Category: Uncategorized

Health Directive No. 19 dropped yesterday afternoon and goes into effect one minute after midnight Saturday. Among the changes for restaurants:

• No more stupid 2-hour window to order food
• No more stupid rule that bartenders must wear a face shield when serving customers seated at the bar (although, it is still “recommended”)
• Closing time for restaurants can be as late as 1 AM, with customers allowed to remain as late as 1:30 for the purposes of settling up their tab
• Max people at a table increases from 6 to 8
• No more stupid rule that restaurants have to keep contact tracing information (good, I was getting tired of signing Perjorie T. Roll’s name)

But:

• Groups of people sitting together at a table or a bar must be 6 feet apart from other groups
• No indoor dancing
• No ordering or standing at a bar area
• You still have to wear your mask when not actively eating or drinking

I like it. All the really stupid stuff is gone now. Hopefully, the health department will consider eliminating all the restrictions once we’ve been through four weeks under these.

Happy Thursday! I hope the St. Patrick’s Day hangover, if you have one, isn’t too bad. Due to server issues, it was 1:30 PM yesterday before I got my Wednesday update post online. It has a ton of good stuff, so if you haven’t seen it yet, keep scrolling when you get done with this post.

It’s official: Longshot is coming back in late April or early May.

From the CA: 5 things to know about the historic 100 N. Main building as the Downtown Memphis Commission moves to complete the building’s purchase

Smart City Memphis has a look at what the Paul Young era could mean for the DMC. Young steps into his new role as president of the organization two weeks from today.

Starting Monday, April 5, Cora Pitt will teach an outdoor Pilates-60 class at Marytrs Park the first Monday of every month. Cora is awesome and the class is all-levels, with Cora offering ways to deepen the exercises for those with Pilates experience.

There’s a room attendant job at the Sheraton that is available. Salary.com thinks the job starts at 74K and could pay into six figures. Yeah I’m pretty sure Salary.com is wrong there.

A new building is coming to the long-vacant lot just north of Earnestine & Hazel’s – which, I’ll remind you, reopens to the public this weekend.

The Peabody will host a job fair tomorrow, looking to fill 60 positions.

Teenagers carjacked a Malco Powerhouse employee yesterday afternoon.

I heard distant gunshots around 11:30 last night. Turns out I wasn’t the only one; they were reported on Nextdoor by a Fielder Square resident.

Flash flooding stalled cars on S. Fourth Street yesterday.

Looks like the IRS may delay the tax filing deadline.

Remember to keep scrolling if you haven’t seen Wednesday’s post yet. Back tomorrow with more news.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day and I apologize for the late post! My web hosting service GoDaddy had some issues this morning.

Here’s some St. Patrick’s-appropriate news. Silky O’ Sullivan’s has won Food Network Magazine’s Irish Pub Award for Most Interesting Drinking Buddies.

Blind Bear has $4 Guinness 14.9 ounce cans for $4 as well as 2 for $10 Irish car bombs to celebrate the holiday today. Go see Tre, Kat, and Michael this afternoon/evening.

Here’s a reason to support your local Walgreens: It recently became the only Fortune 500 company with a Black woman as CEO.

Paul Young, the director of the City of Memphis Division of Housing and Community Development, has been selected as the new CEO of the Downtown Memphis Commission. He’ll start on April 1. Congratulations, Paul!

Join Grind City Brewing Co. for Yoga, Sunset & Beer at 5:30 PM on Thursdays beginning tomorrow, March 18. All levels are welcome. For those of you who have never been to Grind City, the river views are gorgeous. Yogis 21 and up get $2 off their first Grind City beer following the 45-minute Vinyasa class. YOGA!

Action News 5’s latest 5 Star Story is from The Edge District, where they take a look at Edge Motor Museum. The museum showcases sports cars “from post-war to ’74.”

The Orpheum will host an outdoor Candlelight Concert Series beginning next month. TIckets are $25 per show and can be bought in pairs. There will be socially distanced, limited audience seating and masks will be required. The lineup:

• April 23: Nick Black
• April 30: Strings in the City: Memphis Music
• May 14: Amy LaVere
• May 21: Symphony Sounds: Made for Brass
• June 4: Kela Johnson & The Xperience

From Republic World: All the locations where The Firm starring Tom Cruise was filmed. There were several scenes filmed in Memphis.

