The Early Word: Lowery is hip to the hop; Frayser may not be hip to a landfill
Happy Friday, Memphis. It’s July 5, and I hope your July 4 was filled with fun and fireworks. There was a lot going on around town, and you surely couldn’t get to every celebration, but we’ve got recaps of neighborhood parades in Memphis and a fireworks extravaganza in Southaven.
The holiday may be officially over, but there are likely still weekend cookouts and pool parties planned. If you’re heading to one, be extra careful on the roads because the Memphis Police Department will be out in full force along Highway 64 all weekend as part of a multi-county crackdown on traffic violations and impaired driving.
Better yet, just stay home and watch “Down in the Valley,” Memphis native Katori Hall’s new, six-episode docuseries on life in the South. It premieres on Starz tonight.
Memphis Wrecking Co. wants to double the size of its Frayser landfill, which is used solely for construction debris. But that plan would move the landfill closer to Whitney Elementary School, which already blames the landfill for rodents and odors at the school. The Memphis-Shelby County Schools board passed a resolution opposing the landfill’s expansion late last month. It’s not the first time Memphis Wrecking has tried to expand its landfill, and the last time didn’t go so well. But this time, they’re making more concessions to try and work with the surrounding neighborhood.
If hip-hop music were a person, it’d have its AARP card by now. The genre turned 50 years old last year, and a new hip-hop museum is in the works for Memphis. Shelby County Commissioner Mickell Lowery is leading the effort, which is now in a feasibility study stage with two firms — one from Memphis and one from California — testing the concept. Lowery said the museum could focus on Southern hip-hop and will likely include interactive exhibits, much like the National Civil Rights Museum. Learn more on The Daily Memphian’s On the Record podcast.
Plus, Memphis-Shelby County Schools saves a closed charter school, Elwood’s Shack owner gets frank on hot dogs and we look at Ed Scott’s long to-do list.
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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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