The first death from COVID-19 was reported in Shelby County March 28. For a while, we didn’t know that, because the governor wasn’t releasing deaths with county names.

It’s only been two weeks since Memphis restaurants starting closing, but those two weeks have changed us all, maybe forever.

Great things have come of being home and self-quarantined. For example, I’ve started reading again – reading voraciously. It started when my mom cleaned out the attic a week ago and found a box of my dad’s old books, including Isaac Asimov’s “Foundation” series.

“Shiloh: Fiery Trial,” the newer film, embodies up-to-date scholarship on the battle and enlists 350 Civil War re-enactors who flesh out the 17-member cast.

Years from now, our children won’t remember the details of their classes or what exactly they learned in a class during this season. But they will never forget how you made them feel.

This time together will be an exercise in partnership with your children. Define the home as a supportive place for each family member.

Managing the coronavirus pandemic will be an uncertain process that takes more than a year to navigate. Are big public festivals compatible with this new reality? 

I have missed entire seasons of music, art and drama for no good reason at all. Now that they’re closed, they’re all I can think about. 

Between March 12 and March 24, we distributed 1,267,630 pounds of food (154% increase), held 43 Mobile Pantry distributions (330% increase) and served 11,036 households (283% increase). 

Rev. Brad Whitaker was Hamilton County’s first confirmed COVID-19 case. Church leaders and county health officials began notifying anyone who had come in contact with him. That list included Bishop Phoebe Roaf of the Episcopal Diocese of West Tennessee.

I’m worried about everyone. Not just my family, not just my friends, not just the people who work around me. But every single person I see.

When you’re on camera, your background and work area are visible. Don’t make them the star of the show. For instance, a home bar in the background or a TV screen on a freeze frame of "Game Of Thrones" reruns.

We are suffering the consequences of a delayed national response in the deployment of test kits and relatively limited access to basic protection equipment for health providers.

Common symptoms such as fever, cough and shortness of breath are touted by the CDC as clues that a person could be infected. In addition, there are new reports that patients with sudden anosmia, a loss of one’s sense of smell, could be infected with the virus.

There are no good answers now. Only bad choices and worse ones. But evidence suggests that going hard on social-distancing is the best long-term bet for both public health and the economy. 

Tomorrow when someone takes my temperature and hands me a mask and a paper bag, I’ll remember that everybody I’m about to see is also adjusting to new realities.

Many Memphis churches, particularly those with mostly African American congregations, have not suspended in-person worship, underscoring the importance the church has in African American life. But the ritual of gathering to worship, even in a spotlessly clean building, is now much too risky. 

Yesterday I scraped up someone’s leaky trash bags from the side of the road and threw them into the back of a truck to haul off. It’s hard to believe just two weeks ago I was planning parties, booking bands and editing menus.

With three hit singles, two turf-grabbing country covers, definitive secular and religious anthems and some of the most tender pop music ever recorded, 1973's "Call Me" is Al Green's finest moment.

Memphians are just audacious enough to think they can can find solutions. That’s what defines us as much as anything else. We roll up our sleeves. We innovate. And at a time when the model for local journalism is broken — but the need for local journalism is as keen as ever — Memphians have come up with a solution to that. But it needs you.

The good news for Tennesseans who want to bet legally on sports within the state’s borders is that, assuming the spring professional leagues reboot by late summer and college and pro football kick off this fall, the gambling apps really should be open in time.

For the next four weeks, Explore Bike Share rentals are free of charge to all Memphians, 24/7. 

Coronavirus has disrupted some of my friends’ lives far more than it’s unsettled mine. My senior friends won’t get to have graduation. And my international friends have a real dilemma: Should they stay in the States or go home?

Whatever you think of his policy priorities, Strickland prides himself on being a data-driven executive, and his managerial seriousness has served him, and the city, well in this unprecedented moment. 

We will soon stop daily deliveries to protect both our clients and our volunteers and staff. That’s why we’re working now to get as many frozen and shelf-stable meals into seniors’ homes as we can, in case a day comes when we can’t deliver at all.