May 11 was a lovely day for Commencement at LeMoyne Owen College.
In a switch from previous years, LeMoyne Owen held their commencement ceremony in the courtyard area near the center of campus. Hundreds of grads, families and loved ones were on hand to celebrate the occasion.
TSD Photojournalist Gary S. Whitlow was on hand to capture the occasion. Check out thes sights and view a livestream of the ceremony above!
This post will be updated.
It was 1973 when Richard “Dickie” Williams took his final exams at LeMoyne-Owen College. By that point, he’d completed all his course work, despite having to leave school for a one-year tour in Vietnam. But he hadn’t paid off his bill with the college.
And that meant he never received his degree, never enjoyed his commencement. But that all changed on May 11, when Richard Williams received his degree in elementary education from LeMoyne Owen College – a fresh faced college grad, ready to embark upon life at the tender age of 79.
“I’m all retired,” Williams chuckled when asked about his next career move.
It’s a winding road for a man whose initial reason for going to what was then Owen College had little to do with getting an education. Like a lot of young men in the 1960s, he was trying to stay away from the combat zone.
“I ain’t gonna lie: I went to Owen to dodge the draft,” he said. “I didn’t want to go to Vietnam. Too many of my friends getting killed over there. My brother had been there and just got back home. So, I didn’t really want to go, but they got me anyway.”
Williams’ younger brother is John Gary Williams, former singer with The Mad Lads, a 1960s soul group signed to Stax. John Gary’s music career was interrupted when he had to go to Vietnam, where he witnessed horrors and death.
“From what I understand, he said, ‘Dickie gonna get killed over there,’” Richard said. “I didn’t really think about that. I knew it was dangerous, but I always trusted God. So I just took my chance.”
Williams went to Vietnam in 1968, survived it, then returned home to Memphis where he resumed his education at the now-merged LeMoyne Owen College in 1969. Four years later, with all his coursework complete, he was ready to graduate. But there was one problem.
He owed the school $50 – which doesn’t sound like a lot, but for comparison’s sake, consider: Gasoline was about 39 cents a gallon; movie tickets were about $1.50 and record albums on vinyl cost about $5.00.
“It was a misunderstanding about that $50,” he said. “I had all the credits to march. I forgot the lady’s name who prevented me from marching. But she was just doing her job, I guess. I hold no malice against her.”
With a wife and family, Williams just went on with his life. He tucked his academic papers away and went on to have a 33-year career with the EEOC, including working as an investigator. He still got to feed his inner teacher as a mentor and community volunteer. Set to turn 80 in November, he was fine.
Fast forward to earlier this spring. After coming to campus to hear a high school classmate speak, Williams’ niece took him for a conversation at the registrar’s office.
“She talked to this young lady and told her, “My uncle had enough credits to graduate but I think he owes $50.’ The young lady said, ‘Let me see what we can do.’
Later, she called Williams back and asked if he had any proof of his claim. And, of course, he did.
“I kept those papers. I don’t know why,” he said, before correcting himself. “Well, I do now, but back then, I don’t know why I was keeping all those papers. And when I showed it to her, she said, ‘We don’t need anything else. You got the proof.’
“And that’s how all of this got started.”
Several weeks later, Williams finally marched across the stage to receive his degree — a dream no longer deferred. So what are his post-baccalaureate plans? Start teaching? Maybe grad school?
“No sir, I’m good right here,” he said with a laugh. “Like I said, I’m retired.”
Memphis parents stepped up to create a magical prom night for their middle schoolers after the school unexpectedly canceled the planned events.
The “8th Grade Sneaker Ball” was held at Southbrook Mall on Saturday night, a joyous celebration filled with dancing, laughter, and fresh kicks.
Larry and Syreeta Dotson, parents of an eighth-grader at John P. Freeman Optional School, were the driving force behind the event. After their daughter shared the disappointing news of the cancellation, they quickly mobilized, gathering resources and support to ensure the students wouldn’t miss out on this cherished milestone.
“I was really sad. I was kind of upset about it,” Dodson’s daughter told WREG.
