Category: Uncategorized

Quickly recapping the last two posts:

• Donald Trump has tested positive for COVID-19. So has Melania.
• Shelby County Health Directive 13 will likely be issued next week. It’s possible that food-related requirements for serving alcohol in restaurants and bars will be dropped.

CNN has a look at Trump’s risk now that he has COVID-19. His supporters may think he is Superman, but he is an obese 74-year-old man. The Trumpster’s risk of hospitalization is 5 times greater, and death 90 times greater, than someone 18-29 who has the virus. His reported weight of 244 pounds makes him three times more likely to require hospitalization than a person of average weight for his height.

Dinstuhl’s Fine Candies has reopened on the Main Street Mall. Come show them some love… after all, we all deserve a treat after 7 months of this mess. They’re located next door to the Majestic Grille/Cocozza.

Cafe Keough is hiring a barista, which is a sign they will be open again soon. Great local folks making quality products. I know a lot of you are addicted to the Starbucks down the street, but give Keough a try one day once the doors are back open. 12 S. Main in the ground floor of the Number 10 Main apartments.

Live music returns to Momma’s at the corner of Crump and Kentucky tomorrow night 6:30-9:30 with JohnnyMaestro LIVE! He’ll be joined by the duo of Mike Sweep and former American Idol contestant Chris Johnson.

Backbeat Tours is offering a special Mojo Tour to celebrate Memphis Music Month every Friday and Saturday in October, beginning today. Guests will receive a souvenir shaker and can be a part of the band while riding (note that County Health Officer Dr. Bruce Randolph would frown upon singing), and there will be a stop outside Galloway United Methodist Church in Cooper-Young. There there will be a live performance in the very first spot where Johnny Cash performed before a crowd.

Memphis in May has a merchandise sale going on right now. Score some gear from Music Fests and BBQ Fests gone by, with T-shirts starting at $3.

From WMC Action News 5: MPD investigating car break-ins Downtown and in Harbor Town. It’s believed the thieves are looking for guns, because a Gucci wallet and a checkbook left in cars were not taken. Leaving wallets in cars parked in the downtown of a major city? That’s not very smart.

Kemmons Wilson Companies have unveiled their design plans for their new HQ in the former Spaghetti Warehouse building.

Discover Memphis Naturally is a new initiative to connect people with all the things there are to do outdoors in our fair city. Whether you want to bike it, paddle it, climb it, park it, or view it, this site has the info you seek.

Take a jacket if you go out tonight. MemphisWeather.net predicts a low of 46.

Tin Roof’s Green Room will host DJ Epic tonight at 7.

POLITICO Playbook has a What happens now? look at COVID-19 in the Oval Office. The Guardian notes that the October 15 presidential debate could be in jeopardy.

On Tuesday, Don Jr., Ivanka, and Eric accompanied Trump on Air Force One on the way to the debate. No one was wearing a mask. So it’s possible Beavis & Butt-head and Kremlin Barbie could be positive too.

Amazon is banning the sale of “Proud boys, stand back and stand by” merchandise. Trump used the quote during Tuesday’s debate.

Iowa and Georgia have flipped in RealClearPolitics’ no toss-up states map projection for the Electoral College. That would give Joe Biden a 375-163 landslide.

Keep scrolling if you want to read the COVID-19 task force press conference recap from yesterday. Back tomorrow with more news.

Melania too.

Well, that’s one hell of an “October surprise” right before a presidential election.

Back around 8 AM with more news.

In today’s COVID-19 task force press conference, Health Department Director Dr. Haushalter and Health Officer Dr. Randolph announced that, if COVID-19 case data continues to trend well over the weekend, they will issue Health Directive 13 sometime next week.

Dr. Randolph emphasized that customers at restaurants will still be expected to sit to be served alcohol, and that bar areas will remain closed – but he did not mention FOOD! So it sounds like the stupid requirement that customers must order food to be served alcohol might be going away, along with the equally stupid requirement that customers can only remain at a restaurant for a maximum of 2 hours.

Dr. Haushalter, in response to a media question, said that a closing time later than 10 PM for restaurants and bars will be under consideration as well.

However, they wished to stress that safety measures will still be enforced at facilities – masking, social distancing, and handwashing. Indoor dancing is also expected to remain prohibited in the upcoming directive.

