Is your tummy growling yet? It’s Wednesday, Nov. 26, and if you’re cooking Thanksgiving dinner, you should definitely bake the cornbread for your dressing today — if you haven’t already. You can also bake the pies today to save time tomorrow. 

If you’re not busy in the kitchen, there’s plenty of basketball to watch. The Memphis Tigers will play Southern Illinois at FedExForum. And the Memphis Grizzlies are in New Orleans to play the Pelicans — but possibly without Zach Edey.

THE NEED TO KNOW

Teen arrested in St. George’s case: An unnamed 14-year-old suspect has been charged with aggravated rape, following an alleged sexual assault at St. George’s Independent School in Collierville. Two separate assaults — one on Sept. 12 and another on Oct. 8 — were recently reported, and it’s not clear which assault the 14-year-old is charged with committing. This is the second arrest related to the assaults; former St. George’s basketball player Bryant Swing Jr. was arrested earlier this month and charged with evidence tampering in the case.

The National Guard walked through Tom Lee Park on Sunday, Oct. 12, in Memphis. (George Walker IV/AP file)

Federal charges for officer assaults: Eleven men have been federally charged for allegedly assaulting Memphis Safe Task Force officers during traffic stops. In one case, Justin Hardaway, 26, allegedly got out of his car while it was still moving as he attempted to flee a traffic stop. The car then almost hit a group of children getting out of a school bus, according to law enforcement. The Memphis Safe Task Force offered other examples of officer assaults in a press release Tuesday, but some were quite a bit tamer than Hardaway’s case.

How long will the guard be here? A judge blocked the National Guard’s deployment to Memphis last week, so why are guard members still strolling through the city’s entertainment hotspots? The answer revolves around the state’s appeal of that ruling, and it’s legally complicated. But The Daily Memphian’s Samuel Hardiman breaks it down here. Regardless of what happens with the appeal, the guard will be here until at least early December.

Shelby County Sheriff Floyd Bonner Jr. said in a recent interview the office is now partnering with the state and federal governments to house inmates at other facilities to make more space. (Patrick Lantrip/The Daily Memphian file)

Judges tell SCSO, clerk to get it together: All nine Shelby County Criminal Court judges signed an order Monday demanding the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office and the Shelby County General Sessions Court Clerk’s Office fix problems causing court-case delays. The order accuses the sheriff’s office of not bringing inmates to court and the clerk’s office of several administrative errors, like mislabeling misdemeanor crimes as felonies. The judges, sheriff’s office and clerk’s office have been at the center of discussions on how the Memphis Safe Task Force has affected the local criminal justice system.

Whiteside backlash: DeSoto County School Board members are encouraging Mississippi state lawmakers to bring back an old bill that could one day be used to remove one of their own. The push comes after public calls for board member Michele Henley to resign after she showed support for former youth pastor and ex-DeSoto County High coach Lindsey Whiteside. Whiteside pleaded guilty to state charges of sexual battery of a minor, and she’s now facing a federal trial for similar charges. 

QUOTED

“What I do is I wake up each and every day excited about the work, committed to the work, and feeling at this point in time I’m the right person for such a time as this,” said Memphis-Shelby County Schools Interim Superintendent Roderick Richmond. (Mark Weber/The Daily Memphian file)

“I think they need someone at the helm ... who knows the [MSCS] district, who knows the community. ... I think I’m the person for that.”

— Roderick Richmond, Memphis-Shelby County Schools interim superintendent
On a recent interview on WKNO-TV’s “Behind The Headlines,” Richmond said he wants the permanent superintendent job. He’s been leading MSCS for most of the year, after former leader Marie Feagins’ January firing. Richmond outlined a few reasons why he thinks he’s the guy for the job.

THE NICE TO KNOW

The only Belly Acres left is in Collierville on S. Houston Levee Road. (Sophia Surrett/The Daily Memphian file)

Belly up: Belly Acres is not coming to Bartlett. The local burger chain had signed a lease for a space in the new Union Depot. But the mixed-use project’s developers confirmed the owner is backing out. That news comes just a few months after Belly Acres was evicted from its East Memphis location. And it sounds like Belly Acres’ plans to branch out to Nashville may have fallen through, too.

The Whitehaven Starbucks includes a drive-thru and 34 parking spaces. (Dima Amro/The Daily Memphian)

Starbucks sold: The building that houses the Whitehaven Starbucks on E. Shelby Drive has a new owner. Wyoming-based real estate investor Keith Jorgensen bought the site for $2 million, and a local real-estate rep said Elon Musk’s nearby xAI site may have sparked Jorgensen’s interest. Read more on that in Inked, plus news of the next life for a 1970s-era apartment building on Old Getwell Road.

Memphis Grizzlies center Jonas Valanciunas (middle) drove to the basket against Detroit Pistons defenders Isaiah Stewart (left) and Mason Plumlee (right) on Friday, Feb. 19, 2021. (Mark Weber/The Daily Memphian file)

Jega! Memphis Grizzlies fans can thank Jonas Valanciunas for introducing that Lithuanian word for “strength” into the local lexicon. Valanciunas was acquired from the Toronto Raptors in 2019 in exchange for Core Four member Marc Gasol. And though he had Gasol’s build, he played more like Zach Randolph. Our own Chris Herrington called him “a walking, talking Ga-Z-Bo.” (Clever, Chris.) Valanciunas, who once showed up on the bench in a custom denim wolf jacket, is No. 20 in our series of the top 25 Grizzlies.

”Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery” stars Josh O’Connor (left) and Daniel Craig (right). (Courtesy Netflix)

Thanksgiving whodunit: After the family has stuffed themselves silly, load up the car and head to a Malco for a good, old-fashioned murder mystery. “Wake Up Dead Man,” the third installment in the Agatha Christie-style “Knives Out” series, features Daniel Craig as the detective and Josh O’Connor as a former boxer-turned-priest. Oh, and Glenn Close is in it. Read more on that in Memphis Movies This Week. And brush up on the classic “Wizard of Oz” on the big screen.

WHAT WE’RE TALKING ABOUT

Happy Thanksgiving, and be safe cooking the big meal tomorrow. The Bartlett Fire Department shared this terrifying video of what can go wrong with a turkey fryer. 

The Early Word will be on a Thanksgiving break Thursday and Friday. But we’ll back bright and early — and fueled by a weekend of leftovers — on Monday morning!

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