Howdy, Memphis! It’s Friday, Nov. 10, and maybe you’re off work for Veterans Day (which is actually Saturday, but it’s being observed by many companies today). Appropriately, Alpha Omega Veterans Services will celebrate the grand opening of its new $8 million facility.

Also today, “How Stella Got Her Groove Back” star Taye Diggs will speak at the annual Methodist Healthcare luncheon. And the folks in Hernando are lighting the town Christmas tree tonight (too soon, people!). The Memphis Grizzlies will play the Utah Jazz at home, and Ziaire Williams wants you to know they’re trying. (So, let’s not give up.) The Memphis Tigers men’s basketball team plays tonight, too, and Coach Penny Hardaway is hoping for a cleaner win against Missouri than what he saw in the team’s home opener this week.

Saturday is actual Veterans Day, and you can perk up for any related festivities with a stop at the Grind City Coffee Xpo at Bridges USA. You’ll need that coffee to fuel your match at the newly renovated Leftwich Tennis Center, which officially opens on Saturday. The Memphis Tigers football team will play Charlotte in an away game in the afternoon, so you could stay in and watch that on ESPN+. Or you could cross some names off your holiday shopping list in Crosstown; the “Crafts & Drafts” holiday market is at Concourse, and there’s a vintage market at Blue Suede just down the block.

Sunday is Dewali, the Hindu Festival of Lights. The Indian Community Fund of Greater Memphis hosted its Diwali gala a few weeks ago, raising funds to provide meals to those in need and grants for Memphis-Shelby County Schools. On Sunday afternoon, the Grizzlies play the L.A. Clippers in an early game.

THE NEED TO KNOW

Michael Oher was paid $138,311 between 2007 and April of this year for “The Blind Side,” according to a new court filing. (Jason DeCrow/AP file)

‘Blind Side’ payments, revealed: A new court filing shows how much Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy and Michael Oher received for the 2009 film, “The Blind Side.” The Tuohys filed documents that show Sean Tuohy was paid more than $490,000 between 2007 and April of this year for the film. After a 10% commission was paid, the documents show one-third of the funds — a little over $138,000 — was paid to Oher. During that time, Oher was under a conservatorship that he says he was tricked into entering. That conservatorship was terminated on Sept. 29, after Oher filed a petition to end the arrangement.

A. Melissa Boyd

Local judge suspended over drug use: Shelby County Criminal Court Judge Melissa Boyd was suspended in May over allegations that she had possessed and used cocaine and marijuana since she’d been elected last August. That was revealed in a letter to the Tennessee General Assembly referring Boyd for potential removal from office. Boyd told The Daily Memphian in October that she had been suspended after multiple complaints had been filed against her, including by her former campaign manager, Lashanta Rudd. The new letter reveals that Rudd allegedly found cocaine in Boyd’s closet. 

“I regularly walk through the neighborhood. With the pedestrian access being a concern, we didn’t know how accessible that would be,” said Alex McCormick, a resident of a neighborhood near Chickasaw Gardens who opposed the gates. (Sophia Surrett/The Daily Memphian)

Chickasaw Gardens gates denied: Gate-gate has come to a close after the Shelby County Land Use Control Board denied the Chickasaw Gardens Homeowners Association’s request to gate off two public streets in an effort to curb crime. The gates would “negatively impact traffic flow for [more than] 300 residents” and reduce access to a public park and lake, according to an LUCB staff report. At the meeting on Thursday, which was attended by residents on both sides of the issue, one board member reminded residents that gates wouldn’t keep criminals out: “The gates aren’t going to stop criminals coming in by car.”

“I realize what I’m buying is something that you can’t taste, touch or feel,” said Memphis Light, Gas and Water CEO McGowen. “But it’s an important component of [the system.]” (Courtesy MLGW)

Money is power: Memphis City Council members questioned the need for another Memphis Light, Gas and Water rate hike on Thursday. MLGW President and CEO Doug McGowen is asking the council to approve a 12% electric rate hike, a $27 million grid communications system and a $31 million headquarters, which would need to be voted on by the end of the year before the council ends its term. But the council approved a 7% rate hike in 2020, and City Council member J.B. Smiley recalled that, at the time, the previous MLGW head said that would cover the investments needed for the foreseeable future. McGowen said the hike is needed to modernize the grid with a self-healing system that could prevent power outages. As for the potential move from MLGW’s Downtown building to a new space on Goodlett Farms Parkway, the clock is ticking on a deadline for closing the deal.

