Starting Monday, Downtown businesses will be able to apply for business continuity grants of up to $2500 made available by the Downtown Memphis Commission. The grant can be used for almost any business expense – salary, marketing, rent. It’s meant to tide business over until we emerge from this difficult period.
In other DMC news, they may buy the blighted 100 N. Main building which has stood vacant and fenced off for several years. The plan would be to convert that space into parking. One local reporter played devil’s advocate with regard to the plan:
I usually remain from giving me own opinions on things but I have sat thru countless court hearings on the 100 N Main building. If the city Or Downtown Memphis Commission is going to guy it building they really should go read the Environmental court file before signing anything
— Jeni DiPrizio (@local24jeni) January 22, 2021
After sitting in environmental court countless times, the 100 N Main building sounds like giant money pit. Multi Million $ just to clean the trash out. There is a reason the owners could not pull off a renovation. The cost is Sky High! So let’s make it a public project??????
— Jeni DiPrizio (@local24jeni) January 22, 2021
Yeah I’ve heard just the pigeon droppings alone in that building are something like a foot deep.
If you received the first dose of Moderna COVID vaccine between December 28 and January 3, be prepared to hop on the shelby.community website Monday around 8 AM to make your appointment for a second dose. While you’re on the site, print out a copy of Health Directive 17 and put it in the bathroom for reading.
RIP Hank Aaron. His quest to break Babe Ruth’s record was my earliest memory of the game of baseball.
The MBJ has a slideshow of the Hyatt Centric hotel soon to open at Front and Beale. That’s the building with the oddly-positioned windows.
The MBJ also has a slideshow of the historic James Lee House in Victorian Village. Most recently it has been a bed & breakfast and it can be yours for $2.5 million.
Action News 5 has an update on that stabbing reported at Danny Thomas and Madison this week. It happened in that apartment tower on the southeast corner of that intersection.
A man stole $30,000 of wiring and welding leads from the renovated Renasant Convention Center this week. How do you profit from wiring and welding leads you stole? I mean, you can’t just take that stuff to Cash America Pawn Shop the way you would a stolen guitar or bike. Dark web maybe?
From Nextdoor: A Mud Island resident caught the rooster that has been roaming the neighborhood. Now they’re trying to figure out what to do with him. Anybody want a rooster?
There will be a Mentoring Matters Car Parade today at 11 at FedExForum. Since mentors and mentees are unable to gather at a Grizzlies game this year, this will be the alternative, with Grizz, the Grizz Girls, and a DJ.
School of Rock Memphis will hold an End of Season Performance at Loflin Yard today.
Here’s a site to bookmark if you like podcasts: Listen to this Podcast. Each time you reload the page, it presents a podcast that was randomly selected from a list of podcasts curated by humans. (Hat tip to Morning Brew‘s Sidekick newsletter for that link)
A couple of days ago, I linked to Kamala Harris’ article on Medium about the inauguration and incoming administration. Now Medium’s best-known writer, Barack Obama, has weighed in with his thoughts. The article is free for all to read and it’s only 2 minutes long.
This sounds like a good account to follow on Twitter:
His official account is live. 17K followers. Retweet and follow @SenatorWarnock and let’s get it done!
— Adam Parkhomenko (@AdamParkhomenko) January 22, 2021
Also seen on Twitter this morning: “Rich people get paid by the project and pay by the hour.” A lot of wisdom there.
That’s it for today. I have a lot of writing-related stuff to get done today, so I’m happy to be publishing this before the 6 AM hour. Back tomorrow with more news.