3 minute read
THE FLY-BY
February 11-17, 2021
MEM ernet
{WEEK THAT WAS By Flyer staff
Questions, Answers + Attitude
Edited by Toby Sells
A roundup of Memphis on the World Wide Web.
BEAUTIFUL BLACK
Pipeline, Groove, & COVID-19
Opposition rises on project, a citywide ride-share, and the virus numbers slide.
Memphis cra breweries raised $8,662 for the Memphis Interfaith Coalition for Action and Hope (MICAH), they announced on Instagram last week. e money came from sales of Black Is Beautiful, an imperial stout brewed locally as part of a national campaign to “raise funds for police brutality reform and legal defenses for those who have been wronged.”
PUPPY PANTRY
Memphis Animal Services said on Instagram last week that it distributed more than 36,600 pounds of pet food last year through its Pet Food Pantry. e gure included about 30,890 pounds of dog food and 4,117 pounds of cat food.
HERO TOM LEE
e Mississippi River Parks Partnership remembered civic hero Tom Lee last week on the rst day of Black History Month. In 1925, Lee, who couldn’t swim, saved 32 of the 72 people aboard a steamship that capsized on the Mississippi River.
ELECTRIC MIST
Reddit user mikeclark1982 captured this image of the bright M Bridge climbing from the fog last week.
COVID-19 NUMBERS
Virus numbers continued to so en last week. Total current active cases of the virus — the number of people known to have COVID-19 in the county — started the week with a milestone. On Monday, the number fell below 4,000 for the rst time in many weeks. Friday, the gure was 3,378. Monday: new, 376; total, 83,029; deaths, 1,280 Tuesday: new, 206; total, 83,235; deaths, 1,289 Wednesday: new, 254; total, 83,489; deaths, 1,296 ursday: new, 220; total, 83,709; deaths, 1,318 Friday: new, 414; total, 84,123; deaths, 1,348
COLLEGE CURE?
State university presidents recently asked Governor Bill Lee to distribute COVID-19 vaccines to faculty and sta on their campuses.
A recent letter from the presidents to Lee expressed concerns about being excluded from the vaccination queue. Tennessee has yet to put college faculty and sta in the vaccination line. Plans in Mississippi and Arkansas include K-12 teachers, childcare workers, and higher education employees.
POLICE RESIDENCY
Last week, the Memphis Shelby Crime Commission announced support of a new state bill that would eliminate the residency requirement for local law enforcement and other local rst responders. e bill would abolish all existing, local residency provisions statewide and prohibit them in the future. e crime commission cited rising violent crime rates and a shortage of o cers as reasoning for their support of the bill.
BYHALIA PIPELINE REVIEWED
A Memphis City Council committee will reconvene next week to reconsider opposition to the proposed Byhalia Connection Pipeline.
Valero and Plains All American Pipeline want to build the 49-mile, 24-inch pipeline from Memphis to Marshall County, Mississippi, to connect existing lines and, eventually, run crude oil through it to the Gulf of Mexico.
Opponents of the pipeline, including at least two city council members, say the pipeline endangers the city’s famously pure drinking water and runs unfairly through several of the city’s predominantly Black neighborhoods.
STATE MAY HAVE EXTRA $3B
Tennessee lawmakers may have an extra $3 billion to budget this year, according to a policy report from the Sycamore Institute. State co ers declined less and rebounded faster during the pandemic than in other states, according to the nonpartisan think tank based in Nashville. is spiked tax revenue collections above projections. While some of the $3 billion has been appropriated, much of it remains for the governor and lawmakers to spend.
GROOVE ON
e Memphis Area Transit Authority (MATA), Downtown Memphis Commission, and Memphis Medical District Collaborative have partnered to create a new transit service that will o er an alternative to Uber and Ly in the city of Memphis. Called Groove On-Demand, the dynamically routed public transit service will launch on the 10th of February.
TERO VESALAINEN | DREAMSTIME.COM
