Good morning and happy new year, Memphis! Welcome back to The Early Word, where we try to give you a mountain of news in about a minute. 

Today is Monday, Jan. 3, 2022, and students at Shelby County Schools are back in classes after winter break. We’ve also got the Memphis Grizzlies in Brooklyn to play the Nets. 

THE NEED TO KNOW

People wait in line to get tested for COVID-19 during the latest surge of the Omicron variant at Compass Laboratory Services Dec. 30, 2021. (Patrick Lantrip/Daily Memphian)

’Rona round-up: The area rang in New Year’s Eve (and New Year’s Eve eve) with more record COVID-19 cases. On Thursday, the Shelby County Health Department reported 2,259 new cases and followed that with an additional 3,004 cases Friday. Saturday’s numbers were back down, relatively, while yesterday’s — 3,394 — were another record high. And while there is optimism with Omicron and how severe cases are, the latest data from the state shows that area hospitals’ acute care facilities are 96% full while ICU beds are at 92%. The Health Department also issued another health directive late last week, but it didn’t change much for us. It did recommend “alternative work solutions,” i.e. working from home, where possible. Lastly, the Tennessee Department of Health announced that it has received its first shipments of the oral antivirals approved to treat COVID-19. 

Memphis Police Chief C.J. Davis spoke during a press conference in October about crime reduction efforts. (Ziggy Mack/Special to The Daily Memphian file)

Chief lobbies for out-of-town officers: After mostly avoiding the topic, Memphis Police Chief C.J. Davis weighed in this morning on the city’s residency requirement for public safety employees. She noted that the department needs 300 new officers each year just to keep up with attrition and talked about all the steps the department has already taken to recruit candidates from across the country. But she said that requiring police officers to live within Shelby County reduces the department’s ability to meet public safety goals: “We know there are highly qualified candidates who live less than 30 minutes on the other side of the county line. They may want to come to Memphis to serve but don’t want to give up their homes.” 

Olive Branch goes big: Over the summer, the City of Olive Branch annexed almost 20 additional square miles — and that move has made it the second-largest city geographically in Mississippi. Only Jackson, Mississippi, is bigger in size (although it’s much bigger); there are also other municipalities in the state that are bigger in population than the OB. But, as Toni Lepeska writes, “Big-city stuff is on [Olive Branch’s] agenda. More street lights. More traffic lights. More police.” The city is also hoping to enact a 1% hotel tax to help it fund local parks and recreational facilities, similar to Southaven’s restaurant tax and Horn Lake’s tourism tax. Due to the Mississippi Legislature, however, it’s by no means a done deal.

QUOTED

“Recognizing the unknown of the omicron variant and its impact in the classroom — out of an abundance of caution, and recognizing that our desire is to have in-person learning as safely as possible — I believe this is the most prudent way to return to class on Tuesday.”

— Germantown Municipal School District’s Amy Eoff
In a special called meeting on Friday, Dec. 31, Germantown’s Board of Education voted to return to a mask requirement for students and faculty. The body plans to review the decision later this month. Collierville Schools also met in a special meeting Sunday, Jan. 2, but took the opposite tack, even though the superintendent warned about the possibility of not being able to staff schools during the surge. 

THE NICE TO KNOW

Memphis forward Josh Minott had a career-high 15 points and added six rebounds to help propel the Tigers to an 82-64 win over Wichita State Saturday. (Travis Heying/Wichita Eagle)

Tigers take Wichita State: The Memphis Tigers men’s basketball team needed a win Saturday, and they got one, defeating Wichita State, 82-64. DeAndre Williams and Jalen Duren were back in action, with Duren scoring 14 points, but it was another “breakout game” for freshman Josh Minott, who scored a career high of 15 points and had “a number of jaw-dropping plays to boot.” Steven Johnson noted that the “Tigers’ best lineup against the Shockers featured [Earl] Timberlake, Minott, Duren, DeAndre Williams and Landers Nolley II” and wondered if this could be the go-to lineup Memphis has been searching for. And columnist Geoff Calkins said the blowout against Wichita State got “the most important year in Memphis basketball history started off right” … and then explained why it’s the most important year for the program in a long, long time.

Bartlett in transition: With longtime Bartlett Mayor Keith McDonald planning to retire, leadership in the suburb could look different come next year. Three candidates have already announced for the mayor’s race, including two aldermen and one Bartlett Police Department officer, and three aldermen seats are on the next ballot as well. Bartlett’s CAO is also retiring next year, as is Alderman W.C. “Bubba” Pleasant, who has been the Position 1 official for 16 years. 

A tiny house was built by Dwayne A. Jones Construction Company LLC in Orange Mound as part of an effort to combat homelessness. (Patrick Lantrip/Daily Memphian)

New model home: A new effort could put up to 20 people currently without homes into their own residences. Homes for Hearts — in partnership with Room in the Inn, builder Dwayne Jones, architect Chooch Pickard and the Binghampton Community Land Trust — hopes to build tiny homes in various local communities. It’s got one so far, a 280-square-foot house in Orange Mound. The model is for the current resident to stay in the house, rent free, for six months; after that, if the resident wants to stay, he can enter into a rent-to-own agreement for as low as $200 a month.

THIS WEEK’S WEATHER

After a summer Saturday and a snowy Sunday, it’ll be pretty chilly today. Expect highs in the upper 30s Monday, warming up to highs in the upper 40s by Tuesday and highs in the 50s on Wednesday. But, we’ll be looking at more snow chances beginning Wednesday night and into Thursday. 

As for me, I will take a cool January over hot winter any day. 

Enjoy your day, and thanks for reading! 

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