Local News
in Memphis, TN

Corn rally keeps rolling.

Big changes in second CFAP program.

The U.S. may need more wheat planted acres.

We are expecting a significant increase in volumes driven by the move to online shopping and the traditional peak surge between Thanksgiving and Christmas, MacDonald said.

Terra Cotta comes from the definition of terra cotta, which is a strong substance of the earth that is brownish in color. That describes Black people.

Super Women 2020 honoree Morgan Schultz of FedEx Freight: I lead with positive enthusiasm and an empathic mindset.

With October here at last, it may be the ideal season for backyard hangoutswith a handy local live-stream musical event playing in the background. Try it out with some of these great artists, and be sure to throw a nickel their way REMINDER: The Memphis Flyer supports social distancing in these uncertain times. Please live-stream responsibly. We remind all players that even a small gathering could recklessly spread the coronavirus and endanger others. If you must gather as a band, please keep all players six feet apart, preferably outside, and remind viewers to do the same. ALL TIMES CDT Thursday, October 1 Noon Live DJ - Downtown Memphis Virtual Carry Out Concert Facebook 8 p.m. Devil Train - at B-Side Facebook Friday, October 2 11 a.m. Marcella & Her Lovers - Fridays in HSP Facebook 6 p.m. Optik Sink - Goner TV LP listening party, with live DJ & special guests Twitch Saturday, October 3 no live-streamed events Sunday, October 4 3 p.m. Dale Watson - Chicken $ Bingo Facebook 4 p.m. Bill Shipper - For Kids every Sunday Facebook Monday, October 5 5:30 p.m. Amy LaVere & Will Sexton Facebook 8 p.m. Chris Hamlett, Ryan Sisung, Madd Well, and Ben Ricketts - Memphis Songwriter Night Facebook 8 p.m. John Paul Keith every Monday YouTube Tuesday, October 6 7 p.m. Bill Shipper every Tuesday Facebook 8 p.m. Mario Monterosso every Tuesday Facebook Wednesday, October 7 8 p.m. Richard Wilson every Wednesday Facebook

