THE FLY-BY

THE

fly-by

Questions, Answers + Attitude Edited by Toby Sells

MEMernet

A roundup of Memphis on the World Wide Web.

SWEETGRASS SMASH Details are fuzzy, but it’s clear that something definitely happened at Sweetgrass in Cooper-Young on Saturday, according to a post by Brad Gilmer on Nextdoor.

4 The restaurant did not post anything formal about the incident online. Nextdoor users had questions and theories.

“Looks as if a vehicle would have come in at a very odd angle?” asked Kathy Ladner. “Someone ordered the large plate of nachos and then couldn’t fit through the door on the way out!” exclaimed Michael Cairo. But Cairo later explained that a driver lost control before midnight and hit the building.

“It was so loud it shot me out of bed. I thought someone was about to drive through my apartment. Wild Saturday night!” said Cady Mink.

MORGAN & MORGAN

{WEEK THAT WAS By Flyer staff

Aquifer, Guns, & Last Meals A bill threatens water protections, (more) guns on campus, and death row dining.

“UN-PROTECT OUR AQUIFER” A new Tennessee bill could “unprotect our aquifer,” removing Shelby County’s ability to control wells drilled into the Memphis Sand Aquifer, the source of the area’s famously pristine drinking water. The bill, filed by two West Tennessee Republicans, Sen. Delores Gresham (R-Somerville) and Rep. Curtis Halford (R-Dyer), would prohibit cities and counties from exercising authority over a landowner’s water rights on “certain drilling requirements.”

Scott Banbury, Conservation Programs Coordinator for the Tennessee Chapter of the Sierra Club, said the bill is “about whether or not Shelby County has the authority to regulate groundwater wells within its jurisdiction.” He said under the bill, the Tennessee Valley Authority would have been able to use wells close to contaminated areas.

Ward Archer, president of Protect Our Aquifer, said the bill would “un-protect our aquifer” and “set us way back about 50 years” before local well controls were established here. RESIDENCY FOR POLICE, FIRE Memphis voters will get to decide if police and fire personnel should be able to live within 50 miles of the city.

The Memphis City Council ended a month-long debate on the question with a vote last week to keep the issue on the November ballot. Some council members were concerned about having police officers here who do not live in Memphis. Others argued allowing the move would lower annual overtime payments of around $39.4 million for police and fire. STUDENTS WITH GUNS (ENCOURAGED!) Some state lawmakers want to allow students at Tennessee public colleges and universities to carry firearms on campus. The bill (SB 2288/ HB 2102) would expand a 2017 law that allows full-time employees with permits to carry a concealed firearm on campus.

In some states, students must be 21 years old to carry a gun on campus. The draft of Tennessee’s proposed bill does not include an age provision. LAST MEALS ON DEATH ROW Fried pork chops, mashed potatoes with gravy, and peach pie with vanilla ice cream was the last meal of Tennessee death row inmate Nicholas Sutton.

Sutton, who died by means of electrocution Thursday, February 20th, was the state’s first inmate to be put to death this year. Sutton was sentenced to death in 1986 after killing a fellow inmate. He was in prison at the time he committed the murder, serving a life sentence for three murders he had been convicted of in 1979. According to the Tennessee Department of Corrections, death row inmates are allowed to request a last meal “within reason,” costing up to $20.

Here is what the 10 inmates executed prior to Sutton selected for their final meal:

Lee Hall — Philly cheesesteak, two orders of onion rings, a slice of cheesecake, and a Pepsi.

Stephen West — Philly cheesesteak and french fries. Donnie Johnson — asked that his supporters donate meals to the homeless.

David Miller — fried chicken, mashed potatoes, biscuits, and coffee.

Edmund Zagorski — pickled pig knuckles and pig tails. Billy Ray Irick — a burger, onion rings, and a Pepsi. Cecil Johnson — refused a final meal. Steve Henley — shrimp, oysters, fried fish, onion rings, and hush puppies.

Daryl Holton — declined a last meal. Philip Workman — asked that a large vegetarian pizza be given to a homeless person. Visit the News Blog at memphisflyer.com for fuller versions of these stories and more local news. Clockwise from top left: TVA workers drill a well, lawmakers want more guns on campus, voters decide on police and fire, last meals on death row