Dig out your rainbow everything, Memphis. It’s Friday, June 5, and Pride Month is in full swing this weekend. The festivities kick off tonight with the space-themed Big Gay Dance Party at Crosstown Theater. And Saturday brings the annual Mid-South Pride parade and festival on Beale Street. 

You can catch a drag performance by Bela d’Ball at “Overripe and Untethered,” an art show at Studiohouse on Malvern Saturday. That event, held in the shadow of Crosstown Concourse, also involves a choreographed umbrella dance by a group of so-called Pizza Witches.

On Sunday, there’s all-you-can-eat ice cream at the appropriately named Memphis Ice Cream Festival. But get your ticket for that now, because last year’s event was a sellout. For more weird weekend fun, go here.

THE NEED TO KNOW

A dispute between the owner and a former employee of Ardent Studios is threatening the future of a music icon. (Patrick Lantrip/The Daily Memphian)

Record scratch: The future is uncertain for the famed Ardent Studios, as a battle between its owner and a former employee plays out with dueling lawsuits. Mark Baranauskas, aka Mark Danger, claims Ardent owner Betty Fry failed to pay him, locked him out of the building and reneged on a verbal promise of 50% ownership in Ardent. And Fry claims Baranauskas was actually paid but sold Ardent’s equipment and pocketed the proceeds. Ardent, which once hosted ZZ Top, Bob Dylan, R.E.M. and many other famous acts, has been shuttered since January.

Robert Hartheimer 

Ex-bank CEO sentenced: Former Evolve Bank & Trust CEO Robert Hartheimer, 69, was sentenced to 51 months in prison Thursday for attempted production of child porn and attempted coercion of a minor for sex. Hartheimer was arrested in October 2025 for using Grindr to solicit sex with a 15-year-old boy — who was actually an undercover FBI agent. The judge attributed Hartheimer’s relatively light sentence to his age and his lack of a previous criminal record. 

Concrete steps on vacant lots where houses once stood have become a symbol of the lack of quality affordable housing in Memphis. (Bill Dries/The Daily Memphian)

Home run: Vacant lots across North Memphis are filling up with new homes. That’s thanks to the Community Redevelopment Agency’s Essential Housing effort, which pairs emerging developers with empty lots in residential neighborhoods. It’s all part of Memphis Mayor Paul Young’s goal to usher in 10,000 new or renovated, affordable homes by 2030. The Daily Memphian’s Bill Dries introduces us to one Nashville-based homebuilder who’s bringing life back to once-empty lots. And in other North Memphis housing news, a New Jersey-based developer is building in a manufactured-home park.

Another inmate dies: Coltral Pondexter, 36, died early Wednesday morning after experiencing an unexplained “medical emergency” at the Shelby County Jail. His death came one day before his court date on charges related to shoplifting from TJ Maxx back in April.

MEET MEMPHIS

James Jin is a student at White Station High School and the founder of ArtFlow, a nonprofit that provides free art education to neurodivergent and minority youth. He recently won the Princeton Prize for Race Relations. (Mark Weber/The Daily Memphian)

Recent White Station High graduate James Jin used to struggle in school because of his ADHD. And then he learned how to make his neurodivergence into a “superpower.” When Jin discovered that he could hyperfixate on art, he learned how to take that same focus to his studies. And then he wanted to spread that message to other neurodivergent kids, so he founded ArtFlow. It started as a weekly, afterschool club at White Station, and now it’s a nonprofit with clubs in 214 schools across 10 countries.

THE NICE TO KNOW

Co-owners Sergio and Ingrid Vilchis opened the first Taco Prime in Bartlett in September 2025. (Michael Waddell/The Daily Memphian file)

Twinning: A couple of Memphis restaurants are seeing double. Bartlett-based Taco Prime is adding two new spots — one in Cordova and another in the former Abner’s Famous Chicken near White Station Road in East Memphis. Taco Prime serves tacos (duh) inspired by Mexico City. Local Sichuan chain Petals of a Peony is also opening two new spots — one in Raleigh and one in Southaven. Read more on those in Food Files, plus a new place in Midtown to satisfy your sweet tooth.

Central BBQ’s breakfast offerings include Circle B link sausage, an egg-and-cheese biscuit sandwich, and a bacon-egg-and-cheese sandwich on Texas Toast. (Mark Weber/The Daily Memphian)

Barbecue for breakfast: You can’t eat barbecue all day if you don’t start in the morning. And thanks to Central BBQ’s new breakfast menu, you can. Just after sunrise, they’re slinging biscuit sandwiches, burritos, Texas toast sandwiches and Tater Tot scramble bowls. And you can get a barbecue bang for your buck with most items well under $15. In fact, the Southern-style biscuit with brisket, egg and cheese is so cheap that you’ll still have room in the budget for a cocktail.

The Memphis Grizzlies are likely to trade Ja Morant soon. (Brandon Dill/AP file)

Morant Trade Watch begins: Once the NBA Finals are over, we could see a Ja Morant trade go pretty quickly. Or not. Time will tell, and our sports guys have already written plenty on why the Memphis Grizzlies might want to part ways with their fading star. But which teams would take him? Our basketball wiz Chris Herrington dives deep into the weeds with 14 potential Morant landing spots.

Senior Olympian Marcquinne Yancy practiced for a state swim meet at the reopening of the Bickford Aquatic Center in North Memphis. (Patrick Lantrip/The Daily Memphian)

In the shallow: It’s pool szn! The renovated Bickford Aquatic Center reopened Thursday in North Memphis. The facility has a new competition pool and shallow play areas for kids. The center will also serve as a training center for City of Memphis lifeguards. Six of the city’s seven outdoor pools open next week.

BEHIND THE SCENES

Our Daily Memphian food writer Sophia Surrett keeps things fun in our office with her whiteboard polls. Here’s a look at where our staffers are going this summer. 

Hope you’ve got fun summer plans. And happy Pride weekend!

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