Rise and grind, Memphis. It’s Monday, Sept. 25, and the Germantown Board of Mayor and Aldermen will take a final vote on a change to its judicial system following the resignation of Judge Raymond Clift Jr. last fall. 

The Collierville Board of Mayor and Aldermen will consider a development agreement for Hinton Preserve, an 84-lot, single-family subdivision west of Fleming Road and south of East Shelby Drive.

And for Mississippi residents, absentee voting in the state’s general election begins today. Here’s who’s on the ballot in DeSoto County. For a look at the rest of the week ahead, check out our new This Week in Memphis story.

THE NEED TO KNOW

This rendering shows the proposed locations of pickleball courts. (Courtesy Pickleball 901)

Beale to get served: Pickleball is popping up all over the county with Beale Street as the next target. Pickleball 901 will install six temporary courts along Beale on Sunday, Oct. 8, the date of the Memphis Grizzlies’ first preseason game. (So you can dink and drink, get it? A dink is type of shot in pickleball if you didn’t know.) At that event, Memphis’ “pickleball party people,” as Pickleball 901 co-founder Adam Clay calls his organization, will launch ticket sales for a pickleball event inside FedExForum. “You’ll be able to play pickleball where Zach Randolph once roamed,” said Clay. And that’s not all: Pickleball 901 is planning fundraisers for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, and they’re even branching outside the 901 for a big pickleball project in New York.

“I don’t think that a new county is off the table long term,” said Bartlett Alderman David Reaves. (Lance Murphey/The Daily Memphian file)

Seceding from Shelby? For years, suburban leaders have tossed around the idea of forming a new county. In 1990, the six municipal mayors had a plan to split from Shelby and form what would have been called Neshoba County in response to concerns over the county’s school system. Today, those conversations are still happening, albeit unofficially, with crime and debt at the heart of the issue. “There’s some real concern about the Shelby County district attorney ... and what the County Commission is trying to do to strip authority away from the sheriff’s department,” said Bartlett Alderman David Reaves. If a movement to secede does gain steam, it won’t be easy; creating a new county in Tennessee is a complicated process.

The Pantà restaurant near Overton Square has closed. (Mark Weber/The Daily Memphian file)

Adéu, Pantà: Two years after opening in the old Restaurant Iris space, Chef Kelly English’s Catalan-inspired Pantà has closed. But you might still get to eat there from time to time. English plans to host occasional pop-ups, and he’ll use the space for event rentals. English said the decision to close came as he realized “what I need to do as a human is fewer things better.” Pantà was the second restaurant in and around Overton Square to close last week; Belly Acres also closed, citing crime as a concern. But English said crime was not a factor in Pantà’s closing.

Danny Smith, who was photographed June 25 at the Tour de Hernando bicycle race, collapsed and died last weekend while riding his bike. (Wes Hale/Special to The Daily Memphian)

In remembrance: Last week, cyclist Danny Smith, 47, collapsed and died while leading a group ride. The short haul truck driver from Whitehaven only started riding seriously three years ago, but he became a fixture in the local cycling community, leading group rides with the Hightailers Bicycle Club twice a week. And he even got his family out on bikes. The Daily Memphian’s Geoff Calkins remembers Smith and the example he set as someone who “lived doing what he loved.” In another obituary, our own Samuel Hardiman remembers Lorean E. Jones, the first female federal parole officer in the Western District of Tennessee, who died last Tuesday at age 85. Jones was also an influential figure in the Glenview neighborhood and the mother of another prominent Memphian, Gale Jones Carson.

QUOTED 

“It’s not just just a breach here and there anymore. It’s like Swiss cheese.”

— Brian Waldron, director of the Center for Applied Earth Sciences and Engineering Research
At the beginning of CAESER’s five-year, $5 million study of the Memphis aquifer, there were six suspected breaches and one confirmed. By the end, those numbers had increased sixfold. Breaches put Memphis’ pristine drinking water at risk for contamination. Now, CAESER is looking at ways to remedy the issue.

