XAI tax revenue could double, Ja Morant finally talks and we look into the world of model-train hobbyists.

This week begins with a flurry of government activity. 

How are candidates booted from primary ballots? Also in the political roundup, heads butt on the Memphis Safe Task Force, where Lee Harris and Edmund Ford Jr. agreed and recent D.C. votes on Iran air strikes.

The closures prompted questions. What would happen to students, staff and the buildings themselves? Can more closures could happen in the future, and could charter schools could be among schools on the chopping block. Let’s get into it.

While neither has kids in the district, they’ve been involved for many years.

Altruria Elementary is showing the wear-and-tear of its age leading Bartlett City Schools to plan a new school building behind the existing structure.

Every Saturday, local model railroaders meet to socialize, operate trains and work on their layouts in a warehouse-sized space.

Also happening this week: Germantown leaders consider a TIF, and there are deadlines for elected office, a Downtown restaurant contest and school-choice transfers.

A group of 10 applied for the six-month appointment to Edmund Ford Jr.’s former seat. One withdrew and another was a no-show for interviews last week. Here is who’s left.

It was a busy week for state politics, with lots of updates on immigration and bills concerning pharmacy ownership and bail reform.

Take a wild ride down memory lane with former Lakeland Mayor Mike Cunningham and his brother, Bill, and who share a fondness for old times at the fairgrounds and Libertyland.

When Cortney Richardson was a sophomore in high school, he started working with a fledgling nonprofit, Peer Power, as a tutor. Now he’s running the organization. 

When Shelby County commissioners began their budget retreat, the outlook for tough financial decisions in the upcoming budget season was as gloomy as the persistent rain and overcast skies outside the Memphis Zoo’s Teton Trek lodge.

In the past year, xAI has built out a second Memphis data center campus in Memphis’ Whitehaven neighborhood.

Students from across the Mid-South participated in an annual welding competition as a step towards mastering their craft.

The Memphis Safe Task Force was among the topics discussed in a Behind The Headlines reporters roundtable. 

“We can take inspiration and hope from Lynda Lowery’s example. Every day, we see young people realize they have a voice and start to use it. As adults, we should be called to do the same.” 

Kristi Noem’s last appearance as Department of Homeland Security Secretary came at a Nashville law enforcement conference.

Billed as “a proactive alternative to state-imposed governance,” the new intervention would create a Memphis-Shelby County Schools board committee of local elected officials and community members. 

Lawmakers argue over the West Bank, Millington wants a Lone Sailor and Brookhaven Pub is getting a fresh look.

Soup’s on. As is chili and gumbo this weekend. 

The West Cancer CEO was recently appointed to the board after board chair Bill Renick resigned in February.

A controversial bill about what to call an area of land in the Middle East makes its way through the Tennessee Legislature.

After months of legal limbo, the State of Tennessee and several Memphis Democratic elected officials squared off over the legality of the Tennessee National Guard’s deployment in Memphis. 

The former head of Shelby County’s re-entry program for previously incarcerated people and his wife could now face federal charges in addition to their state charges for allegedly misusing grant funds.