Up and at ’em, Memphis! It’s Tuesday, July 18, and the City of Memphis will host a hiring event today — in Puerto Rico. The city is searching far and wide, clearly, to help the Memphis Police Department reach its goal of employing 2,500 officers.

THE NEED TO KNOW

Alicia Franklin’s lawsuit claimed that the Memphis Police Department’s failure to investigate her rape led to the eventual death of Eliza Fletcher. (Ben Wheeler/The Daily Memphian file)

Judge denies attempt to reopen Franklin suit: A Shelby County judge ruled on Monday that Alicia Franklin will not be able to reopen her civil suit against the City of Memphis over the Memphis Police Department’s investigation of her 2021 rape. Franklin was allegedly raped by Cleotha Henderson, aka Abston, in 2021 — more than a year before his arrest for the death of Eliza Fletcher. He was charged with that rape following his arrest for Fletcher’s death. Franklin’s lawsuit against the city claimed the MPD’s failure to investigate her rape led to the death of Fletcher. The case was dismissed in March, but Franklin’s attorney filed for it to be reopened based on new evidence.

Mauricio Calvo, head of Latino Memphis, will serve the remaining part of former Memphis-Shelby County Schools board member Sheleah Harris’ term, which ends September 2024. (Patrick Lantrip/The Daily Memphian file)

Commission can’t agree on new chair: After nine rounds of voting on Monday, the Shelby County Commission was still one vote short of electing Commissioner Miska Clay-Bibbs to become the new board chair. The stalemate on selecting a new chair and chair pro tempore stemmed from a board split over the new county wheel tax compromise approved last month. One thing the commission could agree on: a new Memphis-Shelby County Schools District 5 board member. Commissioners selected Latino Memphis CEO Mauricio Calvo to fill the District 5 post left vacant by former MSCS board member Sheleah Harris.

Mulroy can rep the state in death penalty review: On Monday, a local judge ruled that a new state law, which granted exclusive authority to the state attorney general in reviews of death penalty convictions, was unconstitutional. The law was signed in April, and it takes power away from local district attorneys to represent the state when a death penalty sentence is challenged. The ruling allows Shelby County District Attorney General Steve Mulroy to represent the state in a petition filed by Larry McKay, a man who has been on death row for nearly 40 years for murdering two people in an armed robbery.

ATF Special Agent Tom Neeley demonstrated a machine gun conversion device, or “Glock switch,” on Monday, July 17. (Mark Weber/The Daily Memphian)

Lethal weapons: Earlier this year, Kevin G. Ritz, U.S. Attorney of the Western District of Tennessee, announced his office was “aggressively prosecuting” those in possession of Glock switches, a device that converts regular guns into machine guns. And on Monday, the U.S. Alcohol Tobacco & Firearms demonstrated how those devices work and gave media members, including our own Julia Baker, a chance to try them out. (Just call her Machine Gun Baker.) The Memphis Police Department doesn’t have an exact number of how many converted guns are seized, but Assistant Police Chief Don Crowe gave a rough estimate.

MEET MEMPHIS

Work by Stephen Pacheco

Memphis University School graduate Stephen Pacheco spends his days working as a script writer for an advertising agency in New York. But during basketball season, his nights are spent creating artwork depicting important moments in every single Memphis Grizzlies game. Most of the 110 pieces he’s created so far depict star point guard Ja Morant, including his first piece, a portrait of Morant made from 8,000 pairs of hand-drawn Kobe Bryant Nike sneakers. “It turned into spending six or seven hours on these pieces after the game. That’s when I had to tell myself, ‘OK, this is getting a little bit too intense,’” said Pacheco. For now, he’s enjoying the break, but he says he’s excited to see where his art takes him in the upcoming season.

THE NICE TO KNOW

The ahi tuna grain bowl at East Liquor Store has spinach, ancient grains and pickled vegetables tossed in a wasabi citrus vinaigrette and topped with seared tuna. (Holly Whitfield/The Daily Memphian)

Whole brunch of new eats: Restaurateurs Ed and Brittney Cabigao recently opened a second Liquor Store location in East Memphis’ Williamsburg Village shopping center. The new spot offers a few things that the original Broad Avenue Liquor Store does not: a Vice & Virtue coffee and pastry counter, daily lunch specials and a frozen drink machine. Plus, the larger kitchen means more menu items not offered on Broad. Our own Holly Whitfield offers a look at what’s new on the menu.

The Crazy Coop’s mango habanero wings. (Mark Weber/The Daily Memphian)

Call it crazy: There’s a new wing place in town, and they’re churning out flavors that might seem a little, well, crazy. The Crazy Coop does offer the classics, like buffalo and lemon pepper, but food writer Josh Carlucci went all in with the restaurant’s stranger combos, like Sweet Maple Bourbon and Crazy Sweet Suicide (mango habanero). Though he says he’s “not a chicken tender guy,” Carlucci sampled those, too, and he found them to be quite a bit different from what you might expect. If chain restaurants are more your thing, there’s a Jersey Mike’s opening on Winchester Road.

FedEx announces new CFO: John W. Dietrich, the former CEO of Atlas Air Worldwide, will replace FedEx CFO Michael C. Lenz on Aug. 1. He’ll earn a base salary of $919,000, plus additional compensation. The Memphis-based shipping giant also announced other shifts within its finance department on Monday.

SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey spoke during the NCAA college football Southeastern Conference Media Days on Monday, July 17, 2023, in Nashville. (George Walker IV/AP)

Wild, wild west of NIL (and some golf news): SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey spoke in Nashville on Monday as part of the Southeastern Conference Media Days, and our own Tim Buckley was there. Buckley reports that Sankey’s focus is on pushing for better regulation around name/image/likeness rules. The new NIL era has widened the gap between the haves and have-nots amongst student athletes, and Sankey said a lack of uniform federal regulation is to blame. “The reality is our student-athletes deserve something better than a patchwork of state laws,” said Sankey. Meanwhile in Memphis, the FedEx St. Jude Championship also held a media day on Monday, and we learned that last year’s winner, Will Zalatoris, will be sitting out of the big golf tourney this year following back surgery. But he’s already planning his 2024 comeback.

Waste Pro carts sit outside a house in Nesbit, Mississippi. On Monday, DeSoto County supervisors approved a new contract with Waste Connections for garbage and recycling collection. (Beth Sullivan/The Daily Memphian)

Trash cash: Residents in unincorporated DeSoto County will soon be paying nearly double for monthly garbage and recycling fees. On Monday, the DeSoto County Board of Supervisors voted in favor of a new six-year contract with Waste Connections, following complaints from residents that the previous company, Waste Pro, missed routes multiple times. 

WHAT WE’RE TALKING ABOUT

I’m more into running shoes than basketball sneakers, but this soon-to-be-released Nike Ja 1 Halloween colorway might change me. I mean, look at the zombie hands on the back!

We’ll probably all be wishing for Halloween temps today as the heat index reaches 104. Stay cool, Memphis.

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