Good day, Memphis! Today is March 3, and The Daily Memphian is hosting a Women and Business seminar at the Memphis Botanic Garden. Local female business leaders will share their secrets to success in this event, and registration ends at 11 a.m. this morning. 

The Shelby County Commission will meet this afternoon to interview six applicants for the District 33 Senate seat vacancy (formerly held by expelled Memphis Democrat Katrina Robinson).

Tonight, the Memphis Grizzlies will play the Celtics, which will certainly make for an evening of “must-see TV” (just ask talk-of-the-NBA point guard Ja Morant). Also, the Memphis Tigers will play the South Florida Bulls tonight in one of two regular games left this season. South Florida is known to defend at a pretty high level, but The Daily Memphian’s Steven Johnson says “if Memphis plays up to its defensive capabilities, then South Florida should once again struggle to hit that mark.” 

THE NEED TO KNOW

Old windows capture early March light on the second floor of 107 S. Main. (Neil Strebig/Daily Memphian)

Progress in The Pinch and 107 S. Main: A $1.1 billion redevelopment project in The Pinch District is moving forward after landing a major investment from Columbia Pacific Advisors. The Pinch redevelopment, which was awarded a 30-year PILOT in 2019, had been on hold since the pandemic began. Once complete, the overall Pinch District project will feature 1,528 apartments, two hotels and retail/office space. The Pinch project’s New York-based developer Tom Intrator and his team are also working on a separate renovation of 107 S. Main, the former Hessig-Ellis Building, which will be renovated as a mixed-use space. 

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee’s state budget proposal includes more funding for state troopers in Shelby County. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)

More money for troopers: Gov. Bill Lee’s state budget proposal includes funding for 20 additional Tennessee State Highway Patrol officers to patrol the city’s interstate system and state highways, something Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland has been pushing for. The state currently has 12 state troopers assigned to Shelby County, so this proposal will more than double the number of local highway patrol officers. Lee is expected to be in Memphis today for a ride-along with Memphis Police Chief Cerelyn “C.J.” Davis and THP brass.

Bill Ford speaks at a press conference about Ford Motor Co.’s West Tennessee manufacturing campus on Sept. 28, 2021. (Ziggy Mack/Special to The Daily Memphian file)

Into the future: In what Ford Motor Co. CEO Jim Farley called “one of the biggest changes in our history,” Ford announced that it will run its new electric vehicle business separate from its internal-combustion engine (cars that run on gasoline) business. By 2025, Ford plans to manufacture the all-electric F-150 Lightning trucks at its $5.6 billion Blue Oval City campus in Haywood County. When Blue Oval City opens, it will require 6,000 workers, and Ford is getting a (very big) head start on recruitment — of eighth-graders. More than 3,200 eighth-grade students from 10 West Tennessee counties are attending a career expo in Ripley that runs through today, and Ford is featuring engineering talks and 3-D printing demonstrations to show students what modern-day manufacturing jobs look like.

A former student at the University of Memphis tries to convince a tow truck company employee to unhook a friend’s vehicle in 2019. (Houston Cofield/The Daily Memphian file)

Jk! Nevermind! Remember when we said you can now pay towing fees with cash apps like Venmo? Well, the Memphis City Council did a take back on Tuesday and amended the city towing ordinance to not require cash app payments after all. After the towing companies pointed out that the city impound lot stopped taking cash app payments, the city council was all “Touche!” Kidding. They didn’t say it like that. But they did amend the city’s towing ordinance to say towing companies should accept the same cashless payment options the city uses. That means major credit cards will still be accepted (but not cash apps) if the amended ordinance is approved on March 22.

University of Memphis workers, union members, students and alumni participate in rally demanding a $15 minimum wage on the University Memphis campus. (Ziggy Mack/Special to The Daily Memphian file)

Minimum wage bill fails: A bill that would have allowed local governments in Tennessee to raise the minimum wage in their cities failed in the General Assembly on Tuesday. The bill, sponsored by state Sen. Sara Kyle (D-Memphis), would have allowed local governments to set the minimum wage higher than the federal $7.25 per hour, which hasn’t been increased since 2009. The Senate Commerce and Labor Committee did advance a bill that would end an exception allowing employers to pay disabled people below the minimum wage (shocking that’s even a thing, but …). 

