Paul Ryburn's Journal

Bardog Tavern, which has been closed since the Safer at Home house arrest began in March, posted to Facebook yesterday that it was opening at 3 PM. I planned to be standing outside the door at 2:57 but heavy storms moved through around that time. I posted a comment asking their hours going forward but haven’t heard yet. When I do I will let you know.

How irresponsible is it that Major League Baseball is still trying to have a season? Over 40 players and staff have tested positive for COVID-19. The earliest the season could start would be the last week of July, and it would end September 27. If the 60-game season played out, the eventual champion would have a huge asterisk next to its name. More likely, players would test positive in-season and that would be the end of it. MLB needs to do the right thing and shut the season down.

Dr. Haushalter of the Health Department said yesterday that Shelby County would remain in Phase 2 of re-opening for the foreseeable future. Whew! That’s a relief. There were some who thought we should roll back to Phase 1, and even people who supported a second lockdown (SMDH at that idea). Businesses are starting to get more serious about keeping their customers safe. For example, Blind Bear has a new rule that you must have a mask on when entering the bar, you must put it on when you get up to use the restroom or go smoke, and you must put it on when you leave. In other words, if your “but” is in a seat, you don’t need to have a mask on, otherwise you do (we need to get Jeannette a spelling book). As a regular patron of that business, I totally support these measures and hope others will too.

There’s a good reason for businesses to introduce these more stringent rules. Dr. Haushalter announced yesterday that among the 141 new hires for the Health Department will be a COVID-19 enforcement team that will be visiting local businesses.

The Flyer has more on the surge in new cases. Dr. Haushalter said there was extensive testing June 14th and 15th, and Saturday’s number of 385 new cases included lab reports going back as far as three weeks.

Dr. Bruce Randolph, county health officer, put in place Health Directive number 7 yesterday. This directive makes it possible for gatherings of 51 to 499 people to happen if the organizer of the directive submits a plan showing how social distancing and other guidelines will be observed. This is why some movie theaters have been allowed to open prior to entering Phase 3.

From Front Street Deli:

The time has come……..

The Sandwich master is back in action starting today! The world has been a little crazy and rightly so after being deprived of sandwiches like Days of Thunder and Mission Impossible. Nonetheless, the oldest Deli in Memphis will survive through this! Let’s show Brandon some Sandwich Mafia love today and sell him out. Front Street Deli, slangin sandwiches since ‘76!

New hours are Monday thru Friday 8am-2pm.

Chef Steph Cook announced yesterday that he and Chef Derk Meitzler are looking to expand their back-of-house staff. If you are looking for a career in food these guys are two of the very best to learn from. They are expanding their operations and there will be chances to move up. If interested apply at The Vault at 124 G.E. Patterson.

From The Peanut Shoppe:

Please understand that we are not only protecting ourselves, but also you as well. If you do not have a mask, you are welcome to call us and place your order outside our shoppe and we will be happy to serve you at our main entrance. Just please remember to be courteous. Times are tough, especially for small businesses like ours. Be safe and well. Thank you, Memphis. #downtownmemphis #shoplocal #ilovememphis #choose901 #backdowntown

The Cossitt Library storytimes planned for Thursday and Friday at River Garden have been postponed due to the uptick in coronavirus cases.

From the World Championship Hot Wing Festival:

*ANNOUNCEMENT* Due to the ongoing threat of COVID-19 and in accordance with the advice of local authorities, we will not have a physical event this year. While this event has become a highly anticipated tradition over the past 17 years, the safety and well-being of everyone involved is of the utmost importance.

While we can’t meet in person this year, we still want to make a difference for the kids and families of Ronald McDonald House Charities of Memphis. We are working on ways we can connect the teams and wing-loving attendees of this event virtually so that we can still make an impact for this amazing organization. Stay tuned in the coming weeks to find out more!

If you have already purchased a ticket or submitted a vendor registration, you will be refunded.

Thank you for your understanding and ongoing support. We’re looking forward to coming back bigger and better than ever in 2021!

From the CA: COVID-19 has left the Beale Street Flippers with nowhere to flip. Fortunately Railgarten stepped up and gave the Flippers jobs.

That’s it for today. Looks like the Internet problems are over for Downtown. Back tomorrow.

