Memphis Flyer - 3.30.23

DEATH ROW INMATES WITH PENDING EXECUTIONS. (PHOTOS: TDOC)

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OUR 1779TH ISSUE 03.30.23

Last Monday, 28-year-old Audrey Hale opened fire at Covenant School, a pre-K to sixth grade Christian school in Nashville. Three children, each 9 years old, and three adults were killed in the attack by the former student. As this story unfolded, many people on local social media feeds expressed their shock that this happened at a private school in Nashville, not in Memphis. Others correlated it with a desperate need for mental health resources. And in others, it further spurred fears of sending their children to school at all. Nowhere is safe.

Here at home, just before the clock struck midnight on Monday, a series of loud booms roused me from sleep. Shortly after, a post on the neighborhood Facebook page: “Wow. Hope everyone is okay …” A neighbor shared a clip from her home security footage, which only showed a darkened porch, but the 11 rounds that rang out no doubt came from an assault rifle. We don’t bother calling them in much these days. With no description of the shooter or vehicle and no injuries to report, it won’t make a difference. In the recent past, I’ve had to have the hood of my car repaired — to patch a hole from a stray fallen bullet; thankfully, it was just my car that received damage.

Over the weekend, I saw a post shared from Nextdoor about random gunfire Downtown around 8:30 p.m. Saturday. Danya McMurtrey wrote, “It appears that a couple of expensive sports cars were having a shoot-out amidst a throng of tourists. … My 17 year old niece was one of these tourists buying ice cream at Maggie Moo’s on Main before it all went to hell. She was sobbing, traumatized. Two 87 year old women from Napa CA were tourists enjoying a lovely Memphis evening until this occurred. They were scrambling to return to their hotel, traumatized. A sweet family from Indiana had a lovely day at the zoo and were admiring the lights of Main Street until gunfire invaded their evening. They were traumatized. I hid behind a pillar in a parking garage and came eye-to-eye with a freaked-out shelter-seeking carriage horse. I’ve never seen a horse so afraid. We were both traumatized. … Yet, I’ve seen nothing reporting that this even occurred. I’ve become immune to the sound of gunshots in midtown (heard them Friday night, last night — they are in the distance, not about me, I rationalize). I guess last night made me realize how problematic resignation and apathy are, especially my own.”

I wasn’t able to find any news reports on that incident, but here’s a sampling of gun violence-related stories I did see from Friday to Monday.

“Man fires five shots into car on I-40”

“East Memphis crime spree ends with crash in North Memphis”

“One dead after North Memphis shooting”

“One dead in South Memphis shooting”

“Two injured, one dead in Parkway Village shooting”

“Another suspect in custody after Southaven ‘ambush’”

“Shots fired at deputies in Midtown, deputy crashes on way to scene”

“Man dead after shooting in Soulsville”

“MPD: Suspect shoots, kills man after agreeing to boxing match”

“Shots fired at police after Frayser crash, two detained”

“Teen charged after armed robbery at Olive Branch Piccadilly”

“Two teens in hospital after shooting in Southwest Memphis”

“One dead, one injured after shooting in Frayser”

Four days. This wasn’t an anomaly. It’s a standard news cycle. The scary part lies in the many more incidents that aren’t called in and aren’t covered.

Last week, the Memphis Police Department announced that 44 recruits graduated the 138th training session to become officers. Earlier this month, the Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland Security said 66 Tennessee Highway Patrol troopers were now serving the Memphis District, which covers Shelby, Fayette, Tipton, Lauderdale, Crockett, Haywood, and Hardeman counties. Can law enforcement curb this violence? We can’t arrest ourselves out of this problem.

NEWS & OPINION

THE FLY-BY - 4

POLITICS - 6

AT LARGE - 7

COVER STORY

“THE FUTURE OF DEATH”

BY TOBY SELLS - 8

NCAA BRACKET- 12

WE RECOMMEND - 14

MUSIC - 15

CALENDAR - 16

NY TIMES CROSSWORD - 16

NEWS OF THE WEIRD - 17

ASTROLOGY - 18

FOOD - 19

FILM - 20

CLASSIFIEDS - 22

LAST WORD - 23

In a state allegedly so concerned with protecting its children — by banning drag shows and taking away reproductive and other healthcare rights — there sure are a lot of children being killed by gun violence. And more often, it seems, teens and young adults are pulling the trigger.

We need to support the politicians, activists, and organizations who work to elevate, educate, and empower the citizens of Memphis — the youth, homeless, poverty-stricken, the disadvantaged, and underserved.

This is our city. This is about us. We are not immune. Will we resign to apathy?

Shara Clark shara@memphisflyer.com

THE fly-by

MEM ernet

By Flyer staff

Questions, Answers + Attitude

Edited by Toby Sells

Memphis

on the internet. SAVOR IT

McNally, Schools, & BizBus

JUNETEENTH

A bill that would make Juneteenth (June 19th) a state holiday cleared another hurdle in the legislature last week.

“3-20-23. e rst day of a week of palindromes,” Shelby County District Attorney Steve Mulroy wrote on Facebook.

“Savor it.”

IT’S A PARADE

Senator Raumesh Akbari said the holiday was not only important for African Americans but also for other Tennesseans across the state.

Senator Joey Hensley (R-Hohenwald) said he had asked several people within his district if they knew what Juneteenth was and that very few people knew. Hensley said he would be voting “no” on the bill.

“I don’t think we need to be making a holiday for something that happened in Texas,” he said.

Ja Morant interrupted Luke Kennard’s post-game interview this weekend with a victorious, hilarious, “It’s a parade inside my city, yeah!” e line is from rapper YoungBoy Never Broke Again’s single “Fresh Prince of Utah” and has become a rallying cry for the Griz this season. It’s also a viral TikTok hit. One video mash-up of Morant saying the line has more than 3.3 million views.

POTHOLES

MCNALLY REMAINS

Barely two weeks a er revelations that he posted comments next to risque photos on young gay men’s Instagram sites, Lt. Gov. Randy McNally won a vote of con dence from his peers.

e Senate Republican Caucus, in a vote that took hours to cast on Monday, March 20th, supported the veteran lawmaker instead of handing him a vote of no con dence in his darkest hour.

e caucus voted 19-7 in support of McNally in a tally announced a er Monday’s Senate session.

“He made a mistake,” said Senate Speaker Pro Tem Ferrell Haile (R-Gallatin). “Let’s o er some grace and mercy and forgiveness and move on. We’ve got business to take care of.”

Original story from Tennessee Lookout by Sam Stockard.

STATE OF MSCS

In a speech last week re ecting on the recent school year and teasing budget priorities for the coming one, interim Memphis schools leader Toni Williams described a district on the rise, with big decisions ahead about improving facilities, literacy, and safety.

small group of nalists. e search rm, Hazard, Young, Attea & Associates, will interview 12 candidates by ursday a ernoon and is expected to deliver a slate of three nalists to the school board in April. Finalists will be interviewed publicly on April 21st and 22nd.

Original story from Chalkbeat Tennessee by Laura Testino.

BIZBUS

A new intercity bus service that will allow travelers to go from Memphis to Nashville and back will be making its rst trip on Memorial Day weekend. On Saturday, May 27, 2023, and Sunday, May 28, 2023, BizBus will depart from Memphis to Nashville at 7 a.m., and from Nashville to Memphis at noon.

BizBus is a new bus service that will o er comfortable seating, Wi-Fi, and an onboard attendant. e one-way fare is $49.99, and according to BizBus, the fare is priced competitively with FlixBus and Megabus.

Jonathan Toles, the founder of BizBus, said the idea was a result of his traveling experiences. Toles said that during his time as a TSA o cer, he heard travelers voice their frustrations about regional travel.

“Memorizing pothole locations is a survival skill in Memphis,” CharNeal Capps wrote on Facebook last week. h/t to Memphis Memers 901.

Williams also implicitly made her case to be considered a candidate in the search for Memphis-Shelby County Schools’ next superintendent, a position she once said she had no interest in assuming on a permanent basis.

e school board, working with a national search rm, has been soliciting applicants for that post since March 1st and is in the process of narrowing its list of candidates to a

“If you wanted to go from Memphis to Nashville, there’s no direct ight,” said Toles. “It was so frustrating. You could hear people’s frustrations. at’s when I rst got interested in this.”

PHOTO: (LEFT) COURTESY TONE; (RIGHT) BIZBUS TONE’s 2021 Juneteenth celebration at Orange Mound Tower; the BizBus will take travelers between Memphis and Nashville.

By Kailynn Johnson

HIV Equity

New coalition focuses on care and prevention a er state cuts HIV funding.

Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris and the Shelby County Health Department invited communitybased organizations to form the HIV Equity Coalition (HIVE Coalition) in response to the state of Tennessee cutting HIV funding.

According to a statement from the mayor’s o ce, the HIVE Coalition “will engage area stakeholders to discuss the current problems facing people with HIV and how Governor Bill Lee, the state of Tennessee, and Health Commissioner Ralph Alvarado’s refusal to accept nearly $10 million in federal funds for HIV care and prevention will impact patients and vulnerable populations.”

“ e HIVE Coalition will also discuss ways for the community and local o cials to help support organizations following the state’s destructive decision,” said the statement.

ing being cut is going to jeopardize that equity,” said Michelle Taylor, director of the Shelby County Health Department. “ e fact that this funding is being cut is going to be devastating to the community.”

Taylor also explained that community-based organizations help the Shelby County Health Department’s outreach e orts in not only the treatment space, but the prevention space as well.

Molly Quinn serves as the executive director of OUTMemphis, which launched its HIV prevention campaign 12 years ago. While the organization focuses most of its programs and services on the LGBTQ community, its HIV prevention services are open to all.

“We feel very strongly about the importance of LGBTQ experiences in our public health outcomes, which are so severely negative in this part of the country, in this part of the world,” said Quinn. “We really look forward to a time when politics are no longer a part of our public health.”

Hope House serves families who have been a ected by HIV. ey also have a full-service social services house that provides support services and more to those living with HIV.

“Prevention is so incredibly important,” said Melissa Farrar, director of social services at Hope House.

Mayor Harris was joined by representatives from the Shelby County Health Department, Friends For Life, OUTMemphis, Hope House, and the Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation to host a panel discussion on Zoom not only to discuss the work they are doing to help those impacted by HIV, but also to share how cutting funds will disrupt their e orts.

“ is is the start of our e orts, which we are committed to sustaining until our vulnerable HIV population has the level of healthcare access that we know is needed,” said Harris.

According to Jerri Green, senior policy advisor for Shelby County, there are 19,000 Tennesseans living with HIV. Green added that Shelby County ranked number three in “incidence rates of new HIV infections in the United States,” and the disease disproportionately affects those in minority populations.

“What we’re really talking about is creating equity in a space where this fund-

“We have babies that are not living with HIV because of prevention e orts in our community, so the prevention funding is so important for everyone in the community. It’s so important that everyone has equitable access to prevention services.”

Diane Duke, CEO of Friends For Life, explained that they initially started out as a “group of people who helped their friends die with dignity,” but her organization has come a long way thanks to prevention e orts.

“We are dependent on funds from the federal government in order for us to be successful in our mission,” said Duke.

Duke said they received a grant for $463,000. However, funding from the CDC quali ed them for the 340B Drug Pricing Program, which, according to their website, “enables covered entities to stretch scarce federal resources as far as possible, reaching more eligible patients and providing more comprehensive services.” According to Duke, that would result in losses of $1.7 million in funding annually.

PHOTO: TESTALIZE.ME | UNSPLASH

POLITICS By Jackson Baker

Answering the Bell

Election fever is beginning to show not only at the level of mayoral hopefuls but among city council aspirants as well.

A key race will take place in council District 5, focused on Midtown and East Memphis, where former Councilman Philip Spinosa will be seeking a return to o ce. It won’t be easy for Spinosa, who’ll be opposed by newcomer Meggan Wurzburg Kiel, whose fundraiser Monday evening at the East Memphis home of Frank and Jeanne Jemison turned out well over a hundred supporters. e attendees ran the gamut from the well-to-do, many of them prominent in business and civic circles, to familiar activists of the political center and center-le .

Kiel ran through her extensive résumé, which includes service in a variety of educational missions among inner-city youth and a prominent role in the Mem-

phis Interfaith Coalition for Action and Hope (MICAH).

She noted that the council was “kicking the can down the road” in setting exact district boundaries, but urged those present to be ready on May 22nd, when candidate petitions can rst be drawn, and “we will sign the petition together and have a really good time picking up o cially the campaign.”

• On Saturday, some 100 or so cadres of the Shelby County Republican Party had a dissent-free reorganizing convention in which chairman Cary Vaughn, who was re-elected by acclamation, called for “turning the page” and distancing the party from the monolithic in uence of former President Donald J. Trump.

As Vaughn commented to the crowd, “We need boots on the ground. We need new people. … We can’t get there with the same core group. … We have to truly look at how we market the Shelby County GOP. … We have to work on the depth chart, right?”

e chairman cited a recent conversation of his with an African-American acquaintance, who told him, “We as African Americans want to be a part of the Republican Party in Shelby County.” Vaughn quoted the man as saying many Blacks were “pro-life, pro-God, pro-business, pro-traditional marriage, [and] believe in core values. But we’re not coming over under the Trump brand.”

Said Vaughn: “We have to nd a way to say, look, there is room for everybody at the table with the Shelby County GOP. Now maybe we tear down the silos just a little bit so that we can come together [and] move this party forward.”

at didn’t sit well with Terry Roland, an absentee Saturday and Trump’s local election chair in both 2016 and 2020. Roland reacted with fury. “ ere are more Trump [voters] than not” among the county’s Republicans, he said, “and we aren’t taking a back seat to anyone. … Most of us won’t support anyone else, so I’m done with the Shelby County party a er 36 years.”

• It is remarkable that Congressman Steve Cohen of Memphis’ 9th District was the only Tennessean now serving in Congress that MSNBC could nd to say something both sensible and sensitive in the wake of Monday’s fatal school shooting in Nashville.

In a lengthy interview, Cohen empathized with the victims and their families, expressed the need for signi cant gunsafety legislation (while despairing of nding enough Republicans on Capitol Hill to support it), and even doubted the safety of himself and others in the House, given the inclination of some GOP members to try to smuggle weapons onto the oor.

Nashville is a majority-Democratic city, in some ways more so than Memphis, but gerrymandering by the legislature’s Republican supermajority has contrived to split the state’s congressional districts in such a way that Republicans — like Andy Ogles, who sends out family Christmas cards showing everyone toting a rearm — are guaranteed to represent all the larger districts containing fragments of Nashville.

PHOTO: INSTAGRAM @MEGGANFORMEMPHIS Meggan Wurzburg Kiel

New realities bring fresh faces and new approaches.

AT LARGE By Bruce VanWyngarden

Sex, Lies, and Statuary

Do we know it when we see it?

When Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart was asked to describe his test for obscenity in 1964, he responded: “I know it when I see it.” is much-quoted bit of judiciary shorthand was o ered in the case, Jacobellis v. Ohio, in which the state of Ohio ned Nico Jacobellis, a Cleveland Heights theater owner, $2,500 for showing the French lm, Les Amants ( e Lovers), directed by Louis Malle and starring famed actress Jeanne Moreau.

Stewart went on: “I have reached the conclusion that under the First and Fourteenth Amendments, criminal laws in this area are constitutionally limited to hard-core pornography. I shall not today attempt further to de ne the kinds of material I understand to be embraced within that shorthand description; and perhaps I could never succeed in intelligibly doing so. But I know it when I see it, and the motion picture involved in this case is not that.”

In so ruling, Stewart struck a blow for art, in this instance a lm that explored

the emotional and physical dimensions of an a air, but that was not pornographic in any sense of the word.

One can only imagine what Potter might think of the school board and administrators in Florida who last week red their principal for allowing a teacher to show sixth-graders in an art class what it called “pornography” — a picture of Michelangelo’s statue David, widely regarded as one of the most important artworks in the history of mankind.

e statue, which depicts David just as he’s about to go into battle against Goliath, stood in the central square of Florence, Italy, from 1504 until 1873, when it was moved indoors to Florence’s Galleria dell’Accademia due to concerns about weather damage. It should be noted that the statue was originally commissioned to stand in a cathedral but was moved to the central square so that more people would have a chance to view its magni cence.

So why, you might ask, would the administrators of Hillsdale Academy’s Tallahassee Classical School object to its sixth-grade students viewing Michelan-

gelo’s masterwork? What could be more “classical” than Michelangelo?

ere’s a one-word answer, and I bet you can guess what it is: penis. Yep, David’s artistically sculpted junk is up there, right where it’s supposed to be on a human male, and this was a big problem for the administrators. Spurred by complaints from three parents, the right-wing idiocracy swung into action.

It makes me wonder if these folks have ever heard of Stormy Daniels. I mean, if you want to see what pornography really is, just google “Stormy Daniels lms.” Try explaining that to little Braxton. And how are these Hillsdale administrators going to talk to their students about the forthcoming legal brouhaha surrounding former President Trump and the aforementioned woman he paid $130,000 to for doing absolutely nothing wrong at a hotel in Lake Tahoe?

