The AM/DM

This weekend brings us a quintessential Memphis event: the Cooper-Young Festival and its accompanying run, the Cooper- Young 4-Miler.  You also have a chance this week to watch "The Matrix" on the big screen — the really big screen — at the Pink Palace, take a parking spot over as a pocket park and get your ballet on, very quickly.  Arts and culture editor Elle Perry is on the show today to talk about it all.  Plus: City Council members plan to ask the Task Force to leave Three former daycare workers plead not guilty Hernando plans to use AI at City Hall Data center moratorium proposals are delayed until October

For years, the Memphis Zoo has worked to bring the Louisiana pine snake and the dusky gopher frog of the southeastern U.S. back from the brinks of extinction. But, recently, it began a project focused on the wildlife of West Tennessee using cameras, mounted at human knee height, to take pictures of animals in their natural habitats near parks, golf courses, cemeteries and other open spaces.  Features reporter John Klyce is here today — on The Daily Memphian's eighth birthday — to talk about the project and what the zoo has learned so far.  Plus: A jail contract, clerk funds and a judge appointment were approved at the first commisison meeting A Cordova apartment complex sells for $56.6 million The Belmont Grill building has a new owner A federal court could soon decide if the MSCS takeover will remain paused Germantown buys a new snowplow    

After former Landers Center Executive Director Todd Mastry was fired in January of 2025, he filed a federal suit against DeSoto County and the county's Convention and Visitors Bureau for wrongful termination.  Mastry claims he was fired because members of the DeSoto County Board of Supervisors wanted him to stop booking Black artists and he refused to do so.  Last month, DeSoto County and the CVB asked the court to dismiss Mastry's case. In doing so, Mastry's attorneys filed a number of documents why the case shouldn't be dismissed, including statements from former CVB members who said they were appointed, and in some cases later replaced, solely to terminate Mastry.  North Mississippi reporter Aarron Fleming is here today to talk about what exactly we have learned from these newly filed documents.  Plus: Detainees sue Shelby County over extreme heat, broken fire alarms and raw sewage at 201 Poplar Knowledge Bowl is placed on hiatus after nearly four decades Halcyon Bakery aims to elevate Memphis' pastry scene FedEx raises rural delivery fees amid an intensifying parcel competition Young musicians will jazz up a Downtown brunch Memphis library's book sale returns without a longtime partner Full funding for the Imagination Library would double Shelby County's reach  

When new Shelby County clerk La Sonya Hall got to her office on Sept. 1, she was greeted with 34 crates of unprocessed car title and registration packets. Separately, days into the new Shelby County Commission's four-year term, two commissioners have been formally charged with crimes. A third is under review because of a 2025 Memphis City Council grant her nonprofit received.  Today we're joined by longtime political reporter Bill Dries to talk about all of these strange cases and how they impact the elected officials, the bodies on which they serve and the electorate.  Plus: Regional One has committed to a $1B new hospital with no plan to pay for it Pipkin could go pickleball An interim state rep. calls off his write-in campaign for his late father's seat Mayo Clinic Labs is investing more than $30M and adding 234 jobs in Southaven Three are being investigated after the death of a 6-year-old left on a daycare bus Dutch Bros Coffee could open in Cordova Little Petals is to open in Raleigh

Newsletter editor Bianca Phillips is back with us today to talk about the week ahead. Plus: SW Memphis residents react to SpaceXAI Cleaner streets aim to boost Downtown's appeal The Memphis Zoo is finding out which animals roam the city alongside us A county commissioner is jailed the day as the first commission meeting Wahlburgers takes over Pyramid dining options A French restaurant is set to open on Collierville Square There is a new way to Grizzlies basketball