Hope you’re ready to swing on into the weekend, friends. It’s Friday, Aug. 16, and the FedEx St. Jude Championship continues. We’ve got a look at today’s pairings (and Thursday’s scores). And as Elvis Week draws to an end, the quirky, kitschy Graceland Too museum, which has been closed since 2014, reopens today in Holly Springs.

It’s a big night for theater, as “Grease” opens at Theatre Memphis, TikTok-famous musical “Ride the Cyclone” opens at Germantown Community Theatre and “Waitress” opens at Playhouse on the Square.

On Saturday, lords, ladies, wenches and knaves will gather at Wiseacre Brewing Co. for the Memphis Renaissance Faire. (Yes, there will be turkey legs, but there will also be tacos. Pick your poison.) That night, you’ll want to swap the hoop skirt for a hula skirt (and some fake blood), as Black Lodge closes out its last Saturday with a zombie luau. The last-ever Black Lodge event is a matinee show by the Bluff City Liars on Sunday. 

THE NEED TO KNOW

Memphis Mayor Paul Young said the city hired a forensic auditor to review the Memphis Area Transit Authority, which is facing a $60 million deficit. Some of the city’s fund balance for the last fiscal year was spent on MATA. (Benjamin Naylor/The Daily Memphian file)

When it rains … money pours. Remember back in July when Fitch Ratings revised the City of Memphis’ bond outlook to negative over the city’s spending from its fund balance? The Daily Memphian filed a public-records request to figure out how the city spent the $74.5 million in the previous fiscal year that sparked bond-agency worry. About $40 million of it was spent from the city’s rainy-day fund, so our own Samuel Hardiman explains how that fund works and why most of money spent from the city’s fund balances went to public safety employees and the Memphis Area Transit Authority.

A new hedge and thick brush in Crump Park borders the Memphis-Arkansas Bridge. (Bill Dries/The Daily Memphian)

Bridging between bridges: Pedestrians and cyclists may soon be able to take a pedestrian path from Mud Island to a small park just south of the Interstate-55 Bridge. Currently, the river walk ends at Martyrs Park, just north of the Harahan Bridge. But the Interstate-55 roundabout work on the Memphis side of the “old bridge” includes plans to extend that walkway from Martyrs to Crump Park. Memphis Parks Director Nick Walker said the city talked before about connecting the two parks, but the “logistics of dealing with right of ways from both the railroad and from the highway department have made it tricky.” 

Shelby County Commissioner Erika Sugarmon is sponsoring the referendum ordinance that would allow the Shelby County Commission to hire its own legal counsel. (Patrick Lantrip/The Daily Memphian file)

Lawyer up? The Shelby County Commission advanced, on the second of three votes, a November ballot question that would allow voters to decide if the commission can hire its own attorney. Presently, the commission can get legal advice from the county attorney’s office, and they can consult with independent attorneys to assist in drafting and reviewing ordinances. But those independent lawyers cannot provide legal opinions, and some commissioners want an attorney who can provide “unbiased legal advice.” That would be a similar setup to what the Memphis City Council has had for the last 30 years, but at least one commissioner called the referendum “duplicative.”

QUOTED

Police officers arrived at the funeral of Officer Demetrice Johnson on Thursday, Aug. 15. (Benjamin Naylor/The Daily Memphian)

“It seems to me that in [Demetrice Johnson’s] 34 years, he’s touched more people than many have in an 80-year period.”

— Memphis Mayor Paul Young
Memphis Police Officer Demetrice Johnson was laid to rest on Thursday after a funeral at Oak Grove Missionary Baptist Church. Johnson was killed in a two-vehicle crash Downtown on Aug. 2. Family and friends remembered Johnson as a “superhero” with a heart that “was twice as big as he was.”

