This was not only a dark night for Memphis, but for the entire nation.
Category: Memphis
An Interview with Erik Proseus of MemphisWeather.net
Editor’s Note: One of the nice things about living in a city as large as Memphis is that there’s an independent source for just about everything, including weather coverage. I recently spoke with Erik Proseus, an aviation meteorologist and entrepreneur. Below is our full-length interview about what Erik does, MemphisWeather.net and his recent saga with Apple’s App Store approval process.
Stephen: Thanks for taking some time to talk to me about your app and what you do. For those readers outside of Memphis, what is it that you do? Erik: I own Cirrus Weather Solutions, a private meteorological firm based in Bartlett, TN. One of the primary “faces” of Cirrus is MemphisWeather.net, which provides a full suite of weather and climate data for the Memphis metro area to the general public. Over the past couple of years, one of the main vehicles we have embraced for information dissemination is social media, specifically Facebook and Twitter. Using social media, we have really worked to perfect a technique called “nowcasting,” which provides updated weather information for a hyperlocal area (for us, it’s the Memphis metro) during severe and winter weather. We discuss where storms are, where they are headed, when they will be there (or leave), what threats they pose, and especially details on any watches or warnings that are issued. It’s akin to “wall-to-wall coverage” on TV, only we use Facebook and Twitter, and we have achieved quite a following from people who have come to rely on this very specific information. This past spring, we branched out into mobile applications with Android and iPhone apps, which expands the products that we have provided for some time on our mobile website.
‘A Modern-Day Abolitionist’
Marilyn Sadler, in a piece on my friend Ryan Dalton:
The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation reports that more than 100 cases of sex trafficking of minors have been documented in Shelby County over the last two years. Victims as young as 13 have been beaten, raped, and tortured into submission. The same number of adult cases have been documented. “But many more cases go undocumented and without rescue,” emphasizes Dalton.
‘Three at Last’
The West Memphis Three were convicted of murder in 1993, but were released this summer after a re-trial. Sean Flynn’s GQ piece take a look at these men’s lives post-release.
via longform.org
Layoffs and Paywalls
Memphis Newspaper Guild president Wayne Risher:
With sadness and regret, I must inform you that the Memphis Newspaper Guild was notified today, Tuesday morning, by The Commercial Appeal that 9 Guild covered employees will lose their jobs by Dec. 20 as part of a reduction in force. The company, confirming rumors that had been swirling for the last few months, said job reductions would be made to cut expenses and achieve efficiencies in the business. The company said names of affected employees could be released to the guild later today.
‘Kermit’s Trip To Memphis’
St. Jude to Expand Memphis Campus
St. Jude will build a nearly $190 million medical tower that will be a mirror image of the seven-story, 340,000-square-foot Chili’s Care Center and will be attached to that facility.
The new tower will include replacement facilities for St. Jude’s surgical department and intensive care unit. It will also house a department of computational biology and the Global Education and Collaboration Center.
The tower will also house a new $68 million proton-beam radiation therapy center for cancer treatment. Proton-beam therapy is an advanced form of radiation therapy that can be precisely guided to target cancer tumors and create less damage to the areas around them.
Obama in Memphis
From his commencement speech at the Booker T. Washington here in Memphis:
Yes, you’re from South Memphis. Yes, you’ve always been underdogs. No one has handed you a thing. But that also means that whatever you accomplish in your lives, you’ll have earned it. Whatever rewards and joys you reap, you’ll appreciate them that much more because they will have come through your sweat and tears; the product of your efforts and talents. You’ve shown more grit and determination in your childhoods than a lot of adults ever will.
The Grizzlies
But if you live here, you know the Grizzlies’ rallying cry of “Grit and Grind” is not just some cool marketing catchphrase to sum up its magical season. It is the autobiography of Memphis, Tenn. If you live here, you know that resilience is the sound of the blues on Beale Street, and you know that long-suffering is the flavor of the barbecue that’s a Memphis specialty.
Memphis in Electric Vehicle Demonstration
It’s Official: Memphis is on the grid.
On Tuesday morning, representatives from San Francisco-based ECOtality North America hosted a partner forum at The Peabody to welcome the Bluff City into a five-state embrace of electric vehicles and charging stations called “The EV Project.”
“Electric vehicles are coming, and we want to make sure businesses in Tennessee are as EV-friendly as possible,” said ECOtality’s Stephanie Cox.
A huge win for the Bluff City.
St. Jude Turns 49
The hospital has posted a great little slideshow of how the campus has changed over the years.
