Good morning. It’s Tuesday, April 15 — Tax Day — but the IRS announced an extension for the entire state of Tennessee because of that wild weather we had in early April. But if you haven’t filed yet and have a relatively uncomplicated tax situation, the IRS’ free Direct File service is available for Tennesseans. 

If you want to make your taxes more complicated next year follow your dreams, the Medical District Collaborative is hosting a free class tonight on how to start your own food truck. You could also just let someone else do the cooking, and head to Felicia Suzanne’s, which reopens today after a three-year hiatus.

And finally, the most important thing happening today (taxes, shmaxes) is the Memphis Grizzlies Western Conference play-in game against the Golden State Warriors. It starts late, so if you need to get to bed, you can catch the highlights here in the morning.

THE NEED TO KNOW

Elon Musk’s xAI will likely pay the City of Memphis about $16 million in property taxes and pay Shelby County government about $17 million in property taxes. (Patrick Lantrip/The Daily Memphian file)

How xAI may lower its taxes: Elon Musk’s xAI could pay more than $30 million in Memphis and Shelby County property taxes, based on projected tax rates. But the AI company is only being taxed on $2.2 billion in investments, rather than the $12 billion the Greater Memphis Chamber has touted. That’s because local tax officials helped xAI with some workarounds to lower its tax bill, a practice that sounds shady but is apparently fairly common. The Daily Memphian’s Samuel Hardiman explains.

Charges dropped in Rhodes student killing: All charges were dropped against Lori Frye for the 2021 killing of Rhodes College student Andrew “Drew” Rainer. Rainess Holmes, the father of Frye’s children, pleaded guilty earlier this month for his role in the crime. According to Frye’s lawyer, the two were staying in a hotel room together on the night Holmes allegedly broke into Rainer’s home, but Holmes left in the middle of the night to commit the robbery while Frye was asleep.

“We should go for 100% but 100% of those who want to be there,” said Shelby County Commissioner Charlie Caswell (right) of newly approved county pre-k goals. (Mark Weber/The Daily Memphian file)

Pre-k for all? The Shelby County Commission gave final approval on Monday to a plan to expand the county’s universal prekindergarten to three-year-olds. Currently, the program is offered to four-year-olds. The nonprofit First Eight Memphis is the program’s fiscal agent for the county and city grant funds, and its executive director told the commission only about 58% of eligible kids utilize the service. But Commissioner Britney Thornton amended the new ordinance with a goal of reaching 100% of the county’s eligible children. In other final-vote news, commissioners approved the next step for a tax-increment-financing (TIF) district around Crosstown. 

AG’s office goes after Memphis charity: The state attorney general’s office announced on Monday that it plans to dissolve a Memphis-based charity for organ and tissue transplant recipients. The National Foundation for Transplants Inc. closed in April 2024 due to financial problems, and shortly after the closure, patients began complaining about access to funds. A lawsuit filed by the AG’s office alleges NFT misrepresented to patients and donors that funds donated “in honor of” or “on behalf of” specific patients would be restricted for use by those patients.

QUOTED

“We will win the war against violence in Memphis. This is a promise.”

— Memphis Mayor Paul Young
Young issued a warning to would-be criminals after a Sunday shooting killed a teen during a food-truck festival in Tom Lee Park. That followed a rash of other fatal shootings in recent days, including a mass shooting at an anti-gun-violence meeting and the killing of a two-year-old in Orange Mound.

THE NICE TO KNOW

Memphis guard Ja Morant had a series of bad late turnovers in the last game against the Warriors on April 1. (Wes Hale/The Daily Memphian file)

All they have to do is win: If the Memphis Grizzlies win their playoff game against the Golden State Warriors tonight, they’ll advance to a playoff series against the Houston Rockets. That means they’ll play old friends Dillon Brooks and Steven Adams. That would be fun. A win also means they’ll avoid a playoff series against old foes, the No. 1-ranked Oklahoma City Thunder. A Thunder playoff series would be less fun. But can the Grizz pull it off tonight? Geoff Calkins thinks it’s possible. And Chris Herrington goes deep into the weeds about how it’s possible. If that’s all too stressful to think about, try reflecting back with Herrington’s annual look at what went right this past season, including Tony Allen’s jersey retirement and the “Cam Spencer game.”

A rendering depicts the proposed cafeteria at Houston High. (Courtesy Germantown Municipal School District)

‘The exact same Houston of 1996’: Germantown’s Board of Mayor and Aldermen got an earful on Monday about the cities’ failure to fund most of the needed improvements at Houston High School. The Germantown Municipal School District is asking the city for $100 million over multiple years to update the school that one parent said “is nearly the exact same Houston of 1996.” The city is only offering $8 million in its six-year capital improvement plan. As of now, young thespians are using a stairwell as a dressing room, and an art class is taught from a closet.

Western Kentucky guard Julius Thedford dribbled while being guarded by Michigan center Vladislav Goldin on Sunday, Dec. 29, 2024, in Ann Arbor, Michigan. (Jose Juarez/AP file)

Tiger homecoming: Former Western Kentucky guard Julius Thedford was feeling homesick. Thedford, who played at Cordova High as a senior and Whitehaven as a junior, announced on Monday that he’ll return home to play for the Memphis Tigers next season. Thedford averaged 12 points and 4 rebounds per game as a freshman guard at Western Kentucky.

Know your status: The Shelby County Health Department is now offering free HIV test kits online. The pilot program is part of the health department’s effort to increase testing rates in an area that ranks second nationally among metro areas with the highest rates of new HIV infections. Here’s how to get your own test kit. 

WHAT WE’RE TALKING ABOUT

Grizz Week started Monday, but it’s not too late to pick up some Grizz swag for tonight’s game-watch parties or Friday’s plaza party at FedExForum. 

Go Grizz! And have a great day!

.....