Good morning Memphis! I really didn’t think I was going to do a blog post today, because I had not had a decent Internet connection in six days. Today, however, it seems much better. I am not sure if that is because Xfinity found the problem and fixed it, or because it’s 6:19 AM and whoever has been flooding the network with traffic hasn’t signed on yet.

There have been several big news stories, and they’re all related. COVID-19 cases in Shelby County continued to spike over the weekend, with 385 being reported Saturday. Dr. Haushalter said the huge number was partly due to “backlog,” but that’s a lot no matter the reason. The 7-day moving average of case count hopped above 150. Positivity rate from testing has moved from 4.5% (May 10-16) to 9% (June 7-13). 10% is the number which Health Department director Dr. Haushalter said would concern her, and we are moving in that direction. (View the data)

The spike in cases, the spike in hospitalization, and articles in the Daily Memphian about restaurants and grocery stores’ lax following of Phase 2 re-opening requirements prompted Commissioner Tami Sawyer to write a letter requesting a roll back to Phase 1, or a modification to Phase 2. (View the phases – some sources are claiming that a roll back to Phase 1 would reduce restaurants and retail to 25%, but that’s not what the city website indicates.)

County mayor Lee Harris said later in the day yesterday that we don’t have to move back to Phase 1 if we do better about wearing our masks and social distancing. Harris and city mayor Strickland unveiled a new Mask Up Memphis and LIVE campaign yesterday  This campaign will distribute masks and preventative literature to “underprivileged” areas of Memphis. The website has a list of locations where you can get masks. The Downtown location is the North Main bus terminal at Main and A.W. Willis.

I hope we stay in Phase 2, but that’s a preference, not an opinion – I don’t have the qualifications to state an opinion on what we “should” do. I would agree that people have tended to put social distancing and masking on the back burner a bit since around Memorial Day, around the time the protests displaced COVID-19 as the top news item.

I’m doing my part to prevent the spread of COVID-19, thanks to Paula Raiford. I saw her yesterday, and she said, “Hang on… let me run out to my car.” She came back with a gift for me:

A pocket-sized Paula & Raiford’s-branded bottle of hand sanitizer! Stay safe and sexy! I put it on my keychain. Thanks Paula! Hand sanitizer is a good backup to have for times when you don’t have access to soap and water to wash your hands for 20 seconds.

Follow the City of Memphis on Facebook to receive a notification when the COVID-19 task force’s press conference starts today around noon. I have a feeling today’s conference will be interesting.

Catherine & Mary’s re-opens for business today and will be open for dinner Tuesday-Saturday for dinner 5 to 10 PM. Visit their website for a list of precautions they are taking to keep diners safe.

The Downtown Memphis Commission is looking to hire a captain for its Blue Suede Brigade team, the folks in the blue polos who provide safety and hospitality Downtown.

Chinese Connection Dub Embassy performs outside City Hall at 7:30 tonight. Attendees are asked to wear masks and social distance.

The King Beez play B.B King’s tonight at 8:30. So good to have live music back on Beale!

Primas Bakery + Boutique will have Churros to Go Friday from 12:30 to 2:30 PM.

That’s the news for today. I have an early-morning meeting so I have to be at work an hour earlier than usual. Back tomorrow with more.

The Daily Memphian’s sports notebook reports that the University of Mississippi may have to come up with a new nickname in the wake of the George Floyd protests – and I don’t mean just “Rebels,” which is obviously linked to the confederacy. A Sports Illustrated reporter claims that while it cannot be verified, “Ole Miss” is believed to come from a slave dialect, where they would refer to the owner of the plantation as “Ole Massa” and his wife as “Ole Miss.” If that’s true, it it mind-boggling that the nickname has lasted into the 21st century.

If you’ve ever thought about donating to the Hospitality HUB, now would be the time. A generous HUB supporter has offered to match any donations or registry purchases through the end of the day Friday, June 26. This is your chance to help decorate the new HUB Hotel, providing a place for women experiencing homelessness with all the comforts of home. You can purchase items from one of the following registries:

• IKEA
• Home Depot
• Amazon
• Wayfair
• Or you can donate

I’ll pass on a trick I learned this weekend for those with older iPhones: My iPhone 6s’s battery started acting janky to the point that I thought I was going to have to get rid of the phone. However, after I let the battery go all the way to zero and then recharged it to 100%, it started acting fine again. I’m not saying it had the battery power of a new phone, but I could live with it. Previously it would go from 100% to 93% to 87% to 81% to 76% to 69% in the span of less than an hour. Yesterday, after I ran it down and charged it back up, it went from 100% to 92% in two hours.

