Happy (early) Independence Day, Memphis! It’s Thursday, July 3, and this will be the last Early Word before the holiday weekend. You can catch plenty of fireworks shows tonight, including the city’s Liberty for All fest at Liberty Park. If you’re in the ’burbs, you can find fireworks in Bartlett, Collierville and Horn Lake tonight, too. See details on those events and others throughout the weekend in our Fourth of July guide.

Looking ahead, NBA basketball returns on Saturday, July 5, as the Memphis Grizzlies play the Oklahoma City Thunder in the Summer League.

THE NEED TO KNOW

Turbines power xAI’s supercomputer in Southwest Memphis. (Benjamin Naylor/The Daily Memphian file)

XAI gets its permit: Despite opposition from neighbors and environmentalists, the Shelby County Health Department gave Elon Musk’s company what it wanted: a permit to operate 15 natural-gas turbines at its Southwest Memphis data center. The turbines will be used for back-up power, and the company says it will use technology to reduce emissions. State Rep. Justin J. Pearson, who has led the opposition, said the health department is sending a message that “lungs are less valuable than … a billion dollar corporation.” The company will face some grassroots checks and balances though: Memphis Community Against Pollution announced Wednesday that it’s installing its own air-quality sensors near xAI.

Memphis Rox, a climbing facility and gym in Soulsville, was the scene of a deadly shooting on Sunday, June 29. (Houston Colfield/The Daily Memphian file)

Memphis Rox victim may also be suspect: Memphis Police identified the second victim in the Sunday Memphis Rox shooting that left two men dead. Dejuan Taylor, 21, is one of the victims, but he’s also currently the suspect in the case. Jarmond Johnson, an employee of the climbing gym, was also killed. Police say the shooting resulted from an argument between the two. Farris Haley, 28, was arrested for tampering with evidence in the case.

Another arrest in 201 gun incident: The mother of the man who was arrested for allegedly sneaking a gun into the Shelby County courthouse has now also been arrested. Deshunda Owsley, 47, was charged with evidence tampering for allegedly helping her son, Dedrick Patterson, hide his cell phone from police. Patterson turned himself in on Saturday after a viral video showed him with a handgun inside 201 Poplar. Patterson, who uses a wheelchair, was scanned with a metal-detector wand when he entered the facility.

Dr. Bruce Randolph (right) gave an update about the coronavirus on Thursday, October 10, 2020, during a COVID-19 task-force briefing. (Mark Weber/Daily Memphian file)

New at the top: Dr. Bruce Randolph has been tapped to lead the Shelby County Health Department as its interim director after Dr. Michelle Taylor leaves on Aug. 1. Taylor is taking a new job heading up the Baltimore Health Department. Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris picked Randolph, who has spent nearly 40 years practicing medicine and had a big role here during the COVID-19 pandemic. In other stories of new government leaders, Gov. Bill Lee has named a Bartlett native to lead the Tennessee Department of Transportation.

MEET MEMPHIS

Shane Young (left), co-founder and longtime executive director of Memphis Inner City Rugby, is moving away. (Mark Weber/The Daily Memphian file)

Shane Young thought he was picking a mountain town when he chose Memphis as one of the top five cities he’d like to work in for Teach for America. Hey, it’s in Tennessee, and the state does have mountains, so the Florida native was close (kind of). Young quickly learned Memphis is almost as flat as his home state, but he didn’t leave. Instead, he put down roots, started teaching and eventually founded Memphis Inner City Rugby. The rugby program now serves 350 kids at 13 schools across the city, and it’s breaking ground on a new facility soon. So, it’s bittersweet that Young is moving away. 

THE NICE TO KNOW

Celtic Crossing looked like this on Monday. It’s reopening today. (Mark Weber/The Daily Memphian)

Slainte! It’s been a week for the folks at Brazen Restaurant Group. Their Cooper-Young Irish bar Celtic Crossing was hit by an SUV Monday morning, just a few hours after closing up shop from its 20th anniversary celebration. By some miracle — call it the “luck of the Irish” — Celtic is planning to reopen today. Also this week, Brazen opened Maeve’s Tavern, its new Irish restaurant in Collierville. The Daily Memphian’s Ellen Chamberlain offers a peek at the menu, which is quite a bit different from Celtic’s. And in other food news, a James Beard Award nominee will be behind the bar at Bar Limina this month.

The Memphis Redbirds baseball club was attempting to promote its Fourth of July baseball game, but some Memphians found the team’s social media post to be controversial. (The Daily Memphian file)

Redbird strike out on socials: The Memphis Redbirds didn’t read the room. A MAGA-themed social post advertising a “Big Beautiful Buffet” for $47.45 caused quite the stir earlier this week, with angry comments flooding the post and Reddit subgroups. The buffet name was a reference to President Donald Trump’s controversial “big, beautiful” tax bill, and the price was a nod to Trump as the 45th and 47th president. The Redbirds took the post down and issued an apology. But local ad man Ward Archer offered an interesting idea for how the public should deal with the marketing person behind the post.

Memphis Grizzlies forward Jaren Jackson Jr. looked to shoot the ball on Tuesday, April 1, at FedExForum. (Wes Hale/The Daily Memphian file)

Toe up: Memphis Grizzlies star Jaren Jackson Jr. underwent a successful toe surgery for the turf-toe injury he sustained during practice. He’ll be reevaluated in about 12 weeks. And though he’s expected to miss the start of the season, he may be back more quickly than another recovering Grizzlies big man.

Stacy Bautista, aka Don’t Blink, skates with the Fuego Latino Roller Derby. (Credit: Alvin Green Jr.)

Don’t blink or you’ll miss it: A Memphis woman has skated her way to Austria. Stacy Bautista — roller derby name: Don’t Blink — will compete with the Fuego Latino Roller Derby team at the Roller Derby World Cup in Innsbruck, Austria, beginning today. Fuego Latino is among 48 teams competing in the World Cup. Daily Memphian intern Sarai Bennett introduces us to Bautista, who has been competing with the Memphis Roller Derby since 2022.

WHAT WE’RE TALKING ABOUT

Take this silly ranked list with a grain of Rendezvous Seasoning salt, but FinanceBuzz says Memphis is the No. 5 most boring city in the U.S. Why? Because we have too few hiking trails, apparently.

Clearly, they haven’t caught a show at the Hi-Tone, enjoyed a margarita at Global Cafe, rode the elevator to the top of the Pyramid, petted a dog on the Wiseacre patio, slurped a bowl of noodles at Good Fortune, explored the Crystal Shrine Grotto or run the trails (ahem) at Shelby Farms. My list could go on, and I’m sure yours could, too. 

Have fun this weekend in our “boring” city, and be safe with the fireworks. Let’s return on Monday with all of our fingers and toes.

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