Larry, a booking agent, used his connections to secure the venue and other necessities for the event. Syreeta, alongside other parents, rallied the community to make the night special.
“The parents are in full support of celebrating the kids,” Syreeta Dodson said to WREG. “We see the hard work, we see the sleepless nights…and they need to be celebrated.”
The Sneaker Ball was a resounding success, with students reveling in the opportunity to dress up, dance, and create lasting memories. While the reason for the school’s cancellation remains unclear, the community’s response showcased the power of parents coming together to support their children.
TSD Photojournalist Gary S. Whitlow was on hand to snap pics from the Sneaker Ball . . check them out above!
The NAACP Memphis Branch has announced that Val Demings, former U.S. Congresswoman from Florida, will be the keynote speaker at its 48th annual Freedom Fund Celebration on Saturday, June 15, 2024.
The event, themed “Thriving Together: As One,” will be held at the Halloran Center for Performing Arts & Education in downtown Memphis.
Demings, a former social worker and police chief, served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 2017 to 2023. She gained national prominence as an impeachment manager during the first impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump.
“Val Demings has an incredible story to share with Memphis,” said Kermit Moore, President of the NAACP Memphis Branch. “Her life story is inspiring, from her childhood to walking and serving in the hollowed halls of Congress.”
The Freedom Fund Celebration is the NAACP Memphis Branch’s largest annual fundraiser, supporting the organization’s programs and initiatives aimed at promoting social justice and equality.
“The Honorable Val Demings has a message for our city,” Moore added. “We look forward to hearing her insights and being inspired by her words.”
Sponsorship opportunities for the event are available, and more information can be found at www.naacpmemphis.org or by calling (901) 521-1343.
If you’ve been following us in 2024, you know things are different.
We’ve gone paperless (mostly — more on that in a moment), so we can ramp up our online operations. Thus we’ve introduced the “e-Edition” of our newspaper. It’s a whole new look and feel for us here at TSD, and we think it’s symbolic of a new era of covering Memphis and the Mid South as only we can.
In this edition: the full transcript of our exclusive interview with Memphis Mayor Paul Young, in which he explains why he’s asking for a tax increase and what Memphians can expect if the City Council approves it. Also, the Heal The Hood Foundation has launched an exciting concept in literacy: a comic book vending machine. Plus the latest on embattled Shelby County Clerk Wanda Halbert, and a special guest post from the President of Southwest Community College. Of course, you can read all of that online, but we think you’ll dig it on the page too.
Click above to access a PDF of our paper — laid out in familiar style. You can flip pages, zoom, etc., all from your computer, tablet or smartphone. And be on the lookout for our monthly print edition in limited circulation!
There are many more changes on the way! Stay with us and stay tuned!
Say this about Memphis Mayor Paul Young: He ain’t ducking no smoke — especially when it comes to his proposed FY2025 budget.
We learned this during his 100 Day Mayoral Address last month.
“I think it’s time for us to step into a reality that allows us to flourish,” he told hundreds of Memphians during an event at Mount Vernon last month. “When I …present our budget, I’m going to ask for a tax increase. I’m putting it out there straight, no lying, so you can hear directly from me.
“I’d rather not ask,” he said at the time. “But I believe it’s the right thing for our city.”
Since then, the Mayor’s Office has released more details about his proposed budget, including an extensive presentation breaking down how the city is already cash-strapped even as the costs of payroll and essential services continue to escalate. It makes a case for new programs to support schools, fight blight and curb crime. It ask citizens to imagine a better Memphis.
But at the end of the day, it also asks them for more money. Specifically, an additional $.75 on ad valorem taxes, which for a home valued at $100,000 would mean an increase from $675 to $863 — about $188.
Not surprisingly, public opinion on the proposed tax increase is . . . mixed.
I spoke with Mayor Young on the morning of May 6, just hours before members of the Memphis City Council were set to begin deliberating on how (or IF) they would give Young what he’s asked for.
We talked about his proposed budget, how he hopes to get Memphis to buy-in to his tax increase and how people will know if it’s working.
