Hump day is here again, friends! Today is Wednesday, Oct. 12, and the Memphis & Shelby County Film and Television Commission will meet at Malco Studio on the Square around lunchtime today.

Speaking of lunch, you might want to get tickets now for The Daily Memphian’s upcoming lunch with Jennifer Biggs on Oct. 21 at Celtic Crossing. You can get a peek at the three-course menu, prepared by Chef Reny Alfonso, in Table Talk.

THE NEED TO KNOW

A rendering of what the exterior would look like at the Downtown Sheraton after renovations. (Credit: DW Design Strategy)

You get a PILOT, you get a PILOT: On Tuesday, the Center City Revenue Finance Corp. approved a 30-year payment-in-lieu-of-taxes (PILOT) and tourism surcharge for the Downtown Sheraton’s $226 million renovation and expansion. The plans include adding 300 more hotel rooms, renovating the lobby and building a new lobby bar. City of Memphis Chief Operating Officer Doug McGowen said the proposal comes at a time when the city is badly in need of more hotel rooms. The CCRFC board also approved a 12-year PILOT for the Vic on Union apartment development (to be located in the former Office Depot on Union Avenue). The 286-unit apartment complex will have a swimming pool with a lazy river.

Josh Audirsch packages up blocks of dry ice at nexAir in Millington. (Mark Weber/The Daily Memphian file)

nexAir’s next life: Memphis-based nexAir is being sold to Ireland-based Linde Gas & Equipment, one of the world’s largest industrial gas companies. NexAir is a leader in the packaging and distribution of atmospheric gases and welding supplies, and it’s been in the family of CEO Kevin McEniry for more than 70 years. No layoffs are expected here since Linde doesn’t have a strong presence in the region. But McEniry will step down as CEO after the deal goes through. “It’s incredibly emotional for me,” McEniry said.

Memphis City Council members vote next week on a resolution by council member Michalyn Easter-Thomas to form an ad hoc group to take another look at how districts are laid out. (Mark Weber/The Daily Memphian file)

At-risky business and a ‘popularity contest’: A new city gun violence reduction program has so far referred 12 people it believes to be “at-risk” for gun violence to intervention services, such as job support, expungements or counseling. That was the update provided to the Memphis City Council by the new Group Violence Intervention Program on Tuesday. Juveniles who have been shot and transported to Methodist Le Bonheur Hospital are among the at-risk people the GVIP offers services to, but the group said Regional One Health has so far not allowed them to work with its patients. So Memphis City Council member Jeff Warren drafted a nonbinding resolution to ask the Shelby County Commission to pressure Regional One into working with the GVIP. In other council news, members discussed an ad hoc redistricting committee that council member Michalyn Easter-Thomas is proposing (council attorney Allan Wade said the committee amounts to a “popularity contest”). And the body delayed a vote on a national Memphis Light, Gas & Water CEO search until next week’s meeting.

Shelby County District Attorney General Steve Mulroy has announced four new working groups, each focusing on a specific policy. (Patrick Lantrip/The Daily Memphian)

Mulroy announces new groups, dogs: Shelby County District Attorney Steve Mulroy announced four new working groups to focus on his criminal justice priorities, including the county’s disproportionate minority contact, post-conviction justice, restorative justice and juvenile justice. The working groups will develop recommendations for ways the county can improve in each area. Mulroy also said he plans to improve the experience for victims by providing snacks, empowerment services and access to therapy dogs (dogs make everything a little better, in my opinion). 

MEET MEMPHIS

Dr. Samantha Gutierrez, a resident at Baptist Hospital, is one of seven St. George’s University graduates in the first year of their medical residencies in hospitals across Memphis. (Mark Weber/The Daily Memphian)

We hear a lot about medical staffing shortages these days, but medical school applications are actually on the rise. The U.S. just doesn’t have enough medical schools to keep up with the demand. That’s prompted a number of Memphians, like Dr. Samantha Gutierrez and Dr. Ahmad Dhodi, to pursue their medical degrees at St. George’s University on the Caribbean island of Grenada. When Gutierrez started applying to medical schools, she kept hearing that spots had been filled. Dhodi had a similar experience trying to get into the University of Tennessee Health Science Center’s medical school. Both ended up at SGU and are back in Memphis serving their community.

THE NICE TO KNOW

“If it weren’t for Coach Shabazz, I wouldn’t have been able to do this,” said John Varlas. (Patrick Lantrip/The Daily Memphian)

John Varlas shapes up: The Daily Memphian’s prep sports reporter John Varlas weighed 360 pounds a couple years ago. “I would go to a game, and I would see all these great athletes, and I would feel inadequate, and I would feel a lot of shame about it,” he said. But in July 2020, Varlas decided to do something about his weight; he reached out to trainer Raheem Shabazz. The trainer, who has worked with some well-known Memphis athletes, put Varlas on a diet and exercise regimen, and he’s since lost 143 pounds (or as Geoff Calkins points out, “the equivalent of a 10th grader”).

Memphis Grizzlies’ Desmond Bane tries to stop Orlando Magic’s R.J. Hampton from taking a shot on Oct. 11, 2022, in Orlando, Florida. (John Raoux/AP photo)

One of those nights: You can’t win them all, and the Memphis Grizzlies didn’t last night in their preseason game against the Orlando Magic. The Grizzlies had trouble getting the ball into the basket, and they never led in the game. Desmond Bane was the only starter who had a decent night, scoring 33 points in the game that the Magic won 109-105. Would the team have played better with forward Jaren Jackson Jr., who is still recovering from stress fracture surgery? The Daily Memphian’s Chris Herrington takes a deep dive into how Jaren Jackson’s absence from the first few regular season games will be the ultimate test for the team.

A home is sold in Collierville off South Shea Road in 2017. Last month, East Memphis, Cordova and Collierville accounted for 35% of home sales in Shelby County. (The Daily Memphian file)

On the home front: There’s been a slight dip in home sales from August to September, but housing inventory has increased. That’s according to the latest report from the Memphis Area Association of Realtors. Year-to-date, the Memphis market has seen just over 15,900 homes sold for an average sales price of about $263,400. The Daily Memphian’s Neil Strebig has a breakdown of homes sold and average prices by neighborhood in his Inked column.

Officials will be replacing or improving much of the old sewer system in the Old Towne business district. (The Daily Memphian file)

Old Towne roads: Olive Branch is getting an infrastructure refresh. The city plans to invest up to $25.4 million to cover its single largest repaving project ever, as well as improvements in gas, water and utilities. Last year, engineering firm Civil Link videoed 351 miles of city road conditions, and Olive Branch has outlined its priority streets (including these top five) for the repaving project. Meanwhile, over at the Olive Branch Police Department, Chief Bill Cox has launched Meet & Greet Mondays to allow citizens a chance to mingle with officers. The first such event was held this past Monday evening, and police showed off their new advanced body cameras.

WHAT WE’RE TALKING ABOUT

A few weeks ago, my friend Jamie Harmon posted this photo of an abandoned riverboat washed ashore on the Mississippi River near Martin Luther King Park. Near-historic low water levels on the river have caused barge traffic to slow and shipwrecks to become accessible by land. Earlier this week, a story went viral about a 19th century shipwreck on the Mississippi River that was recently discovered by a Baton Rouge, Louisiana, treasure hunter.

May you find all the treasure you’re seeking today! See you back here tomorrow. 

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