How’s it going, Memphis? It’s Monday, March 23, and President Donald Trump will be in Memphis to talk about the Memphis Safe Task Force. 

Also happening today, Collierville leaders, following a judge’s orders, will reconsider a Chick-fil-A that they rejected in 2024. And the Memphis Grizzlies play the Atlanta Hawks.

See more on what’s coming in This Week in Memphis. Or, just listen to me and reporter Abigail Warren talk about what’s coming on the AM/DM podcast.

THE NEED TO KNOW

Sen. Paul Rose, left, and Sen. Brent Taylor have each filed bills that would restore Criminal Court Division 9 to Memphis. (Mark Weber, George Walker IV/The Daily Memphian file, AP file)

Home court advantage? Shelby County has been down a judge since Criminal Court Division 9 was abolished in 2024. That was the seat held by former Judge Melissa Boyd, who resigned following allegations of drug abuse. But two state lawmakers are hoping to bring back more judges to the court system. Sen. Brent Taylor and Sen. Paul Rose have introduced two different bills, one of which would restore the Division 9 judgeship and the other that would add two new judges for a new “violent criminal” court.

Shelby County mayoral candidate Marie Feagins, shown here at Arlington’s State of the Town address, has sued Memphis-Shelby County Schools again. (Patrick Lantrip/The Daily Memphian file)

Feagins sues MSCS again: Former Memphis-Shelby County Schools Superintendent Marie Feagins, who is also running for Shelby County mayor, has filed a new lawsuit over her firing. And this time, she’s claiming she’d have been treated differently had she been a man. The suit alleges sex-based discrimination and retaliation, comparing her treatment to male leaders who left the district amid investigations into their actions. This is Feagins’ second lawsuit against MSCS. Discovery is inching forward in her initial suit, but the public may not get a chance to see some of the documents in that case.

Two people were shot less than hour apart in Downtown Friday night. (Brad Vest/The Daily Memphian file)

Violent night: Two people were shot Downtown Friday night within the span of an hour. The first shooting occurred at B.B. King Boulevard and Peabody Place and sent a man to the hospital in critical condition. In the second shooting, just a few blocks away near Beale Street, a woman was hit in the leg. The shootings occurred just ahead of President Donald Trump’s visit to tout the city’s dropping crime numbers from his Memphis Safe Task Force. In his political roundup, reporter Bill Dries looks at the optics of the shootings amid that landscape.

Three teenagers have sued Elon Musk’s xAI, claiming the company’s image-generation tools were used to morph real photos of them into explicitly sexual images. (Leon Neal/AP file)

XAI sued over explicit deepfakes: Three Tennessee high-school students are suing Memphis-based xAI after its Grok chatbot allowed someone to create sexually explicit images of them. The images, which were made with the students’ real homecoming and yearbook photos, were posted online. Other AI companies prohibit their image generators from producing sexually explicit content, but xAI founder Elon Musk has promoted Grok’s ability to create “spicy” content, according to the lawsuit.

QUOTED

Memphis guard Julius Thedford looked on during a game against South Florida at FedExForum on March 5. (Wes Hale/Special to The Daily Memphian)

“Any team, I think, would want Julius. But he doesn’t wanna go to ‘any team.’ He wants to be a Tiger for life.”

— Travis King, agent for Memphis Tigers player Julius Thedford
Thedford has decided to return to the Tigers for the 2026-27 season. The native Memphian started in 17 games this past season and holds the team record for average rebounds. His agent said Thedford never even considered entering the transfer portal to go somewhere else.

THE NICE TO KNOW

Maru Handroll Bar head chef Pat Vong prepared a handroll at the East Memphis restaurant. (Patrick Lantrip/The Daily Mempian)

This is how they roll: Who needs chopsticks when you can eat sushi like a burrito? The new Maru Handroll Bar serves sushi rolls that aren’t cut into bite-sized pieces, so you just eat the whole thing with your hands. The Daily Memphian’s Jennifer Chandler stopped into Maru and tried several rolls, including one stuffed with the freshest yellowtail she’s tasted in Memphis. In other fishy news, we’ve got the recipe for Magnolia & May’s shrimp and grits, which you may remember from the old The Grove Grill. As for dessert, you’ll soon be able to get 12 kinds of fruit cobbler in the Medical District. 

“If there’s a tornado warning in any one of the counties in the viewing area, then we would cut in and stay on the air until that tornado warning either was expired or canceled,” said retired meteorologist Jim Jaggers. (The Daily Memphian file)

The award for worst interruption goes to … The ides of March didn’t usher in a tornado, but it did unleash a storm of criticism against ABC24 for interrupting the Oscars with a severe-weather update. ABC24 chief meteorologist Trevor Birchett became the brunt of that criticism after his emergency weather broadcast cut into the March 15 awards show. It ran through the performance of “I Lied to You” from “Sinners,” which featured a handful of local musicians. But doesn’t the FCC require ABC24 to go on air for severe weather? Apparently not; it seems ratings could be partially to blame.

The Fantastic Fans building on Union Avenue has been demolished. (Andy Ashby/The Daily Memphian)

Fan out: The Midtown shop that could stop your fan’s wobble was reduced to a pile of rubble. The last remaining Fantastic Fans store on Union Avenue was demolished last week after 45 years of fan sales and repairs. Owner Art Jones made the decision to close the store since it was only open one day a week for the last 17 years. Jones will still make house calls to repair your fan though.

Charlotte Hornets forward Miles Bridges drove to the basket against Memphis Grizzlies forward GG Jackson in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Matt Kelley/AP)

Winning at losing: Every Memphis Grizzlies loss is a win toward better NBA Draft lottery positioning, and they’re getting good at losing (er, winning). The Grizzlies came close to a win over the Boston Celtics on Friday with a late-game, three-point lead. But that quickly dropped for a 117-112 Celtics victory. On Saturday, the Grizzlies fell to the Charlotte Hornets, 124-101, and that moved the team up a notch in the reverse standings. 

Lake life: New townhomes may finally be coming to the Lake District, more than three years after they were supposed to be ready. The Lakeland Board of Commissioners approved a residential development contract last week for the new rental homes. Several townhome models were under construction — but never completed — when the district’s original developer, Yehuda Netanel, declared bankruptcy in 2023. The townhome news follows last week’s approval of a new Hilton hotel for The Lake District.

THIS WEEK’S WEATHER

Hope you got out on a patio over the weekend, because it’s going to be chilly for the next couple of days. 

And that’s all for your weekend recap!

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