Rise and grind, Memphis! It’s Monday, Jan. 23, and the Shelby County Commission will take up a call to temporarily stop the sale of tax-delinquent properties by the Shelby County Land Bank.

Over at the Germantown Board of Mayor and Aldermen, there’s a public hearing on The Standard mixed-use project (formerly Carrefour at The Gateway). And this evening, the Memphis Grizzlies will play the Sacramento Kings in a road game. (Maybe they’ll get it together this time.)

THE NEED TO KNOW

Axl Rose played “November Rain” at a memorial service for Lisa Marie Presley at Graceland on Jan. 22. (Patrick Lantrip/The Daily Memphian)

Lisa Marie comes home: A public memorial was held for Lisa Marie Presley, the only child of Elvis Presley, in the Meditation Garden at Graceland on Sunday. Presley died in Los Angeles at the age of 54 on Jan. 12. More than 100 friends and family members, including Sarah, Duchess of York (aka Fergie), Billy Corgan, Alanis Morissette and Axl Rose, gathered under a tent just beyond Graceland’s front doors to pay their final respects. And thousands of public mourners stood behind a rope on the other side of Graceland’s driveway. The Daily Memphian’s Chris Herrington has more on Presley’s memorial service and a look back at her life.

Left to right: Justin Smith, Desmond Mills Jr., Demetrius Haley, Emmitt Martin III and Tadarrius Bean

Five officers fired following Tyre Nichols’ death: On Friday, the Memphis Police Department fired five officers — Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Emmitt Martin III, Desmond Mills Jr. and Justin Smith — following an investigation into the death of Tyre Nichols. The investigation concluded that the officers violated multiple department policies. Nichols, a 29-year-old skateboarder and FedEx employee, died on Saturday, Jan. 10, three days after being injured following a traffic stop for reckless driving. The body camera footage of the incident is expected to be released sometime this week.

Four members of Germantown’s Harvest Church died in a plane crash in Yoakum, Texas. (Mark Weber/The Daily Memphian)

Who were the plane crash victims? The four members of Germantown’s Harvest Church who died in a Tuesday plane crash in Yoakum, Texas, included two business owners and a church congregant with family ties in Texas. We’ve got a closer look at those who died: the church’s executive pastor Bill Garner, church elder Steve Tucker and members Tyler Patterson and Tyler Springer. And we’ve got an update on the status of Kennon Vaughan, the crash’s lone survivor. Reached by phone in Denton, Texas, Springer’s brother said the group was traveling to Texas to start a new church there.

Trained volunteers answer calls 24/7 at the Memphis Crisis Center. Starting July 16, 2022, they also began helping field calls to 988, a national three-digit phone number. (Ziggy Mack/Special to The Daily Memphian file)

Crisis hotline calls are up: Calls to the national emergency hotline for mental health crises increased after the number was changed to 988 last July. About 21,000 Tennesseans called the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline in the last six months of 2022, which was about 500 more calls per month compared to when the lifeline had a 10-digit number. For those still apprehensive about calling due to fear of being identified or potentially hospitalized, Holly McCaskill, executive director of the Memphis Crisis Center, reminds the public: “You do not have to share any information that you don’t want to share.”

MEET MEMPHIS

Seton Catholic Coach Josh Jurgens (left), assistant coach Jon Blevins (right) and Desmond Bane (middle) celebrate their 2015 1A sectional championship. (Courtesy Josh Jurgens)

Memphis Grizzlies guard Desmond Bane has become the face of Richmond, Indiana, his small hometown on the state’s eastern border. The Daily Memphian’s Drew Hill traveled to Richmond to sit down with the guard’s friends, family and former coaches for a three-part series. In part one, we take a trip to “Baneville,” the set of four homes occupied by Bane’s very large family on the quiet Richmond street where he grew up. In part two, Bane’s high school coach Josh Jurgens shares the story of how Bane proved himself to the wider Richmond community in a basketball tournament between his small Catholic school and the larger Richmond High. And in part three, we learn about the very special relationship between Bane and his great-grandmother Fabbie.

