Cue Bonnie Tyler, because it’s total eclipse day! Today — Monday, April 8 — Memphis will see almost 98% of the eclipse, and there are plenty of places around town hosting midday eclipse-viewing parties. If you’re reading this early enough, you may still have time to drive to Arkansas for a full view, as a number of our readers are doing.

If you’re sticking around town though, you could grab lunch at the new Rock ‘n’ Dough Pizza at Orleans Station before the eclipse. It opens to the public at 11 a.m. today, and the first 10 customers will get lots of free stuff.

If you’re planning for the days ahead, check out This Week in Memphis.

THE NEED TO KNOW

Snappy Mart at the corner of Madison Avenue and Cleveland Street in Midtown is a recent nuisance closure. (Patrick Lantrip/The Daily Memphian)

Nuisance closures aren’t forever: Since taking office in 2022, Shelby County District Attorney General Steve Mulroy has secured temporary nuisance closures of at least four gas stations and two residential properties that had become crime hotspots. But the closures aren’t meant to last forever. Instead, business and property owners are given a pathway to reopening if they meet certain conditions. Several recent closures, like Midtown’s Snappy Mart on Madison Avenue and Frayser’s EZ Express, have since reopened. But some residents say, once a nuisance, always a nuisance.

Official data on the Memphis Police Department’s homicide clearance rate often lags present-day numbers, and complexities abound in the tracking. (George Walker IV/AP file)

Math and the murder-solve rate: The Memphis Police Department’s homicide clearance rate for 2024 so far is sitting somewhere around 40%, according to one source from the MPD’s investigative services bureau. That’s only counting homicides solved in this calendar year, and the way the department tracks those numbers is complex. The 2024 rate comes a month after the MPD and Shelby County District Attorney General Steve Mulroy publicly disagreed on homicide solve rates for 2022. The MPD’s numbers were quite a bit higher than the DA’s office numbers.

Trip Trezevant, head of Trezevant Enterprises, plans to turn the warehouse portion of the U.S. Steel building into one of his Hamilton Self Storage facilities. (Sophia Surrett/The Daily Memphian)

Steel building for a steal: Owner and developer Trip Trezevant got a great deal on Downtown’s long-vacant U.S. Steel building, and now he plans to transform part of the 100,000-square-foot space into one of his Hamilton Self Storage facilities. The rest of the building will become either condos or offices, and Trezevant is weighing a couple options for the property’s 6,000-square-foot retail space.

MEET MEMPHIS

Harold Goldbransen (middle) received a hug from his daughter Lori Williamson (left) while celebrating his 80th birthday at Chuck E Cheese on Thursday, April 4. (Mark Weber/The Daily Memphian)

Did you know the man who invented Chuck E. Cheese lives in Memphis? Well, he does. Harold Goldbrandsen, a radio-sales-guy-turned-carnival-costume-maker, came up with the Chuck E. Cheese character and his friends, Helen Henny, Madame Oink and the others, for restaurant founder Nolan Bushnell. Goldbrandsen was living in California at that time, in the late 1970s, but he relocated to Memphis a few years ago to be closer to family. And Goldbrandsen just celebrated his 80th birthday — at a Chuck E. Cheese in Memphis, of course. 

THE NICE TO KNOW

“I try to make my pop-ups kinda like a party,” said sushi chef Darren Phillips. “I don’t want it to be stuffy, like people just quietly waiting for their food.(Patrick Lantrip/The Daily Memphian)

Ghost sushi: If you’ve visited the Hi-Tone in the last eight years, you’ve probably been served a drink or two by longtime bartender Darren Phillips. But Phillips slings more than drinks; he’s also slinging sushi at Alchemy two days a week. And he’s recently launched his own sushi pop-up, Yokai, at the Hi-Tone. Yokai means “ghosts” or “demons” in Japanese, but Phillips isn’t planning on ghosting his sushi fans any time soon. “The goal is to maybe have my own restaurant one day,” he said. Until then, you can save the date for his next Hi-Tone pop-up. In other fishy (kind of) food news, you're likely paying more for crawfish this season due to drought last year. Here’s how local restaurants are handling the price increase.

The Core Four — Mike Conley, Marc Gasol, Zach Randolph and Tony Allen — discussed their playing days during the Marc Gasol jersey retirement ceremony at FedExForum, Saturday, April 6. (Greg Campbell/Special to The Daily Memphian)

Marc Gasol and more: Memphis Grizzlies star Marc Gasol’s No. 33 jersey was retired on Saturday night during a game that the Grizzlies lost. But never mind the loss; the highlight of the evening was the Core Four — Gasol, Zach Randolph, Mike Conley and Tony Allen — together in FedExForum for the first time since 2017. As for other sports over the weekend, the Memphis Showboats lost, 20-19, to the San Antonio Brahmas, thanks to a weird UFL rule. And it was a third straight loss for 901 FC on Saturday: 2-0 to Orange County. But Coach Stephen Glass isn’t ready to push the panic button just yet. In rosier sports news, the Memphis Tigers baseball team defeated Rice, 2-1, on Sunday to complete a three-game, American Athletic Conference sweep. And we’ve got a look at how the Tigers recently landed one of the best scorers in the country for next season’s basketball team.

Bullets run deep: Regional One Health’s trauma center is now providing at-home care kits for people with gunshot wounds. The kit provides the supplies, like gauze pads and ointment, that patients will need to care for their wounds at home during the first 48 hours after they’ve been discharged from the ER. And the hospital system is exploring the idea of starting a special clinic for patients with bullet injuries, modeled after a similar clinic in St. Louis.

DeSoto County District Attorney Matthew Barton appeared in Olive Branch Municipal Court on March 26. (Rob Moore/The Daily Memphian)

New true-crime pod alert: If you’re looking for something new to listen to on your runs or house-cleaning sessions, you can add DeSoto County District Attorney Matthew Barton’s new podcast to your queue. In this first episode of “DeSoto Crime Cast,” Barton details his first case as DA: The trial of Kyle Dodson, who was found guilty of trying to kill a Southaven police officer during a car theft. 

THIS WEEK’S WEATHER

Clouds could obstruct our eclipse views today (boo!), and we’re in for a very rainy mid-week. 

Here’s hoping the clouds part in time for the eclipse, and I’ll see you on the other side.

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