Hi, Shelby County. It’s Thursday, Oct. 9, and the Land Use Control Board will consider new rules that would limit where jails, prisons and other detention centers can be located.

Before we get into today’s stories, here are a couple things to add to your calendar. Our second-ever Daily Memphian Roundtable panel is coming up on Tuesday, Oct. 21, and this one is all about food and fun. We’re meeting at The Artist Table, the new place from Mushroom Queen Daishu McGriff, and you’ll get to hear from our arts and food writers. Tickets are free, but you can make a donation.

And for something completely different, our Developing Memphis Seminar is Thursday, Oct. 23, at the Memphis Botanic Garden. And you’ll hear about plans for the long-neglected Cleveland Street Corridor (from Todd Richardson, CEO of Crosstown Concourse) and Mississippi Boulevard Christian Church’s redevelopment (from Rev. J. Lawrence Turner). Tickets are available here. 

THE NEED TO KNOW

National Guard soldiers left the Shelby County Office of Preparedness on Wednesday, Oct. 1. (Adrian Sainz/AP)

Lots of guard troops for a long time? Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said he may authorize 1,000 Tennessee National Guard troops to stay in Memphis for a full year. That was in a letter he sent to Gov. Bill Lee. The governor had previously estimated that no more than 150 guard personnel would be sent here. Memphis Police Chief C.J. Davis has said the first significant deployment of the guard will start on Friday, but the National Guard said in a statement that they’re already here doing “community safety patrols, site security and traffic control.”

State Rep. Justin J. Pearson (right) will challenge U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen (left) in the 2026 Democratic primary. (The Daily Memphian file)

Pearson vs. Cohen: Tennessee Rep. Justin J. Pearson announced plans on Wednesday to run against U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen in the 2026 Democratic primary for Cohen’s long-held 9th Congressional District seat. Pearson criticized Cohen, who is seeking his 11th two-year term, for “staying in office too long.” Pearson also accused Cohen of being “very condescending and very arrogant” when he informed him of his plans to run against him. Cohen, whose campaign slogan is “Keep Goin’ With Cohen,” touted his “experience and institutional knowledge.”

On paper: The International Paper building in East Memphis has been acquired by a Los Angeles-based real-estate firm. AXS Opportunity Fund bought the building that still houses offices for the Memphis-based paper company, and its president says there are no plans to change anything.

U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Tennessee Michael Dunavant spoke at a news conference in 2019. (Adrian Sainz/AP file)

Dunavant’s return: Memphis’ Mike Dunavant is once again the U.S. attorney for the Western District of Tennessee. Dunavant was confirmed Tuesday in a U.S. Senate vote for a whole slate of President Donald Trump’s nominees. He also served in the role during Trump’s first term in office. 

MEET MEMPHIS

Memphis illustrator and designer Lauren Rae Holtermann’s Monster Market opens Friday. (Patrick Lantrip/The Daily Memphian)

In need of a plushie wizard frog, some devilish earrings or a jack-o-lantern tea towel? You might want to head to Monster Market this weekend. Artist Lauren Rae Holtermann’s annual Halloween-themed “freaky pop-up for weirdos like you” (and me, let’s be honest; this is right up my alley) starts Friday, Oct. 10 at The Medicine Factory. Holtermann is an illustrator, designer and event organizer whose work became synonymous with the Time Warp Drive-in (RIP) posters she created from 2013 to until the Malco Drive-in closed earlier this year. And she’s created this yearly spooky market partly to get “weird and introverted creative people to leave their house and meet each other.” 

THE NICE TO KNOW

Artist Nina Chanel Abney has added a new design to the basketball court at Chickasaw Heritage Park. (Patrick Lantrip/The Daily Memphian) 

Court canvas: A public basketball court in French Fort’s Chickasaw Heritage Park looks like it belongs in an art gallery, thanks to a new design by artist Nina Chanel Abney. The refresh was organized by Project Backboard, a nonprofit that has added artwork to basketball courts across the world. The organization was founded in 2015 by a man who used to work for the Memphis Grizzlies, and it partnered with Abney back then for an earlier design on that same court. 

“You make the best out of the situation you have,” Memphis Grizzlies head coach Tuomas Iisalo (left) said, “and I think there is always a silver lining to that, like getting experience for our younger guys and being able to evaluate them.” (Mark Weber/The Daily Memphian)

Hey, it’s just the preseason: The Memphis Grizzlies were another rough watch on Wednesday night with a 121-103 preseason loss to the Boston Celtics. But in all fairness, they’re playing without four out of five projected starters and three other key role players, including Ja Morant and Jaren Jackson Jr. Coach Tuomas Iisalo is looking on the bright side; he says these star-free games are allowing him to get “more data points on the younger guys.” 

Monique “Chef Mo” Williams of Biscuits & Jams and The Juke Speakeasy talked with diners at Reharvest 2024. (Courtesy Project Green Fork)

Sustainability is sexy: Well, maybe not as sexy as it should be. But Project Green Fork and Clean Memphis are trying. The two eco-friendly orgs are partnering on their sixth Reharvest dinner next Thursday, and local chefs will be whipping up tasty bites using food that would have otherwise been thrown away. The Daily Memphian’s Ellen Chamberlain has more on that in Table Talk, and she throws in a few of her own tips for ways to be sustainable in your kitchen.

“When the folks bought their homes, the property was zoned for residential,” said Jim Lamb, a Bartlett planning commissioner. “To change the zoning in the middle of what I consider a neighborhood, I think was off-base a little bit.” (Ziggy Mack/The Daily Memphian file)

Not in their backyards: The Bartlett Municipal Planning Commission is saying no to a plan to rezone a residential area to allow for commercial businesses. That’s after hearing from concerned residents who live near the 3.4-acre property at Ivanhoe Road and Bartlett Boulevard. One resident pointed out that there are plenty of empty commercial buildings nearby if a business really needs a new home in Bartlett.

“I was given a form saying that they may have some issues. ... and I was let go as a decision was made by the board and the mayor,” said former Horn Lake Animal Shelter Director Glenn Andrews, seen here in 2024. (Mark Weber/The Daily Memphian file)

On staff: The Horn Lake Animal Shelter has a new director and a new assistant director after the city fired former leader Glenn Andrews. The new leadership was approved by the Horn Lake Board of Aldermen on Tuesday, but the board still hasn’t said why Andrews was let go. In other staffing news, Collierville’s fire department is fully staffed for the first time in five years.

WHAT WE’RE TALKING ABOUT

This is fun! The Belle of Memphis, a local river cruise boat, will race Cincinnati’s River Queen boat on Sunday, Oct. 12, in Ohio during the America’s River Roots Festival. Here’s hoping the Belle of Memphis invokes the spirit of an Infiniti with drive-out tags.

Go, Belle! And we’ll do this again tomorrow.

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