I was told yesterday that cars were doing donuts on Riverside Drive about 11:30 Friday night, the drivers holding pistols out the window. Why does the city allow this kind of behavior to continue?

There were 385 new cases of COVID-19 yesterday, a one-day record by more than 100. That is downright scary, although the health department has not issued a statement (that I’m aware of) about the cases.

Thieves stole all four tires and rims off a tourist’s rental car in the Central Station parking lot Friday night. She was paying $25 a night for parking. Geez, for that price you’d think they could afford a security guard for the lot.

I changed things up yesterday and led off at Slider Inn Downtown yesterday. They have mandatory temperature checks to keep everyone safe. The inside is now open, although the majority of people chose to sit outside where there was live music.

With no sports on, they had the TVs on all kinds of random stuff, and The Little Rascals were on. It reminded me that I own DVDs containing 57 of the episodes, including the seven episodes banned from TV because the content, while considered appropriate in the 1930s, is very inappropriate by modern standards – things like Spanky dressing up in blackface to hide from his friends, and Farina answering a newspaper ad for “colored boys” to work a pet show. I wonder if I could donate those CDs to be used for educational purposes. In the right context (as in, “these are things we don’t do anymore”) there might be some value in those episodes being shown.

The CDs might be valuable for a couple of other reasons as well. First of all, despite the racism, the black kids in the series are portrayed as the white kids’ equals, and were often leaders, unusual for the 1920s and 1930s. They were even shown attending school together, which must have horrified white Southerners back then. Also, some of the episodes are pre-1929 silents that were never shown on TV.

One of the other Slider TVs had a show from the ’80s on… can’t remember its name but it was Henry Rush and his wife living in San Francisco with their two grown daughters and the daughters’ goofy friend Monroe. I could get into binge-watching that.

After Slider Inn, I walked over to Longshot with my friends Randy, Theresa, and Big Papa, and we played a couple of games of shuffleboard. I had dinner there: a Southern patty melt with local ground beef, jalapeno jam, white cheddar, and smoked tomato aioli on a Hustle & Dough sourdough bun. It was excellent. I got a picture but the Internet at home is still crap so I can’t get it uploaded.

You know what’s weird about this Xfinity Internet problem? Other people at Number 10 Main are reporting it too, as are people in the Shrine Building… but I work in Brinkley Plaza, which is in between the two buildings, and the Internet works just fine there.

Normally I would go through Facebook and see what events are happening today to add to this post, but I can’t even get Facebook to load. So I’ll hit Publish and see what happens. Back tomorrow or whenever I next have a decent connection.

Bardog Tavern posted the following yesterday afternoon:

Pssst… we’ve missed you guys! The Bardog crew has been hard at work giving some well-deserved TLC and renovations to your favorite @downtownmemphis neighborhood bar. We’ll be re-opening (very) soon, so keep following along to be the first to know when! 🖤🐶 @ Bardog Tavern

I got addicted to a new TV show yesterday: BBQ Pitmasters. It’s like BBQ Fest as a TV show. Three teams compete in two categories, with 10 hours to cook, and both categories must be turned in at the same time. Teams don’t know in advance what the categories are. Sometimes it’s something fairly common, like pork shoulder or beef brisket. Other times it’ll be more exotic. On one show, teams found a salmon in their cooler; on another episode, it was venison brisket. On yet another, teams found two cuts of beef and a cut of pork along with a grinder to make BBQ meatloaf.

I have to admit, watching the show made me feel better about the years my team had bad results at BBQ Fest. The teams that competed had multiple BBQ festival championships and in many cases, ran restaurants, yet they screwed up frequently. Mistakes were made like not monitoring the cooker’s temperature, failure to get good color, and sloppy presentation in the blind box. The judges are BBQ celebrities Myron Mixon, Tuffy Stone, and a third guest judge. For some of the episodes, the guest judge was Melissa Cookston of Memphis Barbecue Co.

