Memphis airport could soon bear FedEx founder’s name
The Memphis and Shelby County Airport Authority will introduce plan to rename Memphis’ airport in honor of the aviator, businessman and hometown hero Fred Smith.
Jane Roberts
Reporter
Jane Roberts has reported in Memphis for more than 20 years. As a senior member of The Daily Memphian staff, she was assigned to the medical beat during the COVID-19 pandemic. She also has done in-depth work on other medical issues facing our community, including shortages of specialists in local hospitals. She covered K-12 education here for years and later the region’s transportation sector, including Memphis International Airport and FedEx Corp.
There are 1464 articles by Jane Roberts :
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June 2025
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Transportation & Logistics -
Transportation & Logistics Fred Smith upped world’s expectations, all from Memphis
Jack Sammons spent a portion of Saturday with the FedEx founder: “No matter how routine our regular conversations ... every time I talked to him, I felt like I was talking to Thomas Edison, an individual who changed the world.”
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Transportation & LogisticsFedEx at 50: At U of M, FedEx finds a good ‘FIT’
At the FedEx Institute of Technology, they’re ensuring Memphis isn’t a data science or artificial intelligence desert.
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Transportation & LogisticsFedEx at 50: Memphis International’s airfield never closes — that’s by design
In February, when rain and freezing temperatures layered trees and buildings in ice, more than 70 daytime airfield employees spent three nights at the airport — working and sleeping in shifts to keep the runways open.
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Transportation & LogisticsFedEx at 50: Local power of FedEx rests with wealth of jobs, opportunity
An estimated $1.6 billion in annual payroll from FedEx underwrites much of the local economy.
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FedEx at 50: FedEx hired Annie Leibovitz to capture grit of startups, including Fred, 50 years later
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Transportation & LogisticsFedEx at 50: ‘FedEx makes every part of Memphis better’
FedExForum, national golf tournaments, pandas, the area’s growing medical device industry, its IT sector — leaders say they couldn’t have happened without FedEx.
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Business FedEx at 50: FedEx hired Annie Leibovitz to capture grit of startups, including Fred, 50 years later
Images show the might, creativity it takes to start a company, reminding the world that FedEx started out the same way.
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Shelby CountyInstead of county building new Regional One, Jeff Warren has an idea
For the past several months, Memphis City Councilman Jeff Warren has been giving tours of Methodist University Hospital. His goal is simple: Convince the community it doesn’t need to spend $1 billion on a new campus for Regional One.
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Education With his sense of fairness, Brother Terence integrated CBHS
The oldest Lasallian Brother in the United States, Brother Terence McLaughlin, who integrated Christian Brothers High School in 1963, died Sunday. He was 102.
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Arts & CultureMemphis writer wins fiction award with first book
Novel Bookstore will host a launch party for Robert Busby’s “Bodock: Stories.” The short-story collection is set in North Mississippi during the ice storm of 1994.
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May 2025
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East MemphisNew East Memphis liquor store kicks off spirited fight
Four liquor store owners and two moms have sued the City of Memphis, the Memphis Alcohol Commission and the owner of The Station over an alleged loophole in the city’s alcohol regulations.
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Real EstateU of M ‘exploring options’ as it closes Holiday Inn for renovations
The closure, which was a surprise to at least one group planning an October event at the hotel, comes as the school’s contract with the current hotel vendor comes to an end.
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Education Lausanne brings Western education East with South Korean campus
Lausanne is among a handful of K-12 schools in the U.S. responding to international demand for Western partners in education.
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Transportation & LogisticsFedEx chooses insider to lead Freight spinoff
John A. Smith is considered one of FedEx’s best operators. One analyst said, “What do you do? Put in a jockey that’s never won the derby on a horse, or do you put in a jockey that won a dozen derbies?”
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Arts & CultureFeeling a certain ennui about life? Have you tried mahjong?
The Chinese tile game is social, strategic and good for one’s cognitive ability. It’s also becoming increasingly popular.
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Transportation & LogisticsFedEx renews ties with Amazon after six-year split
It signs on to carry undisclosed volume of residential delivery, in multi-year contract.
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Education CBU studies partnership with Illinois university
As part of a long-term survival strategy, Christian Brothers University is considering a partnership with a sister campus located outside of Chicago.
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Education Rhodes welcomes new endowed humanities professor
“I am excited to grow creative collaborations around environmental humanities, especially care for water as our lifeblood,” Gretchen E. Henderson said.
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Spirit of Memphis Calvary’s stolen organ pipes are back and ready to be heard
Calvary Episcopal Church will celebrate the reconstruction of its 1935 Aeolian-Skinner organ, which was nearly silenced by the 2023 theft of its pipes.
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Spirit of MemphisGrand Carousel is a magic time machine for generations of one family
Jeannine Barganier’s father ran the ride in the 1940s, met his wife between the soaring horses and passed its magic to the next four generations.
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Transportation & LogisticsLove low-cost stuff from China? The gettin’ just got complicated
For people who shop at Shein and Temu, online merchants of low-cost fashion and electronics that are based in China, prices have gone up.
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Arts & Culture Mellon Foundation gives $15M for emergency support of humanities councils
Tennessee Humanities will receive $200,000 for operations and an additional $50,000 to seed a challenge fund.
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Education As executive order looms, PBS chief, WKNO fans fear for educational broadcasting
Public broadcasting has been threatened in the past, but local ties have largely enabled the stations to escape cutbacks — legislators don’t want to be seen as responsible for shutting them down. The current threat is seen as the most serious in the system’s history.
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Visual ArtsLamar Sorrento paints world only way he knows how
“Some people, their goal in life is to be their authentic selves. Most people never get there,” said a longtime friend. “(Lamar Sorrento’s) gotten there and gone past it, I think.”
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April 2025
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Education5 U of M students lose visas; told to leave country
As college enrollments have dwindled in the United States, many colleges have stepped up international recruiting to close the gap.
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