It’s Friday, Friday, gotta get down on Friday! If that terrible Rebecca Black song is stuck in your head now, I’m sorry. But it’s Oct. 14, and we’ve got an action-packed weekend ahead. 

The Lynching Sites Project of Memphis is hosting a day-long symposium on the 1917 lynching of Ell Persons at First Congregational Church tomorrow. And there are plenty of opportunities to eat and drink on Saturday, like at Memphis Brewfest or the Memphis Food & Wine Festival. But pace yourself because you’ll need to be awake for the Memphis Tigers/East Carolina Pirates football game. 

Sunday is my birthday, and I’ll be celebrating with a Tiffany concert (yes, 1980s mall pop Tiffany) at the Buckman Arts Center. But Mary J. Blige is playing FedExForum on Sunday too, so that was a tough call. For even more weekend ideas, check out our To-Do List.

THE NEED TO KNOW

Shelby County Sheriff Floyd Bonner, Jr. (center, in a 2021 photo) speaks along with Gary Cordell (left) and former Shelby County District Attorney Amy Weirich. Bonner, who won a second four-year term as sheriff in August, is considering a run for mayor. (Mark Weber/The Daily Memphian file)

Sheriff in town? Shelby County Sheriff Floyd Bonner is considering a run for Memphis mayor, but there’s at least one problem: He lives in Bartlett. But Bonner said he and his wife are prepared to move back to Memphis should he decide to formally put his name in the hat. “It’s not like I’ve never lived in Memphis. I grew up in Memphis. The first 10 years of our marriage … we lived in Memphis, in Whitehaven actually,” Bonner said. There could be one more catch though. The Memphis City Charter says candidates for mayor must live within the city for at least five years before the date of the election in which they are running for mayor. However, the city’s chief legal officer has called that requirement into question.

Former Downtown Neighborhood Association president Jerred Price (shown here in a file photo) is making a second bid for Memphis City Council in 2023, running in Super District 8. (Mark Weber/The Daily Memphian file)

Rocket man: Jerred Price, past Downtown Neighborhood Association president (and Elton John impersonator), announced his campaign for Memphis City Council Super District 8 on Thursday afternoon from the rooftop of Hu Hotel (to a backdrop of “Bennie & The Jets,” naturally). Super District 8 covers about half the city, and there are three council positions within the district, but Price wouldn’t say yet which position he’ll run for. Several other city council races are taking shape for October 2023, including a bid by a non-Ford for the District 6 seat currently held by Edmund Ford Sr. (a member of the Ford family has held that council seat since 1972, with one exception in 2018).

Man charged in triple shooting: Police have charged Allante McAbee, 21, in a triple shooting in the 7000 block of Dokkum Drive (just south of Bartlett city limits) that left a 10-year-old and an adult dead in the early hours of Thursday morning. A second adult was transported to Regional One Health in critical condition. Police said McAbee knew the victims. 

MEET MEMPHIS

Lukah (Nate Packard)

By the fifth grade, South Memphis rapper and producer Timothy “Lukah” Love was writing rhymes and reciting freestyles at the lunch table for his friends. He graduated to performing in the school’s auditorium, surrounded by big crowds of kids. These days, Love boasts more than 60,000 monthly listeners on Spotify and has eleven albums in his catalog, several of which have been praised by The New York Times, Pitchfork and NPR. In this profile, Love recalls the 1990s Crucial Conflict song that changed everything for him and his journey as a student of hip-hop.

THE NICE TO KNOW

A tree in the middle of Limelight will change with the seasons; it’s just gotten its fall leaves. (Jennifer Biggs/The Daily Memphian)

Lights on at Limelight: Limelight, the Germantown restaurant that was set to open this summer in the old Farm & Fries space on Poplar Pike, has finally opened. Progress on the restaurant was held up a bit when the original chef left before the restaurant even opened. But staffing has been worked out, and The Daily Memphian’s Jennifer Biggs stopped in to eat. The menu changes seasonally and has about six to eight entrees. Biggs started with fried chickpeas (yes, please), pork belly skewers and a Lyonnaise salad (the dressing is hidden, but she tells you where to find it), and she found the Wagyu beef flat iron entree to be “very tender and exceptionally deep in flavor.”