(Note: It’s at this point that I’m dutybound to remind you that if the name Hillsdale Academy sounds familiar, it’s because it is the smarmy religious-based operation to which Governor Bill Lee

wants to give millions of your tax dollars in lieu of that money going to public schools.)

But nally, to be fair, I guess I have to point out that there is some historical precedent to Hillsdale’s overreaction to the sight of David’s massive marble peen. In the mid-1800s, Great Britain’s Victoria and Albert Museum installed a full-size replica of David in one of its central galleries. Upon her rst visit, Queen Victoria staggered backward, hand to chest, and was heard to exclaim, “Oh my stars and garters! What am I looking at? Make it stop!”

e museum then had a g leaf created that was hung on the statue whenever the queen paid a visit. How, er, hard was that? Perhaps Hillsdale could show its students the g-covered version.

No, it’s not a perfect solution, but these days it’s any port in a Stormy.

PHOTO: MASSIMO LAMA | DREAMSTIME.COM David by Michelangelo

THE FUTURE OF DEATH

Republicans work hard to get Tennessee’s executions back on track … any way they can.

Tennessee Republicans want to start killing the state’s death row inmates again, enough so they want to bring in ring squads and “hanging by a tree.”

Executions in Tennessee are now halted, hamstrung on scienti c protocols for lethal injections. An execution set to go ahead last year came nail-bitingly close before the governor issued a last-minute reprieve. When the truth nally surfaced, state o cials admitted they did not follow their own rules to safely carry out the execution (and others).

Governor Bill Lee wanted to know why. e report he ordered came back right before Christmas. And it was hot. e ndings were big enough and bad enough to halt all executions — including those by electrocution — in the state and to see two top o cials red. It also put the Tennessee process for lethal injections under review and repair.

While that method is on hold, GOP members of the Tennessee General Assembly have spent part of this year’s session casting about for alternatives. Both the ring squad and hanging methods of execution they’ve suggested made headlines this session. e “hanging” notion never really received any serious consideration and came with a rare GOP apology on its harshness. Even though the ring squad idea seems harsh, too, that idea gained serious traction and continued to move through the Senate committee system as late as last week.

Another GOP bill sought transparency in the lethal injection system, making public the names of the companies that make Tennessee’s lethal injection drugs. ose names are now con dential via a special request by the Tennessee Department of Correction (TDOC) a few years ago.

Lawmakers don’t o en champion government transparency, especially when private companies are in the mix. And with this bill, transparency seemed secondary. e bill sponsor said if his bill could help x the execution system, then executions could continue, hopefully without hiccups like last year’s that made victims’ families “wait for their day of justice to come.”

Attitudes on the death penalty in general were expectedly divided during the session. Many Democrats lambasted the method as inhumane and questioned GOP bill-carriers to see if they felt the same way at all. ey didn’t. ey said so. Further, some even said they didn’t care if an inmate felt pain while they were being executed.

Most of the Republican discussion on the bills focused on the cogs and wheels the state needed to adjust in order to get its death penalty process back in working order. However,

lawmakers in some of those talks found dark places, sometimes describing macabre scenes as they plumbed the itchy intrigue of execution’s nitty-gritty.

For now, though, the future of state-conducted death is unclear in Tennessee. Lee’s administration works in the background to get the lethal injection process in line and on line. In the foreground, GOP lawmakers push for new ways to get it done. On death row, inmates live another uncertain day.

“Sorry, I didn’t have it tested.” e man asked for a double bacon cheeseburger, deep-dish apple pie, and vanilla bean ice cream. TDOC issued a statement on it.

is was April 20, 2022. Death row inmate Oscar Franklin Smith’s time had come. e Tennessee Supreme Court originally set his execution date for June 2020. Court motions by his lawyers set the date back one year to February 2021. at execution was stayed as Covid paused all executions in the state. When the pandemic suspension li ed in 2022, the warden at Riverbend Maximum Security Prison, home to Tennessee’s death row, was to alert Smith by April 7th that he had two weeks to live. Smith, 73, was and is the oldest person on Tennessee’s death row. A recent mugshot shows it. He’s bald with shop-teacher glasses and a white beard that ows over pens and pencils in his shirt pocket to his chest.

Smith two is

In 1989, o cials say Smith murdered his estranged wife, Judy Robirds Smith, and her two sons, Chad and Jason, who were 13 and 16 at the time. According to accounts from e Tennesseean, Judy was shot in the neck and stabbed several times. Chad was shot in the le eye, upper chest, and le torso. Jason was stabbed in the neck and abdomen.

A 911 call from the night was presented at trial. In it, the boys are heard crying out, “Frank, no! God help me!” A bloody handprint, identi ed as Smith’s,

COVER STORY By Toby Sells

PHOTO: TDOC

Oscar Franklin Smith, the oldest person on Tennessee’s death row at 73, has had his execution temporarily reprieved.

Franklin motions

was found on the bedsheet next to his wife’s body, according to e Tennessean

Smith was convicted of the murders in 1990. He’s been in state custody for 32 years.

Smith was moved to death watch last year at 11:50 p.m., April 18th, a Monday. He’d spend the next three days under constant surveillance in a cell adjacent to the execution chamber. On ursday at 4:12 p.m., he was given his last meal — the burger, pie, and ice cream. A statement from the state said he received it but did not say if he ate it.

e lethal injection chemicals made for his execution had arrived at Riverbend the previous week, according to the report Lee ordered last year. at week, TDOC o cials trained for the execution. On April 20th, a Wednesday, the lethal injection chemicals for Smith were moved to a refrigerator to thaw.

at day, Smith’s attorney, veteran death penalty lawyer Kelley Henry, asked TDOC if the chemicals had been tested for “strength, sterility, stability, potency, and presence of endotoxins” and requested a copy of the results.

ese tests are mandatory by rules established by Tennessee lawmakers in 2018 to ensure safe executions. e tests are important to ensure the drugs were manufactured correctly and because endotoxins can cause fever, septic shock, organ failure, or death.

TDOC asked the “drug procurer” (the name kept secret under state law)

about the tests who, in turn, asked the “pharmacist.”

“No endotoxin test, it’s a di erent test but based on [federal pharmacy laws] the amount we make isn’t required,” they texted in response. “Is the endotoxin test requested? Sorry, I didn’t have it tested.”

With this, the governor’s report says, “at least one TDOC employee was aware that no endotoxin testing had been conducted on the drugs on the day before Smith’s execution.”

e next morning began with more text messages between the state and the pharmacy.

“Does [redacted] still have the samples?” read one text. “Could they do an endotoxin test this morning/today?”

“Honestly doubt it,” the pharmacy replied. “I would’ve had to send extra product for them to test it.”

e TDOC team readied for the execution — set for 7 p.m. — amid ongoing discussions about the testing between its o ce, Lee’s o ce, and the Tennessee Attorney General’s O ce. If the drugs had not been tested for endotoxins, TDOC would have to ask Lee for a reprieve.

At a 1:30 p.m. meeting, the pharmacist said chemicals for Smith’s execution were not tested for endotoxins. e procurer called it an “oversight.” With this, TDOC and the AG recommended the reprieve. While a decision was being made, everything for the execution was still in motion. e TDOC sta were taking

their places for the execution. e victims’ families and the media were being moved to the facility. At 4:30 p.m., the drug procurer and executioner removed the chemicals from the refrigerator and moved it to the execution chamber. At 5:30 p.m., the execution team prepared the syringes.

At 5:45 p.m., TDOC learned the governor would issue a reprieve. And then the warden told Smith. Setup for the execution was halted at 5:51 p.m. with work partially complete on the rst drug.

“We are preserving everything,” reads a TDOC text from 6:36 p.m. “So don’t throw anything away or alter any stu .” e next day, the pharmacist said drugs used in two previous TDOC executions (Donnie Edward Johnson and Billy Ray Irick) had not been tested for endotoxins and they had never been asked to test for them. e pharmacist did not know that such testing was even part of Tennessee’s lethal injection protocol and investigators said a copy of the protocols had never been given to them.

On May 2nd, Lee announced a halt on all executions and hired former U.S.

review of Tennessee’s execution process.

“TDOC leadership placed an inordinate amount of responsibility on the Drug Procurer without providing much, if any, guidance, help, or assistance,” reads the report. “Instead, TDOC leadership viewed the lethal injection process through a tunnel-vision, result-oriented lens rather than provide the necessary guidance and counsel to ensure that Tennessee’s lethal injection protocol was thorough, consistent, and followed.”

