Get your glue sticks ready. It’s Wednesday, March 12, and Ugly Art Co. is hosting a new monthly collage party tonight. They’ll have old magazines and books to cut up, plus scissors and other supplies. All you need is a vision.

Maybe you can use that time to create a vision board for the Memphis Grizzlies, who will play the Utah Jazz at home tonight. They’re back on a winning streak, and we’d like to keep it that way. Let’s manifest.

THE NEED TO KNOW

“God used Donald Trump to save me from the weaponized Biden DOJ,” Kelsey posted on X shortly after 7 p.m. on Tuesday, March 11. (Mark Humphrey/AP file)

Trump pardons Kelsey: Former state Sen. Brian Kelsey of Germantown was released from prison two weeks into a 21-month sentence, ostensibly due to a presidential pardon by Donald Trump. Kelsey was convicted of using campaign money from his state legislative seat toward his failed 2016 congressional bid, a charge he pleaded guilty to in November 2022, only to backpedal a few months later. Kelsey continued to try and put off his prison sentence up until he reported to prison on Feb. 25.

Community members gathered on Monday, March 10, for a rally opposing Tennessee Senate Bill 836 and House Bill 793, which could deny public education to immigrant children. (Mark Weber/The Daily Memphian)

Anti-immigration education bill moves ahead: The controversial state bill that would allow local public schools to deny enrollment to undocumented immigrant children narrowly passed through a House subcommittee on Tuesday. The legislation challenges a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that says states can’t deny public education to kids, regardless of immigration or citizenship status. There was plenty of opposition to the bill in the House on Tuesday, including a no vote from a Memphis Republican. On Monday night, education advocates gathered in Berclair to protest House and Senate versions of the bill.

Valerie Smith

Save a seat? Shelby County Circuit Court Judge Valerie Smith was appointed to the Tennessee Court of Appeals in February, and if all goes according to plan, she’ll be confirmed later this month. That will leave her old judge seat open, but whether it will be filled or eliminated is TBD. Even though District Attorney General Steve Mulroy says the court case backlog makes this a bad time to be taking away Shelby County’s judicial capacity, that hasn’t stopped Gov. Bill Lee from eliminating open seats in the recent past.

Rep. David Hawk, R-Greeneville, said the e-cigarette bill’s two-pronged purpose is to remove youth access to vape products and to decrease the industry’s reliance on Chinese-made products. (Steve Helber/AP file)

Vape while you got ’em: This is bad news for that guy in your office who always smells like blue raspberry vape juice, but state lawmakers are trying to tax e-cigs. Tennessee doesn’t currently tax vapes, but this new bill, which passed a House committee on Monday, would tax refillable and disposable e-cigarettes. It would also outlaw any vapes that aren’t FDA-certified, which one vaping advocate claims would get “99% of nicotine vaping products off the market.”

QUOTED

Memphis Grizzlies guard Tony Allen celebrated in the closing seconds of a win over the San Antonio Spurs on Friday, April 29, 2011, in Memphis. (Mark Humphrey/AP file)

“The Memphis Grizzlies? I was thinking, ‘Yo, a lot of people go there, and their careers end.’”

— Tony Allen, former Memphis Grizzlies star
On Saturday, the Grizzlies will retire Allen’s No. 9 jersey, but he didn’t start out here as the kind of star who gets that treatment. He signed on as a free agent in 2010, didn’t have high hopes for his time with the Grizzlies and spent a good deal of time on the bench. But a fight over a card game with Grizz guard O.J. Mayo inadvertently led to Allen’s big break in a 2011 regular-season win against the Oklahoma City Thunder.

THE NICE TO KNOW

Memphis Tigers Coach Penny Hardaway shows off the bracelet made by super-fan Maci Barrett. (Courtesy Julie Barrett)

You’ve gotta believe: Memphis Tigers Coach Penny Hardaway was just named American Athletic Conference Coach of the Year. And his team won their first-ever, outright AAC regular-season title and claimed the No. 1 seed for this week’s AAC Tournament. The Daily Memphian’s Geoff Calkins tells us why a positive message on a friendship bracelet made by an 11-year-old girl could have had something to do with it. (Remember the “Believe” sign in the locker room on “Ted Lasso”? This is like that.) In other news of AAC honors, guard PJ Haggerty was named AAC Player of the Year, center Dain Dainja took home AAC Newcomer of the Year honors and several players were also named to the 10-player All-AAC first team.

Memphis Grizzlies guard Ja Morant, right, handled the ball against Oklahoma City Thunder guard Cason Wallace on March 5. (Brandon Dill/AP file)

Ja’s got a new attitude: It’s been plain to see that Ja Morant hasn’t been himself for much of this season. That’s likely related to his persistent shoulder soreness after injuring the same side twice. But in the last three Memphis Grizzlies games, it seems something has shifted. Morant averaged 31 points and nine assists and came through as a closer on all three nights. And even though he’s not making all of his shots, he’s certainly trying. (Hey, in the words of Wayne Gretsky, am I right?) Our own Chris Herrington dives into the new mood Morant brought home from the Grizzlies’ latest road trip.

Millington will begin construction on a new campus that will serve the city’s students in grades six through eight. (Courtesy of Millington Municipal Schools District)

Break the middle ground: The Millington Municipal Schools District broke ground Tuesday on a new Millington Middle School designed to serve 850 students in grades six through eight. For the past five years, Millington middle and high school students have shared space at Millington Central High. The new school is part of a district-wide transformation that will also free up more room in the high school and bring an Early Learning Academy next year. 

Saddle Creek has put artwork on display in the empty bay where Brooks Brothers used to be. (Mark Weber/The Daily Memphian)

Art for art’s sake: There’s something new in the long-closed Brooks Brothers space at the The Shops of Saddle Creek, but it’s just for looks. Saddle Creek is using the space as a pop-up art gallery, and now through April 6, it features works by Memphis artists Kait Harris, Zack Orsborn, Shameka Carter and Josh Wilson. 

WHAT WE’RE TALKING ABOUT

You’ve heard of The Tony Allen Game. Well, how about Tony Allen Week? As mentioned above, the Memphis Grizzlies are retiring The Grindfather’s jersey this Saturday. And our own Chris Herrington is paying tribute to Allen in a two-part series. (Part one is teased above.)

Allen will even get a special role — Irish Grindfather — in Saturday’s Silky Sullivan’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade on Beale Street. 

Much love, TA! Thanks for delivering “all heart, grit grind.”

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