Howdy, Memphis. It’s Friday, June 26, and a couple of Memphis-Shelby County Schools takeover board committees meet today. On the agenda: hiring an attorney.

But hey, it’s Friday, so let’s talk about weekend fun. Crosstown Arts opens their summer art exhibitions tonight, and there’s a free cocktail made with bell pepper juice. On Saturday, you can buy a velvet Elvis (for real) at the Mint Condition vintage market and then dance the night away at the Groovy Gratitude’s Summer Soulstice Block Party. Saturday also brings a chance to see an original work by Daily Memphian Arts & Culture Editor Elle Perry at “The 24 Hour Plays.” (Break a leg, Elle!)

On Sunday, you can check out lowriders and classic cars at Latin Soul V: La Bamba at the Edge Motor Museum. And for even more fun, peep The To-Do List.

THE NEED TO KNOW

A rendering shows the Memphis Public Market at the corner of Madison Avenue and South B.B. King Boulevard. (Courtesy HiFi Memphis)

Pike Place in Memphis? A bustling public market may be coming to a long-abandoned corner in Downtown Memphis. A newly formed nonprofit called HiFi Memphis has purchased the two empty buildings on the northwest corner of Madison Avenue and South B.B. King Boulevard for the future Memphis Public Market. The $30 million renovation would transform the dark corner in the shadow of the Sterick Building into a 24-stall market with vendor space for restaurants, farmers, bakers, artisans and other retailers. Since the project is nonprofit, its founders say it lowers the barrier to entry for food operators.

Police cleared in fatal shooting: Two Olive Branch police officers are off the hook for a fatal 2024 shooting. The officers shot and killed 68-year-old Mark Miller while attempting to serve a search warrant. But on Thursday, the Mississippi Attorney General’s office cleared the officers of any wrongdoing. They were among 11 total law-enforcement officers cleared Thursday in four separate use-of-force cases. 

Precinct workers helped voters at Germantown Presbyterian Church on May 5. (Mark Weber/The Daily Memphian file)

Who’s running in the ’burbs? Monday was the first day that candidates in Bartlett, Collierville, Germantown, Lakeland and Millington could pull petitions to run in the Nov. 3 general election. A number of incumbents took that step this week, including Alderman Tony Salvaggio for Germantown mayor. Here’s a look at who else has pulled petitions so far.

MEET MEMPHIS

Tatum Bittick (via Tatum Bittick on X)

The Memphis Tigers softball team’s newest recruit has more than a million followers on social media. Arlington High graduate Tatum Bittick is a social-media influencer with a big following on Instagram, TikTok and Snapchat. And she’s returning home to play for the Tigers after spending her freshman year playing Division II softball at Henderson State in Arkansas. The outfielder led Henderson State with 30 stolen bases in 30 attempts, and she recorded a .263 batting average with 31 hits and two home runs. 

THE NICE TO KNOW

New Grizzlies players (from left to right) Karim López, Cameron Boozer and Richie Saunders appeared during a press conference on June 25. (Mark Weber/The Daily Memphian)

Meet the rookies: New Memphis Grizzly Cameron Boozer knows the pressure is on, but he doesn’t seem one bit worried: “I’ve been the best player on my team my whole life. … I’m here for the challenge,” Boozer said at Thursday’s “meet the rookies” presser. The Daily Memphian’s Chris Herrington says Boozer embodies everything the Grizzlies wanted in their rebuild: younger, bigger, stronger, more serious. (As for where Ja Morant fits in with that, well ...) Other reveals from the conference: Boozer is excited to visit the Bass Pro Shop, because “it’s a whole pyramid,” and new guard Richie Saunders wants to see the Peabody ducks.

Plant Based Heat owner Ralph “RJ Groove” died earlier this week. His restaurant will live on. (Patrick Lantrip/The Daily Memphian file)

Plant Based Heat lives on: Vegan comfort food cafe Plant Based Heat has reopened its Highland location after the death of its owner, Ralph “RJ Groove” Johnson Jr. Johnson died Monday at age 57, and the funeral has been set for July 2. (I’ll miss chatting with Ralph when I stop in for pecan meat Philly cheesesteaks and vegan taco mac bowls. RIP, friend.) That news is in Food Files, where you’ll also learn about a liquor store that’s closing and liquidating (er, liquor-dating) its inventory. And in more food news, we’ve got a tip on where to find a Mediterranean meal deal — in a Castle.

This rendering shows plans for Libro in the Memphis Art Museum Downtown. (Courtesy Dryden Studio)

Art and food by the book: Libro, the cafe located inside Novel, will open a second location inside the new Memphis Art Museum Downtown. Owner John Paul Gagliano said the new Libro will have a similar concept to the one in Laurelwood (think salads, pastas and small plates in an upscale-yet-casual setting). But Gagliano is adding a grab-and-go section and expects the museum Libro experience to be “just a step up.” 

Spence Ray, a partner with Farmington-Kimbrough Development Group and vice president of McNeill Commercial Real Estate, announced 15 homebuilders for the Glasgow subdivision in Germantown. (Houston Cofield/Special To The Daily Memphian file)

No cookie-cutter homes: Germantown’s newest neighborhood won’t be “little boxes made of ticky-tacky” that “all look just the same” if developer Spence Ray has anything to do with it. Ray has selected 15 different homebuilders to build new houses in the suburb’s new Glasgow subdivision at the former Germantown Country Club. And before each house is built, the future homeowner will meet with the builders to go over needs and wants. Ray said a cookie-cutter neighborhood is a “a heinous crime against mankind.”

Carlos Ortez operated a forklift inside Mahaffey Event and Tent Rentals warehouse. (Patrick Lantrip/The Daily Memphian file)

Party on: One century-old, Memphis-based business just bought a new space from another old Memphis business. Party-rental company Mahaffey Tent and Event Rentals purchased a warehouse and office building on Old Lamar Avenue from Bryce Corp. The move will give Mahaffey more space after struggling with high-volume orders in its current, smaller space. Bryce Corp. has also been around, in some sense, for about 100 years, but the company is moving part of its operation to Arkansas.

WHAT WE’RE TALKING ABOUT

Here’s a fun fact: New Grizzlies guard Richie Saunders comes from old tater tot money. Saunders’ great-grandfather co-founded Ore-Ida — the inventor of that most perfect potato delivery system, the tater tot. 

Maybe we’ll all get tater tots in the mail now — like that one time when everyone in Memphis was mailed mashed potatoes.

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