Some nights begin with a bang. The 2018 Memphis Music Hall of Fame induction ceremony started with a ball of fire.

If you’re not mad, you’re not paying attention.

Memphians of a certain vintage may recall a time when the rest of Tennessee disparaged us as Big Shelby. It was a backhanded way of expressing East and Middle Tennessee’s resentment of – and, truth be told, our own vaulting pride in – the power wielded by Memphis and Shelby County in the state’s politics and government.

One of the more memorable Memphis cultural moments of the past several years was Justin Timberlake’s 2015 induction speech for the Memphis Music Hall of Fame.

“People make choices. Choices make history.”

I was having a pint in the Eagle when I heard them.

There’s a bit early in Primary Colors, Joe Klein’s written-as-Anonymous 1996 roman a clef on the 1992 Bill Clinton campaign, that comes to me from time to time.

Throughout my career in politics, I have always worked to amplify the voice of the voters that I have been fortunate enough to represent. In that spirit, I urge everyone to vote against the creatively worded charter amendments on the ballot in the Nov. 6 election.

The politics of fear and division, playing out at the national level, has literally hit home.

In a letter I wrote supporting Joe DiPietro for president of the University of Tennessee, I noted that he gained the respect and cooperation of the UT Institute of Agriculture faculty, staff and students during a difficult time of state of Tennessee funding reductions.

UP TO THE WOMEN.

Two weeks ago in this space, I suggested The Memphis 10 would be taking a two-week hiatus, one for some fall break family travels and a second for an NBA/Grizzlies opening-week workload.

Picture this scenario: A man with a gun is chasing on foot another man, who may or may not be armed.

As I begin my journey of service as Sheriff of Shelby County, I am humbled by the faith this community has placed in me.

You have probably heard some public discourse around the use of code names for projects seeking incentive packages in our community.

This morning I rode my bike east on the Greenline and through Shelby Farms thinking about how perfect the fall morning is and what a great asset we have in our bike paths, parks and recreational areas.

“The job is basically getting 7,000 people to stop bickering and remember why they got into this business,” he said stoically before breaking into his trademark grin. “Should be pretty simple.” A recent acquisition and a second pending acquisition were about to triple the size of the “family” as Phil Trenary lovingly referred to his Pinnacle Airlines employees, and Phil understood his culture was falling behind. “We need to stop behaving like separate airlines and start acting like one.”

Of all the health care issues that any community faces, infant mortality causes the most heartbreak. Nothing matters more than giving our babies – each and every one of them – a fighting chance. Nowhere has it mattered more than in Memphis.

Accusations of sexual assault and resulting trauma have dominated the news during the last few weeks. In its wake a much-needed public debate has ensued about how the memory works when one experiences a trauma.

ANNAPOLIS, Maryland – For U.S. Naval Academy Midshipman C.J. McCoy of Memphis, whose goal is to be a naval aviator, the life lesson that got him here is straight forward: “Don’t give up.” 

We, my friends, are being had – and we should have none of it.

If you want to really know your country, Memphis is a good place to start. Artists such as Howlin’ Wolf and Elvis Presley brought American culture together and sent it around the world from a studio only steps from where a slave trader was celebrated in a city park. Martin Luther King Jr. marched for economic justice, climbed to the mountaintop, and was taken by an assassin’s bullet, all within a triangle separated by a couple of miles.

Taylor Swift may have gotten all the media attention for potentially upping the vote.

Coming from Arkansas, it looks like Oz.

It was a week of sobering news and a news-making Presidential visit. Because the opening items underscore reckonings that came, alternately, from us and to us, I kept it light on the rest of this week’s 10.