Hi, early birdies. It’s Thursday, Aug. 29, and the Metal Museum will formally kick off the renovation of the old Memphis College of Art for its new space today. But it’s a private event, so, you know, don’t show up without an invite.

But if you’re feeling left out, you could always enter to win free tickets to the very public football game between the Memphis Tigers and Troy University, set for Saturday, Sept. 7. You’ve got until midnight on Sept. 3 to enter. 

Also, by the time The Early Word goes out tomorrow morning, runners will be wrapping up the third annual Finish Liza’s Run. So, I’m mentioning that now in case you’re interested in running in memory of Eliza Fletcher. That starts at 4:20 a.m. on Friday. 

Wanda Halbert and Donald Trump: Those are two names you might not expect to see together, but this Halbert story keeps getting weirder. The attorney for the beleaguered Shelby County clerk is using a Donald Trump case as a defense in the ouster proceedings against her. In July, a Florida federal court decision dismissed charges that the former president illegally kept and refused to return classified documents after he left office. Halbert’s attorney, Darrell O’Neal, said the Trump case showed “a similar concern” to the one used in the second attempt to oust Halbert from office. 

Blighted land once owned by Tom Intrator is now in the hands of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. ALSAC, the fundraising arm of St. Jude, announced the purchase of 23 of Intrator’s parcels in the Pinch District on Wednesday. The land, which Intrator once promised to develop with buildings as tall as 100 North Main, was the subject of a recent blight lawsuit brought by the Downtown Memphis Commission. 

Plus, District Attorney General Frederick Agee takes on state Sen. Brent Taylor, two nightclubs shootings have two very different outcomes and Memphis-Shelby County Schools’ new comms guy has jokes.