Happy Lunar New Year, Memphis! It’s Wednesday, Jan. 29, the first day of the Year of the Snake. Noodles and dumplings are traditionally eaten during this time for longevity and prosperity, and our own Jennifer Chandler highlights a few dishes from local eateries that you might want to try. You can also kick off Good Fortune Co.’s annual Lunar New Year month-long bar crawl today.

Let’s hope the Memphis Tigers women’s basketball team eats their dumplings. They play Charlotte at home, and we’d like to see them prosper. 

THE NEED TO KNOW

Memphis-Shelby County Schools board member Keith Williams is accused of harassment, according to a document obtained by The Daily Memphian. (Patrick Lantrip/The Daily Memphian)

School board member under investigation: Keith Williams, a Memphis-Shelby County Schools board member and teachers’ union president, is being investigated by the district after he was accused of harassment. And now he’s temporarily banned from visiting schools in his capacity as a union leader. It’s unclear what Williams is being accused of, but the type of investigation — Title IX — stems from a federal law that prohibits sex-based discrimination and harassment. And Title IX investigations are apparently pretty serious, according to one expert. And in other MSCS school board news, members renewed a tiny charter school on Tuesday, despite the district’s recommendation to close it over low enrollment.

“I am not a part of the City of Memphis government. I am the county clerk, and I am the collector of the fees,” said Shelby County Clerk Wanda Halbert. “They were not ready in July of last year.” (Mark Weber/The Daily Memphian file)

You may have been undercharged: If you’ve renewed your car registration since July of last year, you apparently got a sweet deal. Turns out Shelby County Clerk Wanda Halbert hasn’t been collecting the increased rate approved by the Memphis City Council last year. The rate was supposed to double from $30 to $60, but Halbert said the city didn’t contact her office soon enough to start collecting the tax on July 1, when it was set to go into effect. That mistake may have put the City of Memphis in a $7 million budget hole. And it’s not even the first time Halbert’s office has failed to collect a new fee added to vehicle registrations.

Freeze is frozen — for now: A federal judge blocked President Donald Trump’s pause on federal grants and loans Tuesday, minutes before it was set to go into effect. The pause was part of his attempt to undo progressive steps on transgender rights, environmental justice and diversity, equity and inclusion, or DEI, efforts. And though the freeze is temporarily frozen, it only lasts through Monday. The freeze is expected to cause disruption in housing and food assistance, funding for victims of domestic violence and suicide hotlines, and much more. On a local level, it could impact refugee resettlement efforts, HIV funding and other social services.

Rep. Scott Cepicky, R-Culeoka, spoke during a meeting of the House Education Committee on Tuesday, Jan. 28, in Nashville. (George Walker IV/AP)

School voucher bill sails through: Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee’s private-school voucher expansion plan, which failed last year, is moving right along this time around. On Tuesday, the Education Freedom Act passed in the House Education Committee, despite lots of vocal opposition from public-education advocates. The act would create 20,000 scholarships, each totaling about $7,000, for public school students to use to transfer to a private school. One Democratic representative from Nashville, who opposes the plan, said the state should focus its funding on improving low-performing public schools instead of exacerbating “the difference between the haves and the have-nots.”

“At this time, euthanasia is only being performed on dogs that test positive or are symptomatic,” Memphis Animal Services officials said in a statement released late Tuesday. (The Daily Memphian file)

Animal shelter intake on hold: Memphis Animal Services’ pause on taking in new dogs will likely continue through the end of the week. MAS staff has euthanized more than 100 dogs after a distemper outbreak spread through the facility, and they’re currently following strict cleaning protocols and halting the movement of the remaining dogs until the coast is clear. The outbreak has led animal advocates to question whether MAS is housing too many dogs. All that said, if you want to adopt or surrender a cat, that will resume today. 

QUOTED

“We know it’s going to bridge the Medical District to Downtown,” said Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris of the new Regional One Health plan. (Patrick Lantrip/The Daily Memphian file)

“[The new Regional One Health is] going to take care of the blighted, empty blocks that are right on the path to Downtown Memphis.”

— Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris
Earlier this week, the Shelby County Commission approved the $23 million purchase of the former Commercial Appeal property to make way for a new Regional One Health campus. On Tuesday, Harris said having a new hospital would also help improve the area around it, and he’s hoping the state will step up to help fund its construction. In other things Harris is talking about, the mayor was in Nashville Monday to try and get lawmakers to chill out on the Memphis-Shelby County Schools takeover issue. 

THE NICE TO KNOW

Memphis Grizzlies Zach Edey (left) and Jaylen Wells will play in the NBA Rising Stars game.  (The Daily Memphian file)

All heart: Cancel your Valentine’s dinner plans. Now you’re staying in for a romantic night of basketball. Memphis Grizzlies rookies Zach Edey and Jaylen Wells have been selected for the NBA’s Rising Stars event at All-Star weekend, and the game is set for Friday, Feb. 14. The game showcases the top first- and second-year NBA players and G League standouts. Here’s how to watch. 

“We’re going to try our best to run the [Crowne Plaza] hotel at full potential,” said Jay Patel, brother of developer Nirav “Neal” Patel. (Sophia Surrett/The Daily Memphian)

Crowne’s not down: Downtown’s aging Crowne Plaza Memphis is one step closer to a much-needed facelift. On Tuesday, Downtown’s Center City Revenue Finance Corp. granted local developer Neal Patel a payment-in-lieu-of-taxes deal for the hotel’s renovation. That PILOT was a condition of Patel’s closing on the aging hotel, but the CCRFC wasn’t so sure about Patel’s plans at its last meeting. 

Craig Brewer’s “Hustle and Flow,” which sold to Paramount Classics/MTV for $16 million, is a colorful and youthful rap movie set amid strugglers and strivers on the city’s mean streets. (Submitted)

Quintessential Craig Brewer: Our own Chris Herrington has been busy building the The Essential Memphis Library of films, music, art, etc. that every diehard Memphian should have in his or her collection. And today’s suggestion is one I can get behind 100%. That’s Craig Brewer’s breakout 2005 cult classic, “Hustle & Flow,” about a pimp pursuing his artistic dreams. The film not only earned Three 6 Mafia and Frayser Boy an Oscar Award for “It’s Hard Out Here for a Pimp,” but it also gave us the Memphis Grizzlies’ beloved playoff anthem. In more current movie news, Herrington has a preview of a new film about the hostage crisis at the 1972 Munich Olympics. 

WHAT WE’RE TALKING ABOUT

In case you missed it, the Memphis-Shelby County Schools State of the District address, which was supposed to feature a speech from ousted Superintendent Marie Feagins, has been canceled. Teacher and former House District 83 candidate Noah Nordstrom couldn’t resist.

Hope your Lunar New Year is filled with tasty noodles. I’m off to eat some for breakfast now. See you soon.

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