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YOUR. MEMPHIS. GRRRRRRRRRRIZZLIES are back in town, hosting Utah for playoff games 3 and 4, and the promotional and entertainment lineup for those games is absolutely STACKED.

GAME 3: Saturday, 8:30 PM (TV: ESPN)

• Halftime performance by Young Dolph
• Growl towels on every seat
• Plaza Party featuring music by Garry Goin & The Memphis Grizzlies House Band
• Grizzline performances on Beale Street
• DJ Mic Tee performing a set in the lobby
• National anthem by Southern Avenue

If you can’t wait until tonight to get in the game-day spirit, hit the Memphis Farmers Market between 10 and noon today, where the Grizzlies and Mountain Dew will do a Street Corner Takeover.

Remember that there will be traffic checkpoints Downtown this weekend, but all you need to do is pull up next to the officer and tell him/her you’re going to the Grizzlies game. Allow extra time to deal with the checkpoints. Also remember you’re still required to wear a mask while in FedExForum.

The Grizzlies Den will be open Sunday 12-4. They’ve restocked classic player jerseys from the past 20 years. They also have stocked up on NXT UP playoff gear.

GAME 4: Monday, 8:30 PM (TV: TNT)

• Performance by 8Ball & MJG
• Performance by Eric Gales & Friends
• Performance by Garry Goin & The Memphis Grizzlies House Band
• National anthem by Eric Gales

If you go to the Farmers Market this morning to score some of that Grizzlies swag at their Street Corner Takeover, you’re going to want to take a light jacket. Weatherbug’s hourly Memphis forecast does not have our fair city cracking the 60 degree mark until 11 AM, with a north wind of 9-12 MPH.

Professional eater Randy Santel and three of his fellow professional eaters will take the Humonga Kookamonga Challenge at Kooky Canuck this afternoon at 3. They’ll receive their spot on the Wall of Honor if they devour the 25-pound burger in under one hour. Only two teams of four have completed the challenge.

From Insomnia Cookies:

calling all cookie lovers—we’re hiring Bakers, Drivers & Shift Leads in our stores nationwide! head to any Insomnia Cookies store this Tuesday, 6/1 from 3pm – 9pm to apply during our National Hiring Day!

as part of the Insomniac dream team, you’ll enjoy:

~flexible hours

~hands-on training

~a fun work environment

~lots of opportunities to grow in our org

~PLUS lots of free cookies

Interested? pop in for a sweet treat & apply in-person on 6/1, or tap the link to search & apply for your sweet new job right now https://bit.ly/3vjJn5O

Free cookies? Wonder if the Nuh-Uh Girl will apply.

It’s National Biscuit Day. It’d be a good day to try the Biscuit Board at Sugar Grits, which has honey butter, blueberry, and cinnamon biscuits with house-made whipped butter, preserves, sausage, and bacon.

SEC baseball tournament action today: 2 Tennessee vs. 6 Florida at noon, 5 Ole Miss vs. 1 Arkansas at 3:30. Both games are on the SEC Network. If you’re looking for a place to watch the games Downtown, Max’s Sports Bar on G.E. Patterson is the place to go. A dozen TVs, affordable PBR, and occasionally a muscle car crashing into a building across the street.

A refrigerator malfunction was responsible for the fire at ReNew Riverview Thursday evening, WMC reports. One apartment was damaged by fire and about a dozen others had smoke and water damage. Four people, including one firefighter, had to go to the hospital.

The Downtown Memphis Commission published a map showing the best ways to get into and out of Downtown with the Great American River Run, the Grizzlies game, and traffic checkpoints. Use Riverside Drive and Danny Thomas Blvd. as your major north-south routes. The map suggests Adams, Vance, and Crump as your best entry points from Danny Thomas and Beale and Crump as your best entry points from Riverside.

Kaleidoscope plays Blind Bear’s patio this afternoon at 1. For those thinking, “name sounds familiar but I can’t place them,” the band is a subset of the members of FreeWorld.