A laser focus on facilities identified as contributing to spread will be adopted. Those facilities will be investigated. Where they are found to be violating safety protocol, the owners will be educated, and if necessary. the facilities closed.

Revised indoor and outdoor capacity at sporting events will also be under consideration for the next directive.

Dr. H advised not to let COVID-19 stop you from your normal health practices – schedule your annual physical if you need one. Get your flu shot.

Dr. H also advised to think about travel as we approach fall break for schools – whether it’s really necessary, and if it is what precautions need to be made including taking extra masks and hand washing supplies.

Commissioner Willie Brooks announced that a $50,000 grant has been given to Memphis Area Legal Services to prevent COVID-related evictions in his district, District 6, which includes Raleigh, Frayser, and Nutbush. Call 901-432-4633 and tell them you’re calling about District 6 eviction relief.

Back tomorrow with more news.

Thought-provoking article in The Daily Memphian this morning: Suburban mayors wait on Health Department following governor’s order. Gov. Bill Lee ordered this week that all capacity requirements be removed from businesses and gatherings, but the order does not apply to the six counties that have their own health departments, including Shelby County.

The mayor of Arlington assured his constituents that leaders are “working on solutions.” Bartlett mayor Keith McDonald believes the Shelby County Health Department should follow the state’s lead in the removal of restrictions, although he agrees “maybe we don’t jump quite as far” all at once.

I mean, think about it. If you go out to a bar in Tipton or Fayette County, you can stay as long as you want without any requirement to order food. You can sit at the bar. You can stay until the place closes at 3 AM. Whereas, in Shelby County, you can only stay two hours, you must order food to purchase alcohol, you can’t sit at the bar, and you can’t dine in after 10 PM. In other words, Shelby is No Fun County thanks to the joint COVID-19 task force.

Yesterday Tennessee House Speaker Cameron Sexton (R-Crossville) proposed eliminating autonomy for the SCHD and the five other health departments that operate independently from state directives.

The DM article says the joint task force has a conference call Friday. I would love to be a fly on the wall for that one. Nothing moves a bureaucrat into action faster than threatening to take their power away.

Of course, the COVID-19 task force has a press conference at noon today, their final Thursday press conference before moving to a Tuesday-only schedule. I bet there will be questions about the governor’s order.

WMC Action News 5 has a story about the Rumba Room and its effect on the salsa scene and the Hispanic community here in Memphis.

Phish will release audio from its June 14, 1995 Mud Island concert today. It contains the longest version of “Tweezer” ever recorded, clocking in at just over 50 minutes. The gospel rarity “Don’t You Want To Go,” performed only a few times in concert, is also part of the set.

Memphis Music Month has launched. The events include Downtown Dinner + Music, a live, acoustic, safely distanced music series encouraging Memphians to support local restaurants. There will also be virtual tours of Memphis attractions, social media takeovers by local musicians, and many concerts, discounts, and giveaways. The Downtown Dinner + Music Series kicks off tonight at Cordelia’s Market 5-7 PM. Candy Fox will perform at Harbortown Bend Rd., Chris Milam will play Harbortown Circle, and Antonio Hobson will play the corner of Jackson Ave. and North Main.

A plan to renovate the historic Nylon Net building at 7 W. Vance into apartments now calls for its demolition. Developer Chance Carlisle calls it “the worst building I’ve seen in 20 years.” Materials from the original 1904-07 historic building will be reclaimed and will be used to reconstruct the facade, retaining the original architectural style.

Hearing rumors that another Downtown restaurant may expand its hours to include breakfast. Let me do a little more searching around to see if this story has wings, and if it does it’ll land here on this blog.

Classic rock band Smokestack Lightnin’ plays The Vault Friday from 6:30 to 9:30.

Well damn! The Cardinals made the playoffs! I guess I’ll have to start caring about baseball again. They play the San Diego Padres on ESPN at 6 tonight. It’ll be game 2 of the series with St. Louis up 1-0. Adam Wainwright and Zack Davies will be the starting pitchers.

From Grind City Brewing Co.:

Oh Happy Day! We will OFFICIALLY be opening our doors to the public starting THIS Saturday & Sunday! Come by Saturday from 12pm-10pm & enjoy some Grind City Brews along with

Smashed Eats

! Come back on Sunday from 12pm-7pm for some more brews & LadyBugg Meals On Wheels! As we will be following Covid guidelines, a mask will be required upon entry. We can’t wait to see y’all there! Cheers!

