How’s it going on this hot Tuesday, May 21? I hope you’ve got your summer wardrobe ready.

Besides a nearly 90-degree high, today also brings a Memphis City Council meeting where the proposed solid-waste fee hike will be among the hot topics. The council will also consider lease terms for Liberty Park projects, including an entertainment complex with laser tag, bowling and video games.

THE NEED TO KNOW

Graceland is scheduled to be auctioned this week, but the Presley family alleges the debt claim surrounding the mansion is a fraud. (Beth J. Harpaz/AP file)

Graceland for sale? Elvis Presley’s mansion could be sold to the highest bidder on Thursday if a scheduled foreclosure sale is legit. A notice of a foreclosure sale for Graceland has been filed, alleging the late Lisa Marie Presley failed to repay a nearly $4 million loan taken out in 2018 with Graceland as collateral. But Presley’s daughter, Riley Keough, has filed a lawsuit calling the claim a fraud, and attempts to find any info about the loan company seem to confirm that she might be right. The parties are due in Shelby County Chancery Court tomorrow.

“We have to have policies that mirror city ordinance, so we changed the policies anyway,” Interim Memphis Police Chief Cerelyn C.J. Davis said at a Jan. 4 press conference. (Patrick Lantrip/The Daily Memphian file)

Doubts around traffic stop ban start: Interim Memphis Police Chief C.J. Davis may have fudged the truth about when the Memphis Police Department started banning pretextual traffic stops. The Memphis City Council passed a non-binding ban on minor stops in April 2023, in response to the death of Tyre Nichols at the hands of MPD officers. Former Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland never signed that ordinance, but Davis said on Jan. 4 that the MPD began enforcing the ban anyway. But newly obtained documents show the ban was not officially implemented department-wide until late January. Of course, all of this is moot now since the state passed legislation outlawing such bans in late March.

An invoice from a vendor says all 340 cell doors on the third floor of the Shelby County Jail aren’t working electronically and doors must be opened manually. (The Daily Memphian files)

Funding on lock: The Shelby County Commission took steps on Monday to avoid an “Escape from Alcatraz” situation. Commissioners approved more than $345,000 in emergency funding to replace more than 400 broken cell doors at the Shelby County Jail. Earlier this month, a jail spokesperson said staff are working overtime to guard inmates due to the broken locks. The commission also moved a step closer on Monday to keeping the county’s property-tax rate stable for the new fiscal year. 

The Memphis Zoo plans to improve the African elephants’ and giraffes’ habitats. (Karen Pulfer Focht/The Daily Memphian file)

Bet giraffe this is overdue: At long last, the Memphis Zoo is updating its Africa exhibit. The zoo announced $250 million of improvements on Monday, one of which is a $75 million project to turn elephant and giraffe habitats into a mixed-species space that will be four times its current size. A case statement for the project called the facilities “dated” and said they were too small for improved levels of animal care. Other updates are coming for the penguins, sting rays and several more areas. 

QUOTED

“You were trying to rob someone for tangible things, but all you did is rob our family and this city.”

— Brittney Rowe, daughter of the late
Phil Trenary
Rowe addressed Quandarius Richardson on Monday during his sentencing for the murder of Trenary, the Greater Memphis Chamber CEO who was killed during a robbery Downtown in 2018. Richardson was sentenced to 35 years on Monday.

THE NICE TO KNOW

Level Up, a new barcade and speakeasy, is set to open on South Main Street. (Mark Weber/The Daily Memphian)

Hello, video games; bye brisket: A new bar-arcade called Level Up is opening soon on South Main Street with 1980s and ’90s-era decor, retro gaming consoles, Skee-Ball, a speakeasy and an authentic Philly cheesesteak. And the best part? You can play games for free so long as you’re buying food and drinks. In other food news, Wolf River Brisket, which opened in the old Next Door space at Crosstown Concourse three years ago, served its last meal there on Sunday. But it will be replaced with an upscale Vietnamese restaurant, adding to what’s already a thriving Vietnamese food district in and around Cleveland Street. 

Memphis Grizzlies forward GG Jackson II handled the ball against Denver Nuggets guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope during a game on Sunday, April 14. (Brandon Dill/AP file)

Go, GG! Memphis Grizzlies rookie standout GG Jackson, the youngest player in the NBA, has been named to the league’s all-rookie second team. (This kid is going places!) That’s about all the real Grizz news for now as we wait an eternity for the NBA Draft at the end of June. These things feel further away when your team isn’t in the playoffs. Our own Chris Herrington helps us pass the time with a look at potential trade or free agency targets and the decisions the Grizzlies face about players they already have. And speaking of the draft, Grizz reporter Drew Hill offers a look at Tayshaun Prince, the Grizzlies’ vice president of basketball affairs, who repped the franchise last week when the team got the ninth pick in the draft lottery. Finally, if you’ve got ideas for cool Grizz merch, now is your chance to apply for the team’s 191 Collabs program.

Hernando Mayor Chip Johnson said Delta Landing will “be a place for the citizens to go and eat at restaurants we don’t currently have or shop at stores we don’t currently have.” (Courtesy City of Hernando file)

Never say never: A mixed-used project 17 years in the making recently broke ground in Hernando. Plans for Delta Landing started in 2007, but the Great Recession put the project on the back burner. Now, the 250-acre project — with 500 single-family homes, 90 condos, a senior-living facility and 30 acres of commercial property — is coming together across from the new Hernando High School. Delta Landing will offer more retail and restaurant options, but neighbors haven’t exactly all been on board.

Collierville’s new Traffic Operations Center is located in Town Hall. (Courtesy Town of Collierville)

Intersectionality: If you regularly drive in Collierville, this will be welcome news. A new traffic operations center just launched inside City Hall, and it will enable engineers to remotely monitor more than 40 intersections and adjust traffic signal timings as needed. (Ideally, this means you won’t be stuck at light after light on busy streets.) Previously, traffic issues were studied IRL after residents complained, but that was a slow process that took days to resolve.

WHAT WE’RE TALKING ABOUT

Graceland may or may not actually be sold on Thursday, but Memphians are having fun with the idea anyway.

So, what would the next owner do with Graceland? Next Bass Pro Shops, maybe?

What would you do with Graceland? I’d say it’s definitely giving Tekila Modern Mexican vibes.

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