From stats site FiveThirtyEight: The favorites and Cinderellas of the 2021 NCAA men’s tournament. I can’t say I’m thrilled that they like 14 seed Colgate’s chances against my Arkansas Razorbacks.

GREAT thread I found on Quora recently: What apps do narcissists use to hide their calls, texts, and online communications from their spouses or significant others? LOL! Narcissists better hope their wives don’t read my blog. Phone always on silent and face down when not in use is a big red flag.

An interesting thing I learned on Medium: Want to get the best price on your airline ticket? Clear your cookies before visiting the airline’s website. Remember, what you pay for your airplane seat is not necessarily what the next person pays. Don’t allow your past browsing to help the airline figure out what is the maximum amount of money it can screw you out of!

Cheers to the Memphis City Council on fighting the good fight against environmental racism yesterday. All 12 Council members present supported a resolution opposing the Byhalia pipeline.

HELLO, stimmy! It deposited in my account today! $1400 will buy a lot of PBR.

Y’all be careful driving home this afternoon. Severe weather is expected. Turn on your headlights, slow down, and don’t tailgate.

Back tomorrow if there’s any additional news to report. Otherwise, back Friday.

There’s a news update on that shooting that happened Downtown Sunday night: It was a 13-year-old girl, out riding scooters, who was caught in the crossfire between several cars shooting at each other near Union and Riverside. See this WMC Action News 5 story for more. 

So we can’t even go outside and enjoy walks along the river on the weekends in our own neighborhood. When are cops going to get serious about cracking down on all the cruising that happens down here? I hope this is an interview question Mayor Strickland asks police director candidates.

By the way… WREG, when covering the story, said the shooting happened near the corner of Union and Monroe. Those are parallel streets that run one block apart and never cross each other. You really can’t be bothered to pull up Google Maps and do a quick fact-check on these locations before you publish stories? WREG has famously labeled the Third Street exit off I-55 as “Downtown,” when it’s actually several miles to the south.

The Downtown Memphis Commission board is ready to pick the organization’s next leader, having done their due diligence to research the candidates. They will meet this morning and pick the person to run DMC.

A new app called ParkMobile, which will take the place of parking meters, will be used in an experiment along Front Street in the Downtown core and along Monroe Avenue (which does not intersect Union; I checked the map) out in The Edge. If successful, the app could spell the beginning of the end of meters along our city streets.

Good morning, America, how are you? The train they call the City of New Orleans will once again resume service 7 days a week, thanks to a COVID grant by Congress. The line connects Chicago to New Orleans with a stop in Memphis.

Wear green and catch the St. Patrick’s Day Mighty Lights show on March 16 and 17 every half-hour after sunset.🍀 pic.twitter.com/ivWVveXNdS

— City of Memphis (@CityOfMemphis) March 15, 2021

The Peabody is seeking a Digital Marketing Manager. You’d be managing the hotel’s online presence including the website, email marketing, mobile marketing, and reputation management. I know the person you’d be working for and she is super cool. Apply for the Digital Marketing Manager and other Peabody positions here.

A Twitter glitch caused users to have their accounts temporarily suspended if they tweeted about “Memphis” on Sunday.

The DM has a look at candidates for MPD director.

There will be a Save the Mud Island Amphitheater Community Engagement Event at Carolina Watershed Thursday from 5:30 to 7:30. Mayor Strickland has allocated $4 million to bring the venue back to life. Come give your feedback on what you would like to see to make the amphitheater an attractive concert venue once again. County Commissioner Mickell Lowery will be on hand. If you’re a DNA member, there will be free beer, wine, and apps.

That’s it for this post. Time to get the grit & grind started for today. Back tomorrow with more news.

Penny Hardaway’s Memphis Tigers failed to score a bid to the NCAA tournament, but they are in a strong position to go out there and prove they’re the 69th best basketball team in the country. The Tigers received a number 1 seed to the National Invitation Tournament (NIT) and will play number 4 seed Dayton Saturday at 11 on ESPN.

Arkansas got a 3 seed as expected and is in a bracket with other top seeds 1 Baylor, 2 Ohio State, and Purdue.