Grind City is at 76 Waterworks in the far north end of Uptown. To get there, take North Second Street. It’s about half a mile past the 3-way stop at Second and Chelsea. Hmmm… might have to make a trip up there this weekend… that’ll require a Lyft though. Walking there from the Downtown core is only an option if you have good sneakers and a concealed carry permit.

Tickets for the Thursday night movie series at the Mallory-Neely House are sold out. Because COVID RUINS EVERYTHING, they are limited to 45 guests per movie. The next showing will be Charade on Thursday, October 15. Tickets are $8 adults, $5 children, kids under 2 free. Food trucks will be on site.

That’s it for now. Most likely I will be back between 1 and 2 with a recap of the No Fun County COVID-19 joint task force press conference.

That debate. Oh my God.

If monkeys are truly our ancestors, then I guess it’s true that the loudest monkey in the jungle wins.

After it was over it was described as a “food fight,” an “unmitigated disaster,” a “horror show.” Yes I would agree with all of that.

FiveThirtyEight has a recap of the debate. I do not recommend watching a video replay. It is that bad. It will give you nightmares. It definitely gave me nightmares last night.

Let’s get on to the news. I’m not going to even pretend this post will be one of my best. I need a day to mentally recover from what I saw and heard last night.

Gov. Bill Lee is ending all COVID-19 restrictions on businesses and large gatherings for the 89 of 95 counties in the state of Tennessee that do not have county-run health departments. That means restaurants and bars will be able to operate at 100% capacity. However, Shelby is one of the six remaining counties to which the executive order does not apply. The Shelby County Health Department will be “encouraged” to lift all restrictions but will not be required to do so.

Will they? I doubt it, not in the near future. In a densely populated urban area, you have to take more precautions than you would out in the country. I wouldn’t be surprised, though, if Lee’s order causes the local COVID-19 task force to loosen restrictions a little more quickly than they otherwise would.

I started to list predictions on what regulations would be loosened in October, but nah. Let’s not jinx things.

There were a string of car break-ins in the Front and MLK, Front and Pomtotoc, Main and Pontotoc areas Tuesday morning.

The CA’s Jennifer Chandler has an article on Huling Station, South Main’s new outdoor dining spot next to Puck Food Hall. There are 66 seats and free Wi-Fi, along with plans for live music.

A $500,000 parking garage project could add up to 1400 spaces off Peabody Place.

The CA has a look at the new Canopy by Hilton hotel across B.B. King Blvd. from AutoZone Park. The article notes that Memphis is far above the national average at 52% hotel occupancy right now.

Just received my morning bulletin from FiveThirtyEight, with the transcript of the politics editors’ post-debate Slack chat: “I guess we should have taken what we expected to be the worst possible debate and then gone lower.”

That’s all I can do this morning. Apologies if typos. Keep scrolling down if you want to read a recap of yesterday’s COVID-19 task force press conference.

County Mayor Harris led off with updates about two programs to help businesses.

30 bars (limited-service restaurants) have applied for grants under the Share the Tab program and will receive the full amount of $10,000. There are still about 12 bars left and they are encouraged to apply as well.

The Beautiful Comeback program previously was available only to owners of beauty, barber, and nail salon businesses. It will now be expanded to all licensed cosmetologists, barbers, and stylists. Individuals will be eligible for a $500 grant, and business owners a $2000 grant, and money is still available for both.

Go to covi19.shelbycountytn.gov to apply for these grants. They are funded by the county’s portion of the federal CARES Act money.

Health Department Director Dr. Haushalter said that the overall trends point in a good direction. As expected, we did see a slight increase in cases after Labor Day but that has since trended back down. R, the reproduction rate, is back under 1. Answering a followup question, Dr. H said there could be a surge in March 2021 requiring more than 300 hospitalizations, but that is small compared to projections made earlier this year. She also noted that we have the opportunity to further depress that anticipated surge via our precautions.

