The Early Word: Feagins says board broke the law; city may sell land to xAI
Howdy, Memphis. It’s Tuesday, Feb. 4, and the Memphis City Council will take its third and final vote on a gun-control “trigger” ordinance today. If passed, it would allow the gun reforms approved by voters in November to take effect if state law ever changes.
And looking ahead a bit, the Memphis Tigers will play Temple on Sunday, and we’re giving away two pairs of tickets to two lucky readers. The deadline to enter is 11:59 p.m. on Wednesday, so get on it! Oh, and the game is at 1 p.m. in case you’re worried about a conflict with Sunday’s SuperBowl.
Former Memphis-Shelby County Schools Superintendent Marie Feagins says school board members plotted in secret to fire her, violating the state’s open-meetings act. Her lawsuit, filed in Shelby County Circuit Court on Monday, says board members discussed her termination at a restaurant and at a birthday party for former district leader Joris Ray before they ultimately voted, 6-3, to fire her on Jan. 21. And it gets even juicier: Feagins traced the alleged plot to get rid of her back to a situation last fall when she called police on Peer Power Foundation board member Dow McVean, who yelled at her in a parking lot over the status of the foundation’s contract with the district.
Elon Musk’s xAI plans to pay the City of Memphis $820,000 for 13 acres of land in Southwest Memphis to build its planned greywater treatment plant. The plant would treat wastewater and turn it into coolant for the supercomputer to prevent the facility from drawing all of its water from the aquifer. (Meanwhile, we reported on Monday that xAI hasn’t been able to pay its light bill on time.)
Plus, another 201 inmate died over the weekend, three consider a run for county mayor and JJJ seeks out chaos in Florida.
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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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