‘We did it’ declares Bradshaw – the Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate

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08/07/2020

“You did it girl,” a supporter said to Marquita Bradshaw, who was giving a video reflection about her stunning capture Thursday of the Democratic Party nomination for a U.S. Senate seat representing Tennessee.

“No,” said Bradshaw. “We did it. This was not Marquita by herself. With less than $25,000, we beat a million-dollar budget because people lent their resources and worked their networks.”

By self-description via a social-media page, Bradshaw is a “US Senate candidate, organizer, advocate, mom and South Memphian. Committed to cleaning up the environment & politics.”

On Nov. 3, Tennessee voters will get to choose between her and former U.S. Ambassador/Trump-devotee Bill Hagerty, who won the Republican Party nomination in the bid to succeed U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN).

“Grassroots organizing along with the proper budget,” said Bradshaw, “is going to flip this U.S. Senate seat and make history.”

In Shelby County, Bradshaw easily outdistanced competitors in the five-candidate field, unofficially polling 34,507 votes to 19,558 by Robin Kimbrough, the next nearest finisher.

Statewide, the results for the top three candidates shook out this way:

Bradshaw: 117,389 votes, 35.5 percent
Robin Kimbrough: 87,965, 26.6 percent
James Mackler: 78,515, 23.8 percent

“No one thought of Tennessee as a battleground state – now they’re paying attention,” a donation pitch for Marquita declares. (Let’s keep fighting) (Photo: screen capture)

According to the Tennessee Democratic Party, Bradshaw breaks ground as the first African-American woman that either of the state’s major parties has nominated to hold office in a statewide capacity. Kimbrough, an attorney from the Nashville area, is an African American.

“It’s time for us to move toward the future and lay racism to bed so we can move into the ingenuity and creativity that we all deserve as Americans working together,” said Bradshaw in another online post.

Bradshaw grew up in South Memphis and attended the University of Memphis. She has worked with community advocacy groups, environmental organizations and unions, including the Mid-South Peace and Justice Center, the AFL-CIO, the Sierra Club and Tennesseans for Fair Taxation. She has not held public office.

“No one thought of Tennessee as a battleground state – now they’re paying attention,” a donation pitch declares. “Let’s keep fighting! Chip in $20.20 today.”

As the campaign unfolded, Bradshaw stressed that the “US Senate does not represent all of the voices in the United States. Marginalized groups need representation, and that is why I am running,” she said.

“When investments are made in these communities, we make them healthy and safe– strengthening America…No longer can we ignore the internal threats of pollution in the environment, systemic racism, inequality in education and so much more.”

In local election results, former Memphis City Councilman Joe Brown (D) defeated Paul Brown (R) to capture the General Sessions Court Clerk race with 64,230 votes to 42,073.

In Shelby County Schools Board races, Sheleah Harris unseated incumbent Scott McCormick to take the District 5 position. Other winners were Althea E. Greene, District 2; Stephanie P. Love, Dist. 3; Kevin Woods, Dist. 4; Miska Clay Bibbs, Dist. 7.

U.S. House of Representatives:

* Erika Stotts Pearson earned the Democratic Party nod and the chance to face incumbent David Kustoff.

* District 9 incumbent Steve Cohen kept on rolling, running away from Corey O. Strong. His Republican opponent will be perennial candidate Charlotte Bergmann.

The Tennessee State Senate Primary winners were:

(D) Sara P. Kyle, Dist. 30;

(D) Julie Byrd Ashworth, Dist. 32, (R) Paul Rose

The Tennessee State House Primary winners were:

(D) Jerri Green, Dist, 83; (R) Mark White

(D) Joe Towns Jr., Dist. 84;

(D) Jesse Chism, Dist. 85;

(D) Barbara Cooper, Dist. 86; (R) Rob White

(D) Karen Camper, Dist. 87;

(D) Larry Miller, Dist. 88;

(D) Torrey C. Harris, Dist. 90;

(D) London Lamar, Dist. 91;

(D) G.A. Hardaway, Dist. 93;

(D) Lynette P. Williams, Dist. 95; (R) Kevin Vaughn

(D) Dwayne Thompson, Dist. 96; (R) Patricia Possel

(D) Gabby Salinas, Dist. 97; (R) John Gillespie

(D) Antonio Parkinson, Dist. 98

(R) Tom Leatherwood, Dist. 99

A look at Tennessee’s Aug. 6 primary races

By

Associated Press

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08/07/2020

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NASHVILLE — The heated race to become the Republican nominee for an open U.S. Senate seat topped Tennessee’s primary election Thursday, as well as contested challenges in a handful of U.S. House and legislative seats. Here is a summary of those offices on the ballot:

U.S. Senate

Republicans

Former U.S. Ambassador to Japan Bill Hagerty endorsed by President Donald Trump, won a contested Republican primary for an open U.S. Senate seat in Tennessee. The Nashville businessman emerged from a tough challenge from trauma surgeon Manny Sethi to clinch his party’s nomination for the seat of retiring Republican Sen. Lamar Alexander. Trump threw his support behind Hagerty, who contended that Sethi wasn’t a good enough advocate for Trump during the 2016 election. Sethi countered by describing himself as a conservative “outsider” and criticizing Hagerty as a part of the “political establishment.”

