says. But, wait, this is “Meet Memphis,” not “Meet Nashville.” These days, Greer is working as the operations manager at Victory Bicycle Studio on Broad Avenue and he says moving to Memphis is one of the best things that’s ever happened to him.

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THE NICE TO KNOW 

Middle College High School seniors toasted with sparking juice as their entire class earned scholarships to attend TSU. (Daja E. Henry/Daily Memphian)

Class gift: Almost every senior at Middle College High School received a free ride to college yesterday. Tennessee State University is offering 83 of the class’ 86 students a full scholarship to college; the school is offering the other three students a partial scholarship. The offers, which were called a “blessing” and a “game-changer” for the students, are the result of a partnership between the high school and the college begun through one of the Shelby County Schools board members.

Eric Draper returns to his hometown tonight, ready for a fight. (Submitted)

From basketball to boxer: A former high school basketball standout turned boxer is making his second hometown debut today. Eric Draper played basketball for White Station High School during the 1990s and even won the state championship in the high jump in 1996. But he began boxing professionally more than a decade ago and will be fighting for the vacant United States Boxing Federation’s middleweight title today at Agricenter International.

Campaign season begins: New and old candidates for elected office are making their names known. Sheriff Floyd Bonner kicked off his re-election campaign earlier this week, and several incumbent Circuit Court and Chancery Court judges have already indicated they are planning to run again. Other private citizens have also declared their intentions to run for Shelby County Commission seats. 

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WE’RE TALKING ABOUT

It’s Friday, so I hope you’ll forgive me a little levity this morning. 

I’m also going to let this serve as my reminder to start thinking about Halloween costumes. 

Thanks for being with us this week! Have a great weekend and you can find us back here Monday, bright and early. 

 
 
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