Dr. H noted the following key focus areas:

1. Communications: Outreach to communities where not enough people are going for testing, or where there is increased transmission
2. Containment: Quickly identifying new cases, getting them isolated, contact tracing, getting contacts quarantined so as to limit spread from each identified case
3. Enforcement: This weekend the health department received 9 complaints of facilities not adherent to the health directive – people not masking, not social distancing, or restaurants staying open beyond the mandated closing time of 10 PM. 2 of those facilities had been reported previously, 1 multiple times. Dr. H stressed that the health department was partnering with the sheriff’s office, municipalities, and the Alcoholic Beverage Commission on enforcement. Violators face not only closure of their businesses, but revocation of their liquor licenses.

Dr. H does anticipate Tennessee receiving part of a national shipment of testing kits, some of which will go to Shelby County. These will be particularly used for getting kids back to school. She stressed that limited testing is no longer an issue and there is now plenty of access.

Health Officer Dr. Bruce Randolph said efforts have been made to address crowding at the Shelby County Criminal Justice Center, and these appear successful. He urged citizens who have to appear in court to show up at the date and time outlined, get their business done, and leave. Don’t just hang around. (That’s a thing?)

Dr. Randolph reminded those in charge of early voting locations that they must also adhere to the safety guidelines in the health directive.

Dr. Randolph stressed that despite the recent positive trend, the measures to fight COVID will remain in place for a while. Don’t think because the trends are better that we can all just revert to the way things were pre-pandemic.

Dr. Randolph anticipates that if things continue to improve, there could be changes to policies regarding attendance at football games. Asked about the flu, his hope is that masking, hand washing, and social distance will slow its spread as well as that of COVID. The flip side of that is that cold weather will keep people indoors more often, increasing the risk of spread of both illnesses.

Haushalter said starting next week, the task force will reduce its meetings to once per week, and therefore the press conference will be Tuesdays only starting next week.

Looks yummy, doesn’t it? I stopped by the Silly Goose about 2:30 yesterday. Since I’ve been working on my writing, I’ve cut my bar visits way back, and it was only my second time at the Goose since it reopened for dine-in. They’ve expanded their indoor seating a little – you can’t sit at the bar, but you can sit at a table in the bar area. So they’ve set up four 3-top tables adjacent to the bar.

Dylan the head pizza genius was not working that day, but he had stopped by to check on things. When he saw me, he said, “Paul! Let me make you something!” He checked to make sure I like mushrooms (I do) and he went back in the kitchen. A short time later he brought out the nachos pictured above.

They were covered in scallions (which made Perjorie T. Roll happy because they’re the same color as her hair), radishes, the aforementioned mushrooms, peppers, plenty of melty, gooey cheese, and sour cream. The real stars of this plate (or actually, pizza box), however, were the pieces of chicken and pork that topped this masterpiece of cheesy goodness. They came from local wholesaler Black Sheep Meats and the flavor was out of this world, like nothing I had ever tasted on nachos before. Such a perfect counterpoint to the other ingredients. Put it this way, I could have brought those nachos into BBQ Fest and told people my team the Moody Ques made them, and no one would have questioned me.

If you surf Facebook or Instagram and come across a restaurant’s post saying, “We use Black Sheep Meats,” GO THERE. You will not be sorry.

Looking for something to do this afternoon or evening? Check out this announcement from the Goose’s sibling restaurant, Pontotoc Lounge:

BREAKING NEWS! Pontotoc has just found the cure for… your Monday Blues! We are now open on Monday’s and Tuesday’s for the first time since before the “C word” occurred. We have all the beverages, yummy food, and great energy to get your week started on the right foot! See you soon!

Today just seems like an ideal day to raise a craft cocktail as you say the “F word” to the “C word.” Just make sure to order a food item with your cocktail and be done eating and drinking in no more than two hours, so (according to the health department) you won’t catch COVID.

The Memphis-Houston football game has been rescheduled for December 5 at the Liberty Bowl.

Paul Staples, who is accused of pointing a gun at protesters outside his home in the 400 block of South Main, appeared in court yesterday. He was told to hire an attorney and will have another court date next month.

Memphis Tourism is spearheading an Eat Live Local rally for restaurants. Restaurants need our support more than ever in the face of COVID and regulations. There will be gift card giveaways, neighborhood restaurant spotlights, blog posts, videos, billboards, and more.