Memphis’ conference rivals Houston and Wichita State got invited to the Big Dance. Houston is a 2 seed in a bracket with 1 Illinois, 3 good ole West Virginny, and 4 Oklahoma State. Wichita State is an 11 seed and faces Drake in a play-in game Thursday.

The tournament is a little different this year in that the round of 64 will be played Friday-Saturday (rather than Thursday-Friday) and the round of 32 will be played Sunday-Monday.

I hate to sound like a Tennessee football fan and go, “NEXT YEEEAAAAARRRRR… I TELL YOU WHUT BOY, THATSSS GONNN BEEE AAAAARRRRRR YEEEAAAARRRRR” with respect to Tiger basketball, but this has been kind of a weird year with COVID canceling so many games and in particular moving the Houston regular-season game. But 2021-22, Penny’s got no excuses. If Memphis doesn’t dance in March ’22, then we may have to wonder if the “Penny can’t coach” haters have a point.

My suggestion to Penny would be to hire a hypnotist who can erase every minute of AAU ball they ever played from these kids’ minds. That’s where the sloppiness comes from. If the hypnotist can put a “You are a 90% free-throw shooter” suggestion in there too, that’d be nice.

For those of you wondering if the health department is out harassing restaurants still… the answer is yes. They were out at one of my favorite places Saturday, telling them that a seating arrangement that had received their approval for 4 months was no longer acceptable. Trying to keep up with the changing regulations is like shooting at a moving target in an arcade. I really don’t understand why we need any regulations beyond FEET ON THE FLOOR, MASK ON THE FACE at this point. Granny can go get vaccinated now. And we can travel 25 miles to the east or south and sit at a bar where there are no regulations at all.

Normally I don’t post a lot of announcements from outside the Downtown area, but these are good people and I’m happy to see them making a comeback. From the Hi-Tone:

After a wild ass year, we’re still here! We’re doing something really cool too. Brunch that starts at 5 and goes til midnight. Every Sunday. 💥 Live DJ and no cover. The food is killer. All safety measures are being met above and beyond. It would be our pleasure to serve you and thank you for the continued support.

You can also order brunch to go by calling in at 901-490-0335 or we offer Ubereats/Doordash etc.

Now THAT’s the latest brunch I’ve ever heard of… Sunday brunch that lasts one minute into Monday… maybe an hour into Monday, if the health department relaxes its stupid restriction on closing time this week.

Grind City Brewing Co. will do a Tap Takeover at Carolina Watershed this Friday at 6. On tap will be

• Tiger Tail
• Viva Las Lager
• Godhopper
• I’m in Love with the Coco
• … and surprise tappings

Glaze’s Crawfish is bringing one of his awesome springtime boils to Momma’s this Saturday. Boxes of crawfish include corn, taters, and sausage. The first batch will roll off around noon. Come enjoy some mudbugs, Momma’s spacious patio, some cold beers, and the NCAA tournament on TV.

From Sunrise Memphis:

We’re hiring! Your favorite breakfast place is looking for some front of house with great attitudes to join the team. Email us a copy of resume or come see Ross this Tuesday from 1-3.https://t.co/LAH1fbnlfc pic.twitter.com/vb9ffizEqk

— Sunrise Memphis (@sunrise_memphis) March 14, 2021

Today is International Eat an Animal for PETA Day. Now, that’s an idea I can get behind. Of course, it’s also the Ides of March, the 2065th anniversary of Brutus’ murder of Caesar.

A woman is in critical condition after being shot at Union and Riverside yesterday evening. Wonder if it’s connected to the cruising that happens Downtown on Sunday evenings. Wonder if the woman was an innocent bystander out for a nighttime walk or run, or one of the participants in the shooting.

Why do the local Walgreens locations only have COVID vaccine appointments in the mornings? For someone who works 9-1, that doesn’t do any good! Why can’t they have mornings some days, and afternoons some days!

Could be an interesting day: The state is expected to release results into the investigation of wasted COVID vaccine by the Shelby County Health Department.

Former Vice-President Al Gore called the proposed Byhalia oil pipeline “a reckless, racist rip-off” at a rally in Memphis yesterday.

