Morning, Memphis. It’s Thursday, Nov. 7, and the so-far undefeated Memphis Tigers women’s basketball team will play Mississippi State in an away game. Granted, they’ve only played one game so far, but undefeated is undefeated.

And looking ahead, if you want a pair of free tickets to the Tigers football game against UAB on Saturday, Nov. 16, we’re giving some away. Enter to win here before Nov 12.

THE NEED TO KNOW

“Now it is up to each of us, as well as the elected senators and representatives of the Tennessee General Assembly, to stand with the people and pass legislation to keep our neighborhoods safe,” Memphis City Council Chairman JB Smiley Jr. said. (Patrick Lantrip/The Daily Memphian file)

What the referendums mean for Memphis: Memphis voters approved all of the ballot questions put before them on Election Day. That includes three city gun-control measures that can’t take affect because of state laws. But Memphis City Council chair JB Smiley Jr. said the council is ready to take up a “trigger law” and then push for state change. Voters also approved runoffs for the Memphis mayoral election, which means the next mayor would need more than 50% of the vote, or else the top two contenders would square off in a separate race. Voters also want the next mayor to have lived in the city for a while. And they approved a measure that could mean raises are coming for Memphis City Council members.

Shelby County residents voted at the Whitehaven Community Center on Election Day, Nov. 5. (Benjamin Naylor/Special to The Daily Memphian)

Lowest voter turnout in half a century: A whole bunch of Shelby County voters just didn’t vote in this election cycle, which marked the lowest turnout in 56 years. Only about 55% of the county’s registered voters cast ballots in the presidential general election, which saw Democratic nominee and Vice President Kamala Harris carry Shelby County. In other election follow-up news, Tennessee’s two recently re-elected Republican Senators Marsha Blackburn and Bill Hagerty talked about their agendas as part of the majority, now that Republicans have clinched the Senate. Meanwhile, re-elected U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen was still holding out hope on Tuesday that Democrats would flip the House. In state House news, post-Election Day totals showed that incumbent state Rep. John Gillespie, R-Memphis, outperformed Donald Trump in his district.

Nick Robbins (left) and Chad Lindsay (right) are heading to a runoff for Alderman Position 3 in Collierville. (From left to right: Courtesy Nick Robbins; Courtesy Chad Lindsay)

Musical chairs: The fate of Collierville’s Board of Mayor and Aldermen makeup is still undecided since none of the candidates got 50% of the vote. Now, Chad Lindsay and Nick Robbins are heading to a runoff in December. And that’s not the only seat up in the air: Aldermen Maureen Fraser and Billy Patton both ran for outgoing Mayor Stan Joyner’s seat, and because the town has a resign-to-run rule, that leaves two open aldermen seats that the board will have to replace. (Fraser won the mayor’s race, by the way.) Millington’s Board of Mayor and Aldermen will also be left with a vacant seat to fill after Alderman Larry Dagen won that city’s mayoral election on Tuesday. Also in Millington, Alderman Don Lowry, who was reelected on Tuesday, said this will be his last run for office in the suburb.

Gov. Bill Lee talked with students at Battle Academy, a public school in Chattanooga on June 18. (Courtesy of the State of Tennessee)

School voucher bill is back: State House and Senate majority leaders William Lamberth and Jack Johnson filed identical universal school voucher bills on Wednesday for the General Assembly session that starts on Jan. 14. The bills bring back Gov. Bill Lee’s previously failed effort to expand private school vouchers, which died last session over disagreements within the legislature’s Republican supermajority. They would create scholarships that give up 20,000 students more than $7,000 each in public funding to pay private school tuition. There’s also a few concessions in the bills to try and sway public-school advocates.

MEET MEMPHIS

Samantha Maltin

Sesame Street is coming to Danny Thomas Boulevard. ALSAC, the fundraising organization for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, hired Samantha Maltin of Sesame Street’s Sesame Workshop. That’s the nonprofit organization behind the 55-year-old kids’ show. Maltin is ALSAC’s new chief marketing and brand officer, and she’s moving from New York City to take the job. She’s coming with 25 years of experience in branding with a resume that also includes the History Channel and Viacom/Nickelodeon. In other new ALSAC hires, Ankur Jain, formerly of Whole Foods, has been hired as the nonprofit’s first chief data and analytics officer. 

