Memphis

MEMPHIS — U.S. District Judge Thomas Parker heard arguments Monday on a request to lift bans keeping six people, including state Rep. Justin Pearson, from Tuesday's City Council meeting. According to Action News 5, Parker questioned how the six were picked from the hundreds who attended the Oct. 6 meeting. He also questioned the description of that meeting as a riot, and said the council chair's argument sounded like viewpoint discrimination. Plaintiffs say the council enforced its rules selectively. The city's position, voiced earlier by council attorney Allan Wade, is that the bans are consistent with council rules. Council attorney Wade has also given the judge a new security plan for the meeting. Separately, Councilwoman Yolanda Cooper-Sutton is barred from chairing or co-chairing committees for the next two meetings. A ruling was pending as of the latest reports.

MEMPHIS — U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche visited Memphis on Oct. 17 to mark a little over a year since President Trump created the Memphis Safe Task Force. He credited it with reductions in violent crime, robberies and vehicle thefts, and said overall crime is at a 25-year low. He gave no end date and did not define what success would look like. Tennessee Lookout reported that local officials note crime began falling in the year before the task force arrived. Critics call the operation over-policing of Black and brown communities, and point to four Black men fatally shot by task force members this year. Lawsuits also allege intimidation of bystanders and refusals to release public records. Police Chief CJ Davis separately credits a Gun Violence Reduction Initiative, fully implemented this year, for part of the decline.

MEMPHIS — The Memphis City Council meets Tuesday under tighter security after the Oct. 6 meeting ended in a cleared chamber and a lobby fight. Clear bags are required, and non-city employees need a council member's authorization and a security check-in before approaching the dais. The agenda holds five data center ordinances and one resolution, including the proposed 12-month moratorium. Mayor Paul Young said that whatever happens, the work on data center guardrails will go on. Also pending is a resolution seeking removal of ICE agents and Tennessee National Guard troops from the Memphis Safe Task Force, delayed from earlier this month. Council attorney Allan Wade has advised that existing zoning authority makes a moratorium unnecessary. A moratorium would not halt current operations.

MEMPHIS — The Brooklyn-based, Black women-led dance company Urban Bush Women plays the 288-seat Buckman Arts Center at St. Mary's on Friday. Its program, This Is Risk, marks more than 40 years of work. It combines Jawole Willa Jo Zollar's Shelter (1989) and Batty Moves (1995) with Contemplations on Legacy, a new commission from Vincent E. Thomas. The company's tour page says live music is by vocalist Grace Galu Kalambay and percussionist Daniel Prim. The Memphis Flyer reports that the company will also lead a free Dance for Every Body workshop at 5:30 p.m. that day. Workshop participants receive complimentary tickets to the 7 p.m. show. The residency also includes a student matinee and a technique class for University of Memphis dance students. Buckman lists tickets at $40.

MEMPHIS — Grammy-nominated trumpeter, bandleader and educator Terell Stafford is the guest soloist with the Memphis Jazz Orchestra on Friday night. The one-night-only concert is in the Green Room at Crosstown Arts. Memphis magazine's weekly arts guide lists it for 7:30 to 9 p.m. The guide describes Stafford as one of the leading players of his generation, with a long record of award nominations. It also notes his work as an educator. Ticket prices were not listed in the guide, so readers should check Crosstown Arts before going. The concert falls on a crowded Friday for the arts, alongside the Urban Bush Women performance in East Memphis. Collage Dance Collective opens its season at Playhouse on the Square the same night.

MEMPHIS — Saturday's daytime options include the free Broad Avenue Art Walk, which the Memphis Flyer's Fall Arts Guide puts at 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the Broad Avenue Arts District. The guide says it features more than 50 local vendors, music and performances. ArtoberFest, billed as a celebration of Memphis artists across genres, runs Oct. 23-24 at Off the Walls. The Overton Park Shell's calendar lists Memphis Cup of Nations on Saturday. World Relief Memphis presents it with live music from the Shell on Wheels program. Saturday also includes the Día de Muertos parade downtown and Art on Fire at the Dixon, which have been covered separately. The Flyer lists Art on Fire as running 7 to 11 p.m.