Ja Morant doesn’t know if his family will return to Utah for Game 5 of the playoff series. For those who missed it, a Utah fan got ejected for shouting “Suck my dick” at Ja’s mother. It’s a shame that getting back out post-COVID restrictions has brought out the worst in some people.

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigeg will visit Memphis next week to get a handle on the I-40 bridge situation. Thursday is expected to be the day with more details to follow.

A woman is in the hospital after being injured on Beale last weekend. About 2 in the morning, gunshots were heard on the street. The woman tripped and fell and was trampled by the running crowd. She can’t even feel one of her legs, and her mother is having to take care of her 3-year-old son. I betcha that’s why Beale Street Bucks are back this weekend.

There’s an event called Vegan & Vino on Harbor Town Square tonight.

The River Rat Rounders poker league has a fundraiser for Alive! Rescue today at 3 at Green Beetle.

That’s the news for today. Going to take a hard pass on walking down to the Farmers Market in sub-60 degree weather on Memorial Day weekend. I’ll lead off at Bardog then figure out the rest. Back tomorrow with more news.

Jerred Price, president of the Downtown Neighborhood Association, reported the results of a Zoom call concerning Downtown safety this Memorial Day weekend. MPD needed to step up big in response to the recent drag racing and shootings on the weekends, and it looks like they’re doing it. Here’s the plan:

• The biggest thing: 20+ local checkpoints manned by MPD. These roads will be CLOSED except for residents, business employees, and business customers only. Simply pull up, tell the officer where you are going, and you’ll be given access.
• The return of Beale Street Bucks: $5 cover to get on Beale Friday, Saturday, and Sunday nights.
• Extra staffing from MPD will be brought in.
• Following the Grizzlies games, some streets may become one way to allow for easy exit from the area.

A partial list of the traffic checkpoints:

• Union & Second
• Union & Front
• Front & Peabody Place
• Front & Beale
• Front & MLK
• MLK & Main
• Beale & Main
• Second & Peabody
• Second & George W. Lee
• Second & MLK
• BB King & MLK
• Fourth & MLK
• MLK & Danny Thomas
• Danny Thomas & Beale
• Beale & Fourth
• Gayoso & Danny Thomas
• Union & Fourth

Thank you Jerred & DMC for taking the initiative on this to keep Downtown safe. It’s going to be a boring weekend for thugs in Chargers and Challengers.

… That is, if the cops actually DO anything. A neighbor of mine, who works at a business on one of the streets in the bullet points above, said he saw a car burning tires for several minutes at Beale and Main last weekend. At least 5 cops were parked nearby and none of them intervened.

More news from DMC… Caption by Hyatt, the hotel to be built at One Beale down the street from Hyatt Centric, will feature a lounge called Talk Shop in the ground floor. It will be only the second of Hyatt’s Caption brand, the first being in Shanghai.

Talk Shop sounds like a fine name, but if they really wanted a bar that fits in with neighborhood happenings, they’d make Flaming Dr. Peppers their signature drink and name the bar Shots Fired.

We may see Dillon Brooks in the Olympics™ this summer, but he won’t be playing for the U.S.:

Today @CanBball announced its 21-man roster for 12 spots on the Nick Nurse-coached squad aiming to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics.

Golden State’s Andrew Wiggins is in, but injury has ruled out two of Canada’s best: Denver’s Jamal Murray and OKC’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander: pic.twitter.com/WUawCvYKLr

— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) May 27, 2021

There was a fire in the ReNew Riverview Apartments (99 N. Main) last night. A woman was taken to the hospital.

It’s International Hamburger Day! My recommendations would be a Double Double from Dyer’s, a Yonge St. Burger from Kooky Canuck, a Majestic Burger with parmesan fries from the Majestic, or a Soul Burger from Earnestine & Hazel’s.

Loveland Duren Trio will play the Ghost River taproom tonight 6-9. Free show.

Maciel’s announced they will close for the Memorial Day weekend, today through Monday.

