It’s baseball, sort of. Banana Ball takes Memphis by storm.
Baseball purists may sniff at Banana Ball, but as a packed AutoZone Park showed Saturday night, the wacky version of the national pastime has its devoted fans.
Jody Callahan
Jody Callahan graduated with degrees in journalism and economics from what is now known as the University of Memphis. He has covered news in Memphis for more than 25 years.
There are 513 articles by Jody Callahan :
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March 2026
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Education Three-time spelling champ is heading back to D.C. bee
Sixty children competed Saturday for the right to represent Shelby County in the Scripps National Spelling Bee. The victor was a Farmington Elementary student. Again.
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February 2026
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Midtown Incident with visitor leads to damage at Memphis Zoo bonobo exhibit
The bonobo habitat will be closed while repairs are being made. A window broke after one of the great apes reacted to taunting from a visitor.
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Spirit of Memphis ‘We decided to do something’ about rundown cemetery
Volunteers have taken on the task of cleaning up the 10-acre graveyard. Among the estimated 3,400 graves at Mt. Carmel Cemetery is that of Memphis hero Tom Lee.
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Education CBU to partner with Purdue for graduate engineering programs
This will be at least the second partnership CBU has signed with another school to provide new classes, all with an eye to increasing enrollment.
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Ask the MemphianAsk the Memphian: Can a class of 6 CBU students help solve 2 cold-case murders? A grieving family hopes so.
Maybe, just maybe, a class at Christian Brothers University can focus attention back on the murders of Beau and Shea Grauer, two brothers killed seven months apart in two separate Midtown shootings that appear unconnected.
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Downtown Repairs to water main break Downtown could last through weekend
MLGW urges people to avoid Fourth Street and Pontotoc Avenue.
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NeighborhoodsTsunami helped Cooper-Young become a dining hot spot
Chef Ben Smith opened Tsunami in 1998, helping Cooper-Young transition from “a downtrodden backwater for failing businesses.”
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Real EstateCheers at last: The Station opens following court battles and delays
The Station, a new East Memphis liquor store beset by controversy, finally fully opened Tuesday with a selection of more than 20,000 types of liquor, wine and beer.
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Arts & Culture Valentine’s Day speed date: Rush to romance or browsing for buddies?
More than 100 people gathered Saturday at Novel bookstore’s speed-dating event. Some came looking for love. Others hoped to meet fellow bibliophiles.
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Ask the MemphianAsk the Memphian: When will the repaving of I-240 be completed?
By the end of 2027, almost all of the Interstate 240 loop around the city should be repaved, state road officials said.
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Arts & CultureAn appendectomy, a baseball to the neck and a cruel note: Not everyone loves Valentine’s Day
Some folks love Valentine’s Day and all the hoopla that accompanies it. This story isn’t about those people. This story is about the folks who had terrible, awful, no-good Valentine’s Days.
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Arts & CultureThe Giant Rats live on
The Giant Rats — and their devotion to Sherlock Holmes — live on, more than 50 years after the local fan club was founded.
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Public Safety Man pleads guilty in hit and run that left 20-year-old woman dead
“They stole my daughter’s life,” Angela Christopher, mother of Ava Christopher, told The Daily Memphian in 2023 after Julio Hernandez’s capture.
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Transportation & LogisticsMATA riders’ pleas for better service met with piecemeal progress
On Transit Equity Day, more than 60 MATA riders and others gathered in Orange Mound to express their frustrations and hopes for a better public transportation system in Memphis.
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Spirit of MemphisAsk the Memphian: Who is John Corlew, and why is there a Midtown park named after him?
In this week’s Ask the Memphian, we delve into the history of John Corlew Park, the tiny sliver of greenspace in Midtown’s Idlewild neighborhood.
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MidtownMemphis Theological Seminary closing its doors in July with the property likely going up for sale
This marks the second closure of an institution of higher learning in Memphis this decade following the shuttering of the Memphis College of Art in 2020.
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Business Local banker and civic leader Kent Wunderlich has died
Wunderlich was the board chairman of Financial Federal bank as well as a member of several Memphis civic organizations, including the Shelby Farms Conservancy.
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Food News Tsunami to close after 28 years in Cooper-Young
Tsunami, the Cooper-Young restaurant that helped launch the Midtown neighborhood as a place for dining and entertainment, will close Feb. 21.
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Visual ArtsNew leadership at Indie Memphis hopes to revive beloved nonprofit
The festival is expected to span much of the South Main district, with films being screened at Malco’s Powerhouse Cinema and the Orpheum’s Halloran Centre, while Central Station and other venues in the area will host parties and other festival events.
Related content:
Indie Memphis announces 2026 comeback for film festival with new leadership
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Update
Visual ArtsIndie Memphis announces 2026 comeback for film festival with new leadership
The festival will be held in Downtown’s South Main Arts District, with the selected films being shown in Malco’s Powerhouse Cinema as well as the Orpheum’s Halloran Centre.
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Business The Station gets its liquor license, seemingly clearing the way for the store to fully open
Ethan Edwards has been trying to fully open his East Memphis store for more than a year, but has faced strong opposition from a coalition of other such stores. A state board gave him the approval he needs.
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January 2026
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Neighborhoods Historic Annesdale Mansion damaged in blaze, but owner says he will rebuild
The historic Annesdale Mansion catches fire in a two-alarm blaze, but owner Bill Townsend said he will restore the home and continue hosting charitable events there.
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winter weather
MetroStill slipping and sliding: Memphis braces for one more Arctic weekend
The frozen precipitation on the ground in Memphis isn’t going anywhere for the next few days, at least.
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Latest updates: Crews make progress on streets, but some business, schools are staying closed
Intrepid fun-seekers enjoy thrills of ‘Mount Bartlett’
Situation in South grows more dire as ice, frigid temperatures, outages persist
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winter weather
Transportation & LogisticsUpdate: Airport is open, but call before you go
Memphis International Airport is set to be open Sunday, Jan. 25, but passengers are strongly urged to contact airlines to make sure flights haven’t been canceled or delayed.
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