In December — the day before the report became public — Lee red Debbie Inglis, TDOC’s deputy commissioner and general counsel, and Kelly Young, the inspector general, in connection with the report’s ndings. In January 2023, Lee picked Frank Strada to lead the department. Many believed Strada was hired to x the execution system a er he’d helped Arizona restart its program a er an eight-year pause.

“ at is not cool.”

ree weeks into the Tennessee General Assembly’s current session, bills were led in the House and Senate giving the state’s death row inmates a new option for execution. A ring squad “just simply gives them that option,” according to Rep. Dennis Powers (R-Jacksboro), the bill’s sponsor.

continued on page 10

Attorney Ed Stanton to conduct a thirdparty

“TDOC leadership viewed the lethal injection process through a tunnelvision, resultoriented lens.”

PHOTO: FELIPE CAPARROS CRUZ | DREAMSTIME.COM

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continued from page 9

During his many appearances before committees to explain and defend his bill, Powers has maintained that a firing-squad death is the “most humane and most effective way to do it,” with “it” apparently meaning to kill a Tennessee death row inmate. He says, according to a survey (that he has never shown in committee meetings), inmates prefer the firing squad.

When pressed on whether or not Tennessee should use the death penalty, Powers would fall back to a three-pronged argument: Capital punishment is legal in Tennessee, it’s not unconstitutional, and neither is his bill. He then leans in on the fact that executions are halted because of all the troubles given in Tennessee’s lethal injection protocols.

In the hearings, Powers was seemingly straightforward on the fact that killing a prisoner with a firing squad isn’t a harsh, outmoded (or even edgy-cool) method of execution. It is “not like the old Westerns when they stand up and put … a blindfold on and they’re standing there and they give them a cigarette or something.”

Other lawmakers listened thoughtfully to Powers’ rationale. Then, they’d give in to their curiosity. How would it be done?

In a special facility, Powers said, the inmate would sit in a chair and would be immobilized by some kind of apparatus. Officials would put a target over the inmate’s heart. Families would be invited to watch, as is the case with all executions in the state.

One marksman on the firing squad would shoot a blank so no one would really know who fired the fatal shots. He said other states have had more volunteers help to carry these out than they needed.

In a hearing last week, Sen. Todd Gardenhire’s (R-Chattanooga) curiosity on the matter got a bit dark.

“I’ve read that when somebody tries to commit suicide with a pistol or a shotgun, sometimes they flinch,” Gardenhire said. “They’re pulling the trigger and they just maybe blow half their face off, but they still live.

“I’m only going by what I’ve seen in Western movies. I haven’t ever seen a execution or an execution by a firing squad, you know, you say, ‘Ready, aim, fire!’ What happens if the guy or lady flinches and you don’t kill [them]? Do you reload?”

While professional in explaining the details, Powers has gotten frank about how he feels about inmates being put to death. Rep. G.A. Hardaway (D-Memphis) read depositions to him from other states that said “death by firing squad would not significantly reduce the risk of severe pain.”

“Any type of death … it’s going to be painful,” Powers said. “The death that they promoted and carried out for another subject was painful, too. So I don’t have a whole lot of empathy for people that suffer pain during an execution.”

This is the same response given by the bill’s Senate sponsor. Last week, Sen.

London Lamar (D-Memphis) was tearing the bill apart. A facility would have to be built. It was going to cost way more than the $50,000 fiscal note (maybe $1.5 million). The bill was unconstitutional, and every state that has passed it is in a mess of costly legal proceedings. Finally, she said, it is “morally wrong.”

“Why would we want correctional officers to sit there and point guns at an individual as a form of killing?” Lamar asked. “It’s almost legalized first-degree murder. That is not cool and we do not need to be a state that sits there and allows people to use individuals as if they’re dummies in a gun range.”

She finally asked Sen. Frank Niceley (R-Strawberry Plains), the bill’s sponsor, “You don’t think this is pretty cruel?”

“You don’t know what that person did to that little girl or that little boy or that old man,” Nicely said. “No, it’s not cruel. It’s not cruel at all.”

The bill needed to clear one more hurdle in the Senate as of press time. The House bill cleared the committee system but will not be considered until after a state budget is passed.

“We don’t need to be doing this in secrecy.”

Rep. Justin Lafferty (R-Knoxville) wants the public to know the companies that make the state’s lethal injection drugs and he’s clear about why.

“If the lethal injection protocol had been more transparent, perhaps [Smith’s] last-hour stay would not have happened and the victims’ family would not have had to have gone through all of that and then, again, have to wait for their day of justice to come.”

The transparency issue tripped up some lawmakers considering the bill last week. Won’t that scare off the drug companies who don’t want to be associated with executions? Aren’t these drugs already hard to get? Won’t this open up the companies to get hounded by activists?

Neither journalists nor the FBI could find any documented case of threats to companies by death penalty abolitionists, Deborah Fisher, executive director of the Tennessee Coalition for Open Government, told the committee.

The Tennessean found the state’s drugmaker was El Paso-based SureCare Specialty Pharmacy, and Fisher said they’ve not reported any harassment so far. She also said neither Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Nevada, nor Utah have such a secrecy “loophole.”

As for getting the drugs for executions, Lafferty relied on cold economics, saying, “If there’s a profit to be had, somebody will find a way to get the product to market.” As for the ultimate reason for his bill, he came to the point.

“If Tennessee wants to continue this as a method of execution, the secrecy around the process should probably come to an end.”

MIDWEST WEST

steppin’ out

We Recommend: Culture, News + Reviews

Animal Antics

By Abigail Morici

Sit. Stay. Shake. Roll over. Play dead. You’ve seen these canine tricks done before. But have you seen a dog give a cat a piggyback ride? How about a group of dogs learning math in a classroom or a house cat showing o in a circus? Odds are you haven’t witnessed such sights, but you can see all that and more this weekend at the Popovich Comedy Pet eater at the Buckman Arts Center.

e show, created by Gregory Popovich, features performances by dogs, cats, pigeons, parrots, a mini horse, a mini pig, and a few humans, including Popovich himself. Popovich, a h-generation circus performer, grew up in the Ukraine circus scene, traveling from city to city, never staying in one place long. As a kid, this meant he didn’t make too many friends — human friends at least. “Dogs were my friends,” he says, speci cally the dogs his parents trained for their acts. “In fact, they were my babysitter when I was a very young, small kid. Sometimes for me it was easier to nd communication with pets than with humans, believe me or not.”

Once he came to the U.S. and began working in Las Vegas as a juggler, Popovich wanted to bring back the pet-focused act his parents had honed and taught him back in the Soviet Union. “I asked my American friends where I could nd some dogs, and they recommended local animal shelters,” he says. “When I rst went to the animal shelter, I was surprised how many nicelooking dogs there were looking for a new owner. And because I came from the Soviet Union — in those times in Soviet Union, we didn’t have animal shelters — it was very exciting that the government in the United States supports the homeless pets. But, on other hand, I learned from the animal shelter sta how those pets came to the shelter, and I learned that people sometimes do not realize the pets have personality and do not respect their pets. And for me as a pet lover, it was kind of very painful. … Animals are people.”

From that moment on, Popovich knew that he would only include animals from rescues and shelters in his show. “My main goal is to show audiences, ‘Look, ordinary pets can be very talented, very cute.’ If a er my show, someone from the audience visits a local animal shelter, I feel like my message reached its target.”

Currently, Popovich has almost 30 pets, all of whom live at his ranch-style home in Las Vegas, with a sta of ve helping to care for them. In addition to teaching them tricks, part of the animals’ training includes getting them used to being on stage with an audience. “We want them to feel comfortable,” Popovich says. “As a trainer or as a master, I have to watch their body language.” So, if a cat or dog isn’t up for a trick during a performance, he respects that since he wants to highlight their personalities, not their ability to do a trick. e pets even participate in little sketches, showing o their unique temperaments. “ at’s why we call it Pet eater.”

Altogether, though, the show is a variety show, with humans also doing their own tricks from comedy to juggling to acrobatics.

“ e audience will have to decide who is more talented by applause,” Popovich says. “Believe me or not, the pets always win.”

Rage On e Stage: Trans Day of Visibility, Drag Show Riot Hi Tone, ursday, March 30, 8 p.m. With all the recent anti-LGBTQ legislation, members of the LGBTQ community are taking an active stance with a drag show in support of trans youth and drag performers.

e 18+ show will feature performances by Miami Rose, Donna Tyme, Ponyboi, Moth Moth Moth, Lady Pluto, Aubrey Boom Boom, Fairyspit, Hunny Blunt, Blanca Diamond, Freaky Nasty, and Devon Davenport. Also making an appearance are guest speakers Mar Newell, Shahin Samiei, Krista ayer, Richard Massey, and Phillis Lewis.

