Hola, Memphis. It’s Friday, Nov. 1 — Dia de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead. This Mexican holiday offers a time to celebrate the lives of those who have passed. And it runs through Saturday, when you can take part in the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art’s annual Día de Los Muertos Parade & Festival with crafts, dance performances and more.

Also happening Saturday: The Memphis Tigers football team plays UTSA in an away game, and they need to win for any hope of making it to the AAC title game. The Memphis Grizzlies play the Philadelphia 76ers in an away game, too.

At home on Saturday, there’s the Broad Avenue Arts Walk with vendors, music and a paella-making station from the owners of the now-closed Maximo’s on Broad (RIP). Mud Island is the place to be if you have kids; there’s a weekend-long inflatable bounce house festival, and Rock-n-Romp is making a comeback. 

On Sunday, you’ll find sushi, martial arts demos, music and more in the Memphis Botanic Garden’s Japanese garden. And just down the street, the Dixon Gallery and Gardens will open three new exhibitions, including one dedicated to train art.

THE NEED TO KNOW

A young golfer lined up his putt at the Bubba Conlee junior golf tournament at the Quail Ridge Golf Course in Bartlett in 2013. (Kyle Kurlick/AP file)

Last tee for Bartlett: Bartlett’s Quail Ridge Golf Course, the only course in the suburb, is closing Saturday after 30 years. And the 103-acre course is up for sale and has the potential to be redeveloped, which has some Bartlett leaders and neighbors concerned. The land Quail Ridge sits on is zoned residential, so a commercial developer could build houses or apartments there. But so far, the city hasn’t heard of any pending development plans. Some residents are holding out hope that the buyer will reopen the course. 

Ballet Memphis dancer Noah Long was hit by a car on Aug. 18, in Midtown. (Submitted)

Hard out here for a cyclist: Memphis has miles and miles of bike lanes, but they’re often littered with trash and glass. And sometimes, cars park (or even drive) in them. In places where there aren’t bike lanes, like on Poplar Avenue, drivers are supposed to share the road, but that wasn’t the case when Ballet Memphis dancer Noah Long was nearly killed in a hit-and-run while riding on Poplar in August. The Memphis Social Bicycle Club is tired of it, and they’re speaking out with a “critical mass” ride this Sunday. “We’re trying to say, ‘Hey, the city did a great job 10 years ago getting all this [infrastructure] together.’ We just want it maintained a little bit,” said Landon Blankenship, one of the organizers.

Power on? The Tennessee Valley Authority’s board is scheduled to vote next week on whether or not to allow Elon Musk’s xAI supercomputer to go fully on its transmission system. TVA’s policy requires a vote on projects that need more than 100 megawatts of electricity, and the company plans to use about 148 megawatts. For now, xAI is partially on the local grid and also using natural gas turbines and Tesla batteries.

Memphis-based International Paper is laying off hundreds more employees as it closes a mill in South Carolina. (Courtesy of International Paper)

More IP layoffs: International Paper is laying off nearly 700 employees from a mill it’s closing in Georgetown, South Carolina. Since mid-October, the Memphis-based company has announced it would lay off more 1,150 people by the end of the year, including 400 employees based at the home office in Memphis. The moves come as IP is restructuring to become more profitable.

QUOTED

“We’ve ... got to make Memphis cool. ... I need you guys to stay here.”

— Memphis Mayor Paul Young
 During a “One Memphis” forum at LeMoyne-Owen College on Thursday, Young told college students that the city needs them to stick around after graduation. He also discussed ways to improve the Memphis Area Transit Authority through an expansion of “on-demand” rider services, like MATA’s Groove minibus, which riders can book from their phone like Uber or Lyft for a much cheaper fare.

THE NICE TO KNOW

Memphis Grizzlies guard Ja Morant lobbed to Santi Almada from a seated position during the team’s win against the Milwaukee Bucks. (Brandon Dill/AP)

Not-so-scary Ja-lloween: Memphis Grizzlies star Ja Morant ensured the team’s Halloween game against the Milwaukee Bucks was not scary at all, dialing in a 122-99 win at FedExForum. In fact, it might as well have been a rom-com with Morant as the hunky protagonist. He scored 26 points with 10 rebounds and 14 assists in less than 29 minutes of play, and many of those were masterfully made, including a 13-footer and a lob to Santi Aldama while sitting flat on the floor. It wasn’t just the Ja Morant show though; other players, like Jake LaRavia, had a good night, too. But speaking of LaRavia, the Grizzlies are opting not to pick up his contract extension.

The dosa at Desi Adda is just as delicious as the idly, but a great call if you’re looking for something a bit more texturally complex, according to food writer Joshua Carlucci. (Joshua Carlucci/Special to The Daily Memphian)

Our daily dosa: Indian chaat has arrived in Memphis. This popular street fare was previously available at a few restaurants, but in recent months, two new Indian food trucks serving chaat have popped up on Memphis streets. The latest is Desi Adda, which serves South Indian delights like idly (savory rice-flour cakes) and dosa (savory rice-flour crepes). The Daily Memphian’s Joshua Carlucci openly admits he’s an Indian-food newb as he navigates the menu (and devours the Andhra-style Chicken Fry) for this week’s $10 Deal. In other food news, we’ve got a peek at Memphis Filling Station’s Downtown Dining Week special, plus news of a new Chick-fil-A, in Food Files.

Memphis-Shelby County Schools Superintendent Dr. Marie Feagins (middle) and the school board have decided on a superintendent evaluation tool. (Mark Weber/The Daily Memphian file)

Grading Feagins: Even superintendents get a report card, and the Memphis-Shelby County Schools board has finally settled on the formula they’ll use to grade the district’s latest leader, Superintendent Marie Feagins. They’ll look at how much the district has reduced the number of students who are several grade levels behind in reading and math, as well as a reduction in chronic absenteeism. They’ll also consider teacher vacancies and Feagins’ plan for closing, consolidating and building schools. You can see the full evaluation formula here.

The exterior of FedEx’s new sorting facility at the Memphis International Airport. (Patrick Lantrip/The Daily Memphian)

Oh, Captain, our Captain! FedEx just unveiled a fancy, new, $308 million sorting facility at its world hub in Memphis, complete with miles of conveyor belts, shuffleboard-like paddles and flashing lasers. The automated hub is the size of the Empire State Building if it were lying flat, and it’s dubbed Captain in honor of founder and board chairman Frederick W. Smith. It’s part of a larger $1.5 billion that FedEx has poured into infrastructure in Memphis and Indianapolis, Indiana, to modernize its sort facilities.

GOT GAME?

Halloween may be over, but cosplay is okay any day. This week’s Jigsaw flashes back to last weekend’s Memphis Comic Expo at Renasant Convention Center, where attendees came dressed as The Crow, Transformers, Chun-Li and all number of characters. 

People watched during a cosplay contest during the Memphis Comic Expo on Saturday, Oct. 26, at the Renasant Convention Center. (Brad Vest/Special to The Daily Memphian)

Cue the dueling banjos from “Deliverance” as you work on this week’s 5x5, which was inspired by an upcoming horror-film convention where the Banjo Boy will make an appearance.

“Classy” Houston or “crazy” Collierville? Which high school has what it takes to win it all in tonight’s football match-up? The two rival schools are battling for a new Mayor’s Trophy, and that’s the inspiration behind this week’s Word Search.

Hope you have a fantastic Friday and a wonderful weekend. Don’t forget to set those clocks on Sunday!

.....