Wherever you go, be safe, watch out for others and make sure to do at least one cannonball off the diving board.

John Zeanah’s new role with the City of Memphis boils down to an essential question: “How do we best pull the levers of city government in order to advance goals for housing, for community development, for economic development?”

Also happening this week: The Shelby County Commission meets, but don’t expect any major decisions about the county budget.

“It’s about the mother of the child who is going to school with your child,” Hospitality Hub Executive Director Kelcey Johnson said. “After school you take your child home. The other mother is taking her child to truck stops.”

For years, he has led Memphis’ efforts at smart growth. Much of that smart growth work was embodied in the city’s comprehensive plan, known as Memphis 3.0. 

The announcement was the kickoff of rebuilding efforts for the historic church. 

Virtually any time Memphis gets enough wind, ice, rain or snow to disrupt the power, the howls start up again: Bury the power lines no matter the cost! But that cost usually dampens those howls.

With affordable tuition and help with job placement, Tech901 often attracts career changers, people who are underemployed or stuck in jobs without growth — including many college grads.

Memphis police officers are poised to secure a 5% pay raise.

Also happening this week: Memorial Day is Monday, and there’s a reception for the work that replaced Midtown’s Union Centre blue-dog paintings.

Medals will be sent out for the top times, but the cash prizes will not be given.

New budget proposal relies on rosy projections, cutting MATA funding in half and extending ongoing hiring freeze.

Before the April 28 fire at the Downtown church, there were fires at the Memphis home of the nonprofit’s leader and another in East Tennessee at a property owned by her family.

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Clayborn Temple fire was arson, MFD says

A stretch of Riverside Drive will be closed to allow for the construction of what it is calling a road-diet conversion.

The Memphis and Shelby County Economic Development Growth Engine committed the money to build an economic development plan for South Memphis neighborhoods. 

The fire that destroyed the Clayborn Temple last month was set intentionally, the Memphis Fire Department said in an X post Wednesday afternoon.

The U.S. Department of Justice said Wednesday, May 21, that it was dropping the civil rights investigation into the Memphis Police Department and retracting its previous findings into MPD. 

The council also decided Tuesday, May 20, an appeal of a two-lot subdivision planned by one of its members in East Memphis and rejected a truck lot at Shelby Drive and Tchulahoma Road.

In a surprise move, the Memphis City Council suspended its rules and voted on raises for solid waste employees, machinists and police officers. But the mayor has warned it could mean cutting 550 positions. 

The Memphis City Council expressed frustration about the state of Downtown, also pushing to move 201 Poplar and change the state of Beale Street.

Elon Musk confirmed in an X post how much electricity xAI’s second Memphis data center, Colossus 2, could use. 

The Tuesday council day at City Hall also features a full briefing on a 120-year old brick culvert beneath the fire department’s maintenance shop that is at risk of “catastrophic failure.”

Chandler announced last week that he was leaving his position as executive director of the Germantown Performing Arts Center.

Progress on xAI’s water-recycling facility has slowed to a bureaucratic trickle, but construction could come like a flood in a matter of weeks. 

Also happening this week: The city’s new arts office wants to hear from local artists about how it can help them thrive.