Earlier this week, we posted the video above. Below is a transcript of our interview, edited for clarity and length.
Lee Eric Smith: First, thank you for joining us, Mayor Young. I want to acknowledge that it feels like you haven’t stopped campaigning yet. You’re obviously not campaigning for office, but for the hearts and minds of Memphians to do . . . something. How would you describe what you’re campaigning for at this stage in your administration?
Mayor Paul Young: I wouldn’t call it a campaign. I feel like I’m working to represent our city. Our city needs a lot of healing. It’s hurting right now. It’s important for me to be present, to acknowledge and address the negative things we’re dealing with, but also remind people we have greatness on the horizon. There’s greatness still in us, even as we go through some of these challenging times. As mayor, it’s important that I champion that message and that, again, I’m present.
Smith: That gets to a question I was going to ask a little later. There’s a big administrative piece to your job, but there’s also an inspirational piece. People look to you to set the tone, to engage us in a vision. How are you balancing the public and inspirational part with the administrative, “got to crunch the numbers and run this city” part of it?
Mayor Young: Well, I’ve been working in local government for many years, and I’ve led major divisions within the government. So, the governance side is very natural for me. Working within the bureaucracy, making it more efficient–those are the reasons I wanted to get into this work, to make our systems work better for the people. We spend a lot of time during our days making sure government operates efficiently. We have a great team. The other side of my role is to be the ambassador for our city. The mayor really is the chief ambassador for our community, and our ambassador needs to be out there spreading a message of hope and putting some action behind the words.
Smith: I tend to think there’s a point when elected officials, especially administrative ones, get into office and get hit with some piece of information that changes their perspective. A candidate may campaign on “no new taxes,” then get in office and realize that’s not possible. What was the piece of information that kind of changed your perspective after you got into office in terms of what would be needed, especially relative to the budget?
Mayor Young: I never campaigned on “no new taxes,” but I certainly had it as a principle going in that we would not raise taxes, particularly in my first year, because I understand how challenging a time it is.
But as I got deeper into the budget process, I realized if we don’t do something now, we put our city at a really, really risky place financially.
To make it short, we pull out of our reserves, and we want a nice, healthy rainy day fund. Our credit rating agencies say we need at least $80 million in reserve. Ideally, we need $140 million. We’re at roughly $100 million this year. When we finished our budget for this first round, we were roughly $90 million over (budget). We cut it down, and after all the cutting and then adding some of the new expenses, we’re at $53 million over (budget). So if we pulled $53 million out (of the rainy day fund), we’d be below the recommended reserve amount from a credit perspective. And we can certainly cut, but our community also wants better results.
I felt like it was important for us to go ahead and put us on a strong fiscal path. And in addition to covering the hole, doing some things that are over and beyond what we have been doing so that our community can get better results.
That means making our community safer through camera technology. It means cleaning up our community and investing in neighborhood-based cleanup crews. They’ll be cleaning on a very regular basis. Then, then investing in our children and opportunities for them to be engaged after hours to get them off the streets doing some of the negative activities that we’ve seen in the past.
Smith: Let’s talk about that a little bit – people may not want to pay higher taxes but if they are going to pay higher taxes, they want to know the money is being spent properly. So in addition to seeing cleaner streets or longer hours at community centers, what other ways will people be able to look and say, “Okay I’m paying more in taxes, but at least I’m seeing X in my neighborhood, on my street, in my school”?
Mayor Young: Well, one is we want to make sure that we are enhancing service delivery. So, the things that we do every day, we want to make sure that we continue to do them well, and where we can do better, we want to enhance it.
Things like picking up the trash and paving the roads, potholes, I get a lot of questions around that – how efficiently are we doing those things? Those things don’t necessarily demand an increase, but demand that we are on top of our services. So, we want people to see better results there.
We also want them to see more people out cleaning, cutting grass, picking up trash. People need to see aesthetically, folks out there doing this work because it makes them feel like their government is working on their behalf and blight contributes to crime. If it looks like no one cares in a community, people behave as such. And so, we want to make sure that we’re changing that aesthetic feel and then the reality of crime.