HIV testing and resources will be available.

April Fools: Famous People Not Buried in Elmwood Elmwood Cemetery, Saturday, April 1, 10:30 a.m.-noon, $20 Hey, you got something on your shirt there, buddy. Hahaha, I got you! It’s April Fools’ Day, and that’s the only April Fools’ joke you’re getting out of me. But if you’re starving for a little April foolin’ around, head on over to Elmwood Cemetery to hear about all the people not buried there. Seriously. It’s going to be a quirky tour and it’ll keep you on your toes the entire rst of April. Tickets for the tour can be purchased at elmwoodcemetery.org. Good walking shoes are recommended.

Vegan Block Party

Fourth Blu Park, Saturday. April 1, noon-5 p.m., free admission is party takes vegging out to a whole new level — with vegan food to be had by all. Your favorite vegan eateries will be serving up epic dishes, DJs will be spinning the tunes, and guests will be partying it up. Bring your own picnic blankets and lawn chairs, and reserve a spot at shorturl.at/eyBCF.

Star Trek: First Contact Day

Black Lodge, Wednesday. April 5, 5 p.m.-midnight, free

Celebrate First Contact Day, the day that Vulcans will rst make their presence known to humans, at the Lodge, with screenings, gaming, and costumes.

POPOVICH COMEDY PET THEATER, BUCKMAN ARTS CENTER AT ST. MARY’S SCHOOL, SATURDAY, APRIL 1, 5 P.M. & 7 P.M., $35.

PHOTO: COURTESY GREGORY POPOVICH

A paw-some performance

MUSIC By Alex Greene

Van Duren in Retrospect

e Memphis singer-songwriter brings 50 years of songs to life at the Halloran.

When Van Duren takes the stage at the Halloran Centre on Saturday, April 1st, he won’t be playing the fool or fooling around. ough the singer-songwriter is familiar as a solo performer on the local scene, this night will feature not only a full band, but a look back at what has been nearly 50 years of music from his pen. “If I’m going to do this,” he says, “I might as well do exactly what I want to do. And I’ve had this on my mind for quite some time. I want to address the breadth of the whole thing.”

that, he was playing in the Baker Street Regulars with Jody Stephens and Chris Bell of Big Star.

“Musically, it was great, it was fantastic,” he says of those times. “I was playing bass and watching what Chris was doing on the guitar. It was a real education. But we never wrote anything together.” Rather, that’s when Duren leaned into forging his own path as a songwriter. “Jody and I worked on demos o and on, slipping into Ardent once in a while. Once or twice Chris came in with us and played some guitar on those tracks, but they were never

and ultimately were his ticket out of Memphis. “ ey ended up getting me a recording deal with the label in Connecticut,” he recalls with typical understatement. at story, of course, is well documented in the lm Waiting: e Van Duren Story, which “unfolds like a taut suspense thriller,” according to Goldmine magazine, detailing his starving artist days in Memphis and New York City as he strove to bring his songs to life. e 2018 lm, its soundtrack, and the re-release of two albums’ worth of material from those days are what rst prompted Duren to revisit those earliest days comprehensively.

“ at was really the catalyst,” Duren recalls, “the whole lm thing, from 2016 through 2019, and all the lm festivals. I was forced to focus on the extreme past, and that was the spark that led to this thing at the Halloran.” Promoting the lm in Australia even led to shows there that focused on his early work. In contrast to his most recent duo with singer-songwriter Vicki Loveland, the Australian jaunt “was an all-Van Duren tour. Vicki was with us, though, and she shone, as always. She was our secret weapon. We did ve shows in Australia, and they were really amazing. People were stealing the set lists o the stage.”

at “thing” has been a rollercoaster career, careening through fat times and lean times, yet always centered on his carefully cra ed songwriting. When Duren posted on social media about playing with his band Malarky at the original Lafayette’s Music Room in 1974, the set lists he included featured some stellar covers, heavy on e Beatles and Todd Rundgren, and he’s been aiming for that standard of quality ever since with his own songs. Not long a er

released. ree or four of those were recut for my rst album, but we never felt we were trying to emulate Big Star — we were just following our thing.”

at was a time when the power pop being invented by Big Star or Duren himself was commercial suicide. “I was thrilled just to be playing onstage with those guys. ough we only played six or eight gigs. We couldn’t get arrested. We couldn’t get any gigs. It was another square-peg situation. People just wanted to hear either Southern rock or disco. And we weren’t doing any of that stu !”

Nonetheless, his demos got the attention of erstwhile Rolling Stones manager Andrew Loog Oldham,

But Saturday’s show won’t only feature Duren’s ’70s material. He’ll be drawing from all of his chapters, including the successful run from 1982-1999 with his band Good Question. “We worked all the time,” he recalls before turning to his collaborative work. “Tommy Hoehn and I also put two albums out together, recorded at Ardent with the young Pete Matthews as engineer. I’m really proud of those. So there will be some of that stu at the show. And of course some Loveland Duren stu , stu from other collaborations that I’ve done, and material from all four of the solo albums I’ve done.” He takes a breath, then adds with a grin, “It will be pretty broad and adventurous.”

Van Duren will perform at the Halloran Centre, Saturday, April 1st, 7:30 p.m. Tickets cost $37.50.

PHOTO: JAMIE HARMON Van Duren

CALENDAR of EVENTS:

March 30April 5

ART AND SPECIAL EXHIBITS

“Build a Heaven of My Own”

This group show explores how the blues have informed the visual culture of African-American artists from Memphis. Saturday, April 1-June 24.

ART MUSEUM AT THE UNIVERSITY OF MEMPHIS (AMUM)

“Going with the Grain”

A collection of crayon drawings on wood by Rose Marr. Through April 6.

HATTILOO THEATRE

“Jeanne Seagle: Of This Place”

Jeanne Seagle’s perceptive drawings of the landscapes surrounding Memphis. Through April 9.

THE DIXON GALLERY & GARDENS

BOOK EVENTS

Meet the Author: Eli Cranor

Celebrating the launch of Eli Cranor’s Ozark Dogs. Monday, April 3, 6 p.m.

NOVEL

Never Simple Book Talk

Liz Scheier’s memoir, Never Simple, is told with unflinching honesty, clarity, and mordant humor. $5-$7. Tuesday, April 4, 7 p.m.

MEMPHIS JEWISH COMMUNITY CENTER

Paradise Is Jagged

A reading and signing with author Ann FisherWirth. Thursday, March 30, 5:30-6:30 p.m.

BURKE’S BOOK STORE

COMEDY Druski

Druski brings his Coulda, Woulda, Shoulda Tour to Memphis. Thursday, March 30, 8 p.m.

ORPHEUM THEATRE

Popovich Comedy Pet Theater

Clowning, juggling, balancing acts, and of course, very talented pets. $35. Saturday, April 1, 5 p.m.; Saturday, April 1, 7 p.m.

BUCKMAN ARTS CENTER

AT ST. MARY’S SCHOOL

The April Fools Improv Ball

Improv comedy backed by rad local musicians. Friday, March 31, 8 p.m.; Saturday, April 1, 8-10 p.m.

THEATREWORKS

COMMUNITY

Autism Awareness Day Festival

Bodhi Learning Center will be hosting a festival for Autism Awareness Day. There will be raffle prizes and guest speakers from Memphis’ autism community. Sunday, April 2, 4-7 p.m.

The New York Times Syndication Sales Corporation 620 Eighth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10018 For Information Call: 1-800-972-3550 For Release Thursday, January 17, 2019

SHELBY FARMS

Crossword

Elaine Blanchard hosts

“The Stories We Tell,” a storytelling event accompanied by live mural painting.

Bunny Run 5K

Raising funds for people with disabilities! There will be a kids’ race, an egg hunt, and much more! Saturday, April 1, 8:35 a.m.

CANCER SURVIVORS PARK

Calvary’s Lenten Preaching Series + Waffle Shop

Offering “radical hospitality” to the city of Memphis with outstanding preaching and traditional Waffle Shop favorites. Through March 31.

CALVARY EPISCOPAL CHURCH

Remembering MLK: The Man. The Movement. The Moment.

A hybrid commemoration in honor of Dr. King’s life and legacy on the 55th anniversary of his death. Tuesday, April 4, 4:30-6:15 p.m.

NATIONAL CIVIL RIGHTS MUSEUM

RIOT! A Protest Drag Show

Support trans youth and drag performers. This is an 18+ show. Thursday, March 30, 8 p.m.

HI TONE

PERFORMING ARTS

Nubia Yasin: SHEENA

With a blend of original poetry and music, Nubia Yasin tells the story of her own transition from girlhood to womanhood against a backdrop of deep rooted shame. $15-$20. Saturday, April 1, 7:30 p.m.

