|
Here’s hoping your week is already off to a great start. It’s Monday, Oct. 21, and Baptist Health Sciences is hosting a symposium for girls interested in health and science careers. Jamila Smith-Young, the first lady of Memphis, is the keynote speaker.
Looking ahead, you have a little more than 24 hours to get your name in the proverbial hat for free tickets to the Memphis Tigers football homecoming game against Charlotte, set for this coming Saturday. Enter to win our giveaway before midnight tomorrow. And speaking of looking ahead, This Week in Memphis will help you plan your week.
THE NEED TO KNOW
 The new Memphis Area Transit Authority board could consider pausing bus-route cuts. (Patrick Lantrip/The Daily Memphian file)
Steering back on course? The Memphis Area Transit Authority’s new board will meet for the first time on Tuesday, and the main order of business will likely be TransPro’s scathing consultant report on the state of the troubled transit system. The report suggests MATA needs more buses, even though route cuts were approved by the previous board just weeks ago. Memphis Mayor Paul Young, who scrapped that old board and appointed the new members, hopes the MATA board will pause the approved route and staff cuts. The TransPro report also recommends MATA shelve its planned high-frequency bus line “until they can meet the basic needs of the customer.” We’ve also got a look at all of MATA’s new board members.
 The “guns in cars” law allows owners to store firearms in their cars. But, unlike other states, the law provides no penalties for not properly securing them. (Benjamin Naylor/The Daily Memphian file)
Sun’s out, guns taken out of cars: In 2014, Tennessee made it legal to carry a gun in your car, so long as that gun was properly secured. But here’s the catch: There’s no penalty if that gun is not secured. And unsecured guns are easy targets for thieves. In 2011, before the law’s passage, 287 guns were stolen from cars in Memphis. In 2023, almost a decade after the bill’s passage, 2,127 guns were stolen. That’s an increase of a whopping 641%. Homicides have also risen in that timeframe. In our latest “Point of Impact” story on gun violence, The Daily Memphian’s Aarron Fleming compares Tennessee’s law with ways other states handle stolen guns that were unsecured.
 The Shelby County Sheriff’s Office was on the scene of a shooting at Shelby Farms on Saturday, Oct. 19. (Jody Callahan/The Daily Memphian)
Ex-bf arrested in Shelby Farms shooting: Jackson Hopper of Tiptonville, 26, has been arrested and charged with first-degree murder in the Saturday killing of his ex-girlfriend Ellie Young at Shelby Farms Park. Young was a first-year medical student at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center, and she was shot and killed in the park’s visitors’ center parking lot, just as a breast cancer walk was ending. Hopper allegedly fled north of Shelby County after the shooting, and three Lauderdale County deputies were injured in pursuit.
Crime starters? Former Memphis Police officer Arica Hutchison is serving a six-month prison sentence for stealing $18,500 from CrimeStoppers. Hutchison, whom you might recognize from TLC’s old “Police Women of Memphis” show, would enter fraudulent data into the CrimeStoppers database. She would then share tip numbers and suspect info with an associate, identified as “KB” in Hutchison’s indictment, who would collect the tip rewards.
QUOTED
 A historical marker near Hickman, Kentucky, commemorates the 1811-1812 earthquakes that destroyed New Madrid, Missouri, and were felt in cities hundreds of miles away. (Courtesy Jimmy Emerson)
“We don’t know when [earthquakes are] going to happen, and it’s not for lack of trying.”
— Pablo Aravena, Ph.D. geophysics student at Saint Louis University
A small earthquake near Tiptonville brought tremors earlier this month, a reminder that we’re sitting on the New Madrid fault line. Seismologists try to estimate the chance of earthquakes occurring, but there’s no way to know for sure when another big one could happen.
THE NICE TO KNOW
 The new Aloft Memphis Downtown hotel has a rooftop bar. (Submitted)
Aloft lifts off: There’s a new 154-room hotel in Downtown Memphis with a rooftop bar, a movie theater, a Topgolf Swing Suite and several other amenities. The three-star Aloft Memphis hotel, located in the former Tenoke Building on B.B. King Boulevard, was supposed to open about 20 years ago, but the 2008 recession and the pandemic both pushed the timeline way, way back.
 University of Memphis receiver Koby Drake celebrated a touchdown with quarterback Seth Henigan during a game against North Texas on Oct. 19. (Patrick Lantrip/The Daily Memphian)
Another North Texas nail-biter: The Memphis Tigers won Saturday’s home game against North Texas in the final seconds. The 52-44 win came with just two seconds left on the clock after three ties and six lead changes, rivaling a similar game against North Texas last year. The Tigers’ offense scored more points in this game than in any other this season, and that was thanks in large part to running back Mario Anderson. He had his fourth 100-plus yard rushing game in seven outings so far this season, proving just how invaluable he is to the team. The Memphis Tigers football team may have won this weekend, but the Memphis Zoo is losing two tigers. The zoo threw a going-away party for its two male Sumatran tigers, who are moving to a new zoo next week.
 Memphis Grizzlies guard Ja Morant reasserted his status as the game’s greatest two-way, alley-oop threat against the Miami Heat on Friday, Oct. 18, in Memphis. (Brandon Dill/AP)
What we learned from Grizz preseason: The Memphis Grizzlies wrapped up the NBA preseason with a 114-109 loss to the Miami Heat. And though it wasn’t a win, fans still got a W with Ja Morant’s return to the court after a minor injury. So, what did we learn from the preseason? For one, rookie Zach Edey has a few kinks to work out. Our own Chris Herrington dives into that and nine more takeaways before the season starts for real on Wednesday. And in other Grizzlies news, it looks like fan fave Yuki Kawamura will be sticking around for a while. The Grizzlies signed the 5-foot-8 point guard to a two-way contract this weekend. That means the Grizzlies now have one of the tallest players (Edey) and the shortest player in the league.
What our staff eats: Over the past year, our Daily Memphian staff have shared their fave eats from these Mid-South streets on our Sound Bites podcast. And in the latest episode, two of our newest team members — marketing and development director Sarah Townsend Leach and marketing manager Lizzie Hornor — talk date night ideas, a tip on a neighborhood pub with underrated food and what to eat at Memphis Grizzlies games.
THIS WEEK’S WEATHER
Now, this is more like it. Chilly mornings, warm (but not scorching) days, no rain. Why can’t every week be like this, MemphisWeather.net?
Here’s hoping your Monday is as perfect as this forecast!
..... |
