Happy National Punctuation Day! It’s Tuesday, Sept. 24, and presumably every editor’s favorite holiday. Pay special attention to placement of those commas today; they can change the entire meaning of the sentence. As your English teacher probably told you years ago, “Let’s eat, grandma” means something very different than “Let’s eat grandma.”

In actual news, the Memphis City Council will vote on a set of 10 parks projects totaling nearly $12 million. Among them: something new for Douglass Park that’s sure to make a splash. 

THE NEED TO KNOW

Memphis Mayor Paul Young says the city plans to purchase the Sheraton Memphis Downtown Hotel. (Mark Weber/The Daily Memphian file)

Rooms with a new view: The City of Memphis plans to purchase Downtown’s Sheraton Hotel for $22 million to protect the $200-million-plus it spent several years ago renovating the attached Renasant Convention Center. To make that happen, the Center City Revenue Finance Corp. would issue bonds to pay for the project, and the city would pay the debt through sales tax dollars from the city’s general fund. Since the city isn’t in the business of hotel management, that would be transferred to a group of local business people, including Chance Carlisle (more on that in a few). And the city would transfer ownership to a yet-unknown nonprofit that would work on a hotel renovation. As for Chance’s brother, Memphis City Council member Chase Carlisle, he says he’s keeping his hands clean from a council perspective.

Memphis Grizzlies guard Derrick Rose played in a game against the Phoenix Suns on Nov. 24, 2023, at FedExForum. (Brandon Dill/AP file)

Never promised a Rose garden: Derrick Rose won’t be returning to the Memphis Grizzlies this season. The veteran point guard and former Memphis Tigers star asked to be released from his contract after just one season with the Grizzlies. The Grizzlies will now have to navigate a thin backcourt or make an addition to the main roster, but there’s one current two-way player who stands out. 

The Memphis Tigers decided not to accept an offer to move to the Pac-12. (Ralph Freso/AP file)

Tigers stay put: The Memphis Tigers won’t be joining the Pac-12, which is more like the Pac-2 right now since only two teams remain in the conference for next season. Instead, the Tigers will stay in the American Athletic Conference and wait for an opening in a power conference. The Pac-12 gave the Tigers a Monday deadline, and leaving the AAC on short notice would have cost big, big bucks. The Daily Memphian’s Geoff Calkins, hoping for a Pac-12 move, called the decision “a bummer.” But Tigers basketball Coach Penny Hardaway is probably happy. Before the news was announced Monday afternoon, Hardaway said he was “proud to represent the AAC.” In other news not related to conference moves, Hardaway also had some good things to say about his new Tigers team. 

Defendant Justin Johnson appeared in court on Monday, September 23, as he stood trial for the murder of rapper Young Dolph. (Mark Weber/The Daily Memphian)

Young Dolph murder trial begins: The trial over the murder of Memphis rapper Young Dolph began on Monday with a sole defendant: Justin Johnson. The trial was originally scheduled for three suspects, including Cornelius Smith and Hernandez Govan, but they’re now expected to take plea deals. During opening statements, Johnson’s lawyer argued that he was not the shooter. Prosecutor and Shelby County Deputy District Attorney Paul Hagerman described the feud between Young Dolph’s label, Paper Route Empire, and rival label CMG, started by rapper Yo Gotti. And then after a recess, Cornelius Smith took the stand, describing the day that he says he and Johnson shot Young Dolph. 

QUOTED

“The news media was asking ... about [Joshua] Zimmerman having help. I was about 90% sure ... so I had to tell them no.”

— DeSoto County Sheriff Thomas Tuggle II
During a crime summit in Southaven on Monday, Tuggle admitted that he knew inmate Joshua Zimmerman had help escaping the DeSoto County Courthouse back in June, despite what he told media at the time. DeSoto County deputy jailer Ronnie Hunt has since been charged with helping Zimmerman escape, which led to a manhunt and eventual arrest in Chicago last month.

THE NICE TO KNOW

Amber Edlin, a crime scene technician with the DeSoto County Sheriff’s Office, held the case history binder for Lorie Ann Mealer Pennell. She was known as “Jane Doe” for 40 years until Edlin solved the mystery. (Rob Moore/The Daily Memphian)

Keeping a cold case warm: If it weren’t for Amber Edlin, a crime scene technician with the DeSoto County Sheriff’s Office, Darrell Mealer might have never known what happened to his missing sister. Her name was Lorie Ann Mealer Pennell, and her body was found in 1985 in DeSoto County. But up until this year, Pennell was considered a Jane Doe, her identity lost to time. It was Edlin who decided to work with the private investigative genetics company that ultimately ID’d Pennell. And now, with newly discovered evidence, Edlin is doing more research that could finally reveal Pennell’s killer.

“We do need a new jail,” Shelby County Commissioner Charlie Caswell said. “How we get there, I don’t know.” (Brad Vest/The Daily Memphian file)

Not getting out of jail repair free: The Shelby County Commission approved $10 million for emergency repairs to the Shelby County Jail on Monday. Among the updates are replacements of jail cell doors and repairs to the system that controls those doors. The Shelby County Sheriff’s Office had originally asked for $15.5 million, and that request grew by Monday to $16.4 million. Now, the sheriff’s office will have to come up with the remaining $6.4 million not provided by the county. 

FedEx says no to Teamsters’ proposal: FedEx shareholders approved more than $12 million in compensation for President and CEO Raj Subramaniam on Monday at the company’s annual meeting. They also approved an amendment to eliminate a right to vote they’ve had since the late 1990s on issues related to subsidiary Federal Express. But the shareholders nixed a proposal from the International Brotherhood of Teamsters that would have required FedEx to update stakeholders on job losses and other “negative social impacts” from the company’s climate strategy.

Steve Gaines is stepping down from his role at Bellevue Baptist Church. (Jeffrey McWhorter/AP file)

Megachurch leader’s mega move: Steve Gaines, senior pastor at Bellevue Baptist Church for nearly 20 years, announced on Sunday that he would step down from the church’s lead role. Gaines received a cancer diagnosis nearly a year ago, but he said that wasn’t a factor in his decision and that he’ll continue traveling to other churches to preach. He’ll stay in his current role until a search committee finds a new leader.

WHAT WE’RE TALKING ABOUT

See ya, Derrick Rose! Grizzlies fans had mixed feelings on X about Rose’s request to be released from his contract.

But there’s hope for one two-way player (with a very famous dad) to possibly move up in the rotation. 

And that’s all for now, folks! Watch where you put those commas, okay? 

.....