THE GREEN ROOM AT CROSSTOWN ARTS

The Stories We Tell

A diverse group of Memphians will tell their stories and a mural will be painted to illustrate the stories told. Memphis singers will sing freedom songs. Lunch will be provided for all who attend. Saturday, April 1, 11 a.m.

THE COMMONS ON MERTON

SPECIAL EVENTS

Easter Egg Hunt

The Easter Bunny will be on hand along with balloon twisting, face painting, and fun for the whole family. Free. Saturday, April 1, 10 a.m.

OVERTON SQUARE

Family Campfire Party

Join in the fun for an old-fashioned campfire sing-along while making hot dogs and s’mores. Then, take a guided nighttime hike through the garden. $10-$15. Friday, March 31, 6-8:30 p.m.

MEMPHIS BOTANIC GARDEN

Vegan Block Party

A day filled with epic vegan food, drinks, two DJs, and fun! Saturday, April 1, noon-5 p.m.

FOURTH BLUFF PARK

THEATER

Chicago

Murder, sex, and celebrity — a musical that transcends the ages. Tuesday, April 4-April 9.

ORPHEUM THEATRE Ink

Underdog reporters and a rogue editor set out to beat the competition and change the way the world looks at news. Through April 16.

CIRCUIT PLAYHOUSE

On Stage, School Girls; or, The African Mean Girls Play

This buoyant and biting comedy explores the universal similarities (and glaring differences) facing teenage girls across the globe. $30-$35. Through April 16.

HATTILOO THEATRE

PUZZLE

WESTWIG

Edited by Will Shortz No. 1213

NEWS OF THE WEIRD

By the editors at Andrews McMeel Syndication

Least Competent Criminal

Early on the morning of Feb. 5, 20-year-old Lantz Kurtz broke into a gas station in Palm Coast, Florida, and stole multiple items. He exited via the front door, apparently unaware that he’d left a big clue behind: his debit card, Fox35-TV reported. Officers responding to the alarm found the card and tracked down Kurtz, who told them he had intended to come back to the store and pay for the items. But Sheriff Rick Staly wasn’t having it: “Leaving a debit card behind does not absolve you from theft or committing a burglary,” he said. [Fox35, 2/8/2023]

Crime Spree

Robert Powers, 37, managed to terrorize multiple citizens of Altoona, Pennsylvania, on Feb. 6, WTAJ-TV reported. He allegedly broke into four different homes, telling one woman as he covered her mouth, “I’m Batman.” At the next home, he choked a man, went through his pockets, and held him hostage with a pocketknife. Next, he turned the man’s gas stove on and forced him into his truck, heading across town at speeds of more than 100 mph before crashing into a Jeep. Powers then kicked open the door of a nearby home and repeatedly asked, “Why’d you do this, mom?” as he walked through the residence. Finally, at the last crime scene, police were able to subdue Powers, who admitted he may have ingested meth or bath salts. [WTAJ, 2/7/2023]

Bright Idea

Jose Ruben Nava, former director of the zoo in Chilpancingo, Mexico, is under fire after officials learned that he slaughtered four pygmy goats to serve at the zoo’s year-end dinner, MSN reported. Fernando Ruiz Gutierrez, director of wildlife for the state’s environment department, said serving the goat meat “put the health of the people who ate them at risk because these animals were not fit for human consumption.” Nava is also accused of trading a zebra for tools. He was let go from his position in January after the death of a deer at the zoo. [MSN, 2/2/2023]

Irony

A 61-year-old butcher working at the Sheung Shui Slaughterhouse in Hong Kong died at the hands — er, hooves —

of a pig he was trying to slaughter on Jan. 20, CNN reported. The unnamed man was knocked to the ground by the struggling pig, which had revived after a shot from a stun gun, and suffered a wound from a meat cleaver. Strangely, police said, the man’s wounds were to his hand and foot; a cause of death had not been released. The Labour Department extended its “deepest sympathy to his family.” [CNN, 1/21/2023]

Animal Antics

The Wyandotte (Michigan) Police Department opened an investigation in January after an officer was suspected of stealing another officer’s lunch while he was out of the room. The Today show reported that Officer Barwig was called away from the break room to assist in the jail; when he returned, K-9 Officer Ice was seen licking his chops, and Barwig’s sandwich was nowhere to be seen. “Officer Ice has invoked his Fifth Amendment right to remain silent and quite frankly is not cooperating with the investigation,” the department posted on its Facebook page. Later, dozens of attorneys offered to represent Ice in court, but the department decided not to pursue discipline or criminal charges. [Today, 1/23/2023]

Can’t Possibly Be True

Jesse and Deedee O’Dell of Tulsa, Oklahoma, normally spend around $10 for their Starbucks coffees, but on Jan. 7, their bill was considerably more, KOKI-TV reported. A few days later, when Deedee tried to use the same card at a mall, it was declined. That’s when the couple discovered that Starbucks had given itself a $4,444.44 tip on their $10.90 bill. They contacted the district manager, who said there’d been an “issue” with the network, and they received two checks to cover the enormous gratuity — but both checks bounced. While they wait for replacement checks, they’ve had to cancel a family vacation, “and the tickets are nonrefundable,” said Jesse. A Starbucks representative said new checks are on the way and the mistake was caused by “possible human error.” [KOKI, 2/7/2023]

NEWS OF THE WEIRD

© 2023 Andrews McMeel Syndication. Reprinted with permission. All rights reserved.

FRIDAYS FROM 3/31 THRU 4/21

MEMPHIS MUSEUM OF SCIENCE & HISTORY

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): You have done all you can for now to resolve and expunge stale, messy karma — some of which was left over from the old days and old ways. There may come a time in the future when you will have more cleansing to do, but you have now earned the right to be as free from your past and as free from your conditioning as you have ever been. APRIL FOOL! I lied. In fact, you still need to spend a bit more time resolving and expunging stale, messy karma. But you’re almost done!

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Businessman Robert Bigelow hopes to eventually begin renting luxurious rooms in space. For $1.7 million per night, travelers will enjoy accommodations he provides on his orbiting hotel, 200 miles above the Earth’s surface. Are you interested? I bet more Geminis will be signing up for this exotic trip than any other sign. You’re likely to be the journeyers most excited by the prospect of sailing along at 17,000 miles per hour and witnessing 16 sunsets and sunrises every 24 hours. APRIL FOOL! In fact, you Geminis are quite capable of getting the extreme variety you crave and need right here on the planet’s surface. And during the coming weeks, you will be even more skilled than usual at doing just that.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): The coming weeks will be a favorable time for you to become the overlord of your own fiefdom, or seize control of a new territory and declare yourself chieftain, or overthrow the local hierarchy and install yourself as the sovereign ruler of all you survey. APRIL FOOL! I was metaphorically exaggerating a bit — but just a bit. I do in fact believe now is an excellent phase to increase your clout, boost your influence, and express your leadership. Be as kind you can be, of course, but also be rousingly mighty and fervent.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): In his poem “The Something,” Charles Simic writes, “Here come my night thoughts/ On crutches,/ Returning from studying the heavens./ What they thought about/ Stayed the same,/ Stayed immense and incomprehensible.” According to my analysis of the astrological omens, you Leos will have much the same experience in the coming weeks. So there’s no use in even hoping or trying to expand your vision. APRIL FOOL! I lied. The truth is, you will not have Simic’s experience. Just the opposite. When your night thoughts return from studying the heavens, they will be full of exuberant, inspiring energy. (And what exactly are “night thoughts”? They are bright insights you discover in the darkness.)

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): If there will ever come a time when you will find a gold bullion bar on the ground while strolling around town, it will be soon.

