THE
fly-by
f ly on the wall { N EW TU M B LEWEAVE Tumbleweaves — the lost wigs and all-too-familiar hair pieces we see blowing down the sidewalk — are so 2015. The future belongs to abandoned sex toys. This adorable, pink butt plug was spotted in the Cooper-Young neighborhood, standing bolt upright in the middle of the street.
November 17-23, 2016
This raises a lot of questions. Questions like, Did it just fall out? Were words exchanged? Did somebody say, “It’s not you, it’s me?” Anyway, if you or somebody you love lost a butt plug while visiting the Cooper-Young neighborhood, don’t call me. I didn’t touch that thing.
6
TRUMPED Here’s a weird headline from The Commercial Appeal that seems to say a little something about America’s clueless white patriarchy. “County elects woman, Trump,” tells the story of an unusual Texas town that voted to put Donald J. Trump in the White House, while also voting to put some woman somewhere else entirely. In the first sentence, we’re told the woman’s also a black Democrat who was running for sheriff. The woman (aka Zena Stephens), finally gets a name down in the fourth paragraph.
By Chris Davis. Email him at davis@memphisflyer.com.
Questions, Answers + Attitude Edited by Toby Sells
W E E K T H AT W A S By Flyer staff
Protesting, a protest, and a protest Memphians let their voices be heard all over town this week. Bitcoin, anyone? (Seriously, anyone?) If you’re looking for a little non-Donald-Trump-related, WTF?kinda news, here it is: Memphis got a Bitcoin ATM last week. The machine from Coinsource is the first in the city and the third in the state. So, if you know how Bitcoin works and you, y’know, have some, head on out to the ATM close to the corner of Dudley and Linden. Take it to the street Trump’s election was marked with rallies, unity walks, and protests in Memphis last week, just as in many other major cities. Hundreds gathered in at least three separate actions at Planned Parenthood, downtown, and Midtown. “This is the worst election result we’ve had in my lifetime and maybe the country’s history,” said Congressman Steve Cohen to a group gathered at Overton Park Friday. “It’s scary the racist
Trumping Latinos
and xenophobic statements that were said about people by candidates, and the tolerance of them. It’s really important that people come out and show that they don’t believe in this and they don’t endorse it.” Memphis Police Department officers offered security and traffic protection during the actions. Dairy plan thumbed down Midtown neighbors scored a win Thursday against a development they said would bring more noise and more congestion from the Prairie Farms dairy facility on Madison, though dairy owners said they will carry on with their expansion plans. Turner Holdings LLC, owner of the milk plant, hoped to convert a now-empty back lot adjacent to the plant into a space for “vehicle maintenance, repair, warehousing, and temporary parking of trucks and trailers.” The company is beginning a $10 million expansion of the 80-year-old dairy that would add capacity and about 30 percent more
{
CITY REPORTER By Joshua Cannon
Memphis Latinos fear for the lives they’ve built in an uncertain future ahead. Shaking in the cold with his mother, Alex Ortiz, 10, stood in his underwear at the Mexico border — his father’s alcoholism and death threats behind them in Honduras, the United States in front of their eyes. He gripped her hand as they crossed the river into Eagle’s Pass, Texas, where they were granted a six-month stay at a U.S. Border Patrol Station. Soon they’d be reconnected with family in Memphis, and, soon, they would overstay their visas. “I remember driving over the bridge into Memphis from Arkansas and seeing the skyline,” Ortiz, now 24, says. “I had never seen anything like it. Coming here as a young kid, it was all an adventure to me. I just saw it as an experience to explore a new place.” It was 2003 when Ortiz and his mother arrived in the United States, nine years prior to President Barack Obama’s executive order that founded the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) immigration program. The initiative protects from deportation those who emigrated to the U.S. before the age of 16, and grants them work authorization and a social security number. About 13,000 immigrants have qualified for DACA in Tennessee, said Lisa Nikolaus, the policy manager with the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition. With the same executive authority that created the initiative, President-elect Donald Trump could, and likely will, sign it
Alex Ortiz, now 24, emmigrated to Memphis when he was 10 years old. away. Trump said last week immigration would be a top priority and said Sunday he’ll immediately deport 2 million-3 million undocumented immigrants. He’s standing firm on rhetoric that fueled his campaign: “When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending their best … they’re rapists.” Overturning DACA would