There are full episodes on Destination America’s website that you can watch for free. Check it out if you’re looking for something to pass the time this weekend. Perhaps the BBQ Fest shoulder trophy-winning Moody Ques will be invited to compete on the show in 2021 or 2022. It’ll give the folks at the corner table at Max’s Sports Bar something to watch on TV while they trade Bananas Foster recipes.

Live music returns to Slider Inn Downtown this weekend. This afternoon from 2 to 5, Chris Hill, Chris Johnson, and Adam Quinn will play. Tomorrow from 4:30 to 6:30, DJ Alpha Whiskey will supply the tunes.

The Daily Memphian has news on plans to restore the cobblestones on the river to their original glory, and make that part of the riverside more walkable, connecting Fourth Bluff and the other north Downtown parks to Tom Lee Park.  Plans include overlooks and a wheelchair-accessible walkway.

Favor to ask my readers: Please be understanding this weekend if you go out to your favorite restaurants/bars and they are enforcing additional rules that seem stupid. I’m talking about rules like, you can’t be served while standing at the bar, you must physically be in a seat. Employees are not trying to be the Rules Nazis and believe me, they hate it as much as you do. They’re just trying to comply with Phase 2 Back to Business rules. Word on the street is that Code Enforcement may have some surprise visits planned for this weekend.

Loflin Yard will resume its Bluegrass Brunch tomorrow noon to 3 with live music. I assume the brunch won’t be a buffet anymore.

Slave Haven Underground Railroad Museum on North Second St. has a Juneteenth celebration today from 11 to 3. This will be a celebration of liberation with music and vendors.

“Never be afraid to cut someone off” -MLGW

Time to get those utility bills current, because MLGW will resume cutoffs August 3.

There are four blood types: A, B, AB, and O. A new study shows that blood types have an effect on your experience with the coronavirus. People with type A blood have a 45% increased chance of getting the virus and developing respiratory distress compared to people of the other blood types. People with type O blood are 35% less likely to develop a severe case of COVID-19.

Most people don’t like anchovies on pizza, but if you’re the exception, come on down to the Silly Goose sometime soon.

Dylan brought out a plate for those of us sitting at the bar to try yesterday. “These are white anchovies,” Dylan said. “Mostly you see brown ones.” The others at the bar wouldn’t touch the anchovies, nor would the bartender, but Socially Distant Perjorie and I gobbled them right up.

The Cossitt Library will present the first two River Garden Storytimes of 2020, Thursday, June 25 at 7 PM and Friday, June 26 at 10 AM. They will read children’s book Rainbow Fish, by local author Marcus Pfister. They are aware that Phase 2 is still in place, and therefore will have extra guidelines to keep everyone safe. These include

• Seating will be minimum six feet apart and will be delineated by twine and stakes
• Bring towels to sit on grass
• The story will be read on the park’s PA system
• Each participant will have his/her own bag filled with crafting materials
• Masks and hand sanitizer will be available for participants, guardians/chaperones, and staff
• Guardians/chaperones are asked to remain on site for the duration of the event

The city permit office has approved a Spontaneous Event Exception for a Comrades & Community Inc. Women of Stamina George Floyd Protest Parade, involving 50 cars, next Saturday, June 27 from 4 to 6 PM. The location is listed as “Vance Avenue” so keep that in mind if you have plans to drive on a street that intersects Vance during those times.

Today the incompetent, pussy-grabbing orange shitgibbon is holding a rally in Tulsa’s BOK Arena. It is expected to be packed to its 19,000 capacity, with shouting throughout the event, no social distancing, and many people coming from out of town. Masks will be provided but their wearing will not be required. Tulsa is a city that has seen coronavirus cases on the rise in recent weeks. In other words, this has all the makings of a COVID-19 superspreader event. Trump doesn’t care if people die as long as he is re-elected. Trump’s photo should be in the dictionary next to “narcissistic psychopath.”

Probably the final Saturday that I won’t be brunching at Bardog. If I can’t be there, I’ll do the next best thing. Internet has been crapping out again, so I’ll hit Publish and see if this goes through. Back tomorrow… maybe.

Is anyone else in the Downtown core having problems with their Xfinity Internet connection? It’s not that it’s gone out, but rather that someone is flooding the network with so much traffic that the connection slows to a crawl. This seems to happen primarily during business hours, and started Wednesday.

99 Cent Soul Food on South Main re-opens today.

Blow-dry service has returned to Rachel’s Salon and Day Spa.

