The 901: What you can expect to see on your ballot when voting today in Shelby County
Good morning, Memphis, where voters are faced with a long, important ballot for local elections and the Tennessee primaries.
We start our Thursday with that.
Shelby County voters face a long ballot today, with 75 positions being selected, our Lucas Finton reports.
Among the positions are the county mayoral and District Attorney General races, as well as 40 judicial positions.
Along with the county election, the state primaries are also on the ballot, with three Democrats vying for a chance to run against Gov. Bill Lee in November. Two Memphians, community activist Carnita Atwater and Memphis City Councilman JB Smiley Jr., will be going against Nashville Dr. Jason Martin. Lee is running unopposed in the Republican primary.
Lucas lists everything else you’ll see on your ballot, if you are heading to the polls today.
6 Memphis school board members pull in cash from TN Prosperity PAC
Candidates Rachael Spriggs in District 1, Tim Green in District 6, Amber Huett-Garcia in District 8 and Rebecca Edwards in District 9 each received an $8,300 donation from TN Prosperity PAC, Samantha West from Chalkbeat Tennessee reports. The other two candidates for District 1, current board Chair Michelle McKissack and former Chair Chris Caldwell, each received $2,500.
TN Prosperity PAC is affiliated with TN Prospers, a non-partisan organization under the umbrella of Seeding Success, a Memphis nonprofit that seeks to support children “from cradle to career.”
TN Prospers CEO Mark Sturgis said the PAC board invited all 12 MSCS board hopefuls — as well as candidates for Shelby County Commission and mayor — to complete a questionnaire, participate in an interview and request support. The board decided who to support based on their responses and past performance.
Michael O. Harris named executive director of Blight Authority of Memphis
Michael O. Harris resigned from his position as executive director at Greater Whitehaven Economic Redevelopment Corporation to lead the Blight Authority of Memphis, the local bank that puts blighted properties into economic use, our Astrid Kayembe reports.
"I'm extremely excited to be here. It's an honor to serve," Harris said. "I think this work is important. We're talking vacant lots and boarded homes, which can be breeding ground for crime and illegal activity. We're focused on building up not out and turning communities around to create a thriving and vibrant community."
His priorities in his new role include creating pathways for affordable homeownership, promoting discerning lot sales, and fostering unique partnerships with community development corporations.
Solutions to youth violence in Memphis are clear
As long as Memphis has a large number of youths who aren’t in school or working, as long as it has a huge percent of students in its school system who can’t read at grade level and as long as it has the highest percentage of poor children among the nation's large cities, it will keep producing youths who don’t care about taking lives, our Tonyaa Weathersbee writes in her last column on youth violence.
Here’s an excerpt:
When the Rev. Autura Eason-Williams was recently gunned down in her Whitehaven driveway by a teenager allegedly driven by meanness, angst and immaturity, hers wasn’t the only life lost that day.
The 15-year-old charged with her July 18 slaying killed what’s left of his.
He was already on probation on charges of carjacking and weapons possession. But instead of using his freedom as a break to shun criminality, he apparently used it to scale up.
Now, he may face first-degree murder charges as an adult — as will his 15-year-old and 20-year-old sidekicks who are accused of joining him in driving off in Eason-Williams’ 2014 Infiniti Q50 to an apartment complex and divvying up what they stole from it.
Not realizing none of what they scavenged from her car was worth her life. Or theirs. Or the part of Memphis’ future where they could have prospered in helping to alleviate the shortages that will face us. Instead, they will become part of the lives that will cost us.
It doesn’t have to be that way.
A first look at Restaurant Iris in East Memphis
The new Restaurant Iris goes well beyond the décor with its attention to detail, our Jennifer Chandler reports in her story for subscribers.
While an exact open date has yet to be set due to equipment delays, Jennifer gives us a sneak peek of what to expect from a look at the dining room to what’s on the menu.
Meet Memphis basketball recruit Yaxel Lendeborg
Yaxel Lendeborg found the purpose and direction he couldn’t find in high school, where he amassed only 11 games of varsity basketball experience, our Jason Munz reports. Now the Arizona Western College star has dozens of Division I coaches, including Memphis’ Penny Hardaway, clamoring for his services.
Born in Puerto Rico, he moved with his mother, Yissel Raposo, to Cincinnati when he was 3 years old, then moved to Pennsauken, New Jersey, when he was 8. Baseball was his first love, because it was his grandfather’s passion, but it was clear early on that he was cut out for basketball.
Read Jason’s story to hear about Lendeborg’s struggles and how he was able to turn it around.
How JD Sherrod led Briarcrest football offense
JD Sherrod had a short amount of time to familiarize himself with Briarcrest Christian football's offense while only moving to Memphis one week before the season started last year, Chris Van Tuyl reports.
“His ability to learn and to grasp everything … he’s just a tremendous student of the game,” said Briarcrest coach Brian Stewart. “He’s a gym rat on the football field. He loves the game, he loves to compete — and we’re tickled to death to have him.”
Sherrod’s final 2021 stats show he threw for 2,325 yards and 23 touchdowns for the Saints, while rushing for 522 yards and seven TDs. He's also No. 9 on The Commercial Appeal's Dandy Dozen.
Read more about Sherrod and his passions outside of football by reading Chris’ story.
The 901 is written by Ray Padilla, digital producer for The Commercial Appeal. He can be reached at raymond.padilla@commercialappeal.com or on Twitter at @Ray_Padilla_.
This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: The 901: Shelby County local elections, Tennessee Primaries underway