If youve ever had a perfectly pulled pint of Guinness backed by a perfectly timed dad joke, youve been served at Celtic Crossing by Allan Creasy, easily one of the best bartenders in Memphis. Flyer readers have voted Creasy as the citys best bartender for several years in our annual Best of Memphis poll. He believes the honor should go to a slate of other bartenders, whose names he can reel off the top of his head. But our readers have put him at the top of the heap so many times, he mustve had some magic mojo behind the bar. Creasys 15-year magic at Celtic Crossing ended this past weekend. He stepped from behind the bar and into a new role at Future 901 to raise money for progressive political candidates in West Tennessee. The differences in the roles could seem stark if you didnt know that while at Celtic, Creasy ran twice for a state House seat for the 97th District. He didnt win but raised the debate on progressive topics here, and raised his own political clout. While his friends and regulars have commended him on getting a big-boy job, Creasy says no. Hes passionate about the restaurant industry and respects and cherishes his time there and those who work in it. We caught up with Creasy after his final weekend shifts. He talked about his service-industry career, what makes a good bartender, and his moves into a new career. Toby Sells Memphis Flyer: So, how were your last few shifts up there How was the weekend Allan Creasy: It was pretty phenomenal. My last day, I got surprised. D.J. Naylor, my employer, sent me a bagpiper who led me out to the patio and, you know, socially distanced gave me a going away speech, and they had cake. It was definitely not as big as sendoff as it might have been during other times. But it was really moving. It touched me, certainly, in many ways. MF: Did a lot of regulars show up and say farewell AC: I had a lot of folks who showed up. Theres only so many people you can allow in the building at a certain time, right I had all those tables adjacent to the bar with friends, regulars, and plenty of elbow bumps that symbolized hugs. Yeah, it was very touching. It was really moving. MF: How did you start working at Celtic AC: Well, way, way back in the day, I worked at Dan McGuinness Downtown. When I left there, a couple of folks who had worked at McGuinness had left to start at Celtic. At first, they didnt feel so right about hiring me because they didnt want to feel like they were stealing employees. But it was late night one night 1 in the morning and I was working on Beale at the time and a ran into the Celtic general manager at the time. He bought me a shot of whiskey and said, You want to come work for me I said yes. You know, restaurants are supposed to do job interviews between the hours of 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. MF: laughing I guess they just shifted back about 12 hours given the nature of the work, right Did they did you start as a bartender AC: No, I started as a server and a barback. I just, basically, did whatever they needed me to do. For a while there, Id come in and open up as a barback. You know, Id sweep the floors, set up the dish room, get everything set up in the back of the house. Then, Id clock out as a barback and clock in as a server and wait tables for three hours. Id clock back out and clock back in as a barback and do dishes for a while. MF: Then, later on you got a shot and got behind the bar AC: As other folks moved on, I suddenly looked up and kind of realized that I was the one of the main folks there. The bartender job just kind of came slowly but surely over the years. By 2008-2009 I was behind the bar pretty much full-time. MF: Flyer readers have voted you as the best bartender for many years in our Best of Memphis poll. What do you attribute that to What makes a good bartender How do you approach your job AC: I think more than anything else it is listening to people. Its not done as much, and I dont think its appreciated. Thats a stereotype about bartending, but its damn true. I just try to listen to people. Youve got to listen to people, but you got to keep moving. Youve got to make that quick, one statement, and then you got to get out, get to that next person. You cant be trapped. To be honest with you when it comes to being a mixologist or anything like that Im a terrible bartender. David Parks Memphis Whistle, or Vincent Hale Dodici and Bari Ristorante, and the folks over at Bari, or the folks at Catherine and Marys, theyre much better at mixology. I was just the guy who could really quickly get you your draft Guinness, or your whiskey-Coke, and make a one-liner, and give you a dad joke you hadnt heard before. So, I always felt a little guilty when I would come ahead of folks like, you know, David Parks in the best bartender category or Vincent Hale, the folks who do things that Ive never had the ability to really do. Ive always kind of felt a little guilty about coming out ahead of those folks because its two different skill sets entirely. MF: Everyone knows youre a good damn bartender but probably not many folks know that while you were at Celtic you ran for office twice. The District 97 House seat, right AC: Yes, in 2018, and then 2020. In 2018, I was the first person in my party to have ever run in this district at that point in 16 years. No one had run either party, other than the incumbent for over a decade. So, there was a lot of ground to make up. But its all those things that you do as a bartender listen to people and try to come up with a solution for their problems its the same thing that needs to be done for people running for office. So, in 2018 there were 10,000 people voting for our campaign, and I think it was pretty incredible. I think we raised well over $100,000, too. I, honestly, got tired of being behind that bar. People would tell me their problems. It wasnt just about the girlfriend, or the boyfriend, or the ex. People worried because their kids school isnt doing well, or theyve been a victim of violent crime, or their record got so messed up because they got caught with weed years ago. It just felt like I needed to do something other than to just keep posting on Facebook. I started out volunteering as much as I could for local nonprofits, as a bartender. But that led to helping local political candidates as a volunteer. I would usually canvas as a door-knocker. Then, I was, basically, running field offices for local candidates on a special election. At that point, the executive political director of the state party said, You need to think about doing this for yourself. My response was, you know, Im just a bartender. His response was, Who the hell cares Go out there and do it. Even though we came up short in 2018, in 2020 we ended up in a primary against a really phenomenal candidate, Gabby Salinas. Im very proud of the campaigns that we ran, especially trying to run a campaign during the darkest days of COVID. As far as Xs and Os, its a loss. But I think in many different ways, its a win. Im really proud of that. MF: That kind of leads into your new job at Future 901. What do they do and what are you going do with them AC: What everyone thinks about someone running for office does happen, going to campaign events and giving some speeches. But thats the tip of the iceberg. What you really are doing for the majority of your time running for office is calling people and asking them for money. Youre telling them that your ideals are ideals worth investing in and that you have the ability to be in striking distance to win. A lot of folks still dont realize that when they first run for office. Working in the restaurant industry, I have no shame asking people for money while maintaining a sense of dignity. I lived off peoples spare change for a good while of it and pretty well for 23 years, 15 at Celtic. So thats what Ill be doing with Future 901 is helping them fund-raise and move our state legislature forward. Well be supporting candidates who believe in public education and not the movements to privatize it and destroy it with vouchers, and candidates who believe that when the federal government offers the state money to expand Medicaid and improve healthcare at a statewide level, you take it. Well support candidates who believe and respect a womans autonomy over over own body, and candidates who believe in and respect the rights of the LGBT community. Its important to have an organization that lets voters know that there are candidates who dont support Tennessee Governor Bill Lees plan for private school vouchers, or candidates who dont support the idea that victims of rape or incest have to carry a pregnancy to term. Those truths need to be out there. They need to be told to the voters of Shelby County. So Ill be doing my best to fund-raise for them so that those stories can be told about those candidates, like my former opponent, Gabby Salinas, and Jerri Green. MF: Is there anything that we left out or anything you want to add before we get off the phone AC: I want to thank my employers D.J. and Jamie Naylor and my co-workers for 15 long, damn-fine years that Im very proud of. Also, theres another thing. Ive had some folks try to congratulate me by saying, Congratulations on getting the big-boy job or the grown-up job. For me and for a lot of folks who work in that industry, that is the big-boy job. That is something I respect and cherish and there are plenty of us in that field who take that job very seriously and care an awful lot about what we do.