THE NICE TO KNOW

The Pink Palace Museum & Mansion is the Pink Palace once again. (The Daily Memphian file)

Call it a comeback: You can stop calling it MoSH, because the Pink Palace is back, baby! In 2021, the Pink Palace Family of Museums — an umbrella term for the Pink Palace Museum, Lichterman Nature Center and the Mallory-Neely House — rebranded as the Memphis Museum of Science and History. And the minds behind that intended for the Pink Palace to be called MoSH at the Pink Palace. But that just confused everyone, and people started calling the museum MoSH. Or, well, some people. Now, the museum’s spokespeople have issued new guidance, but the name MoSH is sticking around.

Memphis Grizzlies guard Ja Morant was defended by Los Angeles Lakers guard D’Angelo Russell on Wednesday, Nov. 6. (Nikki Boertman/AP)

Revenge is a dish best served by Ja: The Memphis Grizzlies — and especially Ja Morant — had a bone to pick with the Los Angeles Lakers and star LeBron James. And that they did Wednesday with a 131-114 win. The Lakers knocked the Grizzlies out of the playoffs in 2023, and the last time the two teams met last season, Morant was sitting on the bench with an injury. “[They] beat us on our home floor. They was laughing, playing, looking at me talking,” Morant recalled. So, he showed them last night with an excellent game (and a little trash talk). It was also a revenge game for former Lakers Scotty Pippen Jr. and Jay Huff, who never got much playing time with that franchise. And speaking of playing time, we’ve got a look at rookie Jaylen Wells, who’s been showing off his defensive skills in these early games.

The Memphis Tigers are now left with nine available scholarship players and only Nicholas Jourdain (right), Dain Dainja (center) and Moussa Cisse (left) in their frontcourt. (From left to right: Patrick Lantrip/The Daily Memphian file; Mark Weber/The Daily Memphian; Patrick Lantrip/The Daily Memphian file)

Tigers in a post-Tyreek world: Memphis Tigers basketball player Tyreek Smith quit the team and entered the NCAA transfer portal just before Monday’s season opener. The reason: a dispute over name, image and likeness (NIL) payments. Smith’s mentor, Hellion “Boog” Knight, said Bluff City Collective never coughed up money that was promised after an initial $25,000 payment. Smith was supposed to be a key piece of Memphis’ 2024-25 rotation, and Coach Penny Hardaway is having to make some last-minute changes. But don’t rule out an 11th-hour roster addition. In football news, former Memphis Tigers center Jacob Likes has really taken a liking (eh?) to offensive lineman Malachi Breland.

Reharvest Memphis is an event that partners with local restaurants to creatively reuse surplus food and avoid waste. (The Daily Memphian file)

Waste not: Years ago, I used to dumpster dive with Food Not Bombs to salvage perfectly good, discarded produce. After cleaning our finds, we cooked massive pots of chili and soups with the slightly bruised or misshapen veggies. Saving foods that would otherwise be thrown away is the idea behind Project Green Fork’s annual Reharvest dinner — only without the dumpster diving. The event, planned for next Thursday, Nov. 14, will feature JEM Dining, Muddy’s Bake Shop, Shroomlicious Meals and several others. Read more about that and PGF’s success story in this week’s Table Talk.

The Stratford was previously an event center, and it’s been purchased by Oikos Church. (Sophia Surrett/The Daily Memphian)

Take it to church: The Stratford, a former event venue that hosted weddings and corporate affairs just a few doors down from the Summer Avenue Aldi, now belongs to a church. Oikos Church in Poplar Plaza purchased the space for nearly $1.85 million. Read more about that and a new wellness clinic in Arlington in this week’s Inked column.

WHAT WE’RE TALKING ABOUT

Preorders are now open for Memphis Grizzlies rookie Zach Edey’s bobblehead. It’s part of FOCO’s 2024 rookie series, and it’s one of only three Grizzlies bobbleheads the sports merch company makes. The other two are Ja Morant and Jaren Jackson Jr.

I’ll be over here waiting for Yuki Kawamura and Jay Huff bobbleheads. Y’all have a good day!

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