Downtown Walgreens has six-packs of half-liter Mountain Dew for the first time in four weeks. All is right with my world this morning. Almost time to head to work. Back tomorrow with more news.

I didn’t get a picture, but I have a recommendation for a Downtown dinner out that is a really good value: The Picnic Salad at Bardog. It kinda flies under the radar because it’s not flashy: Just a large, traditional salad with greens, yellow and white cheese, and tomatoes topped with fried or grilled chicken tenders for $9.99. I got the tenders fried and buffaloed (99 cents extra). The tenders are enormous and you get 5 of them. I had to put probably 70% of it in a to-go box after I got full.

Yesterday at Bardog. Dolla, dolla bill y’all.

Here’s the news from The Dirty Crow Inn about today’s pop-up restaurant at the 40et8 on Legion Rd. in West Memphis:

This weeks special is the Dirty Pattie, 1 or 2 Angus patties with cheddar or American cheese on Texas toast, with our lemon aioli, or Dirty Crow Mustard and grilled onions. It will want you to slap your Momma. Plus all the other favorites, including the 2 new sauces we have, just dew me wings, and Buffalo garlic parmigiana wings, SOOO GOOD! Others try to replicate but fall so short! Keep an eye out on the other weekly specials. Live music and fantastic staff with a dive bar feel. See everyone Sunday!!! Ka-Kah!!

Awesomeness: A restaurant in Toronto gives its burgers names like Stainless Steel Stapler and Wireless Mouse so you can expense them as office supplies

Non-fungible token (NFT) is a term you have to be familiar with in 2021. Here’s an explainer.

There’s a Food & Beverage Director position open at the Sheraton.

Memphis is in a slight risk (edit: downgraded to marginal risk) for severe weather after midnight tonight. Read more in the MemphisWeather.net blog

I picked up my third Top Writer tag on Medium overnight, and this one was unexpected.

Psychology joins Creativity and Ideas in my list of Top Writer tags. Each tag increases my visibility on the site, raising my number of views, my articles’ read time, and therefore my money earned.

That’s it for this post. Back tomorrow with more news.

Perjorie T. Roll and I share similar taste in soft drinks, while her brother Mendatius is more of a Mountain Dew Code Red kind of guy.

Sorry for not getting the announcement out sooner, but Max’s Sports Bar is doing crawfish again today. First batch should be ready shortly after noon. Plenty of room out back where you can social distance on a 72-degree day. Of course, the crawfish at Max’s come with all the sides – crawfish, corn, taters.

Plus, Max will have the basketball games on TV today. Of particular interest regionally:

• Tennessee vs. #6 Alabama, noon, ESPN
• LSU vs. #8 Arkansas, 2 PM, ESPN
• Memphis vs. #7 Houston, 4:30 PM, ESPN2

Earnestine & Hazel’s should be open next weekend. Holly has the details in her blog. The jukebox and Soul Burgers will still be there, and Nate will tend his upstairs bar as soon as they get their liquor license and he gets his second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.

Ever dreamed of owning a parking garage?

On the way to work yesterday, I noticed a “we’re hiring” sign in the window of Felicia Suzanne Restaurant. Those in the service industry, especially those with fine dining experience, might want to inquire within. I would bet that waiting tables at Felicia’s is a pretty good income.

The owner of Primetime Movers has been indicted in the January 6 Capitol riots. You can’t fix stupid, but you can charge it with federal crimes.

If you’re a fan of the new Craft Axe Throwing in Floyd Alley, you can sign up to throw for free on your birthday.

From Action News 5: Memphis hotel industry struggling to find employees

If you want to work on the Memphis riverboats, there’s a crew job available. Full-time, year-round. Experience preferred but they’d be willing to train the right person.

Today is International Fanny Pack Day.

The IRS will start sending and direct depositing the third round of stimulus checks, maxing out at $14oo per person, this weekend. Thanks Joe!

Daylight Time begins at 2 AM this morning, which won’t actually exist because 1:59 AM will be followed by 3 AM. Hello, 7 PM sunsets!

The NCAA has proposed a new rule to shorten overtimes in football games. Teams must go for 2 after touchdowns in the second overtime. If the game is still tied after that, teams alternate 2-point conversions until one team is the winner.