Single-game tickets to all Memphis 901 FC matches will go on sale Tuesday, June 1. Soccer fans can also look forward to these upcoming sales:

• June 1-2: $10 tickets for June 16 home opener
• June 3-4: $75 Bowtie Bar tickets for June 16 home opener
• June 7-8: All scarves $15
• June 9-10: 3-match packs for $30
• June 14-15: 50% off 2020 and 2019 jerseys

Apparel shop Odds Atelier will have a grand opening party tonight at 7:30. 304 S. Main. Free cocktails. Free food. DJ.

Yesterday I was talking to one of the pizza chefs at Silly Goose and he told me a chorizo taco pizza with refried beans, made in the wood-fired oven, is in his plans for next week.

River Time Market & Deli will be closed this weekend.

Re-reading the list of traffic checkpoints, and I gotta say, my sympathy to the people who live on Front south of MLK and also on G.E. Patterson. These checkpoints aren’t gonna do a damn thing to make your weekend safe and peaceful.

Back tomorrow with more news. Hopefully not news that I heard gunshots.

The Utah Jazz evened the series with Memphis at one game apiece last night in Salt Lake City, but there was one notable number for the Grizzlies – 47. That’s the number of points Ja Morant put up in the game, and it is both a personal record and a team record.

Got next: Utah at Memphis, Game 3, 8:30 PM Saturday at FedExForum, televised on ESPN.

The MBJ reports that the Pinch District will soon have a new fire station. The station at 225 Chelsea is expected to open next year.

The Downtown Memphis Commission conducted a survey of those who live and work in the area and found that 42% have not been given a date to return to work at the office.

WREG had a look at which restaurants benefited most from the Paycheck Protection Program loans. Not surprisingly, The Rendezvous was at the top of the list. Minority-owned businesses, in many cases, got much smaller amounts.

…. Also in that same article: The owner of Curry N Jerk at Monroe and Second, who was interviewed, had a heart attack. The family is trying to keep the restaurant open. Please go by and support the business if you can.

Tennessee state legislators are calling for a third vehicular bridge to cross the Mississippi River at Shelby County.

Fox 13 reports that police plan a heavy presence on Beale Street this holiday weekend. The normally large crowds Downtown for Memorial Day weekend will be inflated even more by Grizzlies home games Saturday and Monday nights.

Also, don’t forget that the Great American River Run is Saturday morning. If you need to get in or out of Downtown between 6 and 11 AM, allow extra time and plan on stopping for runners.

And, Huling between Front and Main will be blocked off Saturday afternoon and evening for a neighborhood block party.

And, Sunday between 2 and 3 PM there will be a Pride Parade on Wheels coming down Union (from Midtown), Danny Thomas Blvd., and Beale.

The Goonies is the featured movie in Downtown Neighborhood Association’s Spring Movie Series tonight at Greenbelt Park on Mud Island. Gandy’s Grub Hub food truck will be on site. People will begin gathering at 7:30 (allowing you time to pre-game at Mud Island restaurants if you wish) and the movie will start at 8. There is no cost to attend.

As of this morning there are still a few tickets left on sale for Robert Moody Presents the Orchestra Unplugged: Memphis, Music, and Martin Luther King. The Memphis Symphony will explore the importance of music to the work to which Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. dedicated his life. 7:30 PM performances tonight and tomorrow.

Graber Gryass will provide the live music at Central Station Live at the Tracks tonight 6:30-9:30.

Someone asked my plans for Memorial Day… afternoon and evening TBD, but that morning will be my first Monday holiday in 16 months sitting at the bar at Bardog, not socially distanced. So excited about that! Bardog opens at 8 AM on the weekdays and I plan on getting there as close as possible to 8.

That’s it for today’s news. Back tomorrow with more.

Downtown’s Irish pub The Brass Door has reopened. They’ll be serving pints and lunch today 11 AM to 3 PM. Go get you a fish & chips and a Guinness on your lunch break!

The Redbirds have announced that all fans will get a free hot dog, chips, and soda as part of their ticket purchase for all Fridays in June – which means June 4 and 11, because June will be a weird month in which they’ll be at home for two weeks, and then on the road for two after that.

