Happy Monday, Memphis! Today is May 16, which happens to be both National Do Something Good for Your Neighbor Day and National Mimosa Day. So why don’t you invite your neighbor over for a mimosa happy hour today? Who says mimosas have to be a brunch drink?

Tonight, the Countywide Juvenile Justice Consortium will host its first town hall meeting of the year with an update on plans for the county’s new youth detention center. The event will be virtual, and you can find details and register here. 

THE NEED TO KNOW

Memphis Grizzlies guard Ja Morant celebrated during the team’s game five victory over the Golden State Warriors on Wednesday, May 11. The team lost to the Warriors on Friday, May 13, ending their playoff run. (Mark Weber/Daily Memphian)

The Grizz future is bright: The Memphis Grizzlies’ season ended on Friday when they lost in game six of the playoffs against the Golden State Warriors, 110-96. They were playing without star point guard Ja Morant, and though the score was close at times, they gave up too many offensive rebounds (25) and too many fast-break points (23). The Daily Memphian’s Geoff Calkins reflected on the past season, in which the Grizzlies won 62 games, calling it the franchise’s “most fun.” So what’s next? The Daily Memphian’s Drew Hill has some thoughts from the Grizzlies exit interviews on Sunday, and — hint — he thinks Morant (and some other key players) may be in Memphis for at least a few more years. Calkins offers some thoughts on that topic too, but there are a couple of Grizzlies he thinks could be gone soon. 

A rendering shows the entrance to the Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium after the proposed $150 million-plus renovation. (Courtesy University of Memphis)

Stadium rock: The last concert at the Liberty Bowl (now Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium) was U2 in 1997, but last week’s announcement of a $150 million to $200 million renovation of the stadium could mean an end to the 25-year drought on concerts at the stadium. Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland said last week that opening up of the north side of the stadium would set the stage for blockbuster concerts at the city’s biggest single-stage venue for such shows.

Early voters trickled out of the Election Commission office on April 13, 2022. The commission has delayed the certification of the vote from the May county primary election. (Patrick Lantrip/Daily Memphian file)

Election certification delayed: The results of the county primary election were supposed to be certified last Friday, but the Shelby County Election Commission delayed certification until this coming Wednesday due to a technical issue with the two different systems used to tally votes. On Friday, elections administrator Linda Phillips said she noticed some mismatches in five primary races that prompted a move to manually enter the returns.

Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland (in a March 8 file photo) said “201 Poplar is a revolving door” for repeat violent offenders because of weak state laws. (Patrick Lantrip/Daily Memphian file)

Mayor calls BS: Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland, a supporter of the new state “truth in sentencing” law that prevents early release for certain crimes, had harsh words for critics of the law on WKNO Channel 10’s “Behind the Headlines” this past weekend. Strickland said his count of aggravated assault convictions in Shelby County Criminal Court for 2021 shows 25% of those convicted on the charge got probation and 42% served 11 months in prison or less. “That is outrageous. And for people in Memphis to claim that it’s not is bulls***. And y’all need to call that out,” said Strickland.

Lakeland commissioner Jim Atkinson, seen here at a Board of Commissioners meeting in Feburary, says he is still concerned about the Ashmont development despite the changes made by Kevin Grant and John Hyneman. (Patrick Lantrip/Daily Memphian file)

Ashmont tabled for now: The Lakeland Board of Commissioners tabled a vote late last week on the proposed $150 million-plus, mixed-use Ashmont development so the developer can make more changes to the plan. Landowner John Hyneman and developer Keith Grant have made a number of changes to the plan to appease the board, including adding a hotel site and a variety of lot sizes and dropping a planned gas station, but some of the commissioners have concerns. “I’ve done everything you’ve asked me to do. We’ve spent $200,000 on this plan. I just don’t think you’re being fair,” said Hyneman.

MEET MEMPHIS

Kaye’s Pints & Scoops owner Kiamesha Wilson poses outside her ice cream shop, located at 1089 Winchester Road in Whitehaven. (Neil Strebig/Daily Memphian)

Every Sunday, as Kiamesha Wilson was growing up in Memphis, she and her sister would eat ice cream on her grandfather’s porch. But every day is like Sunday at Wilson’s new ice cream shop — Kaye’s Pints & Scoops. The Whitehaven native began experimenting with ice cream making during the pandemic and eventually honed her craft at The Scoop School in St. Louis. She recently opened her ice cream shop at 2089 Winchester Road, offering small batches of ice cream sold in half and full pints, as well as larger batches for wholesale.

THE NICE TO KNOW

The children who arrived March 28 are among the more than 730 children with cancer that St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and its partners have helped evacuate from Ukraine. (Courtesy of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital)

St. Jude helps Ukraine: St. Jude Global has helped to evacuate hundreds of children with childhood cancer and blood diseases from war-stricken Ukraine. “These families have faced childhood cancer with the added trauma of a war and having treatment interrupted and having to relocate across the ocean. The amazing thing about kids is they’re so resilient. We’re really trying to give them the best chance at being normal kids as we can,” said Dr. Asya Agulnik, director of the Eurasia Regional Program for St. Jude Global.

When first launched, the goal of Groove On-Demand ride service was to support access to the Medical District and Downtown without the need for a private vehicle. (Courtesy DMC)

Groovy way to save on gas: The Groove On-Demand ride service has hit record-high ridership in recent weeks as local gas prices also hit record highs. During the week of March 6, Groove On-Demand gave nearly 500 rides. The same week, The Auto Club estimated an average price of $3.944 per gallon of gasoline in Memphis. A collaboration between the Downtown Memphis Commission, the Memphis Area Transit Authority, the Memphis Medical District Collaborative and New York-based Via Transportation, the ride service launched in 2021 to provide affordable transportation — rides start at $1.25 — to key Downtown corridors.

Nick Bolander (left) reached a franchise agreement with Brice Bailey (right) to open a Staks location in Collierville. (Patrick Lantrip/Daily Memphian)

Collierville gets stacked: A Staks Pancake Kitchen franchise is coming to Collierville. The specific location has not been secured, but Nick Bolander, who reached a franchise agreement with Staks owner Brice Bailey to open the new location, said it will be along the Poplar Avenue corridor. “There’s not much in Collierville when it comes to a breakfast/brunch type of concept. We want to make it a community space and a place for the community to kind of rally around,” Bolander said. 

No new tax for Collierville: Despite lower-than-expected property tax revenue for Collierville, the suburb’s mayor and aldermen are budgeting conservatively so that the town’s residents will not experience a property tax increase this year. Due to the large number of appeals approved in this last county reappraisal process, the actual loss in assessed value was about $115 million, which resulted in nearly $2 million less in property tax revenue than the town anticipated.

Tennessee State Rep. Tom Leatherwood (center) and others break ground on the new Tennessee State Veterans Home in Arlington on May 13. (Patrick Lantrip/Daily Memphian)

Veterans home breaks ground: A groundbreaking was held on Friday in Arlington for the long-anticipated Tennessee State Veterans Home, which has been in the making for about 18 years. The 28.3-acre site at 11293 Memphis-Arlington Road will provide state-of-the-art care to an estimated 65,000 to 75,000 veterans living in Shelby, Fayette and Tipton counties.

THIS WEEK’S WEATHER

This week will start off mild with temperatures in the low 80s, but we’ll warm back into the 90s by mid-week. And there’s not much chance of rain to cool things off. This will be unpopular, but I love the Memphis heat, and I say bring it on. 

Have a great Monday! And do something nice for your neighbor. 

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