By Rob Brezsny

Similarly, if you are destined to buy a winning $10 million lottery ticket or inherit a diamond mine in Botswana, that blessing will arrive soon. APRIL FOOL! I was exaggerating a bit. The truth is, I suspect you are now extra likely to attract new resources and benefits, though not on the scale of gold bullion, lottery winnings, and diamond mines.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Do you have a muse, Libra? In my opinion, all of us need and deserve at least one muse, even if we’re not creative artists. A muse can be a spirit or hero or ally who inspires us, no matter what work and play we do. A muse may call our attention to important truths we are ignoring or point us in the direction of exciting future possibilities. According to my astrological analysis, you are now due for a muse upgrade. If you don’t have one, get one — or even more. If you already have a relationship with a muse, ask more from it. Nurture it. Take it to the next level.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Dear Valued Employee: Our records show you haven’t used any vacation time over the past 100 years. As you may know, workers get three weeks of paid leave per year or else receive pay in lieu of time off. One added week is granted for every five years of service. So please, sometime soon, either take 9,400 days off work or notify our office, and your next paycheck will reflect payment of $8,277,432, including pay and interest for the past 1,200 months. APRIL FOOL! Everything I just said was an exaggeration. But there is a grain of truth in it. The coming weeks should bring you a nice surprise or two concerning your job.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Sagittarian poet and artist William Blake (1757–1827) was a hardworking visionary prophet with an extravagant imagination. His contemporaries considered him a freaky eccentric, though today we regard him as a genius. I invite you to enjoy your own personal version of a Blake-like phase in the coming weeks. It’s a perfect time to dynamically explore your idiosyncratic inclinations and creative potentials. Be bold, even brazen, as you celebrate what makes you unique. BUT WAIT! Although everything I just said is true, I must add a caveat: You don’t necessarily need to be a freaky eccentric to honor your deepest, most authentic truths and longings.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Some of my friends disapprove of cosmetic surgery. I remind them that many cultures throughout history have engaged in body modification. In parts of Africa and Borneo, for example, people stretch their ears. Some Balinese people get their teeth filed. Women of the Indigenous Kayan people in Thailand elongate their necks using brass coils. Anyway, Capricorn, this

ARIES (March 21-April 19):

Sometimes, I give you suggestions that may, if you carry them out, jostle your routines and fluster your allies. But after trying out the new approaches for a short time, you may chicken out and revert to old habits. That’s understandable! It can be difficult to change your life. Here’s an example. What if I encourage you to cancel your appointments and wander out into the wilderness to discuss your dreams with the birds? And what if, during your adventure, you are flooded with exhilarating yearnings for freedom? And then you decide to divest yourself of desires that other people want you to have and instead revive and give boosts to desires that you want yourself to have? Will you actually follow through with brave practical actions that transform your relationship with your deepest longings?

is my way of letting you know that the coming weeks would be a favorable time to change your body. APRIL FOOL! It’s not my place to advise you about whether and how to reshape your body. Instead, my job is to encourage you to deepen and refine how your mind understands and treats your body. And now is an excellent time to do that.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): I invite you to make a big change. I believe it’s crucial if you hope to place yourself in maximum alignment with current cosmic rhythms. Here’s my idea: Start calling yourself by the name “Genius.” You could even use it instead of the first name you have used all these years. Tell everyone that from now on, they should address you as “Genius.” APRIL FOOL! I don’t really think you should make the switch to Genius. But I do believe you will be extra smart and ultra-wise in the coming weeks, so it wouldn’t be totally outrageous to refer to yourself as “Genius.”

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Your body comprises 30 trillion human cells and 39 trillion microbial cells, including the bacteria that live within you. And in my astrological estimation, those 69 trillion life forms are vibrating in sweet harmony with all the money in the world. Amazing! Because of this remarkable alignment, you now have the potential to get richer quicker. Good economic luck is swirling in your vicinity. Brilliant financial intuitions are likely to well up in you. The Money God is far more amenable than usual to your prayers. APRIL FOOL! I was exaggerating a bit. But I do believe you now have extra ability to prime your cash flow.

A Zen Kitchen

Scott Donnelly knew he didn’t want his food to be “generic cookie-cutter” Southern food a er he became executive chef at e Memphian hotel’s Complicated Pilgrim restaurant.

Instead, Donnelly features items like samosas. “But instead of normal Indian ingredients, mine is black-eyed peas and collard greens. I want to have those nods to the South peppered here and there in the menu. But not strictly Southern.”

Donnelly, who began working at Complicated Pilgrim in 2021, created his rst menu as “something not only approachable but unique to the area.”

His restaurant is in Overton Square, but Donnelly wants items like “bucatini with pancetta and roasted tomatoes, fresh basil, and a cracked egg tossed over everything. Nobody had that on the Square.”

Cooking wasn’t his rst creative expression, says the New Jersey native. “When I was a lot younger I used to write poetry and short stories. It was just a way to express things.”

Donnelly, who moved to Memphis

in 1982, played guitar in a punk band at clubs, including the legendary Antenna.

He got his rst job in a kitchen when he was 16. at was when he discovered Memphians could drive when they were 16. “My dad was like, ‘Get a job so you can buy a car.’ I started working at a pizza place.”

Donnelly moved to restaurants a er learning he could make more money as a server.

He discovered he liked working in the kitchen better than the front of the house at the old Bosco’s Restaurant & Brewing Company in Germantown.

Later, he got a job as sous-chef at the old ree Oaks Grill. “I was lucky enough to have really good knife skills.”

Donnelly read cookbooks and watched cooking shows. “As I grew and learned more and took in more, I decided, ‘You know what? is can be pretty awesome.’”

In 1995, he moved to Atlanta, Georgia, where he went to the old School of Culinary Arts.

He also worked at a number of res-

taurants, including the old Abbey. at was where he learned to not overthink his food. e sous-chef told him, “Dude, you know how to cook. Just do it. Shut up and cook.’”

As executive sous-chef at the RitzCarlton, Donnelly learned “Good food shouldn’t be rushed.”

Early in his career working as chef de cuisine at the old La Maison on Telfair in Augusta, Georgia, Donnelly learned to cope with kitchen chaos. e executive chef told him, “If you want to grow and want to be what you aspire to be, you have to learn to deal with the ups and downs of the kitchen.”

Donnelly was in Georgia about 15 years before returning to Memphis, where his jobs included chef de cuisine at two now-closed restaurants: e Grove Grill and Ben Vaughn’s Grace Restaurant/Au Fond Farmtable. Donnelly learned to love “tight concise menus. No one wants to sit down to a menu that’s as big as War and Peace and try to decipher what they want.”

While he was growing as a chef,

Donnelly learned, “Get the best products and treat them with respect. Cook them properly and you always wind up with a great result.”

A philosophy Donnelly continues to practice at Complicated Pilgrim is to always remember he and his sta are “ladies and gentlemen serving ladies and gentlemen.”

“I try to run a real Zen house. We’re going to have times of being busy. Times when people’s personalities are going to clash. But we’re adults. We have brains. We have to be able to go with what we can control and go with what we can’t. And keep it as mellow and laid back as we can.”

Complicated Pilgrim is at 21 Cooper Street.

PHOTO: MICHAEL DONAHUE Chef Scott Donnelly

Chef Scott Donnelly keeps things classy (and unique) at Complicated Pilgrim.

FILM By Chris McCoy

Common Humanity

Memphis-made Jacir is a ballad of people trapped between worlds.

Jacir is directed by Waheed AlQawasmi, an immigrant from the Middle East who landed in Memphis two decades ago. It arrives in theaters amid a storm of controversy. A lawsuit by the lm’s rst producer, Amy Williams, alleges an abusive working environment on set, culminating in wrongful termination, and a number of nancial improprieties. It’s never a good sign when the behind-the-scenes drama overshadows the story on the screen. If it’s any consolation to all those involved in the ongoing turmoil, at least it wasn’t for nothing. Jacir is an artistic success.

You probably know Memphis is a poor city, but how poor is it, in the big picture? Recently, the New York Times published a story on the 20th anniversary of the Iraq War, which noted that about a quarter of Iraqis live at or below the poverty line.

According to U of M’s 2021 Memphis Poverty Fact Sheet, 24.6 percent of the city’s adults and 39.6 percent of children live at or below the poverty level.

at’s right — Memphis, Tennessee, USA, is roughly as poor as Iraq, the country we destroyed on a whim two decades ago. During the course of the invasion and the eight-year occupation, the U.S. military killed approximately 80,000 enemy combatants and 200,000 civilians. ISIS formed to ll the power vacuum, sparking a series of con icts that spread to Syria, where a multi-pronged civil war just ared up again. Millions of war refugees are now spread out across the world.

In Jacir, Malek Rahbani stars as a young man from the destroyed city of Aleppo, Syria, who ed the ghting and made it all the way to Memphis. His entire family is dead, and the

former architecture student is now a dishwasher at a Middle Eastern restaurant run by the acerbic Adam (Tony Mehanna). He gets in the good graces of fellow kitchen sta er Jerome (Tutweezy) by telling him Adam is calling him the n-word in Arabic.

As he walks through the urban blight of South Memphis, with the gun re echoing in the distance, he can’t help but be reminded of the bombedout streets of Aleppo, and wonders if he has come to “a worse shithole.” As he stares at pictures of his dead family on his cracked smartphone screen and plays Al Kapone on his scavenged stereo, he hears anti-immigrant Fox News rants coming through the walls. His neighbor Meryl (Lorraine Bracco) is a disabled retiree who has given up on life. “I like drinking by myself now,” she tells her last friend who tries to coax her back to the land of the living. Instead, she chooses to soothe her pain with racist grievance and OxyContin.

