Howdy, Memphis. It’s Friday, April 7, which is both Good Friday and National Beer Day (and that sounds like a good Friday to me). If you’re looking for a place to enjoy a good brew, the new Dublin-inspired bar, Bog & Barley, opens today. You might also want to crack open a beer to watch the Memphis Grizzlies play the Milwaukee Bucks tonight on TV.

Considering a career change? The Memphis Police Department will host a hiring expo on Saturday. And Lakeland’s first Filipino restaurant Kukuruku Crispy Chicken will hold its grand opening. The last Grizzlies regular season home games may be over, but the Harlem Globetrotters will bring basketball back to FedExForum Saturday night.

Sunday is Easter, and the Peabody Hotel is having its annual brunch. And on Sunday afternoon, the Grizzlies play their last regular season game against the Oklahoma City Thunder. For more weekend fun (and Easter ideas), check out The To-Do List.

THE NEED TO KNOW

State Rep. Justin Pearson (D-Memphis) listened to remarks on the floor of the House chamber on April 6 in Nashville before he was expelled by the state’s Republican supermajority. (George Walker IV/AP)

Pearson, Jones expelled; Johnson stays: The state’s Republican supermajority voted to expel Democratic state Reps. Justin Pearson of Memphis and Justin Jones of Nashville from the Tennessee House of Representatives on Thursday. But Gloria Johnson of Knoxville survived her expulsion vote. The move to expel the so-called “Tennessee Three” was led by House Speaker Cameron Sexton (R-Crossville) after Pearson, Johnson and Jones briefly took control of the House floor on March 30 to protest for gun reform legislation following a school shooting in Nashville that killed six, including three children. The expulsions are not necessarily permanent though; there’s a chance Pearson and Jones could be reappointed. The Daily Memphian’s Bill Dries has a look at what happens next.

Joshua Holloway amended an assault lawsuit against Ja Morant. (Mark Weber/The Daily Memphian file)

Teen revives lawsuit against Morant: Joshua Holloway, the high school basketball player who accused Ja Morant and his friend Davonte Pack of striking him during a pickup basketball game in 2022, has filed an amended complaint for damages against the Memphis Grizzlies point guard. Holloway’s mother, Myca Holloway, filed a lawsuit over the same incident in 2022 when her son was still a minor (he’s 18 now). In the past, she has filed other lawsuits against Memphis-Shelby County Schools and the Memphis Fire Department, and those were dismissed. On Thursday, The Washington Post released a detailed exclusive titled “In Memphis, Ja Morant’s summer of trouble went unchecked by authorities” that asserted Memphis Police handled the Morant-Holloway altercation “gingerly.”

On a rainy Thursday, April 6, hundreds gathered outside the Tennessee State Capitol to protest for gun safety. (Ian Round/The Daily Memphian)

Judge approves permitless gun carry for 18-year-olds: On the same day of a school shooting in Nashville that left six dead, including three kids, a federal judge approved an agreement that would require Tennessee to allow 18-year-olds to carry guns without permits. The agreement, approved on March 27, brings an end to an age-discrimination lawsuit against Tennessee’s 2021 permitless carry law, which allows people 21 and older to carry guns without permits. 

Johnny Sanford (left) appeared for a bail hearing with attorney Mike Scholl (right) on Wednesday, April 5, in Judge Christian Johnson’s courtroom. (Mark Weber/The Daily Memphian)

Bail time: Bail for Johnny Sanford, one of the three men charged in a shooting at Prive restaurant and bar last week, was set at $250,000 on Thursday. Sanford is charged with first-degree murder in the shooting that left two dead and five injured. His attorney Michael Scholl said Sanford wasn’t the primary aggressor in the shooting and that video evidence showed that he was beaten inside the restaurant before the shooting occurred in the parking lot. In other bail news, Greg Livingston, the security guard charged in a shooting at a Kroger two years ago, had his bail lowered on Thursday.

MEET MEMPHIS

Gardner-Webb head coach Alex Simmons celebrated after defeating High Point during the Big South Championship NCAA college basketball game on Sunday, March 5, 2023, in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Jacob Kupferman/AP)

The University of Memphis is hiring Alex Simmons to head up the Memphis Tigers women’s basketball program. She’ll replace former Tigers coach Katrina Merriweather, who left the program after two seasons to accept the head coaching job at the University of Cincinnati. Simmons led the Gardner-Webb women’s basketball program for five years, and she played on three Final Four teams at the University of Tennessee under legendary coach Pat Summitt. “This is a basketball city, and the passion behind this program is infectious,” said Simmons.

THE NICE TO KNOW

Buster’s at Poplar Avenue and Highland Street has expanded over the years, and a second store will open in the fall. (The Daily Memphian file)

Pour us a double: Buster’s Liquors & Wines, already in the midst of expanding into the butcher shop business, also plans to open a second location in East Memphis’ Ridgeway Trace Center this fall. The new store will have the same look and feel as Buster’s Highland Avenue location, but it will also include a tasting space and offer a line of cheese and gourmet foods to go. Fun fact: The expansion was made possible by the 2014 law that allowed wine to be sold in Tennessee grocery stores.

Lausanne Collegiate School student Jack Gerald’s photo won the national Scholastic Arts and Writing competition. (Submitted)

Teacher pay, Hanley School and gold medals: Memphis-Shelby County Schools’ proposed fiscal year 2024 budget includes a boost in pay for teachers that, if approved, would make MSCS the highest-paying district in Shelby County. In other MSCS news, Hanley School, a K-8 charter school in Orange Mound, is set to be reabsorbed back into MSCS after 10 years in the state’s Achievement School District for low-performing schools. But leaders at Hanley want to remain in the ASD. And in even more school news, four Memphis students took home gold at the national Scholastic Arts and Writing competition.

Three fried tacos pastor, with beans and rice and a serving of salsa and chips, is $10 at Maciel’s. (Joshua Carlucci/The Daily Memphian)

Cal-Mex on a budget: Daily Memphian guest writer Joshua Carlucci hails from California’s San Joaquin Valley, so he knows a thing or two about Cal-Mex. As he says, it’s “similar to Tex-Mex, but it’s a bit fresher and lighter, and a little more tame with the queso.” So where do you find good Cal-Mex in Memphis? Carlucci says Maciel’s Tortas and Tacos is the closest thing he’s found to his home state’s fare. For this week’s $10 deal, he stopped into their Maciel’s Midtown location and scored three fried pastor tacos with a basket of chips and an array of salsas for only $10, plus tax. 

An applicant is seeking economic incentives to redevelop the long-vacant Rite Aid at Stateline and Millbranch roads in Southaven. (Beth Sullivan/The Daily Memphian)

Liquor store Rite for Southaven? A long-vacant Rite Aid building in Southaven’s West End could be redeveloped as a grocery store and liquor store, and the Southaven Board of Aldermen considered incentives for the building’s redevelopment earlier this week. Property owner Malkiat Kaur plans to invest about $1.2 million in improvements to the space, which has been vacant since 2018. But some aldermen had concerns about the liquor store plan: “I’ve got a little heartburn with putting another liquor store in there,” said Alderman Charlie Hoots.

WHAT WE’RE TALKING ABOUT

This seems like appropriate news for National Beer Day. Ghost River Brewing is releasing Aqua Mane IPA, brewed with New Zealand hops and named in honor of Memphis Grizzlies’ center Steven Adams.

I’ll drink to that, mate! Cheers, and have a hoppy Easter (beer pun absolutely intended).

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