Tyre Nichols’ mom takes the stand, some MSCS buildings are in bad shape, and you can leave your Halloween skeletons up all year in Germantown. 

The Daily Memphian reviewed public records that illuminate the needs for Memphis-Shelby County Schools facilities. The assessments found about $40 million in immediate needs for the district, and some $1.38 billion in estimated upgrades.

The city can feel like it’s in crisis. The country can feel like it’s in crisis. And Monday, we all woke up to the news that Clayborn Temple had burned down.

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Landmark Clayborn Temple total loss after pre-dawn fire

Local Democrats set a May 31 date to pick a chair, Patricia Possel is the newest Shelby County election commissioner and Congressman Steve Cohen says revoking student visas is causing problems on Memphis college campuses.

The expansion will add 21,000 square feet of space, including a new pre-K facility and renovations to the existing school, including two playgrounds, two STEM labs, an updated dining hall and a chapel.

Josh Poag and a group of Memphis investors purchased the mall at 4465 Poplar Ave. in 2023 for $18.3 million and spent the last year envisioning Oak Court’s future.

During her first time ever on the stand, RowVaughn Wells describes the night her son, Tyre Nichols, was beaten by former Memphis police officers. “He hugged me and said, ‘I’ll see you later.’”

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Opening statements end in Tyre Nichols trial

“The facts here are a tragedy … but a tragedy does not mean a homicide,” said Michael Stengel, who represents one of the former police officers charged in the beating death of Tyre Nichols. 

“They were five Memphis police officers who were frustrated, mad and who let adrenaline overcome them,” said Shelby County Deputy District Attorney Paul Hagerman, lead prosecutor on the case.

Here are some observations from the state courtroom, the federal trial in September 2024 and the case overall.

“If history teaches us anything, it’s this: Clayborn Temple will rise again, because its foundation was never merely physical. It was spiritual. It was communal. And that foundation cannot be burned,” said NCRM President Russ Wigginton.

Gun violence is plaguing Memphis, an xAI meeting gets heated and Lakeland used to be a lot more fun.

In spite of the divisive legislation that may crop up in rows from January to April every year, Tennessee lawmakers actually agree on more than one may realize.

Robert Hodges, otherwise known as Prince Mongo from the planet Zambodia, has irked as many Memphians as he’s charmed throughout the years. But in an odd quirk of fate, he may well have changed Memphis history.

Also happening this week: The University of Tennessee Athletics’ department brings its “Big Orange Caravan” to Memphis.

The two victims, both students and football players at Booker T. Washington High School, have been identified. 

After four months of argument, compromise, bickering and squabble, the 2025 Tennessee General Assembly concluded April 22.

The state criminal trial for three former Memphis police officers charged in the 2023 death of Tyre Nichols begins Monday, April 28.

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Who’s who in state Tyre Nichols trial

Here’s who is who in the state trial for the former Memphis Police Department officers accused in the January 2023 beating death of Tyre Nichols. The trial starts Monday, April 28.

Founded in Downtown Memphis in the decade after the Civil War, Burke’s Book Store has survived through four locations, six sets of owners, and a rapidly changing retail landscape that has devoured many larger bookstores.

That brings the total of homicides in Memphis just this month to at least 29, according to Memphis Police Department records, through just 26 days.

Rhodes College students Sandy Mansour and Kai Virani have advanced to the finals of a national undergraduate entrepreneurship competition in Minneapolis.

A recent report from the state comptroller’s office noted inefficiencies in the local criminal justice system. Fixing them could have implications for the Shelby County Jail.

Hundreds of people packed into Fairley High’s gymnasium in Whitehaven on Friday evening largely to vent their frustration about the artificial intelligence company’s use of natural gas turbines.

“Just because the club closed does not mean the need is gone,” Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Memphis CEO Gwendolyn Woods said. “We absolutely need Boys and Girls Clubs after-school programs inside of the schools.”