Trump and Biden face off in the first debate tonight. Here’s a presidential debate drinking game. For those who don’t drink, there’s also a bingo card. The debate will be on NBC, ABC, CBS, FOX, and PBS.

There were 4686 COVID tests reported yesterday and only 164 new cases reported yesterday, for a positivity rate of only 3.5%. ICU bed usage is down to 79% and the number of COVID patients in them remains below 60. Can we have our bar stools back now?

From POLITICO: The 10 biggest whoppers you can expect to hear at tonight’s debate. What? Are they suggesting politicians LIE to us?

Today’s COVID-19 task force press conference could be interesting, since testing has expanded and positivity rate has been low in recent days. I will try to tune in and will be back with a recap this afternoon if there’s anything newsworthy.

A national story shadows any local news I have to report this morning. The New York Times obtained 20 years of Donald Trump’s tax records and they show “chronic losses and years of tax avoidance.” The Trumpster paid only $750 in federal income tax in 2016, and again in 2017 – far less than you probably paid those years.

Trump was found to indeed have an ongoing audit battle with the IRS as he claimed, concerning a $72.9 million refund he claimed. If disallowed, he could owe more than $100 million. He has been found to take enormous losses to ease his tax burden, and more and more his earnings depend on business activities that could be conflicts of interest with his job as president.

If there’s a silver lining for Trump, it’s that the investigation did not uncover any new links to Russia.

In probably related news, Trump campaign official and former campaign manager Brad Parscale has been hospitalized following a reported suicide attempt. He barricaded himself in his Florida home yesterday.

That’s all for today. Yeah this is a short post but the Trump NYT article will take you a good hour to get through. Back tomorrow with more news.

An arrest has been made in connection with the man who was photographed pointing a gun at protesters near the Civil Rights Museum Wednesday night. Paul Staples, 39, was charged with 7 or 8 counts (media sources differ) of aggravated assault and a count of tampering with or fabricating evidence.

Staples is reported to have come to the MPD North Precinct Friday to make a statement. He told police he was scared and that is why he came outside his residence brandishing a gun. He turned in a pellet gun but officers said it did not match the gun in the photo. At that point, officers said he confessed and retrieved the 9 mm handgun he used in the photo.

Hmmm I may have to make a trip to South Main in the early part of this week and find out what people know about this guy. He looks like someone who would hang out at Max’s on the weekends and watch football. He’s hidden his Facebook page and I don’t see him on LinkedIn either.

I had lunch at Slider Inn Downtown yesterday and learned a couple of pieces of information my readers can use. First of all, Slider Inn is getting NFL Sunday Ticket and will have all the games. Keep them in mind if you’re looking for a place to watch this afternoon’s action.

Second, Slider Inn’s sibling restaurant Momma’s is set to open Monday and they will open for breakfast at 6:30 AM. Momma’s is the final Aldo restaurant to reopen. It is at the corner of Crump and Kentucky in the former Dirty Crow Inn location.

I love it that you can get Frito chili pie as a side at Slider Inn. I had it with fish tacos for lunch yesterday.

“A food item a day keeps the COVID away” – Health Directive No. 12

I’ll give you a sneak preview of a Medium post I plan on doing this week. It’s a prediction that the end of the COVID-19 pandemic will usher in an era of hedonism only seen twice before in modern times: Following World War I (approximately 1919-1929) and following the Vietnam War and the impeachment and resignation of a president (approximately 1975-1981). What’s going to be important is the underlying attitude. Which will it be?

• “We’re all going to celebrate the end of COVID together” or,
• “Dammit I lived through the COVID era and now I’m going to celebrate, and I don’t care if my celebration comes at your expense”

FedExForum has been selected as an absentee ballot counting location. By court order, if you live with someone who is COVID-19 vulnerable or their caretaker, you can vote absentee. Flush the turd November third!

The first presidential debate happens Tuesday from 8:00 to 9:30 PM. It will be broadcast on ABC and C-SPAN.

I look at FiveThirtyEight’s presidential election forecast every day, but today I looked at the Senate forecast. They have the Democrats as a 62/38 favorite to gain control of the Senate.

It’s looking more and more like, by the end of the year, I will be able to say I went to college with a Supreme Court justice. I am equally thrilled about the prestige this will bring my alma mater and terrified for the future of our country.

