The Early Word: When will the guard get here? What’s brewing near Broad?

Bianca Phillips By , Daily Memphian
Published: September 19, 2025 6:15 AM CT Premium

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Ahoy, Memphis! It’s Friday, Sept. 19, International Talk Like a Pirate Day, and if you need some help brushing off your scallywag skills, this here pirate translator should help. On a more local note, it’s also Park(ing) Day, and the Downtown Memphis Commission has transformed parking spaces along Peabody Place into tiny parks. 

For more weekend fun, see The To-Do List. 

Partisan divide over guard: Support for the National Guard deployment in Memphis is deeply divided along party lines

‘Within the next two weeks’: That’s the timeline from Memphis Mayor Paul Young on the start of a federal crime-fighting effort.

Moving on up? If one Lakeland commissioner gets her way, she’ll have to start driving Downtown for commission meetings.

Brandon Clarke gets tackled … by second graders. Yes, our Memphis Grizzlies big man was nearly taken down by about 15 kids.

Ramble on: Something new is brewing near the Broad Avenue Arts District. 

You might get a kick out of this: Memphis is getting its own soccer team again.

How to ward off vampires: Keep this week’s $15 Deal in your back pocket for spooky szn.

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Bianca Phillips

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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