Good morning! It’s Wednesday, Jan. 3, and I hope you’re caught up on those emails from the holiday break. For a work-safe drinking game, take a sip of coffee for every post-holiday message that begins with “I’m just circling back ...” 

Germantown Municipal School District students are back in class today. And the Shelby County Commission holds its first committee sessions of the year. The Memphis Light, Gas and Water board holds its first 2024 meeting as well. And tonight, the Memphis Grizzlies will play the Toronto Raptors at FedExForum, and fans will recognize a familiar face on the coaching team.

THE NEED TO KNOW

Officers and community members gathered at a “Sea of Blue” in honor of fallen Memphis Police officer Geoffrey Redd. (Brad Vest/Special to The Daily Memphian file)

Memphis breaks homicide record: There were 397 homicides in Memphis in 2023, 51 more than the city’s previous record in 2021. The number was also a 32% increase over 2022 when there were 301 people killed. The Memphis Police Department is planning a new initiative that will identify and apprehend reoffenders, a strategy that seems to have worked to reduce homicides in New Orleans. And Memphis Mayor Paul Young plans to hire a public safety coordinator to work with the MPD, the Shelby County District Attorney’s office and other community partners.

Allison Fouché

MEM to ATL: Allison Fouché, former City of Memphis chief communications officer, will head up Atlanta’s city communications team. Fouché, who served in Memphis city government for years, succeeded Ursula Madden for the top communications job in September 2022. She remained in that role until the end of former Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland’s administration last week. Memphis Mayor Paul Young did not reappoint Fouché, instead naming Downtown Memphis Commission’s Penelope Huston to that role. 

The last surviving sanitation workers involved in the strike and march of 1968 stood at the center of the I Am A Man Plaza during an unveiling ceremony on April 5, 2018. (The Daily Memphian file)

Remembering Elmore Nickelberry: One of the last surviving sanitation workers involved in the 1968 strike in Memphis has died. Elmore Nickelberry, who only retired from the city sanitation department three years ago, was 92 when he died on Saturday, Dec. 30. The strike began after two workers were crushed to death in the compactor of a garbage truck. And it became a defining moment in the city’s history, eventually leading to the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. in April 1968. Nickelberry shared his story through several oral histories; he told NPR in 2018, “I knew I wasn’t no garbage man. I just worked in garbage.”

Judge Mark Ward has been appointed to fill in for Melissa Boyd during her suspension. (Mark Weber/The Daily Memphian file)

Ward will be the judge: Senior Judge Mark Ward has been appointed by the Tennessee Supreme Court to fill in for suspended Shelby County Criminal Court Judge Melissa Boyd. Boyd was suspended by the Tennessee Board of Judicial Conduct after admitting to using cocaine and marijuana during her time on the bench. She also recently pleaded not guilty to charges of coercion and harassment, related to her dealings with her former campaign manager. Boyd ousted Ward in the 2022 judicial race to win the seat. As a senior judge, it’s his job to fill in for other judges around the state.

QUOTED

Architect Tony Bologna died on Jan. 1 at his home in Harbor Town after a battle with cancer. (The Daily Memphian file)

“Tony [Bologna] could do things others couldn’t or wouldn’t do.”

— developer Henry Turley
Longtime Memphis architect Tony Bologna, the official architect of Harbor Town, died of cancer on Jan. 1. Bologna had a passion for salvaging old buildings, and he had a hand in the restoration of many notable Downtown buildings and Midtown’s Crosstown Concourse. Those who worked with Bologna over the years reflected on his legacy.

THE NICE TO KNOW

Former Memphis Grizzlies star Mike Miller in the Let It Fly Germantown location in 2019. (Mark Weber/The Daily Memphian file)

Let it Fly away: Former Memphis Grizzlies star Mike Miller’s Let It Fly sports bar in Germantown has apparently closed. Those who showed up at lunch time on Tuesday found locked doors, but the miniature jumbotron inside was on, still showing sports headlines and scores. Miller did not return calls or texts from The Daily Memphian. A planned Let It Fly location in Southaven appears to be moving ahead, with an expected opening in mid-summer. In brighter suburban food news, Filipino fried chicken restaurant Kukuruku Chicken is opening a new spot in the Bartlett Town Center. Read more about that news and other commercial real estate updates in this week’s Inked column.

Memphis Grizzlies guard Ja Morant put on a show against the San Antonio Spurs at FedExForum on Tuesday, Jan. 2. (Brandon Dill/AP)

A gift from Ja Morant: Memphis Grizzlies star Ja Morant handed out a big present to fans Tuesday night: a poster dunk in the team’s 106-98 win over the San Antonio Spurs. “That’s my late Christmas gift, my happy new year gift,” Morant said. The dunk came after a scare when the star landed on his knee, Steven Adams-style, but Morant bounced back to take on the Spurs and their 7-foot-4 rookie Victor Wembanyama, who our own Drew Hill calls “the future of the NBA” and Chris Herrington considers to be “the best prospect since LeBron James.” It was the first match-up between Morant and Wembanyama, and the battle turned the FedExForum “into a playground,” said Herrington.

“Highstep Double” by Derek Fordjour is among a collection of artworks gifted to the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art. (Courtesy Brooks Museum)

State of the arts: An anonymous donor will gift the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art 75 works by local, national and international Black artists. The sculptures, video art, photography and paintings will add to the Brooks’ growing collection as it prepares to move into its new Downtown location by 2025. “This gift places our museum’s collection of work by Black artists in an entirely new category,” said Zoe Kahr, executive director of Memphis Brooks Museum of Art.

Left to right: Bartlett Alderman Jack Young, Lakeland Commissioner Wesley Wright and Arlington Mayor Mike Wissman. Young plans to seek another term; Wright and Wissman are still deciding. (The Daily Memphian file)

On the ballot in the ’burbs: It’s an election year in Arlington, Bartlett and Lakeland. And though voters won’t cast ballots until much later this year, politicians are already declaring their intent to run. In Arlington, residents will be electing a mayor, three aldermen and two school board members. While he has not made it official yet, Mayor Mike Wissman is leaning towards running for a fourth term. In Bartlett, three aldermen positions and three school board seats are up for grabs, and in Lakeland, voters will decide on two Board of Commissioners seats and two school board positions. Suburban reporter Michael Waddell offers this peek at who might be running for which offices.

WHAT WE’RE TALKING ABOUT

In “The Iron Claw,” the new sports biopic in which Zac Efron plays pro wrestler Kevin Von Erich, the wedding scene features a line dance set to John Denver’s “Thank God I’m a Country Boy.” But when you mute Denver and sub in Project Pat’s “Take Da Charge,” it turns out the moves still sync up perfectly.

To that, I say thank goodness I’m a city girl. Have a great day in the M-Town, y’all.

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