The Early Word: Nash teen made Mem threats, and guns are still on the ballot
Opa! It’s Friday, Sept 20, and you can eat all the spanakopita, moussaka and baklava your little heart desires at the Memphis Greek Festival, which starts today and runs through Saturday. Later tonight, there’s gonna be a whole lotta shakin’ goin’ on in Southaven as a new Jerry Lee Lewis statue is unveiled in Silo Square, and the Mid-South Fair is underway at Landers Center. (Surely, you can get shaken up by rides on the mid-way.)
On Saturday, WLOK president and CEO Art Gilliam will be inducted into the National Black Radio Hall of Fame in Atlanta. But here at home, you can celebrate Hispanic culture at Overton Square’s Latin Fest or eat your weight in ’za at the Memphis Pizza Festival. For more weekend fun, check out this week’s very packed To-Do List.
A teen from Nashville was arrested Thursday for threats made to Southwind High School. Those threats resulted in a Memphis-Shelby County Schools lockdown on Wednesday, though none of threats were acted on. The teen is one of five people, including three Whitehaven High students, arrested in connection with threats made to various schools. After a district-wide lockdown Wednesday, at least three MSCS schools, including Crosstown High, and additional schools not in the district, closed or shifted to online learning on Thursday after more violent threats were made.
“[Legislative leaders] don’t care about Shelby County. It’s less to do about the people and more to do about the politics,” said Memphis City Council chair JB Smiley Jr.
Smiley said on Thursday that the city’s gun-control referendum will be on the November ballot. That’s after the Shelby County Election Commission bowed to pressure from Republican leaders in Nashville and decided not to include the ballot questions. But then the Memphis City Council sued the Election Commission — and won. In reaction, Memphis Mayor Paul Young, who has concerns about the referendum, said “it’s out of my hands.”
Plus, FedEx Corp. missed Wall Street’s mark, a newspaper-inspired bar opens Downtown and you can claw your way to a good time at the mall.
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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. In her days as a reporter, she covered everything from local government and crime to LGBTQ issues and the arts. She’s the author of “Cookin Crunk: Eatin’ Vegan in the Dirty South,” a cookbook of vegan Southern recipes.
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