Democrats

Memphis environmentalist, Black activist and single mom Marquita Bradshaw won the Democratic primary to face Hagerty in November. Bradshaw defeated Nashville attorney and former Army helicopter pilot James Mackler, who had been endorsed by the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and others. Bradshaw is expected to face a challenge, considering Republicans have held both of Tennessee’s Senate seats since 1994.

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1st Congressional District

Republicans

Kingsport pharmacist Diana Harshbarger, running for political office for the first time, emerged from a field of 16 GOP hopefuls seeking to succeed U.S. Rep. Phil Roe, who announced earlier this year he would retire. Among the candidates she defeated were longtime state Sen. Rusty Crowe, state Reps. Timothy Hill and David Hawk, former Kingsport Mayor John Clark and former Johnson City Mayor Steve Darden.

Democrats

Blair Walsingham was the only active candidate campaigning for the seat in the primary and won the Democratic nomination Thursday. Walsingham is a U.S. Air Force veteran who has been endorsed by former presidential candidate Andrew Yang.

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2nd Congressional District

Renee Hoyos won the Democratic primary in the 2nd Congressional District and will face incumbent Republican Tim Burchett in the fall.

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4th Congressional District

Incumbent Scott DesJarlais won the Republican primary in Tennessee’s 4th Congressional District against two opponents. DesJarlais is seeking a sixth term in Congress and will face Democratic nominee Christopher Hale in November.

DesJarlais, a physician from Jasper, has survived cancer and a series of revelations that included affairs with patients. DesJarlais also urged a mistress to seek an abortion and once held a gun in his mouth for hours outside his ex-wife’s room. He has since said he opposes abortion rights.

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5th Congressional District

Republicans

No active Republicans ran for this seat.

Democrats

Incumbent U.S. Rep. Jim Cooper, a white lawmaker with a reputation as a moderate Democrat, defeated Keeda Haynes, a Black public defender, in the primary for just one of two Democratic-held congressional seats in Tennessee. Haynes argued that the Middle Tennessee district should be represented by someone more progressive, while Cooper countered that he has voted overwhelmingly with Democrats during his long political tenure. Cooper has held his Nashville-area House seat since 2003. Before that, he served in the House representing the 4th Congressional District from 1983 to 1995. Joshua Rawlings also ran in the Democratic primary but raised the least amount of money of the three.

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8th Congressional District

Republicans

Two-term incumbent David Kustoff ran unopposed in the GOP primary.

Democrats

Erika Stotts Pearson won the four-person Democratic primary in the Republican-leaning district.

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9th Congressional District

Democrats

A vocal critic of President Donald Trump, seven-term incumbent Rep. Steve Cohen defeated former Shelby County Democratic Party chair Corey Strong in the primary in the 9th district, which includes majority-black Memphis. Cohen, who is white, has won his past six general elections by 74% of the vote or more. Strong, who is Black, is a U.S. Navy veteran who was vying for an upset.

Republicans

Charlotte Bergmann ran unopposed on the Republican side. She has lost three previous general elections to Cohen in the 9th district.

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Statehouse

In the GOP supermajority General Assembly, all 99 state House seats and about half of the 33 Senate seats were on the ballot.

Three Republican House members were ousted by challengers: Reps. Micah Van Huss, Matthew Hill and Rick Tillis.

Democratic Rep. Rick Staples likewise lost in a three-way primary field.

Republican Sens. John Stevens, Paul Rose and Bill Powers, and Democrat Sen. Sara Kyle each survived primary contests.

Moderate Republican Sen. Steve Dickerson of Nashville found out which Democrat he will face in November: Kimi Abernathy, who has an educational counseling practice.

Page Walley, who headed the Department of Children’s Services, won the battle of former state commissioners in the GOP primary over ex-Agriculture Commissioner Jai Templeton in the race for retiring GOP Sen. Dolores Gresham’s seat. One Democrat was unopposed.

In the state House, candidates battled it out in GOP primaries for the seats of Republican Reps. Timothy Hill, Bill Dunn, Martin Daniel, Jim Coley and Andy Holt, who are all leaving at the end of the term. Coley’s seat also featured a Democratic contest. Additionally, there was a contested Democratic primary for the seat of Rep. John DeBerry, who was kicked off the Democratic ballot but has indicated he wants to run as an independent.

The House included more than a dozen contested primaries for sitting Republican lawmakers and nine for Democratic incumbents. One is Republican Rep. David Byrd, who has faced allegations by three women of sexual misconduct that stem from three decades ago when he was a high school teacher and their basketball coach. He defeated two Republican challengers Thursday.

Byrd cruised to reelection in 2018 after the sexual misconduct allegations were made public earlier that year in his conservative-tilted district.

Byrd has not outright denied the allegations, though he has said he’s sorry if he hurt or emotionally upset any of his students. He was never charged.

By

Dr. Sybil C. Mitchell

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08/07/2020

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Collage 3- dad-joy-angela-stephanie — Troy Simpson Jr. in a smile-generating moment with his daughters Angela, Joycelyn and Stephanie. (Courtesy photo)

Troy Simpson Jr., who was instrumental in developing Southwest Tennessee Community College’s Continuing Education Program, died June 13 at St. Francis Hospital