The Early Word: Repubs take aim at our gun control, and MEM fills a hole
Morning, Memphis! It’s Tuesday, Aug. 27, and I am back at it bright and early. Thanks to Chris Herrington for filling in on Monday morning.
The Memphis Area Transit Authority’s massive budget deficit, the potential layoff of half its staff and possible bus and trolley line cuts will be hot topics at the agency’s board meeting tonight. It’s probably safe to say that’s one board meeting that won’t be boring, eh?
Tennessee’s Republican legislative leadership is trying to stop the Nov. 5 ballot referendums that would allow Memphis voters to weigh in on gun control. Secretary of State Tre Hargett says his office won’t approve the ballot if it includes gun control questions, setting up a potential legal showdown with the Memphis City Council, which originally approved the referendums. The measures, which couldn’t even take effect unless the state passed enabling legislation, call for reinstating gun permits, banning the sale of assault weapons and seizing guns as part of extreme risk protection orders. Also on Monday, state Republicans threatened Memphis with the loss of state sales tax dollars if the question remains on the ballot. But one Memphis Republican up for reelection says he plans to cross party lines and vote in favor of the gun-control measures.
Lana Del Rey sings about a real-life hidden tunnel in Long Beach, California, in her appropriately named “Did You Know There’s a Tunnel Under Ocean Boulevard.” Well, turns out there’s one under Memphis International Airport, too. But unlike the one in Del Ray’s song, with its “mosaic ceilings” and “painted tiles,” the one under the airport is “dank” with no ventilation, according to a story from our own Jane Roberts, who fills us in on a $20 million plan to fill in that tunnel. It was built in the 1970s to accommodate mass transit, but that was a bet on growth that never happened. And of course, back then, no one could predict the security changes that 9/11 brought into the airline industry.
Plus, Carol Coletta steps down from Memphis River Parks Partnership, a jailer is arrested over Joshua Zimmerman’s escape and Seth Henigan’s backup is revealed.
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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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