Some Mud Island residents are unhappy that MPD recently conducted a sting in their neighborhood. The operation drew nine men and one women to the River Inn at Harbor Town, where they were arrested on charges related to human trafficking, prostitution, and promoting prostitution. People were complaining, why did this have to happen here, the publicity about criminal activity could lower our property values.
The answer is pretty clear: Say they held the operation at a hotel on Germantown Parkway. If the criminals sensed something was not right and tried to flee, they’d have many different escape routes and it would be nearly impossible for police to cover them all. On Mud Island, there are only two escape routes: The A.W. Willis bridge and the back entrance where Mud Island Drive meets Second Street about a mile south of Frayser. I’m sure the police had both of those exits covered.
A representative from Harbor Town posted to Nextdoor that River Inn’s assistance was requested and gladly provided. Because of the operation, several young women are now availed of the services of Restore Corps, which helps victims of human trafficking. Ten criminals were taken off the streets, as were cocaine, crack, meth, marijuana, and three guns.
Congratulations to River Inn and all the agencies involved on an operation that was safe, discreet, and successful. As for the property owners complaining this will give Mud Island a reputation as a neighborhood that attracts criminals, I would be much more concerned about a certain large, ungated apartment complex on the north half of the island than I would operations like this one.
According to another report on Nextdoor, there was gunfire near Loflin Yard last night. MPD had the street taped off at one point and shell casings were found on Carolina Avenue. Note that Loflin Yard is closed on Mondays, so the shooting was not likely connected to anything going on there.
Carolina Watershed has been doing right after dark on Sundays lately. They have the ones that light up so you can see them in the dark.
Last week, I mentioned that TV host Jon Taffer announced that he’d be involved in a new show concept. That concept has now been made public: Restaurant Rivals will feature Restaurant Impossible‘s Robert Irvine in a competition with Bar Rescue‘s Jon Taffer. Irvine and Taf will each have 24 hours to turn around a restaurant, with diners rating who did better. Irvine tends to focus more on menus, while Taffer focuses on the overall restaurant experience. The show will be carried on Discovery+.
Rep. John Gillespie of Memphis wants to create a new criminal charge, aggravated reckless driving, to make sure that drivers in the city who willfully endanger others get more than just a slap on the wrist. The new charge would be a Class A misdemeanor, where reckless driving is a Class B.
Congrats to the bar at Good Fortune Co. and South Main Nutrition, both of which received perfect scores of 100 on health inspections last week.
Interesting read: The former New Mexico secretary of labor got a job bartending a movie theater in a wealthy suburb of Austin, and the theater sounds a lot like Downtown’s Malco Powerhouse. His experience over Christmas 2021 lead him to write a piece about the real reasons companies are having trouble retaining staff.
Here’s a clock that tells you time via literature. H/t to the Morning Brew newsletter for this link and the one above.
Today is National Irish Coffee Day.
School of Rock Memphis will perform a tribute to the Grateful Dead Friday at 8 at Memphis Clover Club.
Marty Ray Project is live at the Tin Roof tonight at 7. Holy crap they covered Vanilla Ice!
Robert Moody presents The Orchestra: Unplugged: Hallelujiah Handel at the Halloran Centre Thursday and Friday. Both performances are at 7:30 PM and are $37.50.
That’s it for today’s news. Back tomorrow.