Interesting post I found yesterday and shared with the writing community on Medium this morning: American Prison Writing Archive at Hamilton College. Some of these writers are very talented and do a serial blog-style format about issues they face in day-to-day prison life and in society.

I told you the other day I’d been reading a lot of opinions on the Prince Harry/Meghan Markle interview on Quora. Here’s the discussion thread. The more I read, the more I think Prince Harry married just about the worst possible person he could have found. That assessment has nothing to do with Meghan’s race and everything to do with her tendency to play the victim. If you ask me, she shares more qualities with Donald Trump than she does any member of the royal family.

Below is one of the most well-done swerves I’ve witnessed in professional wrestling in quite some time. AEW faction The Inner Circle had some dissension within the ranks, so they decided to have a War Council and iron it all out Wednesday night. However, faction leader Chris Jericho found himself interrupted by Sammy Guevara, who voluntarily left the group several weeks ago.

Roll Tide, Woo Pig, and Go Tigers. Back tomorrow with more news.

The Daily Memphian’s Jennifer Biggs reported from the most recent Zoom meeting between Shelby County officials and the Memphis Restaurant Association. Dr. Bruce Randolph, county health officer, discussed possible easing of restrictions on restaurants in Health Directive 19 to be released the middle of next week and to go into effect Saturday, March 20. Note that all of these are expected changes and are not yet set in stone:

• The mask restriction will be loosened, and restaurants will no longer face fines for not enforcing masking
• Curfew would be moved from midnight to 1 AM
• Limit on number of diners per table increased from 6 to 8
• The stupid 2-hour limit per table on food service could be dropped
• Contact tracing and record-keeping by restaurants will be significantly loosened or eliminated

What wouldn’t change:

• 6 feet of distance between dining parties
• The stupid rule that food must be purchased with alcohol

This is all GREAT NEWS. We’re moving toward the lifting of all restrictions. However, I do agree with Majestic/Cocozza owner Deni Reilly, quoted in the article, that it would be irresponsible to allow people to go mask-free in restaurants until restaurant employees have a chance to get vaccinated.

UCF advanced in the AAC conference tournament yesterday and will play Memphis at 9 PM on ESPNU.

Over in SEC-land, Missouri takes on the #8 Arkansas Razorbacks on the SEC Network at 6.

As for the pros, the Memphis Grizzlies host Denver on NBATV tonight at 7.

There’s a petition you can sign to state that you are against the Byhalia Connection Pipeline because it’s an example of environmental racism that endangers our water source, the Memphis Sands Aquifer. I just signed!

Vendors: Sign up to be part of a river market happening at Riverside and Beale Saturday, April 24. This will be the first of three river markets to be held at that location the fourth Saturday of the month. Shopping times will be 1-6 PM with load-in at 11 AM. Rain dates for each date will be the following Saturday.

MemphisWeather.net forecast: 74 today, 75 tomorrow, mid-70s Sunday. Lows in the 60s.

Silky O’ Sullivan’s on Beale will have a St. Patrick’s Day celebration today into next week:

• Today: Kickoff: Open 2 PM-12 AM with dueling pianos 8-11 PM
• Saturday: Open 12 PM-12 AM. Buddy Albert (Nemenz) on the outdoor stage 1-5 PM, royal flag procession at 4 PM, dueling pianos 8-11 PM
• Sunday: Open 12 PM-9 PM. Linear Smith & Clyde Roulette outside 1-5 PM. Famous Irish Brunch noon to 3.
• Monday: Open 4-10 PM with live music 6-8 PM
• Tuesday: Open 2-10 PM with Buddy Albert (Nemenz) on the patio 6-8 PM
• Wednesday: St. Patrick’s Day! Open 12 PM-12 AM. Buddy Albert (Nemenz) on the patio 1-5 PM. Royal flag procession 4 PM. Beale Street Pub Crawl 5-7 PM. Dueling pianos 8-11 PM

Tin Roof will have a St. Patrick’s Day brunch this Sunday, March 14. $5 green beer, $5 Jameson, $7 Frozen Irish Creme.

Carolina Watershed is doing a crawfish boil Saturday and Sunday 2 PM until they run out. Crawfish is $12.50 a pound and it comes with corn and taters.

In other Carolina Watershed news, they recently posted their updated menu.

