Stories

Feature Story Hazel Moore is known as the Mayor of Whitehaven.

Video: Meet the unofficial mayor of Whitehaven

"I've always given back to the community, listened to the people. Because the people are very important. And it paid off." That's why they call Ms. Hazel Moore the "Mayor of Whitehaven." It's a title she earned after years of community service.

Development News MEMpopS treats

MEMpopS opening Collierville location, expanding mobile presence

Local gourmet popsicle makers MEMpopS are expanding again, this time with a new brick-and-mortar location opening in March in Collierville along with a beefed up mobile fleet for events across the area.


Development News South Main Artspace Lofts

New artist live-work lofts opening in South Main District in March

A downtown affordable housing project seven years in the making is nearly ready for first move-ins by March. The South Main Artspace Lofts mixed-use project, developed by Minneapolis-based nonprofit developer Artspace, Inc., will include 58 live/work spaces for artists and 12,000 square feet of event and commercial space.


Feature Story Antonio and Jason Gardner, co-owners of BeLeaf Cigar Lounge opened their brick and mortar location in November 2017.

Success is smoky for brothers growing cigar business in Whitehaven

Brothers Antonio and Jason Gardner bring international cigar experience to Whitehaven with their newly opened brick and mortar location for BeLeaf Cigars.

Innovation & Job News A Regional Resilience Plan, will identify future activities to bolster the resilience of Shelby County and surrounding areas to the shocks and stresses caused by severe storms and flooding.

Mapping a way forward to prepare the Mid-South for global warming-related weather disasters

The Resilience Plan will tackle unmet recovery needs following major storms in 2011 and pinpoint future activities that will expand the area’s resilience to the effects of flooding, extreme heat or cold, and other climate- or weather-related events. The geographic reach of the master plan will include Shelby and DeSoto counties, in addition to parts of Fayette and Marshall counties.


Feature Story A customer at Hazel's Hair Fashions reads a textbook at the Whitehaven salon. (Brandon Dahlberg)

In photos: Barber and beauty shops are centers of community in sprawling Whitehaven

Whitehaven is one of Memphis's largest and most populous neighborhoods, boasting over 50,000 residents. But despite its size, Whitehaven continues to function as a tight-knit community. One of the ways that sense of community is maintained is through the neighborhood's locally-owned barbershops and salons.

Feature Story Graves Elementary School in South Memphis has been boarded up since its closure in 2014. It's one of 10 vacant school buildings in the city. (Laura Faith Kebede)

A Memphis woman’s tragic death prompts reflection: Could vacant schools help fight homelessness?

Wintertime temperatures hit homeless people the hardest. Meanwhile, 10 shuttered Memphis schools sit empty.

Development News Crosstown Brewing Co.

Crosstown Brewing Co. opens next month

For Crosstown Brewing Co. co-founders Clark Ortkiese and Will Goodwin, the next three weeks will include a flurry of activity leading up to the grand opening of their new craft brewery and taproom on February 16.

Feature Story As the students received their backpacks they high-fived and fist-bumped volunteers for the ZIP Code 38126 Back to School Project.

How can schools in Memphis improve the equity of minority and women-owned businesses?

Join a panel on January 25 with business owners, county school administrators and charter school leaders.


Development News Lafayette's Music Room

Lafayette's reclaiming roots with upcoming expansion

Lafayette's Music Room in Overton Square will be expanding by mid-February, moving its stage back to its original spot from the early 1970s when mega acts like Kiss, Kansas, and Billy Joel played before becoming huge superstars.


Innovation & Job News Regional One Health

Memphis' healthcare system for the uninsured seeks to improve care for vulnerable patients

Regional One Health is exploring outside-the-box ideas in its partnership with Camden Coalition for not only reducing the health care costs to treat some of the most vulnerable but to improve the care and overall outcomes for patients.


Development News South Main

Four big developments Memphis anticipates in 2018

Trolleys, new education opportunities and a train station for the 21st century will get their start in 2018.


Development News MLK Day of Service

City fights blight for MLK Day of Service

Community leaders, residents and volunteers from local businesses braved the cold on Monday and took to the streets to clean up blighted properties in neighborhoods across Memphis for the second annual MLK Days of Service.


Feature Story A group of passengers prepares to board a MATA bus at the American Way Transit Center on January 9, 2018. (Brandon Dahlberg)

Memphis 3.0 looks to citizens' input on shaping city's transit system

Memphis' public transportation system needs a revamp, and the Memphis Area Transit Authority is informing that revamp with riders' input. 

Feature Story Blues City Cultural Center choreographer Kellye Crawford demonstrates moves to students at Whitehaven High School in preparation for a competitive summer internship with the nonprofit.

Nonprofit trains Whitehaven youth in creative storytelling and neighborhood research

“Whitehaven was not a neighborhood originally planned for African-Americans. We want students to answer the question of how integration affected the community. When white homeowners and business owners moved out and black people moved in, people affectionately began to call the community Blackhaven. Let’s talk about that."

Feature Story Winston Gipson confers with his wife and daughter, who help run Gipson Mechanical Contractors, a family-owned business in Memphis for 35 years. (Laura Faith Kebede)

Memphis leaders say diversifying school business contracts will help in the classroom, too

The program designed to address contract disparities in Memphis City Schools was cut during its 2013 merger with Shelby County Schools, and minority and women-owned businesses are feeling the strain.

Feature Story The supply of decorated cakes is thinning at the Orange Mound Kroger. (Brandon Dahlberg)

Orange Mound residents protest their closing grocery store

For residents of Orange Mound, the Kroger on Lamar Avenue offers access to prescription medication, banking services and healthy food. With Kroger set to close the store on February 3, the community rallies for reinvestment. 

Feature Story A graffitied sign for Graceland Parking on Elvis Presley Boulevard. (Brandon Dahlberg)

More than Graceland: Whitehaven's 200-year history

The City of Memphis annexed Whitehaven in 1969 but the community maintains a distinct identity founded on small business and home ownership. 

Innovation & Job News Greenline Pet will move into the Crosstown building by the first quarter of next year.

Crosstown Concourse earns prestigious LEED Platinum certification for historic adaptive reuse

Crosstown Concourse has added to its growing resume by being awarded the Leadership in Energy Platinum Certification (LEED) Platinum certification for historic adaptive reuse, the highest rating given by the U.S. Green Building Council.


Development News Fundamentals 1st Learning Academy

Entrepreneur opens child care centers in underserved communities

“In both Frayser and Orange Mound, there is a need for those children to be educated because for whatever reason I feel that they don’t get some of the same opportunities and they aren’t introduced to some of things children are introduced to in other areas of the city."