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It’s Tuesday, Nov. 22, which happens to be National Cranberry Relish Day. Most of these food holidays are just silly, but this one encourages us to get that crucial condiment prepared in advance of Thanksgiving dinner (but no shame if you prefer the canned stuff). 

Speaking of holidays, Collierville is violating my “no lights before Thanksgiving” rule tonight. Santa and Mrs. Claus will flip the switch on the square’s holiday lights at 7 p.m.

The Memphis Grizzlies will be back at home this evening to play the Sacramento Kings, and they’ll likely be without Ja Morant or Desmond Bane (both nursing sprains). The Daily Memphian’s Chris Herrington wonders if Jaren Jackson Jr. and Dillon Brooks can win this game with a strong defense.

THE NEED TO KNOW

The Tennessee Supreme Court has ruled mandatory life sentences for juvenile homicide offenders are unconstitutional. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)

Court says no to mandatory life: Mandatory life sentences for juvenile homicide offenders are unconstitutional, according to a new Tennessee Supreme Court ruling. Prior to the ruling, Tennessee was the only state in the nation where juvenile offenders faced mandatory sentences of more than 50 years for first-degree murder. The court ruled that such sentences violate the Eighth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which protects against “cruel and unusual punishment.” The decision comes as Tennessee Republicans plan to pass more so-called tough-on-crime laws, including stiffer penalties for juveniles.

Gov. Bill Lee listens to Tennessee Bureau of Investigation Director David Rausch at a budget meeting on Wednesday, Nov. 9. (Ian Round/The Daily Memphian)

TBI, DCS ask Lee to pay workers more: Some state agencies are having a tough time hiring and retaining employees, and they say low pay is to blame. That was the theme that came out of state budget meetings with Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee over the past two weeks. The state’s Bureau of Investigation director said his investigators are paid much less than their counterparts at other agencies, and he requested about $28 million for “salary modernization” as part of a larger request that includes funding to speed up rape kit testing. Department of Children’s Services Commissioner Margie Quin said the “horrific” turnover rate for caseworkers has contributed to unusually high caseloads throughout the state.

Louise Patterson

Remembering COGIC’s first lady: Louise Patterson, the wife of former Church of God in Christ bishop G. E. Patterson, died on Nov. 20 at age 84 after a short illness. When her husband died in 2007, “Sister Lou,” as she was called, took over as president/CEO of Bountiful Blessings Ministries and hosted its weekly radio broadcast on WBBP-1480 AM radio. G. E. Patterson, who was memorialized with a Downtown street name, served as presiding bishop of the COGIC denomination from 2000 to 2007, and the couple founded Downtown’s Temple of Deliverance.

TBI investigates officer-involved shooting: The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation is investigating an officer-involved shooting of a suspect that happened on Monday, Nov. 21. According to the TBI, an MPD officer responded to a call about four people with guns getting out of a vehicle that had been reported stolen the night before. The officer confronted one of the individuals as he returned to the vehicle and got into the driver’s seat. “For reasons still under investigation, the officer fired at the driver, as he attempted to flee,” a statement from the TBI reads. 

MEET MEMPHIS

Casey O’Rourke stands in her new showroom in the recently opened Blue Suede Vintage on North Watkins. (Mark Weber/The Daily Memphian)

Casey O’Rourke started her vintage clothing business online in 2018, and business stayed steady throughout the pandemic, despite the fact that many people were living in sweatpants. That’s when she knew a brick-and-mortar store was in the cards. While out on a run one morning, she passed the long-vacant Crosstown Concourse development office (which was vacated after the building opened in 2017), and her dream came together. O’Rourke opened her shop, which offers gently used fashions from the 1930s to early 2000s, as well as vintage costume jewelry and handbags, earlier this month.

THE NICE TO KNOW

Restaurant Iris’ bar menu features some of the old — the barbecue shrimp from the original Iris — and some new, such as the shrimp toast in the background. Onion rings are fresh and solid. (Jennifer Biggs/The Daily Memphian)

Where to eat any day of the week: Holiday shopping season officially starts later this week, and if you’re doing that in-person this year, you’ll need sustenance for the job. Our own Jennifer Biggs has just the thing: The bar at Restaurant Iris’ new location in Laurelwood Shopping Center, conveniently located next to plenty of shops and actually open on Mondays (a unicorn in the restaurant industry). Fans of the old Iris will find some familiar items, but the menu boasts some new treats, too. Biggs pulled up a bar stool and sampled the onion rings, shrimp toast and barbecue shrimp (insert “Forrest Gump” joke here), all washed down with a sparkling wine. 

A person stands on a sandbar while checking out the historically low water levels of the Mississippi River on Wednesday, Oct. 26, 2022, in Greenbelt Park. (Mark Weber/The Daily Memphian)

Rise up: Record-breaking drought throughout the Mississippi River basin is finally easing, and the river level has been on the rise. I ran two half-marathons, two weeks apart, along the Big River Trail in Arkansas this month, and I could see a noticeable rise in the river from one race to the next. Although the level is on the ups, officials say they’re still dredging to deepen the river channel, restricting barge loads and imposing limits on tow boats to prevent them from running aground.

Students from the Whitehaven area participated in a Bridge Up: Giddy Up event in Tunica on Nov. 19, 2022. (Patrick Lantrip/The Daily Memphian)

Future equestrians of America: Students at Havenview Middle School and Whitehaven High School are learning to ride horses. The BridgeUp: GiddyUp program was started about a year ago by McKrell Baier, co-owner of Southern Blues Equestrian Center in Collierville, to “change the story about who gets to become an equestrian,” according to Baier. Whitehaven High principal Vincent Hunter said it also offers students an alternative to traditional sports. “It’s not often you can be one hundred pounds and be a champion,” he said.

Memphis Tigers guard Kendric Davis (right) made all the difference in the win over VCU on Nov. 20, 2022. (Mark Weber/The Daily Memphian)

We like it, we love it: The Daily Memphian’s Parth Upadhyaya offers up a breakdown of what to love, like and hate from the Memphis Tigers’ home opening win, 62-47, over Virginia Commonwealth University on Sunday. It’s fair to say that everyone loved transfer guard Kendric Davis’ performance with a game-high 26 points and seven assists. But Keonté Kennedy’s offensive emergence was also pretty great. Not so great were Alex Lomax’s struggles to get the ball in the basket and the team’s 18 turnovers.

WHAT WE’RE TALKING ABOUT

The new Memphis Tigers basketball court debuted in Sunday’s home opener, and fans on Twitter seemed pleased with the design. But there’s always that one guy ...

Okay, let’s get started on our cranberry relish, shall we? I’ll see you one more time this week tomorrow!

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