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April 23 - 29, 2020
VOL. 69, No. 17
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COVID-19 – Where do we stand? Mayor announces protocols, eyeing future city re-opening by Dr. Sybil C. Mitchell Special to The New Tri-State Defender
Mayor Jim Strickland highlighted Wednesday’s Joint Task Force COVID-19 update with protocols that will be enforced as some restrictions are lifted. A day earlier, Strickland extended the city’s safer-at-home executive order, with some ex-
ceptions, until May 5. The changes were being made, he said, “with an eye towards the future when we can get back to business.” Effective at 6 a.m. Friday (April 24), all “big box” retailers must implement safeguards used at most of the city’s supermarkets on a voluntary basis the past two weeks. Those safeguards include limiting the number of people who can be in the store and providing for lines to enter the store with social distancing standards. It also requires hand sanitizer and face masks for employees working in crowded areas of the store. The big box stores must provide at least one
hour a day of restricted access to those 55 and older, and to those who are otherwise more at risk for the COVID-19 virus. In addition to store protocols, continued emphasis will be placed on everyone who is out in public being strongly encouraged to wear facial coverings when engaging with others or entering a place of business. Consistent with directives of the Shelby County Health Department, fully automated car washes will be allowed to operate, but all ancillary amenities, such as the vacuums, must be closed for public use.
SEE COVID-19 ON PAGE 2
Terry Adams (seated), Tina Shinault, and her husband Ron Baker. (Courtesy photo)
COVID-19 claimed Terry Adam’s life; could not shake her faith by Dr. Sybil C. Mitchell Special to The New Tri-State Defender
“…It was Wednesday, early morning. I was sitting outside of ICU. A wonderful nurse named Emily was there at my mother’s bedside. Emily was playing a song taken from Psalms 23 called ‘Safe in His Arms.’ Emily was FaceTiming me so I could see my mother (Terry Adams). I perceived she was tired. I wanted my mother to know that I was there. Emily was holding her hand, and I said, ‘Mama, Emily is holding your hand for me.’ And just as I finished those words, I watched my mother’s heart rate go down to zero. Mother had gone to be with the Lord, and she was completely healed.” – Tina Shinault, daughter of Terry Adams Terry Adams, 67, is counted among the Shelby County fatalities of the COVID-19 pandemic. Like all of the coronavirus dead, she has a life story worth telling and a wealth of memories for loved ones to cherish. “My mother attended Hamilton, all the way from elementary through junior high, and high school,” said Tina Shinault, a registered nurse working in hospice. “After Hamilton, ‘Mother’ attended Tennessee Tech Vocational School for childcare. That’s the only work she has ever done and ever wanted to do.” Of the seven children born to John Quincy Adams and Tennie Cleonia Holloway Adams, the youngest of three that survived to adulthood was Terry Adams. “They had seven children, but there were four childhood deaths,” explained Adam’s sister, Louse Adams-Short. “I am the oldest, my sister, Mintie, was in the middle, and Terry was the youngest. Mintie passed away in 2013.” Prior to contracting the novel coronavirus, Adams had experienced renal failure and was on dialysis. “When I called on that last Friday in March, my mother said she didn’t feel good,” Shinault said. “She said she was nauseous and had thrown up. When I got over there Saturday, Mother said she had thrown up some more, but that she felt better lying
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Knowledge Quest founder/CEO Marlon Foster (left) reloads with the help of supply-line assistance during Saturday’s distribution of computer equipment donated by Valero Energy Foundation. (Photo: Gary S. Whitlow/GSW Enterprises)
A steady hand gets a helping hand to extend virtual learning by Karanja A. Ajanaku Kajanaku@tsdmemphis.com
At 590 Jennette Place, Memphis, TN 38126, the nonprofit Knowledge Quest is 22 years intertwined with its mission of “transforming lives by expanding minds.” Factor in a global pandemic that locked Shelby County Schools students out of their buildings for the rest of the academic year and the need for a helping hand becomes dramatically clear. Officials at Valero Energy Foundation reached out and – without solicitation – let Knowledge Quest’s operators know that wanted to positively affect children’s learning while they were out of school. “We shared our plans for a virtual experience and the challenge of students not
having electronic devices at home,” Marlon Foster, founder/chief executive officer said. “In short, they agreed to purchase 200 devices, age-appropriate tablets and laptops, for our students.” The first distribution was last Saturday afternoon. Josh Tulino, vice president and general manager of the Valero Memphis Refinery was there, handing out bags with computers and other needed items. It was his last day at the plant; he’s moving to lead a plant in California. One of his first Memphis experiences had been building raised beds with his team at Knowledge Quest’s Jennette Place site. Valero Energy Corporation and the Valero Energy Foundation committed $50,000
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THE VIEW FROM 38126 In March 2018, The New TriState Defender did a deep dive into ZIP code 38126 to see how Shelby County’s poorest ZIP code had fared in the 50 years since the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was killed at the Lorraine Motel. Since then, the TSD has reported periodically on ongoing efforts to empower the community. This story chronicles Knowledge Quest’s move – and the help it received – to address a technology gap facing students forced to rely on online services when schools were closed to slow the spread of COVID-19.