Jerred Price of the Downtown Neighborhood Association says additional steps will be put in place to fight violent crime Downtown following another shooting near the Hyatt Centric last weekend. Increased patrols will be the first step, along with other measures to be announced later this week. Can’t wait to hear what those are.

A friend of mine recommended a product he says is the best hangover remedy he’s found yet. It’s called Liquid IV and they have it at Walgreens. He says the tangerine flavor is the one you want to get.

With pandemic restrictions mostly behind us, the Memphis Flyer took a long look at the new normal the pandemic left behind for local businesses.

There’s a $20,000 reward out leading to information on a murder from 6 years ago, back in the days when murders were a rarity in Downtonw Memphis.

If you see a low-flying chopper over Memphis in the near future, it’s mapping aquifers.

The Memphis Medical District Collaborative has a new president: Rory Thomas. Thomas spent 8 years leading the Tennessee Small Business Development Center. He’ll be the second MMDC president, succeeding Tommy Pacello, who died of cancer late last year.

Cheers to my BBQ team treasurer Misty as we celebrate World Redhead Day!

Selling Gravity will perform classic rock & country 9-1 Saturday night at Earnestine & Hazel’s.

In the news: Manhattan DA Cy Vance has convened a grand jury to determine if the Trumpster or the Trump Organization committed any indictable criminal offenses. The grand jury will meet 3 times a week for six months. Sounds like there’s a lot to talk about.

Memphis Grizzlies vs. Utah Jazz, 9 PM, TNT. Back tomorrow with more news. Tomorrow’s update may be a short one as I will be operating on less sleep than normal.

I heard more about that shooting near Beale and Wagner Saturday night as I was out and about yesterday.

Someone who was on the rooftop (the Beck & Call bar) of the new Hyatt Centric hotel told me that around midnight Saturday night/Sunday morning, they heard POP – POP – POP – POP – POP. On the street near Wagner Place was a man who had clearly been hit by gunfire, in a pool of his own blood, but who at the time was still alive. Police arrived and marked off a crime scene. Guests at the Hyatt Centric’s restaurants and bars who wanted to leave were held up by the police for more than an hour so as not to taint the crime scene.

Yesterday afternoon I heard from someone who’d been at the hotel Saturday night that the victim in the shooting died.

I can’t find any reports about this shooting on any of the local media. I’m not sure if that’s because there were other stories that took precedence over this one, or because someone requested the media to embargo the story. But anyway, that’s what I have been told. I’m not a professional journalist. If I have any detail here incorrect, email me (paul@paulryburn.com) and I will change it.

Yesterday about 8 PM, a black Dodge Challenger slammed into The Vault at 124 G.E. Patterson. According to witnesses who posted to social media, the car turned left onto G.E. Patterson from South Main St., accelerated, lost control of the vehicle, tires were heard squealing, and then, BAM – right into the front corner of the business. Vault 1, Challenger 0. The hood of the car was all smashed in and the airbag was deployed. It’s believed the driver of the Challenger may have been a female.

What’s a Challenger cost these days? 40 thousand? Tens of thousands of dollars in value destroyed in seconds. And how are people able to be successful enough to afford these cars without ever developing enough common sense not to do stupid, reckless things with them?

I wonder if the Challenger had collision insurance on it – the type that pays for damage to your own vehicle, as opposed to liability insurance that pays for damage to the other party. I wonder what that driver’s insurance premiums are going to be following this accident.

Then again, I wonder if the driver had insurance at all. In Memphis there’s a good chance the answer is “no.”

The last time the news in Downtown Memphis was this negative was 2006, when panhandling was out of control and people were getting knocked out and robbed in parking garages. At that time I got nastygrams from real estate agents, who wanted me to tone down what I wrote about crime because I was making it hard for them to sell properties Downtown. I wonder if the next generation of real estate agents will come @ me in 2021. Of course, the difference is, Nextdoor is popular now. Shutting me up (which they won’t do) won’t put a lid on the bad news.