President Biden has directed states to make all adults eligible for the COVID vaccine by May 1.

Counting the minutes until 7 when Downtown Walgreens opens so I can go on a Mountain Dew run. Feeling under-caffeinated this morning. Back tomorrow with more news.

The man who most people think invented the Internet is coming to Memphis Sunday. Al Gore, former vice-president in the Clinton administration, will participate in the rally against the planned Byhalia pipeline. The pipeline, if built, will be an example of environmental racism, cutting through some of Memphis’ poorest and Blackest neighborhoods. The pipeline could also be a threat to the aquifer that provides Memphis the best water in the U.S. The rally will be outside Mitchell High School at 3 Sunday afternoon.

Bardog Tavern has announced some St. Patrick’s Day specials for next Wednesday, March 17:

• $6 Jameson shot
• $6 Razor’s Edge
• $6 breakfast shot
• $7 I.C.B. (Guinness + Jameson shot + Bailey’s Irish Cream)

Today is Worship of Tools Day.

University of Memphis president Dr. M. David Rudd has announced he is leaving his position to return to academia. As an alumnus and former faculty member of the school, I would like to say that Dr. Rudd has done a great job raising the profile of the university. Also, his Twitter account is fantastic. Whoever is named the next president will have mighty big shoes to step into.

One person is dead following a high-rise fire at Washington and Manassas last night.

Memphis 901 FC has signed a new goalkeeper, according to the Memphis Flyer.

Jonas Valanciunas showed out in the Grizzlies’ win over Washington last night. The win improves Memphis to .515 of the season and the Grizz are just outside the top 8 in the Western Conference. As Drew Hill of the DM notes, the Grizzlies now face 40 games in 68 days, the season wrapping up May 16.

That’s the news for now. Back tomorrow.

The City Council gave its blessing to the DMC buying 100 N. Main, Memphis’ tallest building, so that it can be improved and turned around and sold to a buyer who intends to house corporate and retail tenants there. Tearing the building down is also an option. It’s a big purchase price but I agree, it needs to be done. The building purchase still has to be approved by the County Commission.

The Shelby County Health Department has a new interim director, Dr. Lasonya Harris Hall, who works as deputy chief administrative officer for the county. She’ll lead the agency for up to 90 days while also leading the search for her permanent successor at the Health Department.

A church building at Second and Henry in Uptown went up in flames just days after a new congregation, Redemption Church, had begun to worship in the building. The building dated to 1942.

Action News 5 profiles the National Civil Rights Museum in its latest 5 Star Story.

Vaccine disparity: A higher percentage of people who live Downtown, Midtown, and in the eastern suburbs have received the COVID-19 vaccine than other parts of Shelby County.

I haven’t watched the Prince Harry/Meghan Markle interview with Oprah because I don’t care much about the royal family. However, I’ve seen posts on Quora saying “watch it with the sound off and pay attention to the body language.” Hmmm interesting.

Not a very newsy day. Back tomorrow with more.

Downtown Walgreens is open once again, following water damage caused by the February snowstorm. The pharmacy, however, has not opened back up.

Both Aldo’s Pizza Pies locations are hiring prep cooks, servers, and dishwashers. Experience is preferred and reliable transportation is essential. Apply in person (no phone calls) between 11 AM and 4 PM at the Downtown or Midtown location.

Hustle & Dough is hiring as well. Here’s what they posted to social media:

Hustle & Dough is actively hiring a full-time line cook to lead our evening savory service for the Bar Hustle pizza menu. We are currently serving a small selection of Roman / Detroit style sourdough pan pizzas, a bruschetta, salads, and a dessert. The menu may be small, but our flavors are big: at H&D we take pride in making beautiful food with the highest quality ingredients available, and of course our pizza menu is no exception.

Today’s National Meatball Day. Good day to go to Bardog Tavern for some spaghetti with Aldo’s grandma’s famous meatballs.

One of our local panhandlers has a day named after him too. May his cart runneth over with junk today!

Downtown restaurant Curry n Jerk is featured in this WMC piece about restaurants trying to recover from a year of pandemic bullshit (I reworded WMC’s title slightly to make it more accurate)

Over on Fox 13, Alcenia’s is profiled for Black Restaurant Week.

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