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Happy snow day, Memphis! It’s Wednesday, Feb. 19, and if you get the day off, congrats. Plenty of us will be working from home, but if you have to drive today, the Memphis Police Department offers this advice from your high-school driving test. Read on for more on the roads, school closures and more.

As for what’s happening today, Downtown’s Center City Development Corp. is set to meet, virtually, to discuss a grant for a project that would transform a multifamily building on North Dunlap Street into housing for the Hospitality Hub’s formerly homeless clients. 

Memphis Tigers basketball games are usually on, snow or shine, and the women’s home game against UAB tonight appears to be a go. Also, if you’re headed to the Orpheum Theatre tonight to see “Hamilton,” that show is going on, too. 

THE NEED TO KNOW

The Wolf River Harbor froze over near it’s confluence with the Mississippi River on Feb. 19, 2021. (Patrick Lantrip/The Daily Memphian file)

Say it ain’t snow: If you were having any doubt that it would actually snow last night, well, sorry. But there’s good news: The city says it’s ready to “show Memphis what we’re made of” this time. Major routes in the City of Memphis, Collierville and Germantown were pretreated with brine, and the Memphis Light, Gas and Water system has been winterized. Here’s what you need to know about driving, accidents, water pipes and more. It’s a snow day for Memphis-Shelby County Schools and Shelby County’s municipal school districts, and local colleges are going virtual today. 

Former Memphis-Shelby County Schools Superintendent Marie Feagins is seeking phone records of MSCS board members. (Patrick Lantrip/The Daily Memphian file)

Feagins wants the receipts: Former Memphis-Shelby County Schools Superintendent Marie Feagins is requesting call logs and text messages from school board members’ phones. The subpoena request came two days after she filed a lawsuit alleging board members violated the state’s open meetings law when they fired her in January. That request has since been sealed since it contained board members’ cell phone numbers. 

The first significant public money for the $550 million FedExForum renovations cleared a major step on Tuesday, Feb. 18, at Memphis City Council. (The Daily Memphian file)

MATA $$, Forum funds and xAI: In a busy meeting Tuesday, the Memphis City Council gave the Memphis Area Transit Authority enough money to keep going for another month. Members also gave an initial approval to an Uptown parking permit program, and they squashed rumors that concerts are returning to the Mud Island amphitheater. A council committee voted to allocate $80 million, in funds supplied by the state, for FedExForum renovations. (More voting on that to come.) The repairs are intended to keep the Memphis Grizzlies in Memphis for the long term, but the resolution also hinted at attracting an additional sports team. In other council news, members, several of whom have been skeptical of Elon Musk’s xAI, agreed to sell 13 acres of city land to the company to build a water recycling facility. In related news, xAI has been training its AI chatbot, Grok, in Memphis, and the bot was unveiled on X Monday. During that event, Musk explained why he chose Memphis in a rambling quote that mentioned both Elvis and ancient Egypt.

RowVaughn Wells, the mother of Tyre Nichols, left the Odell Horton Federal Building after a jury found three former Memphis police officers guilty in Nichols’ death. (Patrick Lantrip/The Daily Memphian file)

City tries to toss out Nichols suit: Yes, you’ve heard this story before. The City of Memphis is once again trying to throw out the civil-rights lawsuit from Tyre Nichols’ mother. RowVaughn Wells is suing the city over Nichols’ 2023 death at the hands of Memphis police officers, and the city already tried to have it dismissed once. Now, the city’s attorneys say the plaintiffs haven’t proven the city or Memphis Police Chief C.J. Davis bear responsibility for Nichols’ death.

Former Sen. Brian Kelsey (left) is required to report to the FCI Ashland Satellite Camp in Boyd County, Kentucky, by Monday, Feb. 24, to begin his 21-month sentence. (Mark Humphrey/AP file)

Straight to jail: Come Monday morning, former State Sen. Brian Kelsey will be behind bars for the next 21 months, after his last-ditch effort to avoid prison was denied. Kelsey, who was convicted over a campaign-finance scheme, was originally set to begin serving his sentence in March 2023. But just days before his sentence was set to begin, he reversed his guilty plea, claiming he’d entered his plea during a stressful time in his personal life. That effort didn’t work and neither did his most recent attempt. Here’s something to think about: Had Kelsey reported to prison when it was set to begin in 2023, he’d be out by now.

MEET MEMPHIS

Brian Curry shows his weather-measuring tools in his Germantown backyard. (Ziggy Mack/Special to The Daily Memphian)

Germantown school board member Brian Curry may not be a weatherman, but he’s the next best thing. As a kid, Curry dreamed of becoming a meteorologist, but the math involved turned him away from that career path. Instead, Curry gets his weather kicks as one of four official observers in Shelby County for the National Weather Service. He collects rain and snow in his backyard and sends a daily report to NWS. But if you’re wondering whether Curry gets a say in Germantown Municipal School District snow days, the answer is no.

THE NICE TO KNOW

This rendering shows the Broad Avenue Gateway development. (Courtesy of Stuart Maxwell)

Broad appeal: Long-vacant land on Broad Avenue near Tillman Street will soon be home to a new coffee shop, bank and medical center. Construction has started on the Broad Avenue Gateway development at 2977 Broad Ave. The first phase includes a Ramblin’ Joe’s coffee shop and a Chase Bank branch, and the second phase will be home to a vascular surgery center. Read more on that in Inked.

“Divergent” and “White Lotus” actor Theo James stars in “The Monkey.” (Courtesy Neon Pictures)

Monkey business: Those of us who feared our toys might kill us in our sleep should maybe avoid Stephen King’s “The Monkey.” The new film, based on a story from 1986’s “Skeleton Crew,” follows a pair of twin brothers who were tormented by a possessed monkey toy as a kid and have to confront it again as adults. But if killer monkeys don’t scare you, our movie buff Chris Herrington, a lifelong King fan, expects this film to be pretty good. Read more on that, plus other big-screen debuts, in his Memphis Movies This Week column. 

Glovin’ it: The Memphis Tigers softball team opened their season Tuesday with a rare no-hitter. Pitcher Rylee Dugar threw the five-inning, no-hitter that resulted in the team’s doubleheader shutout sweep of Mississippi Valley State. The no-hitter was just the 14th in program history. In other Tigers news, basketball Coach Penny Hardaway is taking responsibility for his team’s overtime road loss to Wichita State on Sunday. 

WHAT WE’RE TALKING ABOUT

Want to be like Germantown weather enthusiast Brian Curry? Here’s how to help the National Weather Service of Memphis today. 

Try to make the best of your snow day, and keep in mind that we’ll be back in the mid-60s by next week. 

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