Also reading reports of people who live on South Front who can’t sleep because of the revving engines. They wish Front could be closed until the cruising/drag racing goes away. That’s not a practical solution, but I understand what they’re saying. I live on an upper floor of a high-rise building, half a block from city streets open to vehicle traffic, and the engines woke me up a couple of times Saturday night. I can’t imagine living on the first floor, only feet away from the street.

All right. You ready for something positive and happy and uplifting?

The experts said, the Utah Jazz will sweep the Grizzlies. They said, the Grizzlies are growing into a title contender – but this year, they would pay their dues, drop 4 in a row to the Jazz, and make an early exit from the playoffs.

The Grizz, particularly Ja Morant and Dillon Brooks, weren’t havin’ it. They controlled most of the game, the opponent constantly playing catch-up, just as they forced the Warriors to do in the second play-in game. The Jazz staged a comeback, and once again, the fear was that the Grizzlies would fall behind in the closing moments.

But the new Grizzlies have a lot more grit & grind than they’re given credit for. They regained the lead and closed the game out strong on both ends of the floor.

As soon as Rudy Gobert picked up his 5th foul, I knew the writing was on the wall. 112-109, Grizzlies, giving Memphis a 1-0 lead in the series.

Those of you who turned in early because you didn’t think the game would justify staying up until 11:15 PM, don’t make that mistake Wednesday. Every moment from tip-off to final buzzer was stellar basketball. So happy I took a nap Sunday afternoon so I could be up to watch the game.

Got next: Grizzlies @ Utah, game 2. Wednesday, May 26, 9 PM on TNT.

Attendance at the home games Friday and Sunday for Memphis will be bumped to 55%, FedExForum officials announced. The Grizzlies consulted with the Shelby County Health Department and the NBA office before making that move.

There’s a server position open at Beck & Call that has a $500 signing bonus.

Hotel Indigo seeks a Chief Engineer – Maintenance.

It’s National Escargot Day if you’re looking for a reason to go to Bishop French Brasserie in the Central Station Hotel.

That’s it for now. Time to get this week started.

At approximately 1:17 I heard the sound of two guns shooting amid engines revving. Lying in bed, I guessed the approximate location to be Second and Union, but a look at Nextdoor reveals it may have been further down. Summing up Nextdoor posts:

• Multiple shooting victims at Second and Beale (that was on the police scanner)
• Shooting suspects were possibly stopped at Vance
• Police were putting up crime scene tape near the new Hyatt Centric (which is becoming an almost-weekly occurrence)
• Because the police had so many crime scenes, it took a very long time and lots of waits in traffic for people to get from the south side of Downtown to the north side

I checked all the local news outlets – none of them have anything yet on this story. Maybe gunshots Downtown have become so common on the weekends that they’re not considered “news” anymore.

My prediction (and I hope I get this one wrong): It’ll take a restaurant customer sitting on a patio getting hit with gunfire before the police crack down.

Tickets for the Memphis Grizzlies vs. Utah Jazz playoff games 3 and 4 will go on sale to MVP season ticket holders tomorrow at 10 and to the public at 2. Times and TV:

• Game 3: Saturday, May 29, 8:30 PM. ESPN
• Game 4: Monday, May 31, 8:30 PM, TNT

Should the series go to a Game 6, that one will be in Memphis Friday, June 4, time and TV to be determined.

I don’t have a link because it’s subscriber only, but the CA interviewed Miss Suhair of The Little Tea Shop and she says her restaurant will be back.

Normally golf is a sport I don’t follow, but there’s a reason to tune in today. Phil Mickelson, age 50 years, 11 months, 1 week, is atop the leaderboard at the PGA championship. He will become the oldest golfer ever to win a major if he maintains that lead today.

Cicadas are plentiful right now… and they’re edible. Huffington Post has 10 recipes to help you take full advantage of nature’s bounty of these critters. In the recipes you’ll find everything from cicada tacos to cicada chip cookies. Free food? Wonder if the Nuh-Uh Girl will show up.