QUOTED

Shelby County Clerk Wanda Halbert held a press conference on Thursday, Nov. 9, in her Downtown office. (Patrick Lantrip/The Daily Memphian)

“We were not evicted. Whether or not we may have gotten behind on a rent or two — that’s a different issue.”

— Shelby County Clerk Wanda Halbert
On Thursday, Halbert responded to claims from Harold Collins, county chief administrative officer, that her Poplar Plaza location was asked to move after falling behind on the rent. Halbert said her office had missed rent payments due to county payment policies, but was now current. She claimed the office will stay in Poplar Plaza and said the news of its closing was part of a large campaign of “retaliation” against her.

THE NICE TO KNOW

Chick-fil-A is proposing an Uptown location bordered by Mill Avenue on the north, Thomas Street on the east, A.W. Willis Avenue on the south and Uptown Street on the west. (AP file)

Mor chikin Downtown? Chick-fil-A wants to open a location in Uptown, and the company filed a variance permit with the Board of Adjustment on Thursday. The location, which would have a dual-lane drive-thru, 20 outdoor seats and 49 parking spaces, violates the city’s Unified Development Code, so it needs variance approval to move ahead. In other food news, New Orleans-based franchise French Truck Coffee just opened a third location in the newly opened Orleans Station in the Edge District. The Daily Memphian’s Sophia Surrett has the details on that in Memphis Food Files, plus news about two new chain restaurants (not Chick-fil-A, sorry) coming to Arlington.

Students at Whitehaven High School attended an assembly with the authors of “His Name Is George Floyd,” but restrictions associated with Tennessee law prevented them from hearing excerpts of the book. (Courtesy of Memphis Shelby County Schools)

Say his name, but don’t read the book? Students at Whitehaven High School recently heard a presentation from journalists Robert Samuels and Toluse Olorunnipa, authors of the Pulitzer Prize-winning book “His Name Is George Floyd.” The book delves into the life of Floyd, who was killed by police in Minneapolis in 2020, and the nationwide racial justice protests that followed. But students didn’t get to hear any excerpts from the book, and they weren’t allowed to take home copies. Chalkbeat investigates how a Tennessee law that limits what public schools can teach on race, gender and bias may be to blame.

Memphis Tigers guard Madison Griggs passed the ball across the court on March 16 at Elma Roane Fieldhouse. (Greg Campbell/Special to The Daily Memphian file)

Women win: The Memphis Tigers women’s basketball team scored their first win of the season, 95-51, in their home opener against the Alabama State Hornets on Thursday. The Tigers were never really challenged, and standout player Madison Griggs made four of six 3-pointers and scored 18 to lead Memphis.

Clockwise from the top: antipasto panino, marinated olives and veggies, mushroom and sausage crostini, toasted ravioli from Cocozza American Italian in Harbor Town. (Joshua Carlucci/Special to The Daily Memphian)

Happy hour in Harbor Town: These days, it’s hard to find much to eat for under $10. But during aperitivo happy hour at Cocozza American Italian, you can get four — count ’em, four — small plates for just $3. You can barely buy a bottle of water for that price these days. For this week’s $10 Deal, food writer Joshua Carlucci tried all four — sausage and mushroom crostini, toasted ravioli and marinara, antipasti panino, marinated olives and pickled veggies — which you can get as a set for right at $10. 

Lakeland Mayor Josh Roman knocked down the first wall of the Econo Lodge in Lakeland Nov. 9. (Patrick Lantrip/The Daily Memphian)

Demo day: Lakeland Mayor Josh Roman and several commissioners from the suburb took turns sitting behind the wheel of a CAT trackhoe on Thursday to swing ceremonial blows in the demolition of an Econo Lodge. The motel had been a magnet for prostitution and drug use in recent years and was condemned by the city earlier this year. Roman dedicated the demolition to a friend who “went down a bad road.” “I’m knocking this place down for him and all the other people that this place took advantage of,” said Roman. It will cost Lakeland more than $320,000 to tear down the motel. In its place will be a new $20 million Lakeland recreation center to be managed by the YMCA.

WHAT WE’RE TALKING ABOUT

Here’s a great idea for the taking if you happen to be an aspiring female rapper without a name.

Thank you for your service, veterans. And have a happy Diwali!

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