The Early Word: Half Shell is sold, and Ron Olson has a meow-ment
Are you ready to rock this Thursday, July 11? The Land Use Control Board sure is. The board will take up a request today to rename Downtown’s Park Lane (aka Bates Alley) to Stereo Alley. If you’ve seen the metal Stereo Alley sign across from Court Square, you may have thought the alley was already called that — but it’s not officially. According to the LUCB application, now-defunct radio station KLYX likely erected the Stereo Alley sign in the 1960s when it would broadcast music into the alley.
The annual Ed Murphey Classic for track-and-field athletes kicks off today. And tonight, Memphis City Council member Pearl Eva Walker will host a town-hall meeting focused on maintaining the neighborhoods for residents of her district.
One last thing: Dr. Ben Mauck was shot and killed at Campbell Clinic in Collierville one year ago today. Campbell Clinic Orthopaedics is inviting everyone to pause and reflect on Mauck’s impact at 7:30 a.m. this morning.
Longtime Half Shell owner Danny Sumrall is finally retiring at age 73, three years after he’d hoped. And his popular East Memphis seafood joint has been taken over by Gene and Rhonda Barzizza, the owners of Forest Hill Grill in Germantown. Sumrall bought a portion of the Half Shell, along with restaurant partner Thomas Boggs from owner and founding partner Arnold Pittman in the mid-1990s. But Sumrall is the only surviving member of the ownership trio. He talked with our own Jennifer Chandler about his fond memories from the Half Shell and his long career as a restaurateur with stakes in a number of well-known eateries.
Iconic Memphis radio personality Ron Olson has been painting guitars “for forever and a day,” as he says. But he had pneumonia a while back, and he got bored, so he decided to branch out and paint a cat instead. “I wasn’t sure if it was pretty or cool or ugly,” he said. But he posted it on social media, and the responses — from a slew of cat people, some with tragic tales — was overwhelming. The Daily Memphian’s Geoff Calkins shares this tale of how Olson ultimately decided who should get his sought-after masterpiece.
Plus, Memphis-Shelby County Schools Superintendent Marie Feagins celebrates 100 days, Memphis Grizzlies center Zach Edey sits out with ankle pain and we’ve got a recipe for potato chip-coated chicken tenders.
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Bianca Phillips
Bianca Phillips is a Northeast Arkansas native and longtime Memphian who’s worked in local journalism and PR for more than 20 years. In her days as a reporter, she covered everything from local government and crime to LGBTQ issues and the arts. She’s the author of “Cookin Crunk: Eatin’ Vegan in the Dirty South,” a cookbook of vegan Southern recipes.
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