THE NICE TO KNOW

Bobby Rich III and Derravia Rich honor Mia Madison, the late director of Memphis Tilth, with Mia’s Orchard in North Memphis. (Ziggy Mack/Special to The Daily Memphian)

Mia’s legacy: The memory of Mia Madison, the executive director of Memphis Tilth who died in a car crash last July, lives on at Mia’s Orchard in North Memphis. The formerly blighted property is now home to pawpaw, persimmon and peach trees, muscadine vines and other native plants. Bobby Rich III and Derravia Rich of Black Seeds Urban Farms, who are at the helm of the new space, say Madison was instrumental in their work as Black urban farmers, teaching them how to plant orchards and maintain fruit trees. “Mia continues to lead us in our efforts,” Derravia Rich said. 

University of Memphis running back Blake Watson (4) stiff-armed a defender during a Sept. 23 game against the University of Missouri in St. Louis. (Patrick Lantrip/The Daily Memphian)

Weekend sports: The Memphis Tigers football team suffered their first loss of the season on Saturday to the University of Missouri. The Tigers were an onside kick away from having a shot at a game-tying drive, when Missouri recovered the ball with 1:20 remaining and beat Memphis 34-27. But despite the loss, The Daily Memphian’s Tim Buckley says the Tigers “showed they could hold their own against a team … that was fresh off a win over a nationally ranked opponent.” In better local sports news, Memphis 901 FC is headed to the USL Championship playoffs for the third season in a row after Saturday’s 4-2 win over Tampa Bay. Checking in on baseball, Memphis Grizzlies star Desmond Bane threw the first pitch at the Memphis Redbirds’ game Saturday night — and nailed it, despite a sharknado of anxiety. And finally, you might want to save the dates for these Tigers’ men’s and women’s AAC basketball games.

“I want the dessert studio to be a place where you can create your own happiness,” Sweet Aroma owner Quishandrea Williams said. (Patrick Lantrip/The Daily Memphian)

It’s a Vibe: Vibe Foods, which has operated a location on Poplar Avenue across from East High since 2020, will open the second Memphis location in the old I Love Juice Bar spot at Crosstown Concourse. Owner Shannon Weston launched Vibe, which serves juices, smoothies and acai bowls, in 2017 in Colorado as a way to offer her food-sensitive son more options, and she followed him to Memphis when he moved here to attend Rhodes College. In other food news, Sweet Aroma dessert studio recently relocated to the Broad Avenue Arts District from Cordova. Owner Quishandrea Williams bakes cookies and cupcakes, and customers can decorate them on-site.

Eddy Hatcher hopes to convert a softball field at Tobey Park into a Miracle League baseball field and playground for children and adults with disabilities.(Patrick Lantrip/The Daily Memphian)

Play for all: There’s a movement building to create an inclusive baseball field and playground that will be accessible for people with disabilities. The Memphis Miracle League is in the process of fundraising to build the adaptive field at Tobey Park, and so far, the nonprofit has raised $600,000 toward the $4 million project. The field and play area will have a rubber surface, rather than grass or artificial turf, to better accommodate wheelchairs. If this sounds like something you’d like to be involved with, there’s a way you can help. In related news, the City of Germantown has received grant funding to demolish the existing playground at Germantown’s Municipal Park and replace it with a play space better suited for children with disabilities.

Mike McCarthy’s dining room is now filled with figures of Memphis Minnie, Muddy Waters, Rufus Thomas, Howlin’ Wolf and Aretha Franklin. He hopes to someday create life-size statues, companions to his Johnny Cash sculpture that stands in Cooper-Young. (Patrick Lantrip/The Daily Memphian)

Music in bronze: In 2019, Memphis filmmaker Mike McCarthy unveiled his bronze Johnny Cash statue in Cooper-Young, an artwork that McCarthy wasn’t even supposed to create. Now, McCarthy has dreams of making more sculptures honoring important figures in Memphis music, including Memphis Minnie, Muddy Waters, Rufus Thomas, Howlin’ Wolf and Aretha Franklin. The project would require a lot of money and time, so it’s still a dream at this point. But McCarthy has created 16-inch tall figurines of what the sculptures might look like.

THIS WEEK’S WEATHER

Welcome to fall, even if it still feels a little like summer during the day. 

I hope your week gets off to a perfect start today.

.....