The AM/DM

It's another music-filled weekend in Memphis, with Mempho Music Festival returning to the Memphis Botanic Garden's Radians Amphitheater, the 50th anniversary tour of "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" coming to the Orpheum Theatre and the Pink Palace celebrating Taylor Swift's new album (all weekend-long). Editorial director Mary Cashiola and newsletter editor Bianca Phillips discuss it all.

After two popular fast food restaurants — Chick-fil-A and McDonald's — challenged the town's parking regulations, Collierville is looking at changing its maximum number of spaces for restaurants. Today, the town's Planning Commission is expected to decide what changes it will recommend to the Collierville Board of Mayor and Aldermen. If the maximum is increased, the change could potentially reshape parking for future and existing restaurants.

Editorial director Mary Cashiola and suburbs reporter Abigail Warren discuss.

Plus:

• "Ja & Jaren" enter their seventh year together
• An Uptown brewery heads to the Great American Beer Festival
• Memphis Botanic Garden begins entry courtyard renovations
• MSCS is to sell two buildings
• The first National Guard deployments are expected within two weeks
• A former officer involved in Tyre Nichols death wants to be released from custody

Seven years ago, a new startup began in Memphis to bring people local news. Staffed by longtime local journalists, The Daily Memphian began September 17, 2018, with morning and afternoon emails and a design that felt very reminiscent of a physical newspaper — but there was no actual print component. Today, editorial director Mary Cashiola and CEO Eric Barnes talk about the past seven years, why the site is a nonprofit and if print will ever make a comeback.

Plus:

• Mulan permanently closes Cooper-Young location after fire
• A Brownsville factory expected to be part of Ford's BlueOval City supply chain is canceled
• The Regional One Health rebuild team has been announced
• Changes are coming to MSCS elections
• AngelStreet Memphis plans a youth-first recording studio
• Some documents in the Tyre Nichols civil rights lawsuit could become public

Memphis' native lizards, known as skinks, generally prefer a natural, wooded habitat, away from people. But more Memphians are finding lizards near — and at times in — their homes. They crawl out of fireplaces, skitter across porch lights and hide in cracks. Today, editorial director Mary Cashiola and reporter Jody Callahan revisit a question about why there seem to be more lizards in the Mid-South now as opposed to many years ago.

Plus:

• Fire breaks out at a Cooper-Young restaurant
• Hive Bagel is opening a new location in East Memphis
• Taco Prime offers an authentic experience in Bartlett
• A Collierville educator is Tennessee's Teacher of the Year
• A prominent Midtown yoga studio is closing after 12 years
• Memphis Safe Task Force begins this week

Today, editorial director Mary Cashiola and newsletter editor Bianca Phillips talk about the week ahead, including Richard Smith joining the FedEx board and new plans for Whitehaven's Peppertree Apartments.

Plus:

• Former Memphis councilman Myron Lowery has died
• DNA links a Texas murder to a 1997 rape of a Memphis girl
• Memphis police shoot and kill a man
• Ja Morant discovered his international fame
• The Memphis Tigers beat the FAU Owls
• A children's book teaches kids about stormwater
• A historic Cordova school is for sale
• The new Monopoly: Memphis edition debuts
• Edmund Ford Jr.'s federal trial is pushed back

This weekend's fun includes the Mid-South Fair, Gonerfest, a yoga festival and Shakespeare. Editorial director Mary Cashiola and newsletter editor Bianca Phillips talk about all of that on The AM/DM podcast this morning. And former Daily Memphian food writer Joshua Carlucci is expected to be back in town and at Novel Saturday for the launch of the latest issue of The Pinch.

Plus:

• A new police shift targets speeding, reckless driving and drag racing
• Bartlett plans major upgrades to sewer and water treatment systems
• Collierville selects a team to create a roadmap to 2050
• Memphis-Shelby County Schools recommends closing five schools

Earlier this week, the Shelby County Board of Commissioners voted to move all nine Memphis-Shelby County Schools board seats to the 2026 ballot — effectively shortening some members' terms from four years to two. Commissioners who backed the resolution say it's about aligning elections. Critics say it's essentially a recall on the school board.

Today, Mary Cashiola talks with Bill Dries about the 7–5 vote, the backstory to the clash, and what might happen next.

Plus:

• A bond was set on day two of the hearing for DeAndre and Vinessa Brown
• A woman has been sentenced for the Graceland sale scheme
• Memphis Habitat for Humanity breaks ground on its biggest development yet
• A new food co-op has opened on South Main Street

Readers love them. Readers hate them. Readers love to hate them. The Daily Memphian's comment section is a place the community can discuss the issues of the day, but it's also a place where discussions can get heated. Today, editorial director Mary Cashiola and digital director Holly Whitfield talk about how the comments section works, why moderation is not censorship and why the site's comments will likely never go away.

Plus:

• The County Commission failed to pass a resolution opposing the National Guard deployment
• Assessments of Memphis-Shelby County Schools' buildings estimated repair costs throughout the next 10 years
• The Collierville library expansion will now cost $12 million
• Sweet Musings Bakery & Cafe expands to East Memphis

For the first time in years, Bolton High School's girls soccer team is back on the field — and it's about more than the score. Editorial director Mary Cashiola and preps reporter John Varlas talk about the school's inexperienced but eager team and how they are trying to bring hope and energy to a school still reeling from tragedy.

Plus:

• Fancy Cat Cafe is set to open in Southaven
• Hyde Park housing plan is revealed
• DeAndre and Vinessa Brown remain in custody

In this look at the week ahead, The Daily Memphian's Mary Cashiola and Bianca Phillips talk about two related proposals in front of the Memphis City Council and Shelby County Commission, the Memphis Music Hall of Fame induction ceremony and how the Shelby Farms Greenline started oh-so-many years ago.

Plus:

• USL League Two is coming to Memphis in 2026
• FedEx reports positive first quarter results
• The Lakeland vice mayor is running for spot on Shelby County Commission
• Memphis Safe Task Force specifics are still being worked out