Chris Herrington
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Posted: Yesterday 9:01 a.m.

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Good morning in Memphis, where Tubby Smith made a decision and Ikea is coming, but first …

From Foote Homes to Frayser, twin tragedies marred a spring weekend a Memphis, with two local teens dying from gun violence.

Jody Callahan and Yolanda Jones cover the aftermath of these killings, including a community gathering in Frayser Monday afternoon aimed to taking back the elementary school playground space where the shooting there happened and pushing back against the idea that this violence is normal.

The most important thing I saw today in Frayser was people fighting for their community. That narrative gets buried too often.

— Tami Sawyer (@tamisawyer) April 26, 2016

As the story reports, 11 children under age 17 have been killed in Memphis this year, just one fewer than in all of 2015. Meanwhile, four teenagers were shot, with one in critical condition, at a Nashville bus station yesterday.

In an excellent column, David Waters wonders over a city of positive changes and and spring energy, and laments these killings, which remind us of the enormous problems that linger. He ends up at a Memphis place I’ve never been.

Strickland, Charted: The City Council will host the first of many hearings on Mayor Jim Strickland’s proposed budget. Ahead of this, Ryan Poe puts together some charts to illustrate where the budget’s growth comes from, the arc of rising pension contributions, the breakdown of capital spending and more.

The Lawson "Crisis" is (Maybe) Over: It looks like Tubby Smith is going to keep his players without having his assistant coaches dictated to him, which seems like a good start for a new coach trying to set his own tone, but as this Jason Smith story suggests, there are outstanding questions: Will the University of Memphis get a waiver to move Keelon Lawson from the bench to a non-coaching role, which seems to run counter to NCAA intent? (Or is this rule about to change?) Will Dedric Lawson pull back from the NBA Draft or continue to test waters that he could find inviting? Another of my own: The conventional wisdom on Smith when he was hired was “great coach, needs to surround himself with great recruiters.” Do fans think reconstituting his Texas Tech staff does this?

The story also includes the quote of the day, from Keelon Lawson:

Date with Ikea: Tom Bailey reports on the progress of the Germantown Parkway Ikea store, the first in the state of Tennessee, which is on pace for a fall opening. I think I have something from Ikea (mostly: media/book shelving and kids furniture) in every room in my house, most of it lugged home from Minneapolis or Austin. Our Ikea buying has definitely regressed in recent years, but this “retail wonderland” will still prove more enticing than Bass Pro for most of middle-class Memphis, and I'll be happy to no longer transport in the (likely) event we’re lured in again. Personal plea: There are some among us who may not be finished purchasing CD shelving.

Quick-and-Pop: It was exit-interview day for the Grizzlies today. Ron Tillery sets up the key off-season questions and has notes and video from the players’ closing media appearances. Geoff Calkins takes a closer look at Mike Conley’s remarks and sees some warning signs. (For the record: At the moment, I’m not too concerned.)

I didn’t have time to make the press day at the Forum. And while I’ve got many thousands of words worth of stuff to say about all of these things, I won’t say it in this column and won’t have time to get into it until after Beale Street Music Fest, at least. But nothing will happen on any front, at least nothing player-related, for more than two months. It can wait.

Additional Reading:

• Al Roker is coming to the Memphis in May World Championship Barbecue Contest, and he’s not just coming to broadcast.
• Binghampton’s Carpenter Art Garden is expanding with a Community Bike Shop.
• Ryan Poe reports on some upheaval in the Shelby County Democratic Party leadership.
• Affordable housing has spurred population growth in Houston, according to The Wall Street Journal.
• Will former University of Memphis quarterback Paxton Lynch go the way of Broadway Joe? Tom Schad corrals the mock drafts.
• Cara Greenstein goes east, just a little bit, and checks out what there is to do in Jackson, Tennessee.
• There’s been a measles outbreak in Shelby County.
• The Tennessean takes a long look at the live music scene in Nashville, with notes on local clubs, Live Nation and saturation points that will be relevant to Memphis.
• At Memphis magazine, Shara Clark takes the temperature at Memphis disco landmark Raiford’s after 40 years.
• Beyond Poutine: Jennifer Biggs takes a look at Canadian food via a couple of local transplants, as our neighbors to the north take the spotlight as this year’s Memphis in May honored country.

Happening in Memphis Today: The Orpheum is hosting a free screening of “Purple Rain” at 7 p.m. tonight.

The Fadeout: Luther Dickinson plays the Pearl River Resort Blues Tent on Saturday night at the Beale Street Music Festival. Here he is doing “Bang Bang Lulu” on the show “Music City Roots,” with Memphian Amy LaVere sitting in on bass:

The 9:01 is a daily look at life in Memphis, with ideas, commentary, links, events and more. It is published every weekday at 9:01 a.m. Sign up to have it delivered to your inbox every morning.

About Chris Herrington

Chris Herrington is the GoMemphis editor. He also moonlights as a basketball writer with his "Pick and Pop" column on the NBA and the Memphis Grizzlies.

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• chris.herrington@commercialappeal.com
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