Memphis Grizzlies guard Ja Morant shoots during the second half of an NBA preseason basketball game against the Detroit Pistons on Thursday, Oct. 13, 2022, in Detroit. (Carlos Osorio/AP photo)

Grand finale: The Memphis Grizzlies scored a 126-111 victory in Detroit over the Pistons in Thursday night’s preseason finale. While most teams rest their starters in the last preseason game, Coach Taylor Jenkins brought out the core group. His decision paid off with an impressive showing by Ja Morant, Desmond Bane and the rest. But Grizzlies center Steven Adams was taken out of the game with a “sore neck” after Pistons guard Corey Joseph fell into him. Hopefully, he’ll be recovered by Wednesday when the regular season starts. The Daily Memphian’s Chris Herrington has an exhaustive preview with notes and predictions for every team in the NBA as we head into the season.

Catherine Davenport shows off her University of Tennessee prosthetic leg inside her home. “I’ve been a Tennessee fan forever,” she said. (Patrick Lantrip/The Daily Memphian)

Some people bleed orange: On Saturday, the University of Tennessee Volunteers will play the University of Alabama Crimson Tide in Knoxville, and some Memphians actually care (just a joke; no real shade on UT fans). In fact, some Memphians will be on the field. The Daily Memphian’s Tim Buckley has a rundown of the dozen players from Memphis-area high schools who make up 10% of UT’s football team. And there are local fans, too. The Daily Memphian’s Geoff Calkins profiled Memphis UT fan Catherine Davenport, who loves the team so much that she has a Tennessee orange prosthetic leg.

Tigers forward DeAndre Williams (left) and his Memphis teammates are on a mission to win the AAC title. (Mark Weber/The Daily Memphian file)

Blessings and predictions: Memphis Tigers coach Penny Hardaway called his six-year contract extension, which was announced on Wednesday, “a blessing” during the American Athletic Conference’s virtual media day on Thursday. “Most schools aren’t gonna give a guy six years to get it right,” he said. Hardaway said the extension will help with recruiting “because now the parents know that I’m going to be here.” But The Daily Memphian’s John Martin said Hardaway could be around forever if he wanted: “Memphis will never fire Penny Hardaway,” writes Martin. Meanwhile, at ACC media day, players DeAndre Williams and Kendric Davis addressed the AAC preseason coaches’ poll, which picked the Tigers to finish second to Houston this season. “Those predictions, they always end up wrong at the end of the year,” said Davis.

A rendering depicts what the Three of Cups wine bar at 644 Madison Ave. plans for its interior with an improvement grant. (Courtesy cnct design)

Wine in the Edge: A new wine bar is coming to the Edge District. Three of Cups Wine Bar has applied for a $30,000 retail improvement grant from the Center City Development Corp. to cover interior work at 644 Madison Ave. in a space adjacent to Rootstock (a boutique wine shop). The bar will offer a small food menu focused on charcuterie and a vermouth beverage program. (I first read the name as “three cups of wine” bar, which sounded like a party).

WHAT WE’RE TALKING ABOUT

Bleacher Report and Mitchell and Ness have collaborated to create NBA merch that connects teams to local hip-hop artists in a project called “NBA Remix.” And the Memphis Grizzlies are paired with Three 6 Mafia, of course.

Okay, remember when I mentioned that my birthday is this weekend. Well, if anyone needs a gift idea … kidding! (Unless my partner is reading this, and then I’m dead serious.) Oh, and speaking of birthdays, our own Dan Conaway just had one, and he has a few items on his gift list. 

Have a great weekend. I’ll be taking Monday morning off, but our very own Chris Herrington will be delivering your Early Word. I’ll see you next Tuesday!

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