Happy Monday, Memphis. Today is Nov. 2, and we’re firmly in Downtown Dining Week. (Though no one wants to offer a $20.20 deal. And who can blame them?)

And the first focus group session for rebuilding the Memphis Police Department is scheduled for today at 10 a.m.

THE NEED TO KNOW

Kids beat the heat in Mud Island's Gulf of Mexico during July 4, 2019, events. (Jim Weber/Daily Memphian file)

A model Mississippi: With the Memphis River Parks Partnership focused on changes at Tom Lee Park, Mud Island’s future is more complicated. Wayne Risher writes that “virtually everyone agrees Mud Island River Park needs to be reimagined,” though the question of how what is possibly Downtown’s most valuable piece of land would be changed is up for discussion. Repairs to Mud Island are now pegged at around $24 million but even if all of the deferred maintenance was addressed, MRPP’s leader says it would just be an updated park with an outdated theme. Also, there’s an Easter egg in that story about why Topgolf doesn’t yet have a Memphis location.

Taking names: The legal wrangling over this year’s election may have already begun. A lawsuit filed yesterday by the Tennessee Democratic Party and the U.S. Senate campaign for Marquita Bradshaw asks for the names of those Tennessee voters who have received absentee ballots but haven’t yet returned them. The litigants are asking for an expedited hearing prior to the election and want the names to make sure all those voters have turned in their ballots.

College friends Amy Hill Dickerson (left) and Amy Coney Barrett (submitted photo)

Young justice: For those of us too young or too old or too geographically challenged to have known Amy Coney Barrett during her time in Memphis, the question may be: What was she like? Don Wade talked to friends of the newest U.S. Supreme Court justice about her years at Rhodes College, learning about a woman known simply as “Coney,” who drank a lot of coffee, went to Mass weekly, threw herself into activities and was a member of the school’s Honor Council: “I remember the day we moved into the dorm. She was super-friendly, super-smiley, super-energetic. She became the instant leader of our pack,” says one friend. 

More from the courts: A U.S. District Court judge said Friday he would rule as “quickly as possible” on seven Memphis landlords’ request for an injunction against a federal order halting residential evictions until the new year. The landlords say the CDC’s order is unconstitutional and denies them due process while the Justice Department says the order is preventing the ongoing spread of COVID-19.

WE’RE TALKING ABOUT

This is your Monday reminder that we “fell back” yesterday and hopefully, you’re not early for everything today. (Or, wait, would you be late? I think this is part of the problem.)

THE NICE TO KNOW

The Memphis Bourbon Caramel Cake, from Sugar Avenue, includes Huling Station bourbon made by Old Dominick Distillery. (Credit: Jay Adkins)

Let us eat cake: Jennifer Biggs is daring us to stay free of the COVID 19 (pounds) with a column about cakes and other baked goods. But, given our other pandemic-life restrictions, it’s nice that cake is still on the table. 

The sting of defeat: The U of M may have wanted to beat one of the nation’s Top 10 teams this past weekend, but it was not to be. Instead, the University of Cincinnati Bearcats “showed why they’re ranked the No. 7 team in the country with another virtuoso defensive performance.” And the Tigers? Well, it turns out — and Geoff Calkins is sorry to have to break it to you — that maybe the Tigers are “not a championship-level team this year.” But, to be fair, they have lost a lot of players … and a coach … and even a mascot over the past 12 months. Now, Steven Johnson takes a look at the questions the team needs to answer as they turn their focus to South Florida.

Frank (left) and Clayton Kemker have acquired two parcels and have a third under contract, totaling 5.6 acres, near the southwest corner of Central and Cooper. (Patrick Lantrip/Daily Memphian file)

Acres of Yards: A father-son team (both native Memphians) is looking to a new project at the gateway to Cooper-Young. The development, called Central Yards, would include 350 apartments, parking, and commercial space, although it needs approval from the Land Use Control Board and the Memphis City Council before it can move forward. More details of the development can be found here, but I’ve heard/seen people question why Midtown is getting more apartment projects these days than in the past. And, the answer has to be, in part, a tax incentive program through the Downtown Memphis Commission.

THIS WEEK’S WEATHER

It’s chilly. We’re beginning the week with a freeze warning in effect until 9 a.m. this morning but the rest of the day will be clear and sunny. Then we’ll be back with highs in the upper 60s and lower 70s for the rest of the week. 

Have a great Monday, and we’ll see you tomorrow!

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