The Grizzlies will host a Watch Party tonight at Fourth Bluff Park, 1 N. Front near the law school. Activities begin at 7 PM with game tip-off at 8:30. While supplies last, attendees get a Nxt Up Memphis growl towel and a Grizzlies face mask. The Claw Crew and Grizz Girls will be there, and there will be food trucks and MemPops.

Loflin Yard will host a watch party of their own, with an extended happy hour and $3 barrel-aged cocktails and draft beer.

Perjorie T. Roll celebrated her first time to stand on the bar at Bardog in over a year with their signature Jameson slushie:

Paula and Raiford’s Disco will hold a three-day storage sale June 4-6. Don’t worry, Paula isn’t closing the place. She’s just clearing stuff out to make way for the new. You’ll be able to buy home decor, furniture, speakers, clothing, and shoes.

Craft Axe Throwing is holding a beach party this afternoon. Dress like you’re going to the beach and get 15% off. Note that you have to wear closed-toed shoes, though, as a safety precaution since there are axes flying around.

Yubu and The Ancient Youth Band plays Loflin Yard today at 12.

Enjoy some ’60s and ’70s power pop this afternoon at Ghost River with The Bugaloos – Magical History Tour. The show starts at 4 PM.

Wishing a very happy birthday to Downtown’s own Nappin Ass Nate today. I’m sure the day will be full of sugar-free Red Bull vodkas and naps for him.

That’s it for today. I took last week off from professional writing to enjoy a restriction-free, mask-free week out on the town. I really need to get back to it today though. Or maybe tomorrow. Back tomorrow with more news.

Playoffs?

PLAY ON!

The Memphis Grizzlies are such a magnanimous group of gentlemen. They decided, with San Francisco being close to lifting its pandemic rules, that Draymond Green deserved a little extra time off to enjoy things getting back to normal. So they engineered a 117-112 overtime victory in the second play-in game, stealing the 8 seed in the West and sending the Golden State Warriors to the NBA draft lottery.

The Grizzlies advance to play 1 seed Utah. The first two games will be on the road:

• Sunday, 8:30 PM, TNT
• Wednesday, 9:00 PM, TNT

Jeeeeezzzzz y’all are killing me with those start times! Can we award Flagstaff, Arizona and Billings, Montana expansion teams and move Memphis to the Eastern Conference to balance things out?

Okay, one more comment and then I’ll move on to today’s news:

Ja > Steph

Let’s have a look at what I had for lunch yesterday:

I made my first visit to Sugar Grits in the Peabody Place building on Second Street. I ordered the Charleston Cheddar Grits: Cheddar cheese stone-ground yellow grits with blackened shrimp and chicken andouille sausage. This was delicious and one of the best meals out I have had in a long time! The shrimp were huge and plentiful. Also, I appreciated that the gravy didn’t entirely cover the cheddar grits, so that I could get a taste of them by themselves. Excellent food, excellent service, would and will dine there again!

Sugar Grits serves grits by Grit Girl: Stone ground yellow grits, stone ground rice grits, red popcorn grits, blue popcorn grits, and blackeyed pea grits. Their menu says you can get some to take home with you. Grits are one of those foods, along with asparagus and mac & cheese, that I couldn’t stand as a child but that I love as an adult.

File this one under ARE YOU F’ING KIDDING ME: With the I-40 bridge closed for repair, TDOT has announced I-55 lanes and ramps will be closed for re-striping next week. The Crump and Metal Museum Drive exits will be affected. Government bureaucracy at its finest. You’d think some supervisor with an intellect slightly greater than that of a pigeon would have thought, “Hey, maybe this is not the best time”!

Cool website I found yesterday: Social distancing in a world of memes. Oh, how I could have used the “Sermon Response Kit” meme to post on the Facebook timeline of the preachy-preachy “health experts” who thought I was irresponsible for going out to bars during Phase II.

The Orpheum will renovate The Broadway Club, its private donor lounge. Want to get in? Donate $1500 or more. You get free wine and private restrooms at shows.