MEET MEMPHIS

“As a young girl coming to Whitehaven, it was just a big deal,” said Whitehaven resident Pearl Walker, who was photographed at David Carnes Park. (Mark Weber/The Daily Memphian)

Pearl “Eva” Walker is a self-professed Whitehaven cheerleader. She moved to the neighborhood in 1974 with her mother and sister when she was 13. At the time, Walker says Whitehaven was the go-to place for “Memphis’ upwardly mobile Black middle class coming out of segregation.” She remembers a booming community with department stores, movie theaters and bowling alleys, many of which have since closed. But Walker is on a mission to “reclaim, rebrand and uphold” Whitehaven through the I Love Whitehaven Neighborhood and Business Association, which she founded in 2018. In November 2021, Walker launched what she says will be an annual holiday market following the Whitehaven Christmas parade in an effort to keep people in the neighborhood after the parade ends. Walker says she’ll soon release an online business directory for the city’s Black-owned businesses. “Memphis needs a very strong, Black, economic base, like a Black Wall Street. That is our vision for Whitehaven,” said Walker.

THE NICE TO KNOW

Downtown’s new South Point Grocery store opens on March 3 at 136 Webster. (Mark Weber/The Daily Memphian) 

Finally, a grocery store Downtown: Downtowners, your 10-minute(ish) drive to Midtown or Crosstown Kroger for groceries is no more. The long-awaited South Point Grocery Downtown opens today at 136 Webster Ave. just south of Central Station. The full-service grocery store stocks basics (like bread and milk), produce, pet food, frozen meals, canned goods, fresh flowers and boasts a 36-foot-long beer aisle (this store is, after all, the project of Castle Retail Group, the folks behind High Point Grocery and Midtown’s Cash Saver). There’s even a deli with a sandwich menu created by Josh McLane, best-known for the sandwiches at the Hi-Tone. “We didn’t want to just plop a grocery store down,” Taylor James of Castle Retail said. “We want to be the grocery store that Downtown has been wanting for so long. They deserve this.”

A cultivator at a medicinal cannabis production facility in Vermont cleans around the plants. (Robert Layman/The Rutland Herald via AP, File)

Half-baked plans: Tennessee formed a commission in 2021 to study medical marijuana, and lawmakers are expected to build on that this year. But many of the state’s Republican lawmakers say they’re hesitant to legalize pot until the federal government does so. State lawmakers have introduced various marijuana bills recently, ranging from bills that would create limited medical cannabis programs to comprehensive recreational legalization. Another bill would place legalization questions on the November ballot. 

Maybe we should have called this The Early Weed: At the Horn Lake Board of Aldermen meeting on Tuesday night, Horn Lake city planner Chad Bahr, who once lived in an Arizona town with a legal cultivation facility, warned aldermen that the town will be dealing with “a giant skunk smell” if they decide to opt in to medical marijuana sales. Cities in Mississippi have 90 days to opt out of medical marijuana sales, which were legalized in January, and the mayors of Horn Lake and Southaven are considering that option. Both mayors have said there are zoning issues around the legislation and are waiting to see if an amendment to the legislation clears up their concerns.

Memphis Grizzlies point guard Ja Morant looks on in the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Denver Nuggets Friday, Jan. 21, 2022, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

Another broken record: As if his record-setting 52 points in Monday’s game against the San Antonio Spurs wasn’t enough, now Memphis Grizzlies point guard Ja Morant has broken another record — this time, it’s the NBA’s social media record. The NBA’s Instagram video featuring Morant’s catch-and-shoot buzzer beater off a full-court pass from Steven Adams generated more than 42.1 million views, making it the most-viewed NBA Instagram video of all time. 

WHAT WE’RE TALKING ABOUT

World Wrestling Entertainment correspondent Megan Morant (real name: Megan O’Brian) chose wisely when she picked her on-air pseudonym.

Also, we’re glad to see the Bass Pro Pyramid is joining Mighty Lights with a show of solidarity for Ukraine.

Have a great Thursday! See you before the sun tomorrow!

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