Cheers, Memphis! It’s Friday, Sept. 12, and in just a few hours, runners will be drinking their way through Cooper-Young in the neighborhood’s annual four-mile shot crawl race. If you’re not running, drinking or handing out booze, you might want to avoid the neighborhood and check out one of four theater openings tonight, including the stage adaptation of Agatha Christie’s cozy mystery, “Murder on the Orient Express.”

Saturday brings the Cooper-Young Festival, and if you’re going, come see us at our Daily Memphian booth. We’ll be near Kitchen Laurel. You can also celebrate the Halloran Centre’s 10th anniversary with a cabaret-style musical revue, or flit over to Southaven for the first-ever Mid-South Hummingbird Festival. 

Sunday brings the rescheduled Mid-South Pride Festival, which was rained out in June, and a Beale Street block party for B.B. King’s birthday. Check out The To-Do List for more.

THE NEED TO KNOW

The city is installing new traffic cameras to target speeding in school zones. (Patrick Lantrip/The Daily Memphian file)

More traffic cameras are coming: The city is installing 30 new traffic cameras in 15 school zones. And you can see a list of all of them here. Beginning Sept. 30, drivers caught speeding will be issued warnings, and on Oct. 30, actual tickets will be issued. But here’s the thing: A 2015 state law means many people will straight-up ignore those tickets with few consequences. 

New charges for Ghost Mob: Six Ghost Mob gang members were federally indicted Thursday on conspiracy to commit murder and other charges. The charges relate to an alleged retaliatory shooting against a rival gang back in 2020. In a seemingly unrelated (but very high profile) case earlier this year, Ghost Mob member Vincent Grant was convicted in the death of a fellow gang member, Tim Johnson, who the gang’s leadership believed to have killed a mob boss and his girlfriend. 

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation is looking into a police-involved fatal shooting in Bartlett. (Benjamin Naylor/The Daily Memphian file)

Fatal police shootout in Bartlett: A 76-year-old man is dead, and a Bartlett police officer is wounded after a drug raid turned fatal on Thursday. Bartlett Police, along with the Drug Enforcement Agency, were conducting a narcotics search warrant when police say Augusto Columbie fired at officers. Bartlett police fired back, killing the suspect.

Michael Dunavant (at podium) was U.S. attorney for the district during President Donald Trump’s first term. (Adrian Sainz/AP file)

One step closer: Millington native Michael Dunavant’s appointment to the U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Tennessee cleared a hurdle in the U.S. Senate on Thursday. The Trump appointee’s nomination will now advance to a full Senate vote. Dunavant was the district’s U.S. attorney during President Donald Trump’s first term, and he nominated him again in July. Despite the nomination of Dunavant and others clearing the committee, there was some usual bickering over the vote between both parties in the Senate. 

QUOTED

In a statement sent to media outlets, Memphis Mayor Paul Young said, “Earlier this week, I was informed that the governor and the president were considering deploying the National Guard and other resources to Memphis.” (Patrick Lantrip/The Daily Memphian file)

“Memphis is already making … progress in bringing down crime, and we support initiatives that help accelerate ... the work of our officers.”

— Memphis Mayor Paul Young
Young released a statement on Thursday confirming media reports that the National Guard could be deployed to Memphis. He highlighted the ongoing federal law-enforcement resources in the city, like the FBI and state troopers, and said the city specifically needs “financial resources” to help the Memphis Police Department.

THE NICE TO KNOW

Popular streamer IShowSpeed (Darren Jason Watkins Jr) left FedExForum amongst a crowd of fans on Sept. 11. (Patrick Lantrip/The Daily Memphian)

‘Memphis is super lit’: If you don’t know who IShowSpeed is, you might be old. (But hey, I’m right there with you.) The social-media influencer and gamer (real name: Darren Watkins Jr.) was ranked No. 1 on Rolling Stone’s list of 25 Most Influential Creators of 2025. And he was in Memphis on Thursday for his “Stream in America” series, where he livestreams a full day as he tours a city. IShowSpeed met Memphis Grizzlies stars and toured Bass Pro Shops and the National Civil Rights Museum. He went to a Cordova pool party, and he sang karaoke on Beale Street, all the while drawing a massive crowd of fans. His conclusion about Memphis: “Memphis is way more lit than Nashville.” (I didn’t know this guy before, but call me a fan now.) Columnist John Martin explains why Memphis needs this kind of PR.

“We’re excited to bring this brand to the forefront of Memphis and be a leader in the vegan culinary scene,” said Trap Fusion owner and chef Jason Gardner. (Mark Weber/The Daily Memphian file)

Hunger trap: Good news for vegans: A Memphis Caribbean restaurant is doubling down on its plant-based menu. Trap Fusion is launching a ghost kitchen for Trap Vegan inside its Whitehaven restaurant. To be clear, Trap Fusion has always offered vegan options, like their barbecue jackfruit sandwich. But now they’re going all in with a separate concept offering vegan food at a dedicated kiosk in the store. And there’s more good news for the late-night crowd. Read more on that in Food Files, plus an opening date for Wiseacre OG’s new sandwich shop.

Hog & Hominy’s poutine has fries, pork neck bone gravy, mozzarella curds and chili oil. (Erica Horton/Special to The Daily Memphian)

All gravy, baby: There’s nothing pretty about poutine. It’s brown (fries) on brown (gravy) with some white chunks (curds), but the coziest foods are usually the brown ones. And as food writer Erica Horton points out “the -ber months are here, and it is time to get cozy.” So, for this week’s $15 Deal, Horton offers up a very brown plate of poutine from Hog & Hominy, and she offers a pro tip for what time of day you’ll want to order it for productivity reasons.

Game off: Germantown won’t be getting a 52-acre outdoor sports complex on Crestwyn Hills Drive. The sports field was included in the city’s 2018 parks plan, and Germantown leaders purchased 46 acres for it in 2021. But Mayor Mike Palazzolo has tried, unsuccessfully, for years to get state money for the project. And now, the city needs its money for other things, like upgrades at Houston High. That said, Germantown needs to figure something out for outdoor sports due to a complicated land swap agreement that ends in 2030.

St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital announced a second Advanced Research Center at its Downtown Memphis campus. (The Daily Memphian file)

New for St. Jude: Plans are underway for a new 16-story research building at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. The Downtown facility will house St. Jude’s second Advanced Research Center. (The first one opened in 2021.) Since the new center will be so big, it requires an upgrade to a Memphis Light, Gas and Water electrical substation first, but those plans are underway.

WHAT WE’RE TALKING ABOUT

We’re in the countdown to fall foliage. You’ll have to drive way out east to see peak foliage soon, but the views in Memphis will be lovely come mid-November. 

Happy weekend!

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