The AM/DM

Civic engagement is the watchword this week. Two members of the Shelby County Board of Commissioners are inviting up to 25 people to join a virtual conversation with them as they leave office.

This week will also see an update on the Wolf River Greenway, the brand new airport board meeting and the qualifiying deadline for the upcoming Nov. 3 election.

Newsletter editor Bianca Phillips is out today so longtime reporter Bill Dries joins us to talk all about it.

Plus:

• The longest-serving director of Dixon Gallery & Gardens in set to retire
• Blackburn wants to close Tennessee's primaries
• A judge denies an attempt to strike down a DeSoto subdistrict
• The City of Memphis and Friends of the Library are at a standstill about who controls $800k

This weekend's for the theater kids. John Legend is coming to town, you can watch a movie in a swimming pool or meet a new partner at Novel. Arts and culture editor Elle Perry joins us today to talk about all the fun.

Plus:

• Collierville breaks ground on the library's new $12M chapter
• The First Horizon Foundation donates $5M for a new UTHSC project
• The Grizzlies will return to a MLK Day slate in 2027

The University of Memphis Tigers will play their first home game in September in the renovated Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium. The $227 million construction project isn't yet finished, but Tigers fans got their first look at the renovation last week. Today, Frank Bonner is here to talk about what fans think of the construction project -- and what it means for conference realignment and Memphis' concert calendar.

Plus:

• A DeSoto County senator proposes an anti-Sharia law bill package
• Bob McEniry shows confidence in CBU with a $6.2 million donation
• Commissioner Erika Sugarmon has been charged with vandalism
• Memphis International Airport is officially renamed after Fred Smith
• A meeting is set to decide on the Collierville fire chief's fate

Last year, the Mississippi state legislature created a new Circuit Court and a Chancery Court judge in DeSoto County. But, in doing so, lawmakers said that only a small section of county voters could elect the two new judges for those courts. DeSoto County Supervisor Robert Foster argued the move was unfair — and racially motivated — and is now suing the state to eliminate the newly created subdistrict. A federal judge heard arguments in the case last week and will soon decide whether the new courts will be allowed to stand as is — just weeks before voting starts in Mississippi for the 2026 general elections.

North Mississippi reporter Aarron Fleming joins us today to talk us through the issues in the case and how it could impact the Mississippi's governor's race.

Plus:

• Prince Mongo dies after a fall at his East Memphis home
• Drawing the line on crossover voting becomes an issue
• Germantown approves Goodwin Farms changes
• A fatal shootout leaves a family grieving
• The County Commission tries one last time on a new-jail study
• Jojo's Espresso plans a third area location

In January 2024, the Exxon Hop-In at the corner of Poplar Avenue and Highland Street caught fire. The location had been home to a filling station since the 1930s. In 2024, people expected that, even after the fire, the gas station would be rebuilt. But here we are two and a half years later, and nothing is happening at the site. It's still vacant and it still is surrounded in construction fencing. Reporter Andy Ashby joins us today to talk about what's going on at the site and use it as a case study for other redevelopment.

Plus:

• Memphis basketball announces the nonconference schedule
• An indicted Millington police officer has been fired for falsifying timesheets
• Boss Lady Pickles gets a chance at Cordelia's
• The former Cascades developer owes millions in unpaid loans

It's all in the hips this week as we prepare for two very Memphis, but very disparate summer traditions.

It's both golf tournament week and Elvis week. Choose one or the other or both, and prepare for Memphis to show you something special.

Newsletter editor Bianca Phillips joins us to talk about those events as well as Ikea asking this week to change the name of one Memphis street.

If you like off-the-beaten path type of events, you will love what's going on this weekend. This off-the-beaten-path weekend will take you on a foam run, through the lion's gate portal and into a brewery book fair. Newsletter editor Bianca Phillips joins us today to talk about those events and more fun you might want to get into this weekend.

At the very end of July, Memphis Light, Gas and Water revealed it had been asked to study what would happen if a new user wanted to connect to the grid and use up to 300 megawatts of electricity. Though no one said what might need to use that much electricity, the request came from an investor that owns 575 acres of vacant land in Pidgeon Industrial Park. That same investor was highly involved in bringing xAI's initial facility to the Mid-South. Today, Sam Hardiman joins us to talk about what might be planned for that parcel of industrial land, a discussion on data centers and what's the latest from SpaceXAI.

In May, a shooting at OUTMemphis left two victims in critical condition. A day later, police arrested a transgender woman known as Jewel. However, Shelby County District Attorney General Steve Mulroy said last week that police had arrested the wrong person after witnesses misidentified the shooter. Today, reporter Jody Callahan is here to discuss this story and how it all happened. Plus, how the mistake came to light.

Every year, The Orpheum Theatre brings about seven Broadway shows to Memphis. They might be comedies, dramas, musicals. But they aren't just the shows that are on tour that year. The Orpheum shows are carefully selected for Memphis by Orpheum President and CEO Brett Batterson. In fact, for the upcoming season, which starts in September, the Orpheum is staging two non-musical plays in Memphis — for the first time in nearly 30 years. So how does Batterson decide what he'll bring to Memphis? Today we're joined by reporter John Klyce, who recently answered this very question.