Memphis

MEMPHIS — Shelby County commissioners put off votes on two data center ordinances on Oct. 26. The two bills take different approaches. Commissioner Amber Huett-Garcia's ordinance would set rules for new and existing data centers, including conservation of water and electricity and reporting of resource and infrastructure costs. Commissioners Henri Brooks and Erika Sugarmon sponsor a moratorium that cannot exceed 12 months. The Memphis Flyer reports Huett-Garcia's measure could replace the moratorium. Huett-Garcia said she wants the county to move in step with the city through the joint planning committee, after the council approved its 135-day pause. Sugarmon has raised noise and cost concerns, particularly for areas such as Whitehaven. Commissioner Will Richardson said he wants to weigh safety against the economic benefits. Both bills return Nov. 18.

MEMPHIS — The Shelby County Commission's Oct. 26 decision to remain in the lawsuit over the state takeover of Memphis-Shelby County Schools came with a financial limit, according to The 901 Report, a local newsletter. It reports that the previous commission set a $200,000 ceiling on the county's contribution to the litigation on Aug. 24, shortly before eight new members took their seats. That cap has not been independently confirmed here. WREG reported the vote not to withdraw was 8-4. The four Republican members, Dial, Mills, Billingsley and O'Dell, voted to leave, and eight Democrats voted to stay. The suit pits the elected school board against the state-appointed oversight board. That board began work July 1 and can override the elected board on most major decisions, Chalkbeat Tennessee reported in June. The commission also deferred its data center votes to Nov. 18.

MEMPHIS — The Memphis Safe Task Force passed its one-year mark on Sept. 29, and the competing accounts remain unsettled. WREG reported the task force has made more than 13,000 arrests. Mayor Paul Young, who says he did not request the deployment, said the city's homicide clearance rate is about 88.5%, up from roughly 40% to 45% when he took office in 2024. He credits MPD with cutting crime 25%. The Tennessee Lookout reports that Beale Street businesses are struggling as customers stay away, with some local leaders pointing partly to the National Guard presence. The council's Oct. 20 nonbinding resolution counted six deaths linked to task force operations. Four Black men were fatally shot by task force members, and two people died in vehicle pursuits. No task force member has been criminally charged. The resolution also noted that MPD data showed crime had already reached a 25-year low before the deployment.

GERMANTOWN — Two suburban venues offer family programming this weekend. Germantown Community Theatre stages Little Women: The Broadway Musical, with a Sunday matinee, Nov. 1, that follows the March sisters through warmth, grief and growing up. The Choose901 weekend guide lists the show but not its start time or ticket prices, so patrons should confirm those with the theatre. In Bartlett, the city's events calendar lists the Super Scientific Circus at the Bartlett Performing Arts & Conference Center, 3663 Appling Road, at 2 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 31. Tonight at 6 p.m., Fire Pit Friday runs at the A. Keith McDonald Pavilion in W.J. Freeman Park. Collierville also has news coming: the town says it will announce its 2026 Christmas on the Square lineup on Monday, Nov. 2. The season runs Nov. 24 to Dec. 31, with more than 250,000 lights.

MEMPHIS — WKNO's weekly arts agenda points to two community events beyond the big venues. On Sunday, Nov. 1, from 1 to 4 p.m., Off the Walls Arts hosts LOCOmotion along its Off the Rails Art Line. That project is turning a 1.5-mile decommissioned rail line into a pedestrian trail linking South Memphis and Downtown. The afternoon features live music by Marcella Simien & Her Lovers and kids' craft workshops. On Wednesday, Nov. 4, at 1:30 p.m., the Kroc Center presents the Memphis Jazz Workshop in its Creative Aging Concert Series. The workshop trains young instrumentalists and vocalists in jazz and introduces audiences to its mission of developing the next generation of musicians. The agenda does not list ticket prices for either event, so readers should check with the organizers.

MEMPHIS — The Overton Park Shell's touring stage, Shell on Wheels, plays a Friday-evening show in the MOSH Laser Live Concert Series on Nov. 6, the same night the Shell's Indigo Girls concert has just passed. The Shell's calendar lists Memphis act Unapologetic as the featured performer. The hour-long show runs from 6 to 7 p.m. at 3050 Central Ave. The calendar does not give a ticket price or admission details, so readers should check the Shell's event page. The mobile series is part of the Shell's 50th-anniversary push to take programming into neighborhoods. A second stop follows on Thursday, Nov. 12, when Shell on Wheels joins ARTSmemphis for the Green House Party, a 6 to 9 p.m. outdoor music night at the Greenhouse at Overton Park.