The Early Word: Campus School is full, and the Grizzlies can’t afford to slip up
Howdy! It’s Tuesday, April 8, and Memphis Mayor Paul Young will present his budget proposal to the Memphis City Council today. He says he’s really hoping to avoid a property-tax hike. (Yeah, you and all of us, Mr. Young.)
The council will also take a final vote on a 4% increase in the hotel-motel tax to fund FedExForum renovations and Downtown safety.
Also today, the Bartlett Board of Mayor and Aldermen will discuss a new agreement between the suburb and Lakeland over wastewater collection. (Sexy stuff.) And the Memphis Grizzlies will play one of the worst teams in the East — the Charlotte Hornets. Surely, we can beat them, right?
The Memphis Grizzlies have quickly fallen to No. 8 in the West, after holding No. 2 just a little over a month ago. Here’s the good news: The teams in the five through eight spots are actually tied, so the Grizzlies have a chance to move up. But if the Grizz start losing again, the team could find itself fighting to get into the playoffs through a play-in tournament. Our own Chris Herrington, a Grizzlies numbers nerd if there ever was one, explains how the team could find themselves in that five spot. Herrington also goes deep on what’s changed since interim head coach Tuomas Iisalo took over. Not only is Iisalo giving Zach Edey more playing time, he also seems to share Herrington’s “foul trouble” philosophy.
The University Schools district will open a new K-12 school in the old St. George’s Independent School Memphis building this fall, and all 130 spots have been filled. But if your kid is on the 2,000-person waitlist, maybe you’ll have better luck next year. The school plans to grow to between 230 to 250 students by adding a classroom per grade, one year at a time. This will be the first new school since University Schools became its own school district outside of Memphis-Shelby County Schools. And the district’s director says there’s a high need for the elementary in the area.
Plus, a man pleads guilty in the death of a Rhodes student, a whooping cough case is confirmed and suburban trails are still underwater.
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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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