If you have business with the county clerk’s office, you’re out of luck. A case of COVID-19 was reported at the Downtown office, and it has had to close. Also, the satellite locations can’t operate without the support of the Downtown location, so they’re closed too.

Las Delicias on Park has temporarily closed after two employees who have tested positive for COVID-19. Sadly, I think we are going to see more of these closures.

The second BuildDowntown webinar, where you can offer feedback on the plan for Downtown for the next 20 years, is today noon-1:15 PM.

Calvary Church is requesting donations of men’s jeans, to help clothe the homeless this summer. You can drop off jeans at the church at 102 N. Second.

Internet’s going down, so I’m going to hit Publish before it’s gone completely. Posts may be hit-or-miss the next few days until Xfinity gets this straightened out.

Memphis in May issued a statement this morning announcing the cancellation of the 2020 BBQ Fest and Music Fest events. They had hoped to be able to hold these events in October, but COVID-19 continues to be a threat. In the interest of public health, and under the advice of health officials, the MIM board voted this morning to cancel the events.

Music Fest ticket holders and BBQ Fest teams have the option of requesting a full refund, or they can use their ticket/registration for the 2021 events. Ghana, set to the the honored country in 2020, will now be the honored country in 2021.

As a BBQ Fest team member, I am disappointed of course but I feel Memphis in May absolutely made the right call. Either event had the potential to create a massive surge in new COVID-19 cases that would push local hospitals to their limit and possibly beyond.

As a BBQ Fest team’s Director of Public Relations, I am relieved. The past couple of months I’ve been thinking, how do I recruit members to an event that might not happen, if it does happen it’ll probably be at 50% capacity so no one will be able to invite guests, and you might get to take home COVID-19 as a souvenir? Glad I don’t have to have those conversations.

Back tomorrow with more news.

Slider Inn Downtown re-opened a couple of weeks ago with patio-only seating. Now they’ve opened the inside, so you can enjoy the air conditioning on these hot summer days.

As your number-one source of news and information about The Edge District, it’s my pleasure to link you to this Daily Memphian article saying that a construction permit has been filed to renovate the building at 435 Madison, formerly the Glass Factory. It will become the second location for the Memphis Made brewery and taproom. The building is located adjacent to the future Ravine, the long, narrow park that will run through the middle of The Edge.

The City Council passed the mask ordinance Tuesday, but it isn’t being enforced yet as the city figures out how to do that. Also, State Sen. Brian Kelsey of Germantown has filed a request with the Tennessee Attorney General to rule on whether the ordinance is legal. Dr. Haushalter of the Health Department said the county attorney holds the opinion that only the state health department can require masks.

There has been some confusion over the mask ordinance. Some people are saying there’s a $50 fine. That’s not true. There are no fines attached to the ordinance at this time although the City Council has the option of adding them later (if the ordinance is found to be legal). I believe the ordinance gives citizens three warnings and then a sentence of community service on the fourth violation.

Yesterday I heard from an employee of a business on Peabody Place that they had to close early Saturday because not only were people doing donuts in their cars outside, but people were sticking their arms out of car windows and firing guns in the air. I once again appeal to the developers of the One Beale project: How are you going to get tenants in this kind of atmosphere? Step up and convince the city to crack down.

I went by River Time Market & Deli yesterday to get some deli salads from their brand-new deli case.

That’s ham salad on the left, and Socially Distant Perjorie is standing on egg salad on the right. They were $7.99 a pound. Delicious! They had many other varieties, including macaroni salad, chicken salad, and a dessert salad (cookies & cream or something like that).

In other River Time news, Bill is back on wheels. He got a new bike after his old one was stolen last month near the deli.

Congratulations to Chef Michael Patrick of Rizzo’s and Angel Lindsey, who got married this week.

The Southern Heritage Classic is the latest event to be canceled due to the coronavirus.

According to a permit filed with the city, there is going to be a “Free Curtis McDonald” march Friday from 4:45 to 6:30, starting at the I AM A MAN Plaza and proceeding to the National Civil Rights Museum. Curtis McDonald is an inmate in prison who has COVID-19.

You can order a Memphis 901 FC face covering, and this week only avoid shipping charges with curbside pickup.

