Brrrr, Memphis! I hope you’re staying warm on this bitterly cold Tuesday, Jan. 16. It’s looking like the temps will only top out at 20 degrees today, but at least the snow is pretty, right?

Students from Memphis-Shelby County Schools and all of the suburban districts get a snow day today. But if you have to drive to work or anywhere else, please be careful out there.

THE NEED TO KNOW

Sarah Houston snowboarded at Beale Street Landing as snow fell on Monday, Jan. 15. (Mark Weber/The Daily Memphian)

Snow problem yet: On Monday, city and county government officials declared a state of emergency for the area after 3 to 6 inches of snow fell across the county, and arctic air brought below-zero wind chills. Thankfully, those power outages we were all worried about (and stood in line at Kroger with stockpiles of supplies for) haven’t happened — yet. Temperatures won’t be letting up soon, though, which puts Memphis Light, Gas and Water in “uncharted territory.” Serious business aside though, Memphians (and visitors) are having fun in the snow. Take for example, Hank Yoder of Colorado, who made great use of the skis he’d packed with him for his trip to Memphis.

The joint EV battery venture is believed to be between Cummins, Daimler Trucks and Paccar. (The Daily Memphian file)

Charging ahead: A multibillion-dollar EV battery plant that will manufacture lithium-iron-phosphate batteries for commercial electric trucks is coming to Marshall County, Mississippi, according to sources familiar with the project. But state and local officials, as well as the companies reportedly behind the project, are keeping quiet. The plant is believed to be planned for the 3,600-acre Chickasaw Trails Industrial Park on the Mississippi-Tennessee state line.

Lina Makarem has worked as a court interpreter at 201 Poplar for ten years. (Aarron Fleming/The Daily Memphian)

Lost in translation: Marious Ward and Brandy Rucker, the two charged in connection with the November 2023 killing of St. Jude researcher Alexander Bulakhov, were set to appear in court on Jan. 9. But the cases had to be reset because a Russian interpreter wasn’t available for Bulakhov’s wife, who witnessed the alleged shooting. There are 17 Spanish interpreters in Shelby County, most of whom work part-time, but interpreters for other languages are hard to come by. And turns out, being certified for the job takes more than just being fluent in a language.

“We will ensure that no one will steal the voices of Tennessee artists,” Gov. Bill Lee said at an event on Wednesday, Jan. 10, at RCA Studios in Nashville, home to Elvis Presley’s recording room. (Ian Round/The Daily Memphian)

No Fake Drakes: A proposed Tennessee bill would protect musicians from artificial intelligence “deepfakes” of their likenesses. Cleverly named the ELVIS Act (it stands for Ensuring Likeness, Voice and Image Security), the bill would be the first in the U.S. to regulate within a state’s “right of publicity” law. The issue of deepfakes in the music industry came to light last spring when an AI-created song that sounded like a Drake and the Weeknd collaboration — aka “Fake Drake” — was heard millions of times before being taken down.

QUOTED

Lauren Walker (left) is general manager of the Majestic Grille at 145 S. Main, and Deni Reilly is co-owner. “Memphis has been living like turtles and huddled up in their turtle shells for the past year and not patronizing locally owned small businesses,” Reilly said. (Mark Weber/The Daily Memphian)

“Reembrace your ... locally owned restaurants, and get out there and support us because if you don’t, we’re not going to be around.”

— Deni Reilly, co-owner of Majestic Grille and Cocozza American Italian
Restaurants are struggling to return to pre-pandemic levels, due to labor costs, staff shortages and rising food costs. And some restaurateurs have also blamed rising crime for lack of business. The Daily Memphian’s Sophia Surrett talked to restaurant owners about the challenges facing the industry. One of those challenges: Employees are pushing for higher pay and benefits.

