Memphis Local, Sports, Business & Food News | Daily Memphian | Jane Roberts

Ricky Webb served 46 years in prison, all of them unjust

jroberts@dailymemphian.com (Jane Roberts) — Sun, 4 Jan 2026 15:18:45 -0600

With the help of Connor Webber, Memphis-based attorney for Tennessee Innocence Project, Webb , 70, was released in early October.

Memphis libraries change ‘Banned Books Week' to ‘Freedom to Read Week'

jroberts@dailymemphian.com (Jane Roberts) — Sat, 11 Oct 2025 07:24:36 -0500

Memphis Public Libraries, in an attempt to navigate the current political waters, has scrubbed its yearslong observation of Banned Books Week.

If elected to FedEx board, count on Richard Smith for legacy, family vote

jroberts@dailymemphian.com (Jane Roberts) — Tue, 26 Aug 2025 04:00:02 -0500

Analysts expect the younger Smith will have no difficulty being elected as the 13th member of what has long been a 12-member FedEx board.

Dr. Marion Dugdale championed hemophilia patients in clinics and classrooms

jroberts@dailymemphian.com (Jane Roberts) — Thu, 24 Jul 2025 13:00:01 -0500

She set up her lab in an empty room. With cobbled equipment and the blood of cows, dogs and humans, she set out to work on advances in hemophilia.

What's on the road ahead for newly independent FedEx Freight

jroberts@dailymemphian.com (Jane Roberts) — Tue, 15 Jul 2025 15:08:30 -0500

Analysts say FedEx Freight, worth $30 billion, should be traded against its peers, not locked up inside.

Memphis airport could soon bear FedEx founder's name

jroberts@dailymemphian.com (Jane Roberts) — Mon, 23 Jun 2025 05:47:21 -0500

The Memphis and Shelby County Airport Authority will introduce plan to rename Memphis’ airport in honor of the aviator, businessman and hometown hero Fred Smith.

Fred Smith upped world's expectations, all from Memphis

jroberts@dailymemphian.com (Jane Roberts) — Mon, 23 Jun 2025 05:46:11 -0500

Jack Sammons spent a portion of Saturday with the FedEx founder: “No matter how routine our regular conversations ... every time I talked to him, I felt like I was talking to Thomas Edison, an individual who changed the world.”

FedEx at 50: At U of M, FedEx finds a good ‘FIT’

jroberts@dailymemphian.com (Jane Roberts) — Sun, 22 Jun 2025 14:38:58 -0500

At the FedEx Institute of Technology, they’re ensuring Memphis isn’t a data science or artificial intelligence desert.

FedEx at 50: Memphis International's airfield never closes — that's by design

jroberts@dailymemphian.com (Jane Roberts) — Sun, 22 Jun 2025 14:37:42 -0500

In February, when rain and freezing temperatures layered trees and buildings in ice, more than 70 daytime airfield employees spent three nights at the airport — working and sleeping in shifts to keep the runways open.

FedEx at 50: Local power of FedEx rests with wealth of jobs, opportunity

jroberts@dailymemphian.com (Jane Roberts) — Sun, 22 Jun 2025 14:31:53 -0500

An estimated $1.6 billion in annual payroll from FedEx underwrites much of the local economy.

FedEx at 50: FedEx hired Annie Leibovitz to capture grit of startups, including Fred, 50 years later

FedEx at 50: 'FedEx makes every part of Memphis better'

jroberts@dailymemphian.com (Jane Roberts) — Sun, 22 Jun 2025 14:27:23 -0500

FedExForum, national golf tournaments, pandas, the area’s growing medical device industry, its IT sector — leaders say they couldn’t have happened without FedEx.

FedEx at 50: FedEx hired Annie Leibovitz to capture grit of startups, including Fred, 50 years later

jroberts@dailymemphian.com (Jane Roberts) — Sun, 22 Jun 2025 14:20:18 -0500

Images show the might, creativity it takes to start a company, reminding the world that FedEx started out the same way.

Instead of county building new Regional One, Jeff Warren has an idea

jroberts@dailymemphian.com (Jane Roberts) — Tue, 3 Jun 2025 14:52:49 -0500

For the past several months, Memphis City Councilman Jeff Warren has been giving tours of Methodist University Hospital. His goal is simple: Convince the community it doesn’t need to spend $1 billion on a new campus for Regional One.

With his sense of fairness, Brother Terence integrated CBHS

jroberts@dailymemphian.com (Jane Roberts) — Mon, 2 Jun 2025 16:22:16 -0500

The oldest Lasallian Brother in the United States, Brother Terence McLaughlin, who integrated Christian Brothers High School in 1963, died Sunday. He was 102.

Memphis writer wins fiction award with first book

jroberts@dailymemphian.com (Jane Roberts) — Sun, 1 Jun 2025 08:21:25 -0500

Novel Bookstore will host a launch party for Robert Busby’s “Bodock: Stories.” The short-story collection is set in North Mississippi during the ice storm of 1994.

New East Memphis liquor store kicks off spirited fight

jroberts@dailymemphian.com (Jane Roberts) — Tue, 27 May 2025 17:10:06 -0500

Four liquor store owners and two moms have sued the City of Memphis, the Memphis Alcohol Commission and the owner of The Station over an alleged loophole in the city’s alcohol regulations.

U of M ‘exploring options’ as it closes Holiday Inn for renovations

jroberts@dailymemphian.com (Jane Roberts) — Thu, 22 May 2025 20:35:43 -0500

The closure, which was a surprise to at least one group planning an October event at the hotel, comes as the school’s contract with the current hotel vendor comes to an end.

Lausanne brings Western education East with South Korean campus

jroberts@dailymemphian.com (Jane Roberts) — Thu, 22 May 2025 09:48:59 -0500

Lausanne is among a handful of K-12 schools in the U.S. responding to international demand for Western partners in education.

FedEx chooses insider to lead Freight spinoff

jroberts@dailymemphian.com (Jane Roberts) — Tue, 20 May 2025 19:24:45 -0500

John A. Smith is considered one of FedEx’s best operators. One analyst said, “What do you do? Put in a jockey that’s never won the derby on a horse, or do you put in a jockey that won a dozen derbies?”

Feeling a certain ennui about life? Have you tried mahjong?

jroberts@dailymemphian.com (Jane Roberts) — Sun, 18 May 2025 13:42:23 -0500

The Chinese tile game is social, strategic and good for one’s cognitive ability. It’s also becoming increasingly popular.