The lost dog I mentioned at the beginning of yesterday’s post has been reunited with his owners.

It’s Bitcoin Pizza Day, the 11th anniversary of the first time cryptocurrency was used to pay for goods. A Florida man paid 10,000 bitcoin for 2 pizzas. If he’d held on to his cryptocurrency, he’d be worth $366 million today.

(insert Red Forman “Dumbass” meme here)

WREG asked a civil engineer, how bad was the I-40 bridge crack, really? His answer was that it could have been very bad and shutting the bridge down was completely responsible and not an overblown reaction.

I had to check the calendar to make sure it wasn’t April 1 when I read this: The Pink Palace Museum will change its name to MoSH.

DJ Superbrad spins ’80s tunes at the Blind Bear tonight beginning at 9 PM.

Memphis Legends: Honoring Memphis Hot Rod History happens this weekend at Edge Motor Museum over on Marshall. They’ll have a rockabilly band tonight, food trucks all weekend, a Sunday church service, and demonstrations including chopping the top of a ’50 Mercury.

Enjoy merengue tonight for the kickoff of the Latin Dance Series at Fourth Bluff. Cat’s Ballroom instructors will teach the class.

My plan for today begins with sitting at the bar at Bardog! SITTING AT THE BAR. Not sitting at a table next to the bar, because you can’t catch COVID if you’re sitting at a table. Not crowding 8 of us regulars into the corner booth, because you can’t catch COVID in the corner booth. THE BAR. Back tomorrow with more news.

If anyone is missing a puppy, mostly white with a brown-and-white face, the folks at Walking Pants Curiosities on G.E. Patterson have him. It’s believed he may live near Bluff City Coffee and the Feelin’ Memphis gift shop.

YOUR. MEMPHIS. GRRRRRRRRRIZZLIES have a rematch at Golden State tonight, winner gets the 8 seed in the Western Conference tournament. There will be a watch party at Fourth Bluff Park tonight. Tip-off is 8 PM.

From the MBJ: “Jack of All Trades” Kim Derryberry opens South Main Nutrition

There will be a flea market near the Pyramid at 115 Jackson Saturday, July 17. $50 vendor fee and $5 admission.

Wiseacre releases another new beer tomorrow at its taprooms, this one a German rauchbier (smoked beer). It’s made with malted barley over an open flame and its name is The Return of Dr. Gibbler.

Private club The Pocket is hiring servers, bartenders, and bussers.

SOB Downtown is hiring a server.

Quench, the liquor store on Second, is hiring. Must be able to work weekends, nights, and holidays.

The Downtown Memphis Commission is hiring Blue Suede Brigade members.

Restaurant owners who survived the pandemic: Free money!

If you’re curious whether you’ve ever had COVID 19, Downtown Walgreens is selling do-it-at-home antigen tests. They’re by the cash register.

Chinese Connection Dub Embassy plays Carolina Watershed tonight at 8.

Turnstyles plays Momma’s tonight at 7.

There will be a wedding pop-up shop at the Deluxe Arcade building, 10 N. Second, tomorrow starting at 9 AM.

That’s it for today. Tomorrow I’ll be back with more news.

The Grizzlies play on. They defeated the San Antonio Spurs last night, 100-96, to advance to Friday night’s play-in game vs. the Golden State Warriors. That game will be at 8 PM on ESPN. The winner captures the 8 seed in the Western Conference and advances to play the 1 seed Utah Jazz.

The Redbirds honor their box office manager, Nate, with a special ticket called Nate’s Spectacular Cookout for this Saturday’s game. If you’ve ever called the AutoZone Park box office with a question or issue, it’s likely been Nate who’s taken care of you. Recently at a staff meeting, Nate spoke up and said he wanted to do something to welcome fans back at full capacity. Others asked him what he had in mind, and he said, “I want a cookout!” and so it has been done. Nate’s tickets start at $20 and include a hot dog, hamburger, chips, cookie, and soda. If you can’t make it this Saturday, the deal will be available June 5 and 12 as well. Don’t forget, every Saturday game wraps up with fireworks. Get the ticket

If you’re on Nextdoor, check your account for footage of a girl fight happening outside Local about 1:30 this morning.

