Hello and happy Monday, Memphis. I’m Digital Director Holly Whitfield, filling in for Bianca Phillips. 

It’s July 22 and the Shelby County Commission will meet today to discuss raises and paying the City of Millington to lease space for an existing County clerk’s office.

The Memphis Grizzlies will take on the Miami Heat in the Las Vegas Summer League championship today at 7 p.m. CT. University of Memphis head football coach Ryan Silverfield and two Tigers football players are in Texas for the American Athletic Conference Media Days today and tomorrow.

Every Sunday afternoon, we publish a quick look at the week ahead — if you’re not reading This Week In Memphis, you’re missing out.

THE NEED TO KNOW

President Joe Biden speaks at a news conference July 11, 2024, in Washington. (Jacquelyn Martin/AP Photo file)

Bye Bye, Biden: January 20, 2025, will be President Joe Biden’s last day in the White House. He announced Sunday, July 21, that he is dropping out of the race and endorsing another candidate in the November 2024 election. Naturally, Memphis Democratic leaders flew to social media with remarks, including their own Presidential endorsements. In one comment, U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen, D-Memphis said his new choice for President would “make mincemeat of the mendacious malefactor Trump.” Some state Republican leaders said they thought Biden’s resignation didn’t go far enough, and city and county mayors also weighed in.

Then Consulting Chief of Operations Fausto Pichardo, center, speaks during a press conference at New Orleans City Hall on Thursday, Sept. 8, 2022. (Chris Granger/The Times-Picayune/The New Orleans Advocate via AP)

Pichardo on patrol: When the New Orleans Police Department faced a DOJ consent decree, officer shortage and violent crime wave in 2022, they hired former New York Police Department chief of patrol Fausto Pichardo as a consultant. As the Memphis Police Department faces the same sets of crises, Memphis mayor Paul Young has hired Pichardo to develop a public safety strategy and work with MPD. Samuel Hardiman reports on the details of Pichardo’s role and who’s footing the bill for the consulting fees.

Top, from left to right, Mauricio Calvo, Althea Greene, Eric Harris. Bottom, from left to right, Natalie McKinney, Sable Otey, Tamarques Porter. (Submitted) 

Campaign trail bucks: Election Day is August 1, when Shelby County voters will sift through 19 candidates for five contested school board seats. Reporter Laura Testino created a voting guide recently, but as early voting continues through July 27, Testino breaks down the numbers on campaign spending in the five races. She shares which six of the 19 candidates have emerged as top spenders, including incumbent Board Chair Althea Green, and where most of the money has come from.

Left, Millington Alderman Don Lowry, right, Millington Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Terry Roland. (Submitted) 

Softball saga: It all started when the Amateur Sports Alliance of North America (ASANA) signed on to play a softball tournament at Millington’s USA Stadium Aug. 20-24. ASANA is a nonprofit supporting LGBTQ+ Women+ in amateur athletics, a cause that may have irked Millington Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Terry Roland. Michael Waddell reports on a possible spat between Roland and the stadium’s Directing Manager Kevin Kennedy that then escalated quickly. According to Kennedy, Roland threatened him with pulling chamber funding or future tax increment financing blocked if the stadium hosted the LGBTQ+ group. Now, Millington Alderman Don Lowry is accusing Roland of having a “knee-jerk reaction” and is pushing for him to apologize to Kennedy, resign or be fired following the alleged argument.

MEET MEMPHIS

Dr. Tony Alleman (Regional One Health)

Dr. Tony Alleman uses hyperbaric oxygen therapy to help patients heal wounds that have failed to respond to other treatments. He’s the medical director of Regional One Health’s Wound Care Center, home of the state’s only multi-place hyperbaric oxygen chamber, which looks a little like a cross between a submarine and an MRI machine. And now Dr. Alleman is using that same technology to make space travel safer for astronauts. He was recently tapped by NASA to examine research on how hyperbaric oxygen therapy can help astronauts dealing with decompression sickness (better known as “the bends”), which happens when some people are exposed to rapid changes in pressure.

NICE TO KNOW

A room inside of the Mud Island Museum is shown before it is transformed into Artist Christopher Reyes' immersive “Baron Von Opperbean and the River of Time.” (Benjamin Naylor/The Daily Memphian)

Tackling the Mud Island puzzle: Daily Memphian reporter Bill Dries begins a two-part story on the past and future of Mud Island with a sobering fact: the foundation of the park’s amphitheater is unstable, and to update the venue portion of the park would require nearly $2 million. And that’s in 2019 money. Part one of Dries’ deep dive guides us through the sands of Bud Boogie Beach and the H.O.R.D.E. festival in the 1990s to the amphitheater’s current issues. Dries speaks with Memphis River Parks Partnership president and CEO Carol Coletta, who questions if simply repairing the stage space would make for a successful live music venue in 2024. Then in part two, Dries focuses on the museum, its coming new life as Baron Von Opperbean’s River of Time immersive playground, its short-lived moment as a Sidney Shlenker project and the timeline of the “Memphis Belle” World War II bomber plane — a story that will reach its final conclusion very soon.

Young vendors sell lemonade during the Asian Night Market Saturday, July 20, as a fundraiser for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. (Benjamin Naylor/The Daily Memphian)

Market success: More than 80 vendors filled Tiger Lane on Saturday, July 20, for the second Asian Night Market, which moved to the former Fairgrounds this year after a packed-out inaugural event at the smaller Crosstown Concourse space in 2023. Jody Callahan reports that plenty of food — skewered meat, waffles, Filipino fried chicken, desserts — and people were present at the market.

Memphis Grizzlies guard Scotty Pippen Jr. (1) gestures to teammates during the first half of the team’s NBA basketball game against the Charlotte Hornets on Wednesday, March 13, 2024, in Memphis, Tenn. (AP Photo/Brandon Dill)

Will the Grizz win it all? (In Vegas...) Will the Grizzlies win the summer league championship? Fans will find out tonight as Memphis goes up against Miami in the Las Vegas Summer League. That’s after the Grizzlies beat the Los Angeles Clippers, 99-98, on Sunday afternoon, July 21. As Drew Hill reports, while 2024 NBA Draft picks Zach Edey and Cam Spencer are out with ankle sprains, Scotty Pippen Jr. recorded a 23-point, 10-rebound and 10-assist triple-double in the win. And Rookie Jaylen Wells turned in his most impressive performance of summer league. In more professional basketball news, Parth Upadhyaya reports that former Memphis Tigers All-American point guard Kendric Davis is taking his talents down under. 

THIS WEEK’S WEATHER

Get out your galoshes, guys and gals. We’re in for some potential summer showers this week. 

Early voting continues through Saturday, July 27, so go vote if you haven’t already. Bianca Phillips will be back with you tomorrow bright and early.

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