The Early Word: MSCS job cuts halted; Memphians come together to fix mural
Morning, Memphis. It’s Wednesday, June 12, and you can bet your bottom dollar that the proposed county budget will be among the discussion topics during the Shelby County Commission’s biweekly committees. And the Memphis City Council plans to push for votes on proposed budget amendments today.
The Memphis-Shelby County Schools Board of Education is halting Superintendent Marie Feagins’ plan to eliminate 1,100 positions until she can present a personnel plan to the board. Some of those positions are vacant, but about 650 employees’ jobs are on the line. Board members told Feagins they wanted better communication from her. Dozens of MSCS employees, many wearing black to protest the cuts, attended Tuesday’s specially called board meeting.
If you’ve driven under the Cooper-Young railroad trestle in the past few months, you’ve probably seen the brightly colored mural with the mantra, “We Can Do Better.” But someone apparently thought they could do better and vandalized the mural with profanity over the weekend. The mural was the brainchild of Crosstown High sophomore Kate Robinson, and numerous students spent hours creating it. Fortunately, Memphians really can do better, and our own Geoff Calkins tells us how a call for volunteers netted plenty of hands to help fix the mural.
Plus, the Memphis Police Department targets gang activity near Downtown, Jerry Lee Lewis’ home could be a museum and we look at MLGW’s top 10 water users.
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Bianca Phillips
Bianca Phillips is a Northeast Arkansas native and longtime Memphian who’s worked in local journalism and PR for more than 20 years. She’s a diehard morning person who spends her free time running marathons and ultras. She’s the author of “Cookin Crunk: Eatin’ Vegan in the Dirty South.”
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