Hey, friends. How ya doing? It’s Wednesday, Jan. 12, and Rhodes College will be back in session, though it will begin classes remotely. There will also be a virtual hearing in the case against state Sen. Katrina Robinson to discuss a date for her sentencing hearing. 

And the Memphis Tigers men’s basketball team will be taking on a “desperate” University of Central Florida — while experts are once again thinking the Tigers could make it into the NCAA Tournament. 

THE NEED TO KNOW

Two fans stare at a makeshift memorial on Airways Boulevard for Young Dolph, who was shot at the site the day before. (Patrick Lantrip/Daily Memphian file)

Young Dolph suspects caught: After posting on social media that he planned to turn himself in to authorities Monday — and that he was innocent — Memphis rapper Straight Drop was arrested in Indiana yesterday in connection with the fatal Airways Boulevard shooting of Young Dolph. Straight Drop, whose real name is Justin Johnson, was initially identified as a suspect last week when a $15,000 reward was offered for his capture. But, in something of a twist, another man who was arrested over a month ago in Southaven was also indicted yesterday on first-degree murder charges in the case; he was extradited Tuesday from the DeSoto County Jail to 201 Poplar.

A voter casts his ballot on Nov. 3, 2020, at the Lester Community Center. The area might be using those same machines in the next election, too. (Mark Weber/The Daily Memphian file)

Check it: Will Shelby County ever get new voting machines? That’s sort of my question after reading the latest from Bill Dries on the matter. I feel like, at one point, the Shelby County Election Commission hoped to have a new voting system in place before the 2020 election. (Let that sink in.) But the Election Commission and the Shelby County Commission have been at loggerheads over what type of machines to buy. And they still are. In the fall of last year, a Chancery Court ruling said that the Election Commission gets to choose the voting system. But the County Commission controls the purse strings. So, here is where we are, with the May primaries quickly approaching.

Grizzlies guard Ja Morant (12) fights through a screen on Jan. 11 against the Golden State Warriors at FedExForum. (Patrick Lantrip/Daily Memphian)

Taking 10: The Grizzlies’ historic run continued last night as the Memphis team beat the Golden State Warriors — Steph Curry and Klay Thompson’s Golden State Warriors — 116-108. Memphis point guard Ja Morant scored 29 points while rookie Ziaire Williams earned a new career high of 17 points. Only Golden State and the Phoenix Suns have more wins right now than the Grizzlies, and as Geoff Calkins noted, the Grizz are 3-2 against those two teams. Of last night, he wrote, “It was just one game, but it felt bigger than that. It felt like the moment the Grizzlies announced themselves to the country as true contenders. And the moment Memphians realized — really realized — what is unfolding in front of their eyes.”

Speaking of the Grizzlies: Charges against Memphis Grizzlies Grindfather Tony Allen were dropped yesterday after he and his wife appeared together in Collierville Municipal Court. The charges, which included domestic assault and domestic vandalism, stemmed from a November 2021 incident at Desiree Allen’s apartment. The two currently maintain separate residences but their attorney, Leslie Ballin, suggested this was “a bump in the road” in a “long life together as a married couple.” 

MEET MEMPHIS 

Makaela Perkins (from left), Ben Sciacchetano and Ashton Martin worked on the selfie museum at Downtown’s Lucky Fox Studios. (Ziggy Mack/Special to The Daily Memphian)

Ben Sciacchetano and Ashton Martin are both 22-year-old designing directors for Lucky Fox Studios and recently they spent three months juggling their classes at the University of Memphis while building out an “Elvis Room,” a “Fur Room” and other tableaux in a 14-room selfie museum Downtown. Sciacchetano and Martin constructed every room in the museum using vintage decor, furniture and objects from local thrift stores.

THE NICE TO KNOW

The site includes 1.5 acres of vacant lots and a 21,000-square-foot warehouse building on the block bounded by Butler Avenue on the north, G.E. Patterson Avenue on the south and Hadden Street on the east. (Courtesy of cnct. design)

The Butler did it: A planned Downtown development has been approved for a 12-year PILOT. Butler Row is slated to be built, partly, on vacant lots at the corner of G.E. Patterson Avenue and South B.B. King Boulevard and would include 285 residential units and a 300-space parking garage. But parking was still one of the concerns raised by members of Downtown’s Center City Revenue Finance Corp., especially as the new Wiseacre Brewing Co. location is very nearby.

Change in store for school funding: The Tennessee General Assembly was back in session yesterday (with incoming University of Memphis President William Hardgrave sitting in the House balcony). And with education funding being one of Tenn. Gov. Bill Lee’s top priorities, the state Department of Education released a draft of how the Basic Education Program could be updated. According to Daily Memphian journalists, “the new plan keeps the basic ingredients of the old formula, but adds additional considerations in the formula for factors such as concentrated poverty, rural districts and those with unique learning needs.” It would also provide direct funding for fast-growing districts.

Former Shelby County Commissioner Henri Brooks has pulled qualifying petitions for two offices for May’s local Democratic primaries. Brooks left the commission in 2014. (Daily Memphian file)

Another look for Brooks: Former Tenn. Rep. Henri Brooks is considering another run for office — but she’s also keeping her options open. Brooks spent more than 20 years in local politics, with seven terms in the state House and two terms on the Shelby County Commission. Now, she’s pulled petitions for two different seats: County Commission District 7 and Juvenile Court Clerk.

Providence changes hands: One of the county’s current storylines, for lack of a better word, centers on growth in Arlington. It’s obviously growing but local leaders don’t want it to happen too quickly. But a prominent development company has just bought into Arlington, with the literal purchase of the up to $100 million mixed-use Providence Place project. The development is slated to include a hotel, a variety of housing and apartments, multiple office buildings and an open space plaza. And, as Tower Ventures partner Benjamin Orgel said, the company was interested in the property for multiple reasons, even before Ford Motor Co. announced it would locate an EV plant at the Megasite of West Tennessee.

WE’RE TALKING ABOUT

Yes, before they won the NCAA College Football National Championship, the Georgia Bulldogs also won the AutoZone Liberty Bowl. 

I don’t know why this tweet makes me laugh, but it does. Maybe because it’s just such a flex.

As always, thanks for reading The Early Word, have a great day and keep on flexing. Hope to see you tomorrow. 

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