Shelby County Health Department Director Dr. Michelle Taylor announced in a press release Saturday that two cases of the omicron variant of COVID-19 have been identified in Shelby County. Citing preliminary data that indicates a booster shot is effective in protecting against omicron, she recommended that all eligible individuals get a booster.
I just got on Walgreens’ website and booked my booster vaccination appointment at the 2 N. Main location tomorrow morning. There are plenty of other appointments, at all times of the day, available. Join me, won’t you?
Tornadoes early Saturday morning were radar-indicated only and not spotted on the ground in Downtown Memphis – but there is evidence that a tornado may have torn through the southern part of the Downtown core.
This is the traffic signal that sat right in the middle of Main Street at the intersection of Gayoso. As you can see, it was blown straight backward.
A block farther south, a window was blown out on the 9th floor of the Peabody Place office tower. People had been sitting on the patio of the Silly Goose cocktail lounge at the time (in a severe storm – clearly the descendants of Albert Einstein) when large shards of glass tore through the awning. The bartender showed me a piece and the glass looked nearly half an inch thick. Workers were outside with the sidewalk blocked off, trying to formulate a plan to knock out the rest of the window so it could be replaced.
The Grizzlies celebrated Z-bo Night with a 113-106 win over Houston. Memphis continues to hold a 1-game lead over the L.A. Clippers for 5th place in the Western Conference with a 16-11 record.
As the season progresses, the question will be, “How much of a lead do the Grizzlies hold over the 7th-place team in the West?”, because the top 6 teams in the conference will avoid play-in scenarios. Currently, the Grizz hold a 2½-game lead over 7th-place Denver.
AutoZone opened a new Store Support Center at 104 S. Front last week, combining two historic buildings across Front from its main Store Support Center. The new location will seat 300 and was furnished with COVID precautions in mind.
Flashing crosswalk lights are needed at the crosswalks across Island Drive on Mud Island. A friend of mine stopped for a pedestrian in a crosswalk yesterday and got rear-ended. Imagine if my friend’s car hadn’t been there – the pedestrian very possibly could have been run over. Pedestrians in crosswalks always have the right of way.
The Houston Rockets’ plane was forced to circle Memphis for an hour early Saturday morning due to tornado sirens going off on the ground and turbulence in the air. The plane finally landed around 1 AM.
Today is National Ding-A-Ling Day.
Memphis has been ranked as the #1 most dangerous city in the country. The rankings are based on violent crimes per 100,000 people, the 1-year change in the violent crime rate, the homicide rate per 100,000, and the poverty rate. Pine Bluff came in at #4 and the Little Rock metro was #10.
Lucky Fox Selfie Museum is now open in the basement of 409 S. Main.
Looking at the MemphisWeather.net forecast and guess what… temps will be normal today, then warm into the 60s Monday and Tuesday and the 70s Wednesday and Thursday… chance of thunderstorms Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. Does it feel like we’ve seen this show before? Extended outlook for December 19-25 shows temperatures much warmer than normal, so we may be in for one of these years when the air conditioner’s running on Christmas.
That’s it for today. Going to stay home and write all day most likely. I’m planning on Tuesday being a sick day following my booster shot, and if it’s not, that’s a bonus. Back tomorrow with more news.