A lot of the crime we’re seeing is happening because we have some idle minds that are occupying their time with things like stealing cars, breaking into cars. So the investment in youth is not just a feel-good program – it’s part of the crime prevention strategy. If you don’t engage our youth, they will find another way to engage. We want to have structured activities in our spaces for them.
And finally, there’s the investment in the technology I spoke about. Even with this much crime, it’s still a small amount of people creating the most havoc in our community. The quicker we can get them off the streets and bring them to justice, the quicker we can restore safety. This camera mesh technology will allow us to do that.
Smith: You’re asking people to buy into a vision where some of the programs may take a while to take root. You’re asking people to, for lack of a better term, kind of ‘suck it up’ for a minute. But people are hurting and they want relief now. How do you get people to buy into this idea of delayed gratification?
Mayor Young: It’s really a matter of making investments where people can see things happening differently, where they can see their money in action. That’s why I think it’s so important to have crews out on all of our major corridors on a regular basis, so people see them as they’re commuting to and from work or school.
We also have to be more thoughtful around how we’re policing in our community. This means stepping up our investigative services and making sure that we are not just patrolling the streets, but also patrolling social media, anticipating where violence may happen based on online conversations.
These are the types of things, that if we’re doing them and we actually see the reduction in crime that we are looking for, that’s part of my goal to have at least a 10% reduction in overall crime year over year. Once people see the fruits of that, they’ll believe it was worth it.
We also have some opportunities coming up as we pay off a significant debt within two years. That will open up funds in our budget, and we can explore further tax adjustments when we have more revenues available. Right now, things are tight, and this increase puts us on a strong fiscal path moving forward.
Smith: Crime, and violent crime specifically, seems like one of those intractable problems that it’s hard to tie to a line item on a budget. It’s hard to say, “If we spend this amount of money over here, then we’re going to have X fewer kids drag racing on the highways, or fewer gun-toting youth going into convenience stores.” For people who see this every day, how do you measure results or tell them, “Hey, we’re spending the money this way, and this is how you can tell it’s working, even though it’s not obvious”? I hope that question makes sense.
Mayor Young: Yeah, I see what you’re saying. We look for indications of success. Crime is not going to be solved overnight, but we can get it trending in the right direction. We focus on year-over-year reductions during specific periods of time, like a decrease in summertime infractions, because we know criminal activity has seasonality to it. If we get the right people off the streets, you’re going to see fewer shootings and car break-ins.
In conjunction with that, we want to work with our partners at the state, federal, and county levels, including the district attorney and our sheriff, to ensure that the right people stay off the streets and get the justice necessary for our community. This is an ongoing process, and I think people want to see that reduction. When they see it, I think they’ll feel much better about the direction our city is going.
Smith: Let’s imagine the city council has approved your budget proposal as is. How quickly would people begin to see results of what’s included? Would it be weeks, months, years? What would be some of the signs that it’s working or not working?
Mayor Young: My goal is for you to see immediate action. I’m putting myself out there as a leader and saying, “This is what we need, and failure is not an option.” We have to work really hard to make sure we have all the agreements in place so that on July 1st, the start of our new fiscal year, we’re moving forward.
We’ll be funding new programs at community centers, deploying crews to clean up major corridors and streets, and starting the process of implementing cameras throughout the city. These efforts will start immediately. While reductions in crime will take some time, my hope is that by the end of the summer and into the fall, we’ll start to see positive trends.
Smith: You’ve been talking about the budget for a few meetings now, including some out in the community. What kind of feedback are you getting from average citizens, say in Orange Mound, Frayser, or other areas?
Mayor Young: I hear mixed things. There are certainly those opposed to any tax increase, some because they literally can’t afford it, especially seniors on fixed incomes. I like to remind them of tax relief programs specifically for seniors. Others, particularly in the business community, point out that higher taxes can be a disincentive for investment and make businesses want to leave, especially since we already have the highest tax rate in the state.
I understand that, and I believe there’s a balance. But I also know that if we don’t stabilize our community, make it more attractive, and address our problems, we will lose businesses anyway. We have to ensure our community is fiscally solvent and addressing our most pressing needs.