Raised in the tradition of kindness towards strangers, Jacir wants to help his neighbor. But she pushes back, even insulting him when he saves her from a burglary. Jacir’s immigration o cer (Mark Je rey Miller) is unhappy about Jacir showing up on police reports, no matter what the reason.

What Jacir, Jerome, and Meryl all have in common is that they are members of the disposable class that their governments have tossed on the trash heap. eir challenge is to gure out

how to carve out space for themselves while learning to accept their common humanity. Whether it’s Fallujah or Aleppo or Memphis, they’re all in the same place.

ese are well-trod roads. Spike Lee’s Do e Right ing, with its restaurant setting and casually racist owner, is a clear inspiration. Tutweezy’s aspiring rapper is right out of Craig Brewer’s Hustle & Flow, and AlQawasmi indulges

in Brewer-esque montages for several character beats. e cinematography by Memphis lenser Ryan Earl Parker is excellent at evoking both the bleakness of the impoverished settings and the city’s unpredictable bursts of beauty.

(top) Tutweezy and Malek Rahbani as Jerome and Jacir; (bottom) Lorraine Bracco as Meryl

But it’s the performances that really make the film. Rahbani, who looks like John Cusack by way of Beirut, goes from wide-eyed vulnerability to flinty cynicism while holding on to the human core of his character. Bracco brings out the pain, confusion, and denial behind the devotion of many Trumpist cultists. Miller, Tutweezy, and Leila Almas Rose as Adam’s sympathetic daughter Nadia all deliver solid turns.

There is a long tradition in art of the enfant terrible, the troubled visionary whose rages and cruelty go hand in hand with their undeniable talent. Some see Welles’ tantrums, Hitchcock’s misogyny, Godard’s abusiveness, or Polanski’s and Singer’s sex crimes as part of a package with their brilliance. In fact, these great men — and notice,

they’re all men — were held back by their bad behavior. Their films succeeded in spite of, not because of, their rampant assholery. They had crews who knew how to behave professionally, even when their leaders failed to. The days of John Ford slugging whiskey while directing a cavalry charge are thankfully over, mostly because crews will no longer put up with it in the wake of #MeToo and several recent high-profile on-set fatalities. In this case, it’s a real shame, because Jacir is a legitimately remarkable achievement, both in artistic and business terms. Is that what it will be remembered for?

Jacir

Now playing Multiple locations

MLM Medical Labs

Volunteers to donate blood for a research study.

MLM Medical Labs is currently seeking Volunteers to donate blood for a research study.

MLM Medical Labs is currently seeking Volunteers to donate blood for a research study.

If you are between the ages of 18 and 80, weigh more than 110lbs, and are currently taking a blood thinner such as Aspirin, Brilinta, Eliquis, Lovenox, Plavix or Xarelto, or have been diagnosed with Kidney Disease, you may be eligible to participate.

If you are between the ages of 18 and 80, weigh more than 110lbs, and are currently taking a such as Aspirin, Brilinta, Eliquis, Lovenox, Plavix or been diagnosed with Kidney Disease, you may be eligible

This is a blood collection study only. No drug treatment will be provided.

Participants will be paid for blood donation.

This is a blood collection study only. No drug treatment

For more information, call:

If you are between the ages of 18 and 80, weigh more than 110lbs, and are currently taking a blood thinner such as Brilinta, Eliquis, Lovenox, Plavix and Aspirin, Xarelto, or Coumadin, you may be eligible to participate.

Participants will be paid for blood donation.

901-866-1705

This is a blood collection study only. No drug treatment will be provided.

For more information, call:

901-866-1705

Participants will be paid for blood donation.

For more information, call: 901-866-1705

FILM By Chris McCoy

By Frank Murtaugh

Penny Hardaway: Hall of Famer?

e Tigers basketball coach and former NBA star deserves a spot in the Basketball Hall of Fame.

e Basketball Hall of Fame will announce its 2023 class this weekend in Houston, part of the festivities at what is certainly the least likely Final Four in the sport’s history. Among the nalists for induction, Dirk Nowitzki and Dwyane Wade are rst-ballot locks. And if Tony Parker and Pau Gasol don’t get in this year, they will be Hall of Famers soon.

I’ve got a question for you. On their best days as basketball players — or best months, or best season — were Parker and Gasol better than Anfernee Hardaway? Any living person who saw the three players in their primes would answer this question with a resounding … no. Yet Parker and Gasol will stroll into the Hall of Fame, while Hardaway has yet to even be named a nalist. It’s a glaring omission for basketball’s shrine to greatness, for Penny Hardaway should be a Hall of Famer.

Here we are, more than 15 years since the pride of Treadwell High School played his last NBA game (December 3, 2007), and Hardaway cannot be found among the greatest to play the sport he commanded for an all-too-brief professional career. And that’s the catch for Hardaway: However great he may have been, we’re tortured by the question of what he could have been, perhaps what he should have been with stronger knees. (Note: Hardaway played in more NBA games than Pete Maravich, and the Pistol was inducted without pause.)

ere’s actually an advantage Hardaway holds as a former basketball great. His sport’s Hall of Fame has a signi cantly lower standard for induction than baseball’s Hall, and even lower than pro football’s. Unless your name is Sandy Koufax, a career abbreviated by injury eliminates you from consideration for Cooperstown. You have to have played 10 seasons just to reach baseball’s ballot, and most inductees enjoyed careers of at least 15 years. As for football, Kurt Warner and Terrell Davis have been inducted, joining Gale Sayers among gridiron greats who starred brightly enough during brief careers to earn enshrinement.

en there’s the hoop Hall. Here’s a look at four recent inductees to factor into the equation of Penny Hardaway’s quali cations:

• Maurice Cheeks (inducted in 2018) — Four-time All-Star. Never named to an All-NBA team. Played a supporting role (to Julius Erving and Moses Malone) on one of the greatest teams in NBA history, the 1982-83 Philadelphia 76ers. Played 15 years in the NBA.

• Sarunas Marciulionis (2014) — e face of Lithuanian basketball (particularly at the 1992 Olympics). Played seven seasons in the NBA. Never an All-Star.

• Jamaal Wilkes (2012) — ree-time All-Star. 1974-75 NBA Rookie of the Year. Played supporting role (to Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar) for three L.A. Laker championship teams. Never named to an All-NBA team.

• Satch Sanders (2011) — Played supporting role (to Bill Russell and John Havlicek) for eight Boston Celtic championship teams. Never an All-Star and never named to an All-NBA team. Never averaged more than 12.6 points in a season.

Sorry, but these four players don’t so much as approximate the star power of Penny Hardaway in his professional prime. Let’s consider 50 games a “full” season for an NBA player. Penny played nine such seasons, so it’s not as though he went down a er ve or six no-look passes and a reverse dunk. He was named AllNBA three times, and twice rst-team (a er the 1994-95 and 1995-96 seasons). Consider his company on the 1996 All-NBA team: Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, Karl Malone, and David Robinson (all members of the 1992 Olympic Dream Team). Hardaway was a four-time AllStar and averaged more than 20 points per game three times.

Let’s forget the stats and accolades, though. Basketball doesn’t have a signi cant counting number — 3,000 hits or 10,000 rushing yards — that introduces a player into discussions about Hall of Fame status. In nearly every case, it’s an eye test. Did the player do things on a basketball court we don’t see many (if any) others do? is is where Penny Hardaway’s creative, artistic case becomes lock-down secure. Beyond Michael Jordan or Magic Johnson, who can ll — to this day — a two-minute highlight reel like Hardaway? (Hardaway is on my Rushmore of basketball passers, along with Maravich, Magic, and Jason Kidd. He saw the court di erently from others.)

Hardaway was the national high school player of the year (according to Parade magazine) in 1990. He was named rstteam All-America as a junior at Memphis State in 1993. And he remains an unforgettable performer at basketball’s highest level, an Olympic gold medalist and a member of the only team to beat Jordan’s Chicago Bulls in the playo s between 1991 and 1998 (the 1995 Orlando Magic). Get this: Every member of the 1996 U.S. Olympic team is a member of the Hall of Fame … except Penny Hardaway.

In 2018, SLAM magazine published an issue ranking the 100 greatest players of all time, and Hardaway checks in at 92. None of the Hall of Famers mentioned above made the cut. I’m convinced the Naismith selection committee will someday get this right. But make no mistake: e Basketball Hall of Fame is incomplete without Penny Hardaway.

Frank Murtaugh is the managing editor of Memphis magazine. He writes the columns “From My Seat” and “Tiger Blue” for the Flyer

PHOTO: U OF M ATHLETICS Penny Hardaway