Shelby County is asking too much of its students, their families, and their teachers. It is a few weeks into this very different school year, and I have a message for Shelby County Schools: You are asking too much. Too much from students, too much from teachers, too much from families. I understand concerns about lost learning. I can also imagine the difficulty of making sure that all students have access to devices, internet, supplies, and tech support, not to mention access to meals as well as support staff, like special education professionals. I know that there arent a lot of great options for this school year, that is, but SCS has nevertheless made several decisions about virtual learning that actually work against the districts goals of effective instruction for all children. I have been watching an SCS first grader in virtual learning, and here is what I see: A 6-year-old child who is normally excited about learning new things having to sit in a chair for six hours in front of a screen while she fidgets and struggles to pay attention. A busy screen full of children in the same boat some at home, some in care outside of the home, but all of them forced to sit there like they are in an actual classroom. Multiple technical glitches that require a tech savviness that some children and families dont have. Families who are spending time they dont have on figuring out what their kids are supposed to do each day, how to print and upload assignments, and how to assess their academic progress. Teachers who spend copious amounts of time online and likely have little planning time for a giant shift in their instruction. This summer, SCS had a chance to reimagine what school could look like this year and beyond. Instead, the district simply converted the school day to online and insisted on unnecessary rules, like having to wear shoes and universal bell times. Having spent more than 15 years in the field of early childhood education, I know that practically all the best research tells us that this kind of remote learning does not work. First and foremost, children should not be spending all day in front of a computer. This is true at any age, but especially true for elementary-age students whose brains and bodies can really only handle up to two hours of screen time a day. Second, there is a real danger of increased obesity and health issues, and behavioral and learning problems can also result from this setup. Third, teachers as well should not be spending all day in front of a computer. When they do, this increases emotional stress and physical tension while decreasing productivity, concentration, and creativity. Finally, the current remote learning plan ignores the reality that many, if not most, families in Shelby County are likely overwhelmed with day-to-day life: work demands, financial concerns, health and safety concerns, institutional and systemic racism, political unrest, traumatic loss, and the list goes on. What children, teachers, and families really need right now is flexibility and resources. I confess that even as an education professional and a mother of two, I do not have all of the answers. But I do have questions that I hope district professionals and policy makers will consider: Why do students need to be connected all day Is the concern about truancy, delinquency, lost learning Is there another solution for these concerns Is a universal remote learning structure for all grades and kids the same as an equitable learning structure Or does it put more pressure on families and kids with fewer resources How might classrooms for all ages be flipped A flipped classroom is where children watch short instructional videos and do work independently and then come to class synchronously or in person to check in, discuss, and extend the learning. What if children had short 1:1 check-ins instead of whole-group classes all day What if homework looked like play and opportunities to connect to the real world Why is there little understanding of current and previous trauma built into the school day What would our kids and teachers be capable of if given autonomy within more realistic boundaries I know this is a complex puzzle and that a one-size-fits-all solution isnt possible, but this is exactly what SCS is attempting to do. We know teachers and staff are working tirelessly under extraordinary conditions. Superintendent Ray has commented multiple times on the need for grace at this time. So, lets give everyone a break from nonstop virtual classrooms and rethink what virtual school can and should be. Victoria Kintner-Duffy, Ph.D., is a research and evaluation specialist at Teachstone and has worked in early childhood education for 15 years.

May the stories of dynamic women guide us as we create a better, kinder world ahead.

A local publication seeks to put the focus firmly on Black-owned businesses.

After three-quarters of a century building homes, the WTNHBA is here to stay.

Shelby Countys COVID-19 numbers are improving, so should the county reopen its public schools Well, that depends.

Thomas started all 14 games last season but wasnt with Memphis for its season opener and is currently not on the roster

Bryce Corp. will pay $50,000 and resolve an equal pay lawsuit brought against the Memphis packaging maker.

Memphis police say road rage led to one woman pulling and pointing a gun at another driver. But as it turns out, it was the gun-toting woman who ended up calling for help.

A U.S. District Court judge has denied a motion to dismiss the case against the city of Southaven and several officers in connection to the shooting death of Ismael Lopez.

Tennessee House Speaker Cameron Sexton is looking to roll back the power of local health departments during the next legislative session.