And lastly, I hear support – but with the caveat that people expect results. They support the investment as long as it leads to reduced crime and a more attractive community. So, for me, it’s about ensuring we execute if and when this budget is approved.
Smith: I imagine there’s a portion of the electorate, those in more affluent areas with higher property values, who will be paying significantly more in taxes. They might say, “I’m fine over here. The problems you’re addressing, while important, are happening ‘over there’.” How do you engage those residents and help them realize that if crime is happening in Orange Mound, Frayser, or South Memphis, then it does impact other parts of the city?
Mayor Young: It might have been harder to make that case 20-plus years ago when crime was more confined to areas facing the greatest challenges. But now, crime is mobile, and our community’s challenges are community-wide; they won’t stay in one area. If we don’t support all areas of our city and all our youth, the negative impacts will be felt across the board. I think that’s more apparent than ever, and it’s not a hard case to make that these investments will result in a safer community overall.
Smith: The council is deliberating on your budget. What would be your ask of Memphis voters and citizens?
Mayor Young: I’d ask them to support our city and our young people. I know a tax increase isn’t something anyone wants, but it puts our city on a strong fiscal path. Ideally, we would be growing, and more tax revenue would be generated naturally. Unfortunately, we’re not there yet. This investment will kickstart that growth. I’m asking for this increase, and I expect you to hold me accountable to deliver the results our city deserves.
Smith: Shifting gears, a few weeks ago, you spoke at the dedication of the new reflection park honoring Martin Luther King Jr. You spoke passionately about the power of love and healing to address the pain many in the city are feeling. This isn’t something you typically hear from elected officials. Can you talk about why this approach is so central to your leadership?
Mayor Young: Memphis is an amazing community with great people and so much diversity. I want to unify our city; we’re more powerful together, and love is the thing that can bind us all. It’s not politically popular to say we need more love, but at the root of many of our challenges is pain.
We have many young men, particularly young Black men, who carry so much hurt. That hurt manifests as anger and toughness. If we understand that these individuals are hurting and need love and attention, it changes our perspective. It might not sound tough, but it’s exactly what’s needed. If every person takes the time to share kind words, it changes outlooks.
I’m not naive enough to think everyone will respond, but some hearts and minds will change, and it takes everyone to get us where we need to go.
By Tracy D. Hall, President of Southwest Tennessee Community College
During our second annual Southwest Workforce Center Open House and Career Fair on April 18 at the Macon Cove Campus, alumnus Calvin Sanford shared his story of overcoming a life of crime and lack of opportunity to his transformation into a successful entrepreneur.
Calvin’s journey to Southwest took 10 years, as life presented him with detours. He was a single father at 19 who found himself dealing and using drugs that landed him in jail 26 times. After his last arrest, the prosecutor gave him three choices — jail, probation with diversion, or school. He chose school and enrolled at Southwest Tennessee Community College.
Determined to turn his life around and be a better role model for his children, Calvin took full advantage of his time at Southwest. He became active in clubs and activities, achieving a 4.0 grade point average, earning a place on the Dean’s List, and in the Phi Theta Kappa International Honor Society. He credits Southwest faculty and staff mentors with giving him the opportunity and “grace” to change his life. At Southwest, Calvin also met his wife, and they eventually had two daughters, aptly named Dream and Genesis.
Upon graduating from Southwest in 2018 with an Associate of Science in Accounting, the Shelby County Criminal Clerk’s Office agreed to expunge his record. With a new beginning, Calvin transferred to Christian Brothers University, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Marketing in 2020. Calvin is now the Chief Executive Officer and director of Marketality, LLC, a Mid-South marketing agency.
Calvin shares his story with youth on the wrong side of the law who have made poor decisions and he motivates them to see beyond their circumstances. In a recent WMC-TV5 news story, he said, “I was young and a product of my environment. It’s no excuse, but it is what it is. If you grow up with less opportunity, if you grow up around trouble, if you grow up around negativity, then more than likely you’re going to convert to that.”
