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It’s Thursday, Dec. 12, and entrepreneurship nonprofit Epicenter is hosting its annual Demo Day. Five med tech startups, including a Memphis business that uses AI to analyze patient health data, will showcase their new companies at the Cadre Building.

Also today, the Land Use Control Board will take up a proposed new gas station on Mendenhall Road in Parkway Village, but it’s coming to the board with an unfavorable recommendation for a few reasons. Among them, the station is located near an aquifer recharge zone. 

THE NEED TO KNOW

Booking and processing at the Shelby County Jail, which should normally take just a few hours, is taking days, lawyers said. (Mark Weber/The Daily Memphian file)

‘Disgusting’ conditions at jail intake: Some local defense attorneys are speaking out about the state of the Shelby County Jail’s intake area, where inmates are booked and processed into the jail. Just last month, a man died of a “medical emergency,” according to Shelby County Sheriff Floyd Bonner, while waiting in intake. The attorneys say the intake area has a lack of beds and overcrowded holding cells. “They’re all using one toilet, and it’s disgusting,” said one attorney. To make matters worse, booking and processing is taking days.

“This [xAI] expansion project is only going to exponentially degrade what we are trying to protect,” said KeShaun Pearson, president of Memphis Community Against Pollution. (Patrick Lantrip/The Daily Memphian file)

Power grab? Last week, Elon Musk’s xAI announced plans to vastly expand its supercomputer, and that has environmental advocates worried about what that means for air quality and the region’s power grid. The Tennessee Valley Authority likely can’t accommodate hundreds more megawatts of growth for xAI, so xAI may have to build a private power plant. Or TVA may have to, which means taxpayers would be paying for that. Either way, KeShaun Pearson, president of Memphis Community Against Pollution, calls xAI “energy vampires” who are “bolstering corporate infrastructure with fossil fuel,” which “exacerbates climate change.”

“I would just say ... we really want to see where you all stand on this issue. It is a tough vote,” Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris told Shelby County commissioners before the 8-0-1 vote on Frayser high funding. (Patrick Lantrip/The Daily Memphian file)

Frayser high funding gets first OK: A Shelby County Commission committee took a first step Wednesday toward approving $40 million in county funding for a new high school in Frayser. The matter now goes to the full 13-member commission next week. The money was part of capital funding for a new Cordova high school, but the plan for that school to be built near Shelby Farms Park was voted down by the Memphis City Council. Dozens of students from Frayser’s Trezevant High School, which would be replaced with this new school, showed up to the meeting to make the plea for why a school is needed. 

MEET MEMPHIS

Pat Pope has been the office manager for Junior League of Memphis for 35 years. (Patrick Lantrip/The Daily Memphian)

Pat Pope isn’t a member of the Junior League of Memphis, but it probably wouldn’t be the same without her. Pope has worked as the Junior League’s office manager for 35 years, and she’s seen many organization presidents come and go. In fact, the Junior League elected a new president annually for a number of years, so she spent a good deal of her career getting to know new bosses. “If you got a really good one, it was great. If you got a really bad one, you’d think, ‘She’ll be moving on,’” said Pope. She’s also the one who fills Junior League cookbook orders, manages the member portals, collects the dues, answers the phones and just about anything you can think of to keep the office running smoothly.

THE NICE TO KNOW

Houston’s cited staffing and public safety concerns when it closed last week. (Jennifer Chandler/The Daily Memphian)

Life after Houston’s: Some of you are devastated by the loss of Houston’s, which closed its only Memphis location last week. But local chef Patrick Reilly, owner of The Majestic Grille and Cocozza, shared some thoughts on Houston’s that went viral last week. Even though he was a fan of Houston’s spinach dip, French dip and the salads, he pointed out that the Phoenix-based chain “never meaningfully engaged with or gave back to the community.” And he offered some advice for how to choose which places to eat in the future.

Memphis Grizzlies forward Jaren Jackson Jr. carried the team in the fourth quarter in its historic win over the Boston Celtics on Dec. 7. (Mark Stockwell/AP)

Hey now, he could be an All-Star: Memphis Grizzlies star Jaren Jackson Jr. is an all-around star: He’s a master on the defense, and he’s become a threat on the offense, too. Plus, the man’s ambidexterity means he can shoot with his left and right hands. That’s why The Daily Memphian’s Chris Herrington explains how this could make him a candidate for three big NBA accolades.

“[Toni Williams’] leadership will help ensure that our infrastructure, systems and processes are optimized to support our mission and drive student impact,” said Jessica Wilbanks, a spokesperson for TNTP. (Ian Round/The Daily Memphian file)

Toni, Toni, Toni: Former Memphis-Shelby County Schools Interim Superintendent Toni Williams has taken a new finance job at TNTP, a national teacher training nonprofit. Williams became MSCS’ temporary superintendent in August 2022, after Superintendent Joris Ray resigned amid allegations that he’d violated district policy by having affairs with school system employees. Williams sought the permanent superintendent role, but some board members wanted a leader with a more extensive background in education. After current Superintendent Marie Feagins took over, Williams worked as a financial consultant to MSCS. 

Zimmerman won’t face contempt charges: Joshua Zimmerman, who escaped a Hernando courthouse in June and went on the lam until August, won’t face charges of contempt for his failure to appear on the day he escaped, a judge ruled Monday. But Zimmerman is still facing a host of other charges, including attempted murder and kidnapping. He was arrested in August in Chicago after a manhunt that lasted more than two months. 

WHAT WE’RE TALKING ABOUT

Winter is coming, y’all. Fun fact: The constellation Orion is visible in winter in the northern hemisphere. So, when ABC24 meteorologist Cory Smith saw Orion from his plane, he knew what House Stark has been knowing for centuries.

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