The Early Word: Jes Shea loves her new skin, and PJ Haggerty has a new home
Good morning, Memphis. It’s Tuesday, May 27, and welcome to the four-day work week. Nothing beats a short week after a long weekend.
Here’s hoping your grills got some use this past weekend before the rain. There was a big Memorial Day celebration in Bartlett, which just became a Purple Heart City. But the suburb’s Board of Mayor and Aldermen is getting back down to business today with a city budget discussion.
Looking ahead, if you’d like to see comedian Roy Wood Jr. perform a stand-up show benefitting criminal-justice reform, you might want to get tickets today for the June 8 “Stand Up with Just City” show at Minglewood Hall. Ticket sales end on May 28. For even more looking ahead, look no further than This Week in Memphis.
Jes Shea, a trauma therapist and the founder of the Memphis Mushroom Festival, never imagined a pot of rice would change her life. But it did. Shea was just trying to cook some rice in her Mercedes Sprinter van last August when a propane leak caused a massive explosion that changed everything. Shea, 46, suffered third-degree burns over 9% of her body. A nurse told her she might die. And now, as our own Geoff Calkins tells us in today’s column, she’s sharing her story with anyone who’s curious and learning to love her new skin.
Former Memphis Tigers star PJ Haggerty will play for Kansas State next season. Memphis’ American Athletic Conference Player of the Year entered the transfer portal in April, as he also tested the NBA Draft waters. His search for a new school became a big national story when his dad started asking college teams for $4 million in name, image and likeness (NIL) funds. He’s getting far less than that at Kansas State, and sports columnist John Martin thinks it’s a decision he’ll regret.
Plus, burying power lines would cost billions, private-school vouchers are big in Memphis and a Midtown fan store is spinning its last rotation.
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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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