Calvin’s story of opportunity and redemption through education fuels our work at Southwest. As an open-access college and the second-largest higher education institution in Memphis, we meet students where they are and help take them to where they need to be. At Southwest, we don’t just teach. We counsel, mentor, guide, parent, love, and care for our students. Our nearly 8,000 students come to us with many challenges, from transportation, childcare issues, food, and housing insecurities to criminal records like Calvin’s. The work can sometimes be overwhelming, but it is what we, as a community college, are called to do—advance the community and its people.
We cannot just wait, though, until students reach our doors as adults. We have to reach them earlier and younger; we cannot, however, do it alone. This is why we are grateful to have collaborated with business, industry, and K-12 partners to sponsor career and technical boot camps for high school students.
During the Open House, a panel of our industry partners and high school students discussed their boot camp experiences. The overwhelming message from the industry leaders was a recognition of their corporate civic responsibility to nurture and grow young talent and provide them with positive experiences. The high school students shared how the CTE boot camps provided valuable career exposure, direction, and character-building opportunities that will benefit them now and in the future.
“I am afraid of heights and electricity. (But) I looked at everybody do it, and then I did it. So, I basically learned off of what they did.” | Student panelist recalling how he modeled his behavior after his peers during the MLGW Lineman Summer Boot Camp.
The youth panelists also said they would encourage their friends to participate in future career boot camps. This last point is perhaps most profound, given Calvin’s recounting of his negative youth environment. Young people with positive experiences influence other young people to choose better and be better.
By choosing education, Calvin Sanford discovered a talent he never knew he had. K-12, higher education, and business and industry partnerships are investments in young people that can help them recognize their potential sooner. As the saying goes, building strong children is easier (and perhaps less expensive) than repairing broken men and women.
For partnering with Southwest to build strong children through hands-on career education experiences, many thanks to Memphis Shelby County Schools Division of College, Career and Technical Education, Arlington Schools, Germantown Municipal Schools, Collierville Schools, Memphis Light Gas and Water, Stryker Corporation, Atlantic Track and Turnout Company, City of Memphis Office of Youth Services, TechEd2Go and the parents and guardians of the boot camp participants.
Following the motion to remove Shelby County Clerk Wanda Halbert from office, a pair of resolutions totaling $2.4 million to provide pay raises and equipment upgrades to the beleaguered department were pulled during the commission meeting on Monday, May 6.
Hamilton County District Attorney Coty Wamp made the removal request in Circuit Court earlier in the day. In addition to noting a “willful neglect to perform a duty,” it also cites the recent filing of inaccurate reports in February.
On Tuesday, Halbert took to Facebook to respond:
“The Office of the Shelby County Clerk over the last 5+ years has repeatedly “sounded the alarm” regarding a host of findings/concerns (financial included). Said concerns have been documented and reported to multiple legal County & State entities but never investigated. Fortunately, the day has come that FINALLY begins direct attention to the matters we have raised. While our team cannot discuss these and other matters, we will not be afraid to do what the law requires of us. When given authority, we commit to being transparent and will report accordingly,” Halbert responded via Facebook.
Wamp was appointed independent prosecutor by Shelby County Criminal Court Division 8 Judge Chris Craft in June. He has been investigating whether Halbert’s removal from office is warranted.
“Ms. Halbert consistently fails to turn the monthly report in to the Trustee in a timely manner … Ms. Halbert’s reports are consistently inaccurate with collected dollar amounts not added properly,” Wamp stated in the petition.
The reports are part of a set of recommendations for a corrective action plan mandated by Tennessee State Comptroller Jason Mumpower.
A team of auditors was sent to review Halbert’s operation in March, after Shelby County Trustee Regina Newman pulled erroneous financial reports. Some have been resubmitted.
A corrective action plan that addresses the state-mandated set of recommendations also hasn’t materialized. However, financial reporting from the office has reportedly picked up steam.
Meanwhile, sponsor Erika Sugarmon pulled the funding resolutions as the items were being read. The commissioner has been one of the few consistent supporters of Halbert, who has blamed her office’s woes on outdated equipment and short staffing. They were withdrawn without comment.