THE NICE TO KNOW

Corky’s BBQ owner Jimmy Stovall (left) filmed a live segment with QVC host Rick Domeier on Wednesday, Aug. 14. (Mark Weber/The Daily Memphian)

As seen on TV: The TV station that convinced you to order a night light for your toilet at 3 a.m. is also the reason Corky’s BBQ owner Jimmy Stovall has supposedly sold more barbecue than any other person alive. Stovall has been selling Corky’s Memphis-style ribs on QVC since 2001, sometimes selling 120,000 to 140,000 racks of ribs in a single day. Restaurant patrons got a special treat this week as QVC’s Foodie Travel Series filmed a live episode from the Poplar Avenue location in honor of the restaurant’s 40th anniversary. In other food news, a Germantown baker known as the Baklava Lady is opening a new Middle Eastern bakery, and Amelia Gene’s is closing (but only for two weeks!). And in the $10 Deal, writer Joshua Carlucci paid a visit to La Palapa on Summer Avenue, where “cutlet, steak, chorizo and ham all come together like the members of the Justice League” to make one “gratuitous” sandwich. 

PGA golfer Chris Kirk watched his tee shot on hole 18 during first-round action of the FedEx St. Jude Championship on Thursday, Aug. 15. (Mark Weber/The Daily Memphian)

Hole-y moly! Pro golfer Chris Kirk scored a hole-in-one on Thursday at the FedEx St. Jude Championship, making him the third player in tournament history to do so. And now Kirk, who was having a meh day before that hole, is leading the first tournament of the FedEx Cup playoffs by one stroke. The Daily Memphian’s John Varlas offers a look into this Georgia native who came to Memphis ranked 28th in the Cup standings. In other FESJC news, golfer Collin Morikawa has some extra incentive to play well at this tourney and the remainder of the three-prong playoffs since FedEx is offering up big bucks to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital for every birdie he makes. If you’re heading to the course bright and early this morning, our intern King Jemison has a floral Cxffeeblack drink rec for you in his FESJC food guide.

Memphis Grizzlies announced their 2024-2025 schedule on Thursday, Aug. 15. (Brandon Dill/AP file)

Back to the grit and grind: Pull out your NBA advent calendars; the countdown to basketball season has begun. The NBA released the Memphis Grizzlies’ new season schedule on Thursday, and the first regular-season game will be a road match-up with the Utah Jazz on Oct. 23. Thirteen of the first 21 games this season will be played at FedExForum, and the Grizz will be featured in nine nationally televised games. See the full schedule here. And in Grizzlies-meets-golf news, guard Luke Kennard put some balls into holes, rather than nets, on Thursday at the FedEx St. Jude Championship’s Danny Thomas Celebrity-Am tourney.

Brooks Monaghan

Keep it 300: Memphis Tigers women’s soccer Coach Brooks Monaghan earned his 300th career win on Thursday night as the team beat Alabama A&M University, 5-1, in their season opener. That makes him only the 17th Division I college coach who has reached 300 wins with the same program. After the game, his team helped him celebrate the milestone with a cold, wet surprise. In other college sports news, the AAC announced its 2025 league opponents for all 14 of its football teams, including the Tigers.

GOT GAME?

Thomas Saggese slid into third base during the Memphis Redbirds game on Aug. 10. (Benjamin Naylor/The Daily Memphian)

Last Saturday, the Memphis Redbirds, playing in a tribute to the all-Black Memphis Red Sox, beat the Gwinnett Stripers at AutoZone Park. Can you score a home run with this week’s Jigsaw?

Black Lodge will close its Crosstown venue at the end of this weekend, and that means Memphis is losing a video rental store, a music venue, a karaoke spot, an LGBTQ+ safe space, a rave dance hall, a wrestling ring and an armored fight club practice place, among many other things. You’ll find some of those uses in this week’s Word Search.

If you’re not golfed out yet, see if you can have a stroke of luck with this week’s 5x5 Crossword. It’s FedEx St. Jude Championship-themed.

Have a great weekend! I’ll be out on Monday, but Digital Director Holly Whitfield will be waking up with you.

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