THE NICE TO KNOW

Memphis Grizzlies forward Dillon Brooks drives between Phoenix Suns forward Torrey Craig (0), center Bismack Biyombo and guard Chris Paul during a game on Sunday, Jan. 22, 2023, in Phoenix. (Rick Scuteri/AP photo)

Tigers win, Grizz lose: The Memphis Tigers delivered their third straight win, 75-68, over longtime rival Cincinnati on Sunday night. The effort was led by DeAndre Williams and Kendric Davis, but Keonte Kennedy played his part as well (and that, it seems, is part of Coach Penny Hardaway’s master plan). The Daily Memphian’s Geoff Calkins tells us that this makes 100 wins for Hardaway (unless you’re the NCAA — and then it’s the 99th win). On a less upbeat note, The Memphis Grizzlies, had a weekend of West Coast woes. The Grizzlies lost Sunday’s game to the Phoenix Suns, 112-110, after coming back from a 29 point deficit (but Ja Morant hit a new franchise record for points). And on Friday, the Grizzlies broke their winning streak with a 122-121 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers. That ugly game turned even uglier when Morant, his father Tee Morant and Steven Adams got into a halftime shouting match with Hall of Fame football player Shannon Sharpe.

Dr. Charles Champion celebrated his 90th birthday on Aug. 22, 2020, with a drive-by celebration. He greeted friends who dropped by, including Shelby County Sheriff Floyd Bonner (left). (Patrick Lantrip/The Daily Memphian file)

Memphis loses a Champion: Dr. Charles A. Champion, who owned and operated Champion’s Pharmacy and Herb Store on Elvis Presley Boulevard, died on Saturday, Jan. 21, at age 92. Champion was a proponent of natural herbal remedies, but his locally famous pharmacy also sold pharmaceutical drugs. Champion was the first Black pharmacist at Regional One Health (back when it was called John Gaston Hospital), and he went into business for himself in 1981.

Bill Townsend bought the Lowenstein Mansion on Oct. 5, 2021. The Lowenstein Mansion has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1979. (Tom Bailey/The Daily Memphian file)

New life for Victorian Village: Developer Bill Townsend, who owns Victorian Village’s Pillow-McIntyre House and Lowenstein Mansion, has shifted his plans for both properties. Originally, Townsend had hoped to add office space and an antique store in the Pillow-McIntyre House, but he’s since decided to turn it into a wedding and event space to help reactivate the neighborhood. “It will be a big help. It creates a lot more kinetic energy than we have now,” said longtime Victorian Village resident and advocate Scott Blake. As for the Lowenstein Mansion, Townsend is moving away from his original boutique hotel plan in favor of a co-working space. 

Russell Wigginton spoke at the Earl Lloyd Sports Legacy Symposium on Monday, Jan. 16, 2023. (Mark Weber/The Daily Memphian)

Civil Rights Museum goes digital: The National Civil Rights Museum is preparing to renovate its annex, located just across Mulberry Street from the museum’s main building. The end result will include more rapidly changing exhibits, as well as a digitization of the 11,000 museum holdings that are currently not on display. On “Behind the Headlines,” Civil Rights Museum President Russell Wigginton discussed those plans, and the museum’s role in holding space for “uncomfortable conversations,” such as the protests and discussions that might emerge from the death of Tyre Nichols in Memphis Police custody earlier this month.

Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital has seven ambulances in its fleet. “But a lot of them are coming to the end of life to where you just really cannot repair them,” said Dr. Rudy Kink, medical director of the hospital’s transportation team. (Courtesy Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital)

Cohen calls for an ambulance (or two): Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital is getting two new, high-tech ambulances, thanks to nearly $1 million that U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen secured through the congressional appropriations process. Some of the ambulances in Le Bonheur’s current fleet of seven are aging beyond repair, and these two new vehicles will double as mobile pediatric intensive care units.

THIS WEEK’S WEATHER

This week will be chilly (and a little wet on Tuesday), but hey, at least there’s no snow.

Let’s go rock this Monday! See you back in this space tomorrow.

.....