Hello. It’s Tuesday, Oct. 27, and candidates for Tennessee governor will participate in the Tennessee Press Association’s gubernatorial forum tonight. We’re streaming it live on our website at 7 p.m.

Looking ahead, our annual Developing Memphis Seminar is Thursday. Speakers will give updates on the Memphis Art Museum, Regional One Health’s new hospital, the 5000 Poplar mixed-use development, the redevelopment of the Sterick Building and more. And there’s wine and cheese at the end. Get your tickets here. 

THE NEED TO KNOW

“It’s absolutely shameful that the State of Tennessee is using our children this way for this power grab, and that’s all it is,” said Shelby County Commissioner Henri Brooks about the state school takeover. (Mark Weber/The Daily Memphian file)

Should they stay or should they go? The Shelby County Commission voted Monday to stay involved in the Memphis-Shelby County Schools lawsuit over the state takeover. The vote was along party lines with Commissioner (and Democrat) Henri Brooks calling the takeover a grab for “power and control” and Commissioner Michele Dial (a Republican) saying it’s “all about the children and their education.” Meanwhile, commissioners delayed votes Monday on a data-center moratorium and a framework for developing new data-center regulations. 

A lawsuit from the rights holders to Elvis Presley songs states that Anthropic “has built its entire business model based on copyright infringement at a scale never seen before.” (The Daily Memphian file)

Suspicious minds: The rights holders to hundreds of Elvis Presley songs are suing AI company Anthropic for copyright infringement. The lawsuit alleges that chatbot Claude copied and created adaptations of Elvis’ most popular songs, like “All Shook Up” and “Don’t Be Cruel,” based on copyrighted lyrics without license or payment. The plaintiffs are seeking about $41 million.

Early voting before the Nov. 3 Election Day ends Thursday, Oct. 29. (Mark Weber/The Daily Memphian file)

Get out the vote: If you haven’t voted yet, stop reading now and add a reminder to your calendar. (I’ll wait.) Early voter turnout in Shelby County is down by about 11,000 votes from the last midterm election cycle. As of Saturday, nearly 110,000 early and absentee ballots had been cast in Shelby County so far. Early voting ends Thursday. Need some help? Here’s our guide to every candidate and ballot amendments to the Tennessee Constitution and Memphis city charter.

QUOTED

Downtown Memphis Commission President and CEO Chandell Ryan spoke during the State of Downtown event Oct. 26. (Mark Weber/The Daily Memphian)

“Downtown recovery is no longer the same as office recovery. ... The question for Memphis is ‘what are we going to build on?’””

— Chandell Ryan, Downtown Memphis Commission president and CEO
Ryan spoke at the DMC’s annual State of Downtown address Monday. Ryan said Memphis’ Downtown recovered faster from the pandemic than some other downtowns. But with many offices offering hybrid schedules, Ryan said Downtown has to diversify its offerings.

THE NICE TO KNOW

Memphis Grizzlies forward Cedric Coward battled Utah Jazz guard Josh Green or a rebound on Monday, Oct. 26, in Salt Lake City. (Rob Gray/AP)

Teamwork makes the dream work: The Memphis Grizzlies are still undefeated after last night’s 110-105 win over the Utah Jazz. But there wasn’t any one player racking up the points. Forward Cedric Coward held the team high with only 16 points, so it was a combo of players, including eight different Grizzlies combining for 16 made 3-pointers that helped win the game. The Grizzlies 4-0 record is the best team start since the 2014-2015 season. In other Grizz news, Chris Herrington tackles some season predictions in a fun “true or false” format. And Geoff Calkins talks on his new podcast with sports writer John Martin about the Grizzlies’ hot start to the season. (He also talks to a sex therapist on the show, so there’s that.)

Memphis Tigers’ Nemanja Popovic has been cleared by the NCAA for two seasons of eligibility, the university announced on Monday. (Courtesy Memphis Athletics)

Big wait: The Memphis Tigers’ Serbian big man has been cleared to play but not right away. Nemanja Popovic was cleared by the NCAA for two seasons of eligibility, but he will have to serve a six-game withholding period to begin the season due to previous international competition. That would mean Popovic wouldn’t be eligible to play until the second game in the Battle 4 Atlantis in the Bahamas. The Tigers are appealing that ruling.

AutoZone to FedEx: Jamere Jackson is playing Memphis Fortune 500 company musical chairs. The chief financial officer of Memphis-based AutoZone Inc. will step down next month for a new role as the CFO at local shipping giant FedEx Corp. He’ll succeed Claude Russ, who has been filling in as FedEx’s interim CFO.

WHAT WE’RE TALKING ABOUT

Memphis Grizzlies rookie Cam Boozer has had some time to explore the restaurant suggestions that poured in after he was drafted. And Cozy Corner got his seal of approval.

Have a beautiful day!

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