Blackburn was missing from a gubernatorial forum, the County Clerk has new hours and fifth graders are creating public art. 

There are several large, vacant buildings in Downtown Memphis — The Sterick, 100 N. Main and the Falls Building — that are in various stages of redevelopment. 

The Memphis Safe Task Force, book bans and the two-party system were among the issues Jerri Green, Lauren Pinkston and David Hatley discussed in the forum by the Tennessee Press Association and Middle Tennessee State University.

From a 1-inch, black-and-white photo taken more than eight decades ago, Jason Colbert painted a portrait of former University of Memphis President Richard Jones.

“They can meet. They can talk. They cannot act,” Shelby County Chancellor JoeDae Jenkins said of the state-appointed oversight board on Tuesday, Oct. 27.

Meanwhile, the Clerk’s Office continues to close in-person vehicle registrations and renewals one day a month to deal with a backlog and for staff training.

County Commission won’t ditch the MSCS lawsuit, Anthropic is sued for adapting Elvis songs and things are looking up Downtown. 

Voters in Bartlett, Collierville, Germantown, Lakeland and Millington will soon be going to the polls to decide local races for aldermen, commissioners and mayors. 

The Shelby County Board of Commissioners also delayed action on two ordinances dealing with data centers and appointed two new judicial commissioners.

Early voting through Saturday in Shelby County is approximately 11,000 off the 2018 pace of early voting for the same midterm election cycle. 

There’s still no plan to pay for a new Regional One, a Millington fugitive was found in Slovenia and we’ve got your Thanksgiving pumpkin pie recipe.

Seth Walls was freed on $15,000 in bonds after Haley Reedy’s 2022 shooting death, then fled to Europe. Her family’s anniversary plea finally reached the right person.

Now a University of Memphis student, drummer Corbin Brassell has released his debut single.

Work is clearing the former Commercial Appeal site on Union Avenue, but Regional One says it won’t spend a second $14.4 million in county money without a clear funding plan.

Also happening this week: The Tigers play the Razorbacks, and early voting ends.

The proposal to exit the lawsuit over the state takeover of MSCS’ elected board didn’t have enough votes in committee last week. The commission also votes on a new data center moratorium in the unincorporated county. 

“Lines have been drawn across neighborhoods, separating people who share streets, schools, churches and hopes for their children. But we are still one Memphis. And when the election is over, we will still be neighbors.”

The consulting group advising Memphis schools’ state takeover board has worked on similar efforts nationwide, including a Colorado takeover that ended in a lawsuit, and has been the subject of federal and state investigations in Florida.

The company now faces more than $226 million in liens against its Memphis and Southaven properties.

NuvaCare opened in Cordova on Oct. 19. Its doctor and others say it’s needed as more bilingual services are needed in medical settings in the Memphis area.

Memphis’ major violent-crime rate has continued falling throughout the year, according to the latest data from the Memphis Shelby Crime Commission.

Relatives said Tyrin Johnson, who was shot and killed by the National Guard, had traveled from Nashville to Memphis for the July 4 weekend to help shoot a music video.

Also in the political roundup, Jerri Green votes early, Marsha Blackburn returns to the culture wars, Molder and Hatcher share a stage in Spring Hill and Mayor Paul Young touts violence intervention without the Task Force.

Kuhn, the former Shelby County Criminal Court clerk who is running for Congress, and her husband were injured in a car crash in Memphis.

Starry Nights, Shelby Farms’ annual holiday light show, will return this winter with major upgrades and new attractions around the park.