Here we are in the middle of the week at the halfway point in March. Where does the time go?

It’s Wednesday, March 15, and the Downtown’s Center City Development Corporation meets today. They’ll discuss pedestrian lighting improvements at Central Station. The Downtown Mobility Authority will talk about the electric vehicle charging plan for the new Downtown Mobility Center. 

Memphis musician Talibah Safiya’s debut album, “Love Spells Live,” drops today. And the Memphis Grizzlies are in Florida to play the Miami Heat tonight.

THE NEED TO KNOW

First Horizon and Toronto-Dominion Bank need to receive regulatory approval from U.S. oversight authorities before their merger is finalized, but the process is taking longer than anticipated. (Charles Krupa/AP file)

Maybe don’t bank on this? In a week that’s been ripe with bad banking news, Memphis-based First Horizon and Toronto-Dominion Bank are revealing the cons of the two banks’ pending merger. In an annual report filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, First Horizon cautioned its investors about more potential regulatory obstacles and warned that the deal could fall apart. The Memphis-based bank also outlined how the merger could hurt its business operations. Both banks are awaiting regulatory approval from U.S. oversight authorities, and the process is taking longer than anticipated. 

The Lake District developer Yehuda Netanel posed for a portrait during the opening of several Lake District shops on Nov. 4, 2022. The project is now in foreclosure and is headed for auction. (Patrick Lantrip/Daily Memphian)

Troubled waters: The Lake District, a $450 million mixed-use project in Lakeland, is in foreclosure and will soon head to auction. While some Lakeland officials say the news is concerning, Lakeland Commissioner Jim Atkinson said the foreclosure will not interrupt any of the activity underway there. “Existing businesses will remain open, new businesses will open as originally planned …” he said. And apparently, this isn’t the first time The Lake District developer Yehuda Netanel has run into problems with the property. 

Much of the current framework for the Memphis and Shelby County Juvenile Court comes from a 2012 agreement with the U.S. Justice Department. (The Daily Memphian file)

When the DOJ came for the juvenile court: The Department of Justice began looking into the Memphis and Shelby County Juvenile Court in 2009, a review requested by Shelby County Commissioner Henri Brooks. And though the court had touted itself as a model for other juvenile or family courts, the DOJ’s investigation found systemic failures that violated the constitutional rights of children. It also found that Black children were treated more harshly than white children. The Daily Memphian’s Bill Dries offers this look back into the investigation and how the 2012 DOJ agreement shaped the court.

Shelby County Sheriff Floyd Bonner Jr., alongside his wife Audrey, announced his entrance into the Memphis mayor’s race on Oct. 25, 2022. (Mark Weber/The Daily Memphian file)

Bonner files residency suit: Memphis mayoral candidate (and Shelby County Sheriff) Floyd Bonner filed a lawsuit in Shelby County Chancery Court on Tuesday contesting the Election Commission’s five-year mayoral residency requirement. Bonner lived in Bartlett until just a few months ago, when he purchased a home in East Memphis. Two weeks ago, the commission announced that it would enforce the city charter’s requirement that says mayoral candidates must live in the city for five years, despite a legal opinion to the contrary.

End of a COVID era: As of today, the Shelby County Health Department has stopped emailing and sharing COVID-19 numbers on social media. The health department said the decision was based on current COVID-19 trends and the fact that the Biden Administration has announced that May 11 will be the final day of the COVID-19 public health emergency declaration. But if you’re missing your weekly COVID-19 numbers, no worries: The health department still has your back on their website.

MEET MEMPHIS

Lisieux Community Center program director Whitney Fullerton (left) and executive director Jordan Boss (right) cut the ribbon during a celebration at their drop-in center on Feb. 6. (Mark Weber/The Daily Memphian file)

A modest, cream-colored house in the Berclair-Highland Heights neighborhood serves as a sanctuary for female sex workers, women experiencing homelessness and women dealing with substance abuse or other trauma. The volunteer-run, drop-in Lisieux Community house offers these women a place to nap, take a shower or enjoy a warm meal. “My favorite part about our organization is that we don’t have any agendas … We literally just love [the women] exactly where they are,” said Whitney Fullerton, Lisieux Community’s program director.

THE NICE TO KNOW

LeMoyne-Owen College is now pursuing national accreditation for a major in instrumental music for students interested in being band directors, performance majors or teaching music at the college level. (Courtesy Vernell Bennett-Fairs)

New song for LeMoyne-Owen: LeMoyne-Owen College may soon offer an accredited instrumental music major, thanks to a donation of property by Bethel Presbyterian Church in South Memphis. The congregation donated a corner lot and its 8,800-square-foot church building. LeMoyne-Owen is renovating the space to house choral and instrumental music instruction. LOC’s current volunteer band is organized as a student activity, but in the new space, they’ll be able to have a full-time band director and permanent rehearsal space, as well as classes for the new music major. 

The Bumpus Harley-Davidson location in Collierville will be turned into a wholesale lighting and grocery retail site. (Abigail Warren/The Daily Memphian)

Coming soon to Collierville: The former Bumpus Harley-Davidson store on New Byhalia Road in Collierville will soon house wholesale lighting and grocery businesses. The Collierville Board of Mayor and Aldermen gave final approval to the project on Tuesday night. But don’t get too excited about wholesale groceries; only convenience store owners will be allowed to shop there. In other Collierville development news, the board also approved a new hotel for Schilling Farms.

Memphis Tigers forward Deandre Williams (12) celebrated after a dunk during a Feb. 26 game against Cincinnati. (Patrick Lantrip/The Daily Memphian file)

Tigers plan to ‘shock the world’: On Friday, the No. 8 seed Memphis Tigers will take on the No. 9 seed Florida Atlantic University in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, and All-AAC first-team forward DeAndre Williams says “we’re gonna shock the world when we get there.” The Daily Memphian’s Parth Upadhyaya talked to the Tigers about their expectations for the Big Dance. In other Tigers basketball news, the Associated Press gave Memphis Tigers point guard Kendric Davis an All-America honorable mention on Tuesday. And on a Tuesday morning radio show, Coach Penny Hardaway responded to criticism from Stadium’s Jeff Goodman. While we’re on the topic, check out this blast from the past: The Daily Memphian’s Tim Buckley offers a flashback to the 1973 NCAA Tournament when the Memphis State Tigers made it to the Final Four before that was even a thing.

Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris (center) prepared for a ribbon cutting ceremony at the site of a new Sustainable Shelby solar project near the Shelby County Construction Code Enforcement building on March 14. (Brad Vest/Special to The Daily Memphian)

Power move: Two Shelby County buildings located near Shelby Farms are now solar powered. On Tuesday, the county unveiled its first set of solar panels, which will generate more than 200 kilowatts of power for the county’s Construction Code Enforcement building and its East Data Center. The overall project cost was $589,000, but the county got a little discount, thanks to an Inflation Reduction Act rebate.

The first phase of The Oliver, under construction on Vance, will include 210 multifamily residential units and a 262-car parking garage. (Courtesy Carlisle Corp.)

Oliver twist: The plan for The Oliver, the multifamily residential redevelopment of Downtown’s former Nylon Net building, has grown. On Tuesday, the Center City Revenue Finance Corp. approved an amended payment-in-lieu-of-taxes (PILOT) deal for a second phase of the project with more than 60 additional residential units. The first phase, which is under construction now, called for 210 multifamily residential units and a 262-car parking garage.

WHAT WE’RE TALKING ABOUT

You never can start them too young, right?

Have a great day, and I’ll see you on Thursday!

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