3 minute read
THE FLY-BY
March 25-31, 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.
STUNNER
Photographer Russ Schaffer took and posted these amazing photos of a Memphis sunset last week, which he tweeted “stayed for six minutes.”
POSTED TO TWITTER BY @RUSSTODAY
BAKER/ISBELL
POSTED TO TWITTER BY @JULIENRBAKER AND @JASONISBELL Memphis-based singer-songwriter Julien Baker had a “massive honor” of singing “some Georgia music” with icon Jason Isbell last week. In a tweeted photo, “You can’t see how hard I’m cheesin’ but trust,” Baker said.
NEON GRAMMY
Memphis bassist and true original MonoNeon got big ups last week for playing on two Grammyrecognized songs. King’s Disease by Nas won and Djesse Vol. 3 by Jacob Collier was nominated.
Weather, Twitter, & COVID-19
Memphis dodges a bullet, “Memphis” banned, and restaurants get a break.
COVID-19 RESTRAINTS RELAXED
Restraints on restaurants got even more relaxed under a new health directive that went into e ect Saturday, March 20th. Here are the key changes: • Increase in number of people at tables to 8 instead of 6. • Persons seated together must be of the same family unit or close contact group. • Bartenders are encouraged to wear a face shield or double mask while serving multiple groups at the bar, but are not required to do so. • Operating hours for dine-in service end at 1 a.m. (customers may stay until 1:30 a.m. to complete meal/ payment arrangements). • Two-hour limit for food service is removed. • Any location that serves beer or alcohol must serve food as required by state law (and have a permit to do so). • Removes the requirement of maintaining contact tracing records.
“ ese revisions are deemed allowable now because our community has experienced reduced transmission of the virus for a period of greater than 14 days,” reads a statement from the health department. “Viral reproductive rate in Shelby County is currently estimated at 0.84 and has remained less than 1.0 since early January. Case numbers have continued to decline since early January. Weekly COVID-19 test positivity rates are the lowest they have been since October.”
“DANGEROUS WEATHER”
e National Weather Service (NWS) warned of “dangerous weather” for the area last week, though it missed Memphis. e area woke to thunder and rain Wednesday, March 17th. e NWS predicted the possibility for severe weather Tuesday and said hazards could include large hail, damaging winds, and tornadoes. Weather of cials here doubled down on the prediction Wednesday morning in a tweet saying, “Dangerous weather is expected.” e weather threat was enough for city of Memphis o cials to cancel all COVID-19 vaccine appointments for Wednesday.
MEMPHIS BAN HAMMER
e ban hammer shows no mercy. And on Twitter, it can befall anyone who uses hate speech, spreads disinformation, or … types out “Memphis”?
Last week, many Twitter users found their accounts restricted with a short-term suspension because their tweets contained the word “Memphis.” e strange event came to many users’ attention early in the day when trying to use the platform to talk about Dutch professional soccer player Memphis Depay. Even just an isolated mention of “Memphis” would land a suspension.
Users jumped on the bandwagon, egging each other on or trying to goad others into saying Memphis. Even the Grizzlies Twitter account joined in on the shenanigans.
Eventually, Twitter came out with a statement, blaming the whole asco on a “bug,” and promising that all the a ected accounts had been restored. Visit the News Blog at memphis yer.com for fuller versions of these stories and more local news.
PHOTO BY DREW BEAMER ON UNSPLASH