During a recent committee meeting, Shelby County Human Resources Director Gerald Thorton opposed the funding request. He argued that the six percent raise for county employees in Mayor Lee Harris’ proposed FY2025 budget offered a better deal.
Accurate reports are needed to gauge the amount of tax revenue the office is generating. This includes a recent $25 wheel tax increase the commission passed in June. It will be used to shore up funding for the new Regional One Hospital campus, along with two new high schools in Cordova and Frayser. The latter have also experienced cost overruns.
Members Edmund Ford, Jr. and Britney Thornton have pointed to other divisions’ state audits. None have been singled out for increasing scrutiny and possible removal of leadership.
Commission ire with Halbert dates back to the pandemic, after a months-long backlog of thousands of vehicle tags and other issuances occurred during her first term. After being reelected in 2022, she first attracted Mumpower’s attention with an impromptu vacation to Jamaica while her office was digging out of its hole.
Memphis Light, Gas and Water (MLGW) released their annual Water Quality Report for 2023, offering reassuring news to residents about the safety of their drinking water. The detailed analysis confirms that water quality in Memphis not only meets but often exceeds state and federal standards.
According to the report, tests on lead and copper—common concerns for many communities—show that levels are well below the danger points set by regulations. Specifically, 90% of homes tested for lead reflected levels lower than 6.25 parts per billion, with the action level set at 15 parts per billion. Copper levels also reported favorably, with no samples exceeding safety thresholds.
Additionally, the report highlighted the successful management of microbiological contaminants. Total coliform bacteria, a common water quality indicator, was found in less than 0.83% of samples collected—a figure significantly lower than the maximum allowed level of 5%. This low percentage underscores effective water treatment processes that keep our water free from biological hazards.
Residents can also feel confident about the minimal presence of disinfection by-products like Total Trihalomethanes (THMs) and Haloacetic Acids (HAA5), which are by-products of the chlorination process used to kill harmful germs. Both THMs and HAA5 are well within the safety limits, indicating controlled and safe disinfection practices.
Moreover, the levels of chlorine used to maintain microbial safety are kept at optimal levels to ensure effectiveness without compromising taste or safety.
MLGW’s report is a testament to the city’s commitment to providing safe drinking water. It’s a complex challenge, involving rigorous testing and management, yet it’s met diligently by the dedicated teams at MLGW, ensuring that the health of Memphis residents remains a top priority.
For further details or concerns, residents are encouraged to view the full report below or on the MLGW website or contact their customer service for more information.
Check out the full report below:
After 40 years of pioneering hairstyling in Whitehaven, Hazel Moore is closing the doors of Hazel’s Hair Fashions with a celebration that promises to honor her lasting impact on the community.
Friends and family, customers and community leaders stopped by the shop at 4105 Elvis Presley Blvd. on Saturday, May 4 to celebrate Moore’s extensive career and contributions.
Moore, who rejected a nursing career for cosmetology, has been a local fixture since opening her first salon in 1973. Known affectionately as the “Mayor of Whitehaven,” she has used her platform to lead community initiatives against drugs, teen pregnancy, and illiteracy, and to foster local pride through events like the Whitehaven Holiday Festival and Community Health Fair.
The salon’s closure marks the end of an era for a business that has served multiple generations, creating a loyal customer base of mothers, daughters, and granddaughters. Moore’s entrepreneurial spirit also led her to organize the first Tennessee Beautician’s Trade Show, further cementing her influence in Memphis’s beauty industry.
In addition to celebrating Moore’s professional legacy, the event will highlight her philanthropic efforts, particularly the Academy of Youth Empowerment, which she founded in 1993 to help teens develop social skills and improve academic performance.
Moore’s community work has earned her numerous awards, including the Pioneer Memphis Business Award and multiple recognitions from the American Heart Association. Her life’s work showcases a commitment to empowering others and enhancing the community fabric of Whitehaven.
As Moore plans to continue her philanthropic efforts beyond her business career, the event servesd as a platform to both reflect on her past achievements and rally the community for ongoing support and engagement.
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