Hope your Friday, Feb. 7, is off to a sweet start. But if it’s not, it’ll certainly get sweeter if you head over to First Fridays on Broad tonight. Dessert is the theme for the Broad Avenue Arts District’s first open-house night of the year.

On Saturday, peruse the racks for sweet, retro finds at the grand reopening for Blue Suede Vintage, which just moved from Crosstown to Broad Avenue. And later, buy some artwork for your Valentine’s sweetie (are you sensing a theme here?) at the annual Works of Heart art auction. 

Also hoping for some sweet (last one, I swear) home court wins this weekend. On Saturday, the Memphis Grizzlies play the Oklahoma City Thunder, and the Memphis Tigers women’s basketball team plays Florida Atlantic — both at home. And on SuperBowl Sunday, the Tigers men play Temple at FedExForum. (It’s early enough that you can still catch the big football game though.) For more weekend fun, check out The To-Do List.

THE NEED TO KNOW

The St. George’s board said the future of its Memphis campus building is up to the approval of the University of Memphis Board of Trustees, which oversees the new K-12 school district. (Mark Weber/The Daily Memphian)

Private to public: St. George’s Independent School will close its elementary school in Sherwood Forest at the end of the year, leaving the private school system with only one elementary campus in Germantown in addition to its grades 6-12 campus in Collierville. The Memphis campus opened 20 years ago with a goal of serving more Black students since the school was located inside the city limits. The St. George’s board says the decision to close reflects a changing education landscape, including donors prioritizing investments away from private education. The building may see new life though: It could become a public school under the new University of Memphis campus-school district. 

Memphis Grizzlies players Marcus Smart, left, and Jake LaRavia, right, have been traded. (The Daily Memphian file)

Smart moves? Just ahead of Wednesday’s NBA trade deadline, news broke that the Memphis Grizzlies will send out Jake LaRavia, Marcus Smart and a 2025 first-round pick as part of a three-team deal with the Washington Wizards and the Sacramento Kings. The Grizzlies will receive multiple second-round selections, as well as Washington Wizards players Marvin Bagley III and Johnny Davis. Plenty of fans are sad to see Smart go, but the injury-plagued player only appeared in 39 of 133 games. As for LaRavia, well, as our own Chris Herrington says, he was a “good young player on a team full of better ones.” Here’s hoping LaRavia doesn’t regret all the money he spent on that iced-out Grizzlies chain. For more thoughts on the trade moves, see Herrington’s column today.

Jail deaths can depend on a variety of factors, said Lenard Vare, a former prison warden and jail administrator in Nevada and California. (Mark Weber/The Daily Memphian file)

Jail deaths point to other problems: Two people died at the Shelby County Jail last week, just one day apart. Justin Segerson, 41, died of a fentanyl overdose, and Sherman Weakley, 22, died by suicide. The deaths came at a time when 201 Poplar is more packed than it has been in at least five years. And with more people comes more inmates being placed on suicide watch. To compound matters with Weakley, Shelby County Sheriff’s Office Chief Deputy Anthony Buckner said his death could have been prevented if the jail didn’t have broken doors. As for drugs in the jail though, there are actually significantly fewer illicit substances being found. But as one jail expert says, “By and large, drugs come inside people’s bodies.”

MEET MEMPHIS

Blue Honey Bistro owners Courtney and Drew Bryan opened their Germantown restaurant in 2017. (Patrick Lantrip/The Daily Memphian file)

Blue Honey Bistro co-owner Drew Bryan studied international banking in college. But he discovered his passion for cooking while working in a restaurant. “After 10 years, I decided to go to culinary school. I kind of did it backward,” he said. That “backward” effort paid off: Bryan is one of four Memphis chefs named as semi-finalists for James Beard Awards. Bryan and his wife, Courtney, opened their tiny bistro in a Germantown shopping center in 2017. It seats only 36 people, and that allows the Bryans to “control everything we do,” from the ever-changing menu to the personalized reservations process. 

THE NICE TO KNOW

Customers can get hot pot, Korean barbecue or both at 901 Hot Pot & Korean BBQ. (Sophia Surrett/The Daily Memphian)

Seconds and a third: A second 901 Hot Pot & Korean BBQ is opening in East Memphis, and a third Half Shell is coming to Germantown. Owners for both eateries hinted that the interior spaces will look a little different from the 901 Hot Pot and Half Shells you’re used to. Read more on those new spots in Food Files. And speaking of seconds, Belly Acres is opening a new spot in another county suburb.

Takashi’s drunken noodles have a medley of vegetables — carrots, zucchini, onions, bean sprouts — tucked beneath broad rice noodles with a savory, soy-based sauce. (Joshua Carlucci/Special to The Daily Memphian)

Thai meets Japanese: In this week’s $10 Deal, food writer Joshua Carlucci tucks into Takashi Bistro, an unassuming Japanese eatery in a Union Avenue shopping center, where he surprisingly finds Thai drunken noodles. (That’s welcome news in Midtown’s Thai food desert.) That’ll run you more than $10, but Carlucci says the dish is large enough to feed two. If you’re looking for something Japanese though (and closer to our $10 limit), Carlucci recommends the pepper tuna tataki, a fish dish with “impeccable” knifework.

Memphis center Moussa Cisse got an uncontested dunk against UAB during a game on Jan. 26. (Nikki Boertman/AP file)

Cisse went down, but he got up again: Memphis Tigers Coach Penny Hardaway had a little deja vu moment Wednesday night as the Tigers played Tulsa. Center Moussa Cisse fell down during a play, and he stayed there for a bit too long. It reminded Hardaway of last season when, during a game against Tulsa, guard Caleb Mills slipped on the floor and suffered a college-career-ending injury, sending the Tigers into a tailspin that ended with them not even making the NCAA Tournament. But Cisse was alright, and our own Tim Buckley tells us why that’s such a big deal. In another lookback to Wednesday’s win over Tulsa, guard PJ Haggerty explains how he treated the match-up with his former team as “a regular game to me.”

WHAT WE’RE TALKING ABOUT

Grizzlies fans on X have lots of thoughts about Thursday’s trades of Marcus Smart and Jake LaRavia — some good, some bad. 

Hope you have a sweet weekend! (Not sorry!)

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