MATA is presenting its plan to get the trolleys running again to the City Council this afternoon. According to this Flyer article, some of the Council members have questions about the Madison Avenue line. I for one am glad to see these questions being raised. Perhaps the trolley line should be replaced with a bus line that runs from Main to Cooper, connecting Downtown and Overton Square. The bus would get people where they are going faster and would not require any additional infrastructure. Ride the Roo has proved that bus lines that connect two entertainment-destination neighborhoods can be successful.
From FiveThirtyEight: See how your city’s public transportation stacks up. Memphis was 154th out of 290 cities, with 9.5 trips per capita. New York was first with 229.8 trips per capita, followed by San Francisco (131.5) and Washington (99.6).
City Market has rolled out a new breakfast special, where you get one meat, one side, and a biscuit or toast for $4.99. Choices include turkey/pork sausage, bacon, sausage & gravy, oatmeal with raisins and brown sugar, scrambled eggs, grits, housemade potatoes, and apple cinnamon compote. Extra sides can be purchased at additional cost.
There was a large fire at PB&J Towing on Main near Virginia shortly before noon. Several cars caught on fire and then it spread to the building. MFD put it out and no one was hurt.
The Memphis Flyer releases its 20 Under 30 issue tomorrow. To celebrate, there will be a party at the High Cotton taproom, 598 Monroe, tomorrow starting at 6 PM.
The growler shop inside the Cash Saver on Madison is selling limited-edition Grizzlies logo growlers. Only 2000 were made and as of about noon today, more than 1100 have already been sold.
If I have any Collierville readers, you’re about to get a growler shop called On Tap Growlers, and local Memphis Made beer will be among the taps with Lucid, Fireside Ninja, and Reverberation.
Here’s the drinking game for President Obama’s State of the Union speech tonight.
Former Memphis Tiger Joe Jackson is excelling in the NBA D-League. A Draft Express writer says Joe looks like a totally different person and may have the best defense in the league.
This is really cool: A 13-year-old built a machine out of Legos that prints Braille for use by the blind. The machine really works and costs 85% less than traditional Braille printers. The boy is believed to be one of the youngest entrepreneurs ever to receive venture capital funding.
That’s all for today. Time to hit Publish and go get a PBR.