The Downtown Memphis Commission could require that 5% of any new parking facilities built have charging stations for electric vehicles.

Job news: A large contractor in Downtown Memphis seeks a CFO. Pays $150-175K. The job requires 7 or more years of experience in construction or manufacturing and a solid knowledge of job costing.

The Crowne Plaza seeks a Lobby Attendant. Actually, two positions are open – full-time night and part-time flexible.

From NPR: Scientists say it’s time for America’s fixation with herd immunity to end

E.T. is the featured movie tonight in Downtown Neighborhood Association Spring Movie Series at Greenbelt Park. People will begin gathering at 7:30 and the movie starts at 8:00. There will be food trucks onsite, or you can pre-game at Mud Island’s restaurants. This is a free event.

Wiseacre debuts a new beer today at both taprooms: Strawberry The Beach Within Reach. The added sugar from the strawberries has upped the alcohol content of their Berliner Weisse beer to 7.3%.

Amber Rae Dunn with Shufflegrit headlines Central Station: Live on the Tracks tonight 6:30-9:30.

That’s the news for today. Forecast looks beautiful and I plan to be out after work. Back tomorrow with more news.

Recently I observed that Ghost River has been relatively quiet compared to the other breweries during the post-pandemic recovery, and I thought, “I hope they’re OK.”

They’re more than OK. They’re the latest Memphis brewery to plan a second location.

And it’s going to be on Beale Street!

The Daily Memphian reports that Ghost River will move into 341-345 Beale. They’ll have an outdoor beer garden and indoor taproom. They’ll also have a kitchen. Sobie Johnson of Flying Sobies Gourmet Kitchen will be the chef. If I’m looking at Google StreetView correctly, this should be the old Lew’s Blue Note location and it should serve as a strong anchor for the far eastern end of the entertainment district. It should also get Downtown locals on Beale Street, which is a win for everyone.

My only concern is, will the Ghost River taprooms compete with each other, being in such close proximity? It seems like the Main & Crump location will have to adapt and be a strong draw for the folks in its immediate neighborhood. Then again, it’ll be much easier to find parking near the Main & Crump location.

One other piece of Beale Street news: Yesterday at the COVID-19 task force press conference, county mayor Lee Harris announced Vaccine on the Green, your opportunity to come to Handy Park on Beale and get vaccinated. They’ll be there Sunday from 10 to 4. Details:

• Shots are free
• They’ll have experts on hand; if you haven’t made up your mind whether to get the shot, come ask them
• Get vacc’d and get a voucher to eat at a restaurant on Beale
• Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccines available
• Live music
• Learn about job opportunities at Satellite Healthcare

Charges have been filed in the carjacking and murder of a 23-year-old man at Main and Peabody Place on April 17. The suspect, who is only 16, wanted the victim’s 1987 Monte Carlo and took advantage of a traffic jam to approach the car. There is a second suspect who has not yet been reported arrested.

From the MemphisWeather.net blog: Farewell, spring as our first batch of 90s arrives this weekend and into early next week.

The crack that shut down the I-40 bridge has now been found to be visible in photos as far back as 2016.

TJ Larum and Friends will perform at South Main Sounds, 550 S. Main, 7 PM Friday night. Larum is a singer/songwriter from St. Cloud, Minnesota.

Tune in to ESPN at 6:30 tonight for the 9/10 play-in game, Memphis vs. San Antonio. If the Grizzlies win, keep watching ESPN at 9 to find out who the Grizzlies’ opponent will be for their next play-in game – L.A. Lakers or Golden State Warriors. Despite Sunday’s loss to the GSW, I would much rather face them in a play-in game. Nobody wants to look across the court and see LeBron James in a postseason situation.

The Redbirds host the Louisville Bats in a day game at 12:15 today.

That’s it for today. Back tomorrow with more news.