How’s it going, Memphis? It’s Tuesday, May 20, and the Memphis City Council will take its first votes on a new “framework for environmental reform.”

And now you’re asking what the heck does that mean, right? The new rules would require “digital water systems” — like xAI’s pending water-recycling facility — to register with the city. And if operators are caught using subcontractors or shell entities to evade permitting, they’ll be fined. Our own Bill Dries has more. 

THE NEED TO KNOW

The Station liquor store, which will have a wine-tasting bar, is being sued for being close to a school and church. (Courtesy The Social)

Bar fight: Some folks are upset that the old Bed, Bath & Beyond on White Station Road is going to be a liquor store and not a Trader Joe’s. But that’s not the only reason people are mad. The Station, the name for the planned liquor store with fancy wine- and beer-tasting bars, may be less than 1,500 feet from Woodland Presbyterian Church and School, depending on how you measure it. And that’s led to a spirited fight, if you will. In the past, city code mandated that liquor stores be located further than 1,500 feet from schools and churches, but the code was amended in 2012, and now it’s not so clear. But that hasn’t stopped a lawsuit from Buster’s, three other liquor stores and two moms with kids who go to Woodland.

Google has plans for a data center on 1,178 acres in West Memphis. (Jeff Chiu/AP file)

Good Googly moogly: More big tech is coming, y’all. Google, the place we all turn to when we need to know what happened to that one actor from that show we used to like, is planning a data center in West Memphis. The West Memphis communications director said the city is under a strict non-disclosure agreement and can’t release many details yet. But on Thursday, the West Memphis City Council approved a payment-in-lieu-of-taxes (PILOT) deal for a 900,000-square-foot data center.

Memphis-Shelby County Schools Interim Superintendent Roderick Richmond’s first budget includes some new positions, but doesn’t call for major cuts. (Mark Weber/The Daily Memphian file)

MSCS wants more security: The proposed Memphis-Shelby County Schools budget from Interim Superintendent Roderick Richmond doesn’t call for big cuts. But it does include funding for 40 more security officers, which would get the district closer to having an officer in every school. Last year, the district cut dozens of “safety and security monitor” positions under former Superintendent Marie Feagins. The budget also calls for a 16-person preventative maintenance team to help keep school buildings in good shape. And though the budget doesn’t call for many cuts, some staff could be shifted around to other roles.

Paul Chandler has been named president and CEO of Memphis River Parks Partnership. (Ziggy Mack/Courtesy GPAC)

From Germantown to Downtown: Remember last week when Paul Chandler, the executive director of the Germantown Performing Arts Center, stepped down from that role for a new job at a “nonprofit, community-building organization focused on the greater Memphis area”? Well, it turns out that nonprofit is Memphis River Parks Partnership. MRPP announced Monday that Chandler will take on the CEO role vacated by Carol Coletta in January.

QUOTED

“Half the commission would be gone if it were up to me,” said Shelby County Commissioner Edmund Ford Jr. on Monday, as he patted a thick binder that he says contains damaging information on unnamed county officials. (The Daily Memphian file)

“There’s too many quiet people up here as if they already know what they are going to do with the budget. I think it’s already been fixed.”

— Shelby County Commissioner Edmund Ford Jr.
The embattled Ford, who is facing bribery charges and claims to have damaging info on county officials, alleged some fishy business with the county budget on Monday. The Shelby County Commission is facing a likely budget battle that will be compressed into just two more full commission meetings before the June 30 end of the fiscal year.

THE NICE TO KNOW

A rendering of the exterior of the Gussied Up bar on Marshall Avenue. (Courtesy Cnct. design)

Gettin’ gussy with it: Chefs Cole Jeanes, Schuyler O’Brien and Harrison Downing, the co-owners of the uber-popular Hard Times Deli and the Secret Smash Society burger pop-up, are at it again. Now, they’re planning a new dive bar called Gussied Up, to be located behind Hard Times. They’ll serve “fun twists” on cocktails, local beer and a menu of burgers, fries and the like, and there will even be a drive-thru window. But contrary to the bar’s name, there’s no need to get all gussied up to go out. (Serious question: Does one create a dive bar, or does a dive bar become a dive bar on its own? Feel free to leave your thoughts in the comments.)

From left to right, Eli Berry, Josh Cannon and Nate Packard are the cofounders of Slowdown Cinema Club. (Courtesy Slowdown Dry Goods)

New way to slow down: Since the Time Warp Drive-in died with last weekend’s closure of the city’s only remaining drive-in theater, Memphis is minus a movie night. But Slowdown Cinema Club is stepping in to fill the gap. The Slowdown Dry Goods retail folks are launching a new monthly movie night at the Pink Palace Museum & Mansion, with food from Hard Times Deli and Kinfolk (How are these guys everywhere?) and drinks curated by Comeback Coffee. The first screening is Thursday, May 29, and you might need a fake ID. (Not really; that’s just a clue.)

Memphis Grizzlies guard Ja Morant wore a Vancouver Grizzlies jersey in a game on Friday, April 18. (George Walker IV/AP file)

Jersey boys: Was anyone else thrown off by the Memphis Grizzlies’ red Memphis Sounds jerseys this season? Or the throwback Vancouver Grizzlies jerseys that didn’t say “Memphis” anywhere on them? I know I sure got confused a time or two when I was half-watching a game from the bar. In Chris Herrington’s latest Grizz Mailbag, one reader asks if the “inconsistent jerseys” could have caused a lack of cohesion among the players. Herrington has some opinions on that, as well as whether Ja Morant can get it together in time for MVP ballots next season.

Officers checked out the new $12 million City of Bartlett Emergency Communications Center at 3736 Appling Road. (Michael Waddell/The Daily Memphian)

Somebody call 911 … cause the City of Bartlett just unveiled a smokin’, new emergency dispatch center. The $12 million center, with its 10 dispatch stations and 50-person training room, is a big step up from the former dispatch space, which was just a small room in the jail with no windows. The new center even has a “quiet room” with a massage chair so dispatchers can de-stress after tough calls. 

WHAT WE’RE TALKING ABOUT

Grok, the chatbot that’s being trained right here in Memphis at Elon Musk’s xAI, made national headlines over the weekend for bringing up the myth of “white genocide” in South Africa and for claiming to be skeptical about the number of Jews killed during the Holocaust. Grok later blamed a “programming error” for its Holocaust denial.

The more you know! We’ll meet back here tomorrow.

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