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

I rewarded myself for a long and productive week writing with a visit to the Blind Bear last night. I had been surfing their dinner menu and had narrowed down my selection to either the seafood risotto or the lasagna. The lasagna was so overwhelmingly recommended by the staff that I decided it would be my first foray into the new menu.

The lasagna was super fresh, plenty of meat, obviously made with quality ingredients. It was very good, and yet, it was… different… than the lasagna I’m used to. I couldn’t figure out why. As I got home and got ready for bed, I thought, “I’ll have to ask my chef friends if they’ve had the lasagna, and if they can describe how it’s different.”

This morning I realized what was going on. I thought, over the past 10 years, where have I had the most lasagna, not counting lasagna I’ve heated up at home?

Spaghetti Warehouse. Of course, I don’t eat there anymore, since it’s been closed for a few years. But when the Huling Avenue location was open, I ate there enough that I guess their lasagna became my idea of what lasagna was.

Spaghetti Warehouse was a chain restaurant. Successful chain restaurants know that you never deviate very far from the expectations of the average suburbanite. Therefore, the lasagna they serve there is a very Americanized version of the Italian dish, designed to appeal to the masses.

That was what was different about the Bear’s lasagna. The recipe was authentic. I just had to pull my taste buds off Germantown Parkway or Goodman Road to appreciate the dish as it deserved to be appreciated.

You definitely want to give this a try if lasagna is one of your go-to menu items when you eat out. Next up for me will be the seafood risotto, which I don’t believe I’ve ever had before, so I will not walk in with any preconceived expectations.

Fox 13 visited Silly Goose last night to see how Downtown bars are doing now that they are once again allowed to be open. I disagree with their headline that “Downtown bars are packed” though. The video shows that they were following the regulations, with tables spaced apart as required in the health directive.

Really looking forward to reading James Aycock’s data analysis of where we are in the fight against COVID-19 today. He and I probably don’t agree on whether bars should be open but his numbers are solid. We’ve had a couple of days with low new case numbers and low positivity rates and I’m curious whether he considers those outliers, thinks data is going unreported, or if he believes we’ve turned a corner. He usually posts an end-of-week update early in the afternoon on Saturdays.

Larry Dodson, the original lead singer of The Bar-Kays, has a live pay-per-view concert tonight at 7. Jessica Ray will be his special guest and he will perform the hit single “I’m Good.” This event is sponsored by Jack Pirtle’s Chicken.

From the Downtown Neighborhood Association:

We are happy to announce we are partnering with one of our newest Members, The Mallory-Neely House, for a fall movie series on the lawn of this beautiful, historic museum! The biweekly events, starting Thursday, 10/1 at 7pm (event opens at 6:30), will offer a chance to be outdoors with a large screen, a sprawling lawn for blanket/chairs, space to socially distance, and a great movie! Food trucks will be available. Limited to 50 per event (including 5 staff). The first movie will be the classic “House On Haunted Hill” to break in the Halloween season!

Admission will be $8 for adults, $5 for children, and 3 and under get in free! To get tickets and read details, click here: https://www.memphismuseums.org/…/movies-at-mallory-neely/

Thank you to our partners, Museum of Science & History Historic Properties (Formally Palace Family of Museums).

SPONSORSHIP OPPORTUNITY: Want to be the business or family to sponsor the movie night? A $300 sponsorship will get you promotion for event, your name/logo on the big screen before/after movie, and much more! To sponsor, email us at downtownneighborhoodassn@gmail.com

The Downtown Mobility Authority has announced the agenda for its Tuesday, September 29 meeting along with details on how the public can attend via phone or Zoom. Parking garages and bike repair stations are among the agenda items.

Starting Thursday, October 8 there will be a new Downtown Dinner and Music Series in the open dining area next to Puck Food Hall at the corner of South Main and Huling. Grab some food from one of the nearby restaurants, grab a PBR from Bar 409, and listen to some live music. 5-7 PM. Southern Avenue will kick things off at the first concert on the 8th.

Cody Clark Band plays Slider Inn Downtown tonight 6-9.

FiveThirtyEight has flipped Ohio blue in its presidential election forecast. It’s still a toss-up but Biden is now a 52/48 favorite there according to the model. No Republican has ever won the White House without winning Ohio.

That’s it. Going to try to get an hour of writing-related activities in before brunch. Back tomorrow.