THE NICE TO KNOW

Memphis Grizzlies guard Ja Morant, left, greeted Memphis forward GG Jackson during a live interview after the Memphis Grizzlies beat the Golden State Warriors on Monday, Jan. 15. (Brandon Dill/AP)

‘Big win for the Hustle’: The Memphis Grizzlies bench (aka the Memphis Hustle) taught the Golden State Warriors stars a lesson in Monday’s MLK Day game: Don’t discount this rapidly shrinking team. What’s left of the Grizz pulled out a 116-107 victory, mostly thanks to newly signed Vince Williams Jr. and rookie GG Jackson (who put on an impressive show of his 3-point shooting). Coach Taylor Jenkins called it “a big-time win for the Grizzlies and a big win for the Hustle.” In case you weren’t paying attention over the holiday weekend, it was an otherwise grim one for the Grizzlies: Desmond Bane and Jake LaRavia injured their ankles and were added to the ever-growing injury list for weeks. And the team lost to the New York Knicks, 106-94 (despite a hard effort by rising star GG Jackson) on Saturday and lost to the Los Angeles Clippers, 128-119, on Friday.

Cevicheria and Grill Chilemon owners Ruby Sanchez (middle) and husband Edinson Escobar (right), along with their daughter Luisa Aristizabal, (left) will soon add a bakery to the their Summer Avenue restaurant. (Mark Weber/The Daily Memphian)

Concha see it’s meant to be: Memphis will soon be home to two new bakeries serving bread and pastries from Latin America. Cesario Mejia hails from Guatemala and decided to open a bakery after losing his job during the pandemic. He will offer pan dulce and other sweet breads from Guatemala and Mexico at San Marco Bakery, which opens in one East Memphis shopping center soon. Married partners Ruby Sanchez and Edinson Escobar are already selling bread from their South American restaurant on Summer Avenue, and plan to open a bakery next door with sweet and savory baked goods, like guava-stuffed sweet bread and Colombian cheese fritters, as well as a breakfast you can’t get anywhere else in Memphis.

Former Memphis Grizzlies star Tony Allen, right, looked at jewelry during the grand opening and ribbon-cutting for Sissy’s Log Cabin. (Brad Vest/Special to The Daily Memphian)

Logging on: Sissy’s Log Cabin jewelry store recently relocated into a new, 9,000-square-foot store at the site of the former Rafferty’s in East Memphis. The Arkansas-based chain’s only Tennessee location outgrew its previous space just across the parking lot in the Laurelwood Shopping Center. “Our biggest thing when we get people coming into this new store is ‘I feel like I’m in New York. I feel like I’m in Miami,’” said Wyatt Jones, manager of the Memphis store. If you’ve ever wondered why a store that carries Rolex and serves as the official jeweler of the Memphis Grizzlies is called Sissy’s Log Cabin, well, turns out it has humble beginnings.

Memphis' Nicholas Jourdain dunked the ball during a game against Wichita State on Sunday, Jan. 14, in Wichita, Kansas. (Travis Heying/The Wichita Eagle via AP)

Moving on up: The Memphis Tigers finally moved into the top 10 in the Associated Press poll this week after an impressive win over Wichita State on Saturday. Here lately, the Tigers have been playing some nail-biters with last-minute game-clinching buckets. But this weekend, they drilled a program-record 19 3-pointers and quickly took a large lead just minutes into the second half in their 112-86 win over the Shockers. Speaking of Shockers, coach Penny Hardaway said he was “just as shocked as everybody else” that his team played so well. In women’s basketball news, the Tigers picked up its first American Athletic Conference win of the season on Sunday with a 59-57 victory over Temple.

Faith Jackson (left) and Kirsten Fair are both freshmen at Rutgers University-Camden campus this year. Their tuition and expenses were covered as part of the campus’ Memphis Pipeline Project. (Gary Whitlow/Courtesy Rutgers University)

Memphis-to-Rutgers pipeline: Rutgers University at Camden in New Jersey never had a student from Memphis until last fall, when it had 13. The majority of them were from Hamilton High School in South Memphis. Why? Rutgers Chancellor Antonio B. Tillis graduated from Central High School in Memphis, and he’s launched a Memphis Pipeline Project to recruit students from Hamilton and Westwood high schools. Our own Jane Roberts learned what that pipeline entails, from plane tickets for campus visits to heavy winter coats for those cold New Jersey winters (and those would also come in handy for this unusual Memphis cold snap).

WHAT WE’RE TALKING ABOUT

Goodbye, Hop-in at Poplar Avenue and Highland Street. The iconic and highly trafficked corner store burned to the ground on Monday. 

Bundle up, and enjoy the snow while it lasts. And I’ll see you on another cold morning tomorrow.

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