I have a problem with Swarm, the app where you check in at locations around the city (formerly known as Foursquare):

Why is an app that’s all about going out telling us to stay home? And the app should be able to detect that it is being used in Memphis, where we are six weeks into the reopening. Even New York City is on Phase 1 now. Geez. If I want to be preached at to #StayHome, all I have to do is get on Twitter. I don’t need my phone doing it.

Memphis Made Brewing Co. has announced that FUN lime hard seltzer will hit the shelves next week. This drink has only 90 calories, 2 g of carbs, and 1 g of sugar.

Tin Roof will host a Beach Ball Patio Party Saturday from 7:00 to 10:30 PM. They will grill kabobs and there will be drink specials.

The Orpheum will hold a Virtual Voices with Rice Drewry concert on Facebook and YouTube Saturday evening.

For my activist friends: There’s a Hey Siri, I’m getting pulled over shortcut you can download onto your phone. It dims your phone’s screen, pauses any music being played, and starts recording video using your front-facing camera. Optionally, it can notify an emergency contact that you’ve been pulled over.

That’s it for today. Time to head to work. Back tomorrow with more news.

Yesterday Flight restaurant issued a statement responding to the protests and allegations of racism and sexism at their businesses. It said, in an effort to change their company culture, they were implementing the following:

• Russ Graham will be bought out by the owners, and will no longer be an owner, employee, or affiliated with Flight and its sibling restaurants in any manner.
• A human resources firm will be brought in to evaluated policies to ensure that employees are treated properly.
• An investigation will be conducted to determine if there were violations that need to be addressed.

All of this is a good start, and giving Russ the boot was a good and necessary move. However:

• Who is going to conduct the investigation? Is it going to be internal or will an independent third parry be brought in? When and how can the public expect to be notified of the results of this investigation?
• If there were racist and sexist policies at Flight, Russ couldn’t have enforced them on his own. The managers need to be fired too.
• A personal, heartfelt public apology (not something prepared by a PR firm) from the other principal owner, Tom Powers, would be nice.

The City Council voted unanimously yesterday to ask Mayor Strickland to hold up the city contract with Flight allowing it to use city street parking for restaurant valet parking.

Congratulations to the folks at Kooky Canuck as they celebrate their 15th anniversary of being open for business today.

Got lots of opening news today! B.B. King’s blues club at Second and Beale is back in business today. Here’s the schedule for the week:

• Tonight: P.S. Blues Band 6:30
• Tomorrow: The B.B. King’s Blues Club All-Star Band 6:30
• Friday: Memphis Jones 4:30; The B.B. King’s Blues Club All-Star Band 8:00
• Saturday: Flic’s Pics Band 3:30; The B.B. King’s Blues Club All-Star Band 8:00
• Sunday: Flic’s Pics Band 2:30; P.S. Blues Band 6:30

Blue Plate Cafe on Court Square will resume operations Monday, June 22.

Max’s Sports Bar has returned to its pre-COVID-19 house arrest hours, which are

• Sunday-Thursday 4:30 PM-midnight
• Friday 4:30 PM- 3 AM
• Saturday 11 AM-3 AM
• Open early for NFL games, Memphis sporting events on TV, and other special sports events

The National Civil Rights Museum has delayed its re-opening until July 1, citing the complications that kept Shelby County in Phase 2.

Drs. Jon McCullers and Manoj Jain were special guests at the COVID-19 task force meeting to further explain the reasons for keeping the county in Phase 2. They said hospitalizations were up, and they were seeing something they had not previously seen, hospitalization of a number of COVID-19 patients in their 20s and 30s with no pre-existing health conditions. They found that alarming.

Also at the press conference, Health Department officials explained that while the 50% occupancy rule on restaurants has been lifted, what is important is that tables are spaced six feet apart.

At the Blind Bear, you can now get Hibernation Fries made with tater tots.

The City Council passed a mask ordinance yesterday by a 9-4 vote. Memphians are now required to wear a mask whenever they are in public. However, city COO Doug McGowen expects enforcement by police to be very limited, because they have more important things to worry about. Enforcement will more likely come by the city’s Code Enforcement arm visiting businesses.

Protestors are occupying City Hall, camped out beginning last night and through 9 AM this morning on the plaza outside. They have a list of five demands, including police reform, investing in training, investing in libraries, investing in education and youth, and investing in housing.

