Also happening this week: Judge Melissa Boyd is due in court, and there are plenty of ways to celebrate Easter.

A suspicious package call shut down part of Union Avenue Thursday afternoon, March 21, as the Memphis Police Department investigated a possible bomb threat.

Friends and family recalled Nigel Lewis as a talented attorney and a tireless advocate for his clients. He also is remembered for his Catholic faith, his “glowing” personality and his love of the jam band Phish.

Nearly a year and a half after Memphis Light, Gas and Water’s smart meters started breaking — and just as the utility thought it was almost done repairing them — another issue has arisen. 

The outage shortened the council’s meeting and hindered its online capabilities, including its Granicus and YouTube feeds and the body’s electronic voting system. Most of the council’s business was delayed to the April 9 meeting.

Related story:

City of Memphis internet affected by Comcast outage

The Daily Memphian has contacted Comcast for more information about the outage and is awaiting response.

The former TV journalist was supposed to start work at the utility in early March, but a month-long delay by the City Council left her in limbo. 

Related story:

MLGW pushes back on council proposal for more say-so on contracts, salaries

Had the proposed limits been in place last year, the Memphis City Council would have needed to approve about a tenth of MLGW’s new external hires, or 23 employees. 

Wayne Tabor said Memphis Tourism had offered the city and county $30 million on Monday but “they keep wanting more and more.” 

After MPD announced a new first-line supervisory rank — second lieutenant — and promotion process in February of last year, the police union filed a grievance.

Memphis Urban Wood planned to turn a vacant 10-acre property on North Watkins Street into a facility that transforms wood waste into lumber and wood compost. 

The Memphis City Council’s Tuesday meeting also includes a vote on a $200,000 salary for a new MLGW vice president that the council delayed two weeks ago.

State Sen. Brent Taylor told The Daily Memphian Monday morning that he is working on a bill allowing Shelby County to reallocate hotel-motel tax funding to cover the public financing gap for the Downtown Memphis arena’s renovations. 

Also happening this week: Black Restaurant Week begins and March 20 is Pat Halloran Day.

Tyre Nichols’ parents have released a letter asking to sit down with Gov. Bill Lee before he signs a bill that would ban traffic stop ordinances like the one passed by the Memphis City Council.

Related story:

Tyre Nichols’ parents furious after meeting with state Sen. Brent Taylor

Latest cost estimates for the proposed Frayser area high school 

While the new Frayser high school is being built on the current site of MLK Prep, those students will have to attend another school. Then, once the new school is built, Trezevant High School will close. 

Cost estimates for the new high school proposed for the Cordova area.

The cost of building new high schools in Cordova and Frayser has more than doubled since the projects were first proposed. The debate about what to do involves money, equity and what amenities are needed for a state-of-the-art school.

Related stories:

From MLK Prep to Trezevant and back again

New Frayser high school overview

New Cordova high school overview

While I-55 bridge repairs are underway, the Tennessee and Arkansas departments of transportation are waiting to hear how much the federal government will contribute to the cost of replacing the Memphis-Arkansas Bridge. 

The event is sponsored by Turning Point, which describes itself as on a mission to build the largest, most-active conservative group on high school and college campuses in the nation. 

Memphis Mayor Paul Young’s comments come as the city, county and Grizzlies' pursuit of more funding for FedExForum reaches a critical juncture.

A proposed bill could change how local hotel and motel tax is distributed; any reallocation of the existing hotel-motel tax would likely mean Memphis Tourism losing revenue. 

The forms that have been filed shed light on money that flowed to different council candidates and how races in various parts of the city have wide gaps in dollars spent and cost per voter. 

The 112-page report outlines numerous strategies for Mayor Paul Young’s four-year term of office, including several sets of crime strategies from ‘drones as first responders’ to cooperating with the Justice Department investigation of the MPD.