Opa! It’s Friday, May 7, and the 67th Memphis Greek Festival starts today. Every year, they make about 7,000 kebabs and 5,400 servings of baklava, so there’s plenty to go around. 

Saturday is going to the dogs as Crosstown Concourse holds its annual Puppy Palooza with plenty of treats, games and more butt-sniffing than your dog will know what to do with. And the Overton Park Shell’s free summer concert series kicks off with an Allman Brothers Band show. 

Sunday is Mother’s Day, and you still have time to get mom a gift or make plans, so don’t let her down. It’s also the NBA Draft Lottery when we’ll finally learn where the Memphis Grizzlies’ top draft pick number falls. For more weekend ideas, The To-Do List is your best friend.

THE NEED TO KNOW

A person left the state Capitol after a special session of the state legislature to redraw U.S. Congressional voting maps on Thursday, May 7, 2026, in Nashville. (George Walker IV/AP)

Memphis in pieces: Shelby County will be split into three U.S. House districts, after the state House and Senate approved a new Congressional map Thursday designed to dilute the Democratic vote. Lawmakers voted for a total of four bills during the special session, with one setting a new deadline for candidates in the fall U.S. House race. U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen, who represented the Democratic 9th District that was split, has vowed a legal challenge, as have several others, including Shelby County mayoral candidate Mickell Lowery. And state Rep. Brent Taylor has already declared his plan to run in the 9th. Democratic lawmakers showed up on Thursday wearing white “as a form of solidarity” against redistricting, according Sen. London Lamar. (No matter which side you fall on, you can’t say her outfit didn’t slay.)

“In my nine years on the State Board (of Education), I’ve been the only African American member,” said Darrell Cobbins, a Memphian who represents the 9th Congressional district on the State Board of Education. (Bill Dries/The Daily Memphian file)

Ripple effects: Not only is there a chance now that Memphis and Shelby County won’t have a voice in the U.S. Capitol, the new district lines could also impact local representation on state boards. Five Tennessee boards, including the State Board of Education, appoint members in alignment with the Congressional district map. Darrell Cobbins has represented the 9th District on the education board for nine years, and now he won’t be eligible for reappointment. He talked to reporter Laura Testino about what that means for Memphis-Shelby County Schools in the wake of a state takeover.

Fugitive arrested for police shooting: A man who’d been on the run since late February over an alleged police shooting was captured on Thursday morning. Danell Maxwell is accused of shooting Memphis police officer Oscar Torres-Molina during a traffic stop on Feb. 26. Maxwell was located in a woman’s attic on Thursday, and she was also arrested as an accessory after the fact.

Grahamwood students celebrated the school’s 75th birthday in 2025. (Brad Vest/The Daily Memphian file)

To the test: Memphis-Shelby County Schools third-graders might be antsy for summer break, but they’ll have one final challenge before pool time and popsicles. All MSCS third-graders will spend the last two days of school retaking state reading exams. The reason? MSCS hasn’t received results from the state from the original tests, so they don’t know which students did well and which need to retake the test to avoid summer school or tutoring. (Sort of like when no kid will fess up to doing something bad so everyone gets punished.)

QUOTED

Gerald Skahan (center) during the campaign for his judgeship in 2014. (Submitted)

“[Gerald Skahan’s] absence will be sorely noted, and his legacy long remembered.”

— Steve Mulroy, Shelby County district attorney 
Former Shelby County Judge Gerald Skahan died Tuesday at age 61, after a battle with cancer. Skahan worked as a defense lawyer and public defender before being elected judge in 2014. He was the first judge to preside over the county’s mental health court, and he’s remembered as a “giant” in the Memphis legal community.

THE NICE TO KNOW

There’s a wishing well in Memorial Park in East Memphis. Can Memphians make some wishes before Sunday’s NBA Draft? (Drew Hill/The Daily Memphian)

Luck of the draw: In this Sunday’s NBA Draft lottery, the Memphis Grizzlies have a 37.2% chance to jump into the top four picks and a 9% chance to pick No. 1. Those are some low odds, so they’re gonna need some luck. Former Grizzlies general manager Jerry West once met with Silky O’Sullivan’s allegedly lucky goat Maynard before a draft lottery, with, well, no luck. But surely, something else would work, right? The Daily Memphian’s Drew Hill runs down other ways one might find luck in Memphis — from hoodoo talismans to Danny Thomas’ nose.

The Victorian tea room at HighTee is filled with “Bridgerton”-like decor, from the wall art to the furniture to the dishes and silverware. (Sophie Surrett/The Daily Memphian)

High tea meets par-tee: In a maybe brilliant marketing move, HighTee virtual golf lounge has added, um, high tea. Leiana Lee, who co-owns HighTee with her husband Ethan Lee, owns catering business The Traveling Tearoom, so the Lees decided to open a Victorian tea room, with “Bridgerton”-inspired decor, right inside the golf spot. Read more on that in Food Files, as well as news of a new Yemeni cafe and diner. And in this week’s $15 Deal, food writer Erica Horton explains how a chicken sandwich at S.O.B. led to “a near-perfect night” where she made two new friends and flirted with a stranger.

The former Noodles Asian Bistro stands at 2936 Kirby Whitten Road. (Michael Waddell/The Daily Memphian)

Bartlett big empties: Now is the time to open a business in Bartlett. There are a bunch of empty buildings in the suburb, including the former Baby Jack’s and Noodles Asian Bistro spots, just waiting for a new owner or lessee. Baby Jack’s owner Will Clem closed his barbecue restaurant last year and he’d hoped it’d become a Goodwill drop-off spot, but the city blocked that. Now, he’s back to the drawing board.

WHAT WE’RE TALKING ABOUT

Shelby County Commissioner Mickell Lowery won the Democratic primary for county mayor on Tuesday, and you can see on this map how well he did outside the loop. Meanwhile, runner-up and Memphis City Council member JB Smiley Jr. fared well in Midtown.

Happy Mother’s Day, moms! And good luck, Grizzlies!

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