You can now buy buffalo sauce from award-winning wing team/food truck New Wing Order online.

Very sad news: Downtown marketing firm Oden will close after 49 years. They were proceeding through the pandemic, but then their largest client decided to stop funding its work.

More sad news: It’s official that Bluff City Law has been canceled by NBC.

I tried the new sweet corn flavor of Pringles, available at Downtown Walgreens.

If you like the Mexican street corn at Maciel’s, you will like these.

Major airlines are banning the serving of alcohol to encourage passengers to keep their masks on while in flight.

The Memphis Business Journal has more on the Civil Axe Throwing location coming to South Main.

The Memphis Flyer will be closed for Juneteenth this Friday. The publisher explains why – it’s a recognition of freedom, joy, and black lives.

For my poker-playing friends, a writer at stats site FiveThirtyEight explains why you’re never “due” for good cards in the game and in life.

Not Downtown, but as a fan of pro wrestling I’m going to mention it anyway: Zinnie’s is starting a pro wrestling party every Wednesday night from 6 to 10. From 7 to 9 they’ll have AEW Dynamite on. During the party hours they will have 75 cent wings and the following drink specials:

• The King – PBR and Jameson
• The American Dream – Montucky Cold Snack and Jack Daniel’s
• The Macho Man – Casamigos Blanco and White Claw

South Main Sounds will have a Turnstyles Livestream tonight 8 to 9.

That’ll do it for today. Back tomorrow with more news.

The Shelby County Health Department elected to remain in Phase 2 of the Back to Business Framework yesterday. That keeps restaurants and retail capped at 50% of capacity. In a press conference, director Alisa Haushalter said there were several factors involved in the decision. For one, a record 256 cases were reported yesterday at a positivity rate of 9.9%, well above the rolling average of 6.9%. Secondly, the rise in cases was attributed to community spread rather than a specific event like Memorial Day. Third, there has been a change in tone by the hospitals partnering with the city to fight the coronavirus: They are feeling increased demand for their resources.

Yesterday’s press conference was a special one. The regular, twice-weekly press conference is still set for noon today. Best way to view it is to follow the City of Memphis on Facebook.

Protests shut down Flight at 6:30 last night, leaving those with reservations out in the heat. That is awesome, especially considering the protest organizer was only 21 years old. Let me know if you do it again tonight and maybe I’ll come join you! The DM reports that councilman J.B. Smiley will introduce a resolution today asking the mayor to hold in abeyance city contracts with Flight for street parking spaces and space on a public sidewalk used as a patio. Flight was hit with multiple accusations of racism and misogyny on Facebook and Twitter last week, along with its sibling restaurants Porch & Parlor, Southern Social, and Coastal Fish.

I’d like to ask a favor of my readers – go by Downtown Huey’s and grab a burger or some nachos or whatever your go-to item is there. Without the Redbirds, Memphis 901 FC, and conventions at the Peabody, it would really mean a lot for their Downtown neighbors to come in and show them some love.

Word on social media is that axe throwing is coming to a location in the South Main District.

Trump’s niece will release a tell-all book later this summer.

Watching a video of a cop illegally stopping local activist Hunter Demster… gotta go to work in a few minutes… back tomorrow.

There’s a Change.org petition demanding that an INDEPENDENT investigation be done to address the allegations of racism and sexism at Flight restaurant. Russ Graham, the co-owner, had said an investigation would be conducted, but he did not say it would be done by a third party not connected to the restaurant. The petition calls for the Equal Opportunity Employment Commission and the NAACP to handle the investigation, and for Russ Graham to step down as a partner if he is personally implicated in the findings.

David Todd posted more information about the re-opening of Longshot, the shuffleboard bar in ARRIVE Hotel, which will happen tomorrow, Tuesday, June 16. The long, narrow space is ideal for social distancing, and they will have limited seating. Hours will be 4 to 10 PM Tuesday-Saturday and they will have “some tasty new additions to the menu.”

Things I didn’t know existed: a money gun. A friend of mine has one and told me about it yesterday. Perfect for your next visit to the strip club.

A police representative will be at the Downtown Neighborhood Association on Tuesday, June 23, 6 PM at the Rendezvous to discuss recent complaints of reckless driving Downtown.

Tin Roof has announced a July 4 celebration with acoustic live music.

Short post today. Back tomorrow with more.