Out of all Shelby County’s municipalities, Germantown may have the least available land left to develop. The city is landlocked, its boundaries set, but there are 33 acres of what could be prime real estate just west of the popular Saddle Creek shopping center. 

Today, editorial director Mary Cashiola and suburbs editor Clay Bailey talk about the land known as the “Arthur property” and what it might mean for the bedroom community. 

Plus:

• A former officer convicted in Tyre Nichols' death is released from federal custody
• Methodist grows the Neuroscience Institute
• Memphis Police Department touts that overall crime is at a 25-year low
• Tennessee Shakespeare Co. is putting on two free series of shows

For more than a decade, DeAndre Brown was one of Memphis’ most visible advocates for giving people leaving prison a second chance. Through his nonprofit, Lifeline to Success, he and his wife, Vinessa, built a model that combined job training, anti-blight clean-ups, and mentorship for hundreds of former inmates. But now, that story has taken a dramatic turn.

Today, editorial director Mary Cashiola and longtime reporter Bill Dries talk about how the Browns went from running a celebrated reentry program to facing felony charges.

Plus:

• Riverside Drive has reopened
• Shelby Farms opens a permanent food truck park
• Google confirms a West Memphis data center

Potential school closures at Memphis-Shelby County Schools have been a topic of conversation for years now, but it’s been almost just as long since district leaders have actually closed a large number of schools. 

But that’s changing soon, or seems to be. Interim Superintendent Roderick Richmond’s administration is expected to produce a list of schools to close or consolidate later this month, and at least one board member said there’s no need to keep kicking the can down the road. 

What’s more, those potential closures are just the beginning. 

Plus:

• The old Bayer building could become a campus for kids aging out of foster care
• An embezzlement case leaves a high school band short on funds
• A new pecan brand is rooted in family
• Hotel Napoleon's bar reopens with a different operator
• Riverside Drive reopens with changes
• Trees are disappearing on Wolf River Boulevard
• Memphis school students have been diagnosed with a highly contagious illness
• Wing Guru closes its final Memphis partner location
• Frontier Airlines is to add a nonstop route between Memphis and Atlanta

Editorial director Mary Cashiola and newsletter editor Bianca Phillips discuss the week ahead, and the week ahead signals the beginning of fall festival season. Cooper-Young Festival is on the horizon, along with the Friday night 4-miler, and a new hummingbird festival is alighting on Southaven. 

Plus:

• Memphis Tigers won against the Georgia State Panthers on Saturday
• Questions surround the new trial for the former officers convicted in Tyre Nichols' death
• The judge in the police union vs. City of Memphis case recuses herself
• A new plan for the Arthur property in Germantown is on the table
• The Memphis Zoo expands the Free Tuesdays program
• Ballet Memphis names its first executive director
• Memphis area home sales are down

During this episode of The AM/DM, editorial director Mary Cashiola and newsletter editor Bianca Phillips talk about all the fun events happening in the Mid-South this week. 

One is asking participants to wear mocha mousse while another will give you the chance to hear from someone “big in fermentation circles.” And another will offer 73 straight minutes of cat videos. 

• A teen and mother have been charged in a 901 Day Beale Street Shooting
• Stephen Malkmus and Kurt Vile will headline the 2025 Raised by Sound Fest
• The Civil Rights Museum announces the Freedom Award honorees
• Southaven makes a proposal to offset the property tax assessment changes
• The new Liza's Library at St. Mary's honors the late teacher's love for reading
• Apartments and townhomes are coming to Cooper-Young
• Memphis-Shelby County Schools Superintendent Roderick Richmond rebuts arguments for a state takeover

The three former Memphis police officers who were convicted in federal court over the 2023 death of Tyré Nichols are getting a new criminal trial.The move comes after news broke last week that U.S. District Judge Mark Norris, who presided over their first trial, made disparaging comments about the former officers and the Memphis police department as a whole. 

But Norris’ comments themselves stem from the shooting of a law clerk shortly after the federal trial. With the new trial, there is now potential for the men to be completely exonerated over Nichols’ death.

On this episode of The AM/DM, we’ll talk about all that and what this could mean for Nichols’ family’s lawsuit against the City of Memphis. 

Plus: Tennessee officials said they are appealing a recent court ruling that invalidated two state gun laws, the University of Memphis board approves a $100,000 bonus for President Bill Hardgrave, a South Korean manufacturer plans a $50 million expansion in Memphis, Memphis Mayor Paul Young says his police reforms task force is not moving as fast as he expected, the woman accused of fatally shooting a local pastor is charged, a former cop convicted in Tyre Nichols' death wants out of custody and a teen was shot on Beale Street amid 901 Day celebrations.

Editorial director Mary Cashiola and arts and culture editor Elle Perry discuss the arts scene in Memphis, including The Daily Memphian’s new arts newsletter. Perry reveals how she became interested in the arts at an early age, and the two discuss the wonder the arts can inspire in those both young and old. 

Plus, a police report sheds light on a shooting that led to a federal judge's recusal, Memphis is set to host Arkansas in a preseason game benefitting St. Jude, an indoor golf simulator is planned for Southaven, luxury apartments have been approved for the former Hy-Vee site in Bartlett and why companies are storing solar equipment in Memphis.

In this post-Labor Day episode, editorial director Mary Cashiola and newsletter editor Bianca Phillips talk about the week ahead, including anniversaries of two local tragedies, 30 Days of Opera and the annual Running of the Weenies. 

Plus, a new study says Memphis doesn't need a new jail, the majority of the MATA board has quit, the latest attempt to revive a South Main building has fallen apart, a new era of tourism begins for the Landers Center, a MSCS activist was arrested for violating a board member's restraining order, Carrefour begins demolition and a Shelby County director has been indicted on a dozen felony charges.

Today, editorial director Mary Cashiola and newsletter editor Bianca Phillips help shepherd you through the Labor Day weekend and into 901 Day fun. 

Plus, Shelby County gets two new judges, plans for a new Regional One campus move forward, a desire for tax increment financing help on Union Depot in Bartlett has hit a snag, FedEx lays off hundreds in Shelby County and a Downtown college campus is listed for sale after the property went into foreclosure.

Hernandez Govan, the man accused of masterminding the murder of Memphis rapper Young Dolph in 2021, was acquitted after a three-day trial last week. Prosecutors alleged that Govan hired the two men who shot Adolph Thornton Jr., known in music as Young Dolph.

Today, editorial director Mary Cashiola and criminal justice reporter Aarron Fleming talk about why those claims might have fallen short with Govan’s attorney arguing another man played a larger role in Thornton’s death.

Plus, Shelby County Sheriff Floyd Bonner says a new jail wouldn't fix everything, an advanced analytics website predicts how the Memphis Tigers basketball team will fare this season, UTHSC hopes to create a model for improving rural health care, two area legislators want TBI to audit MPD crime stats, MSCS student numbers have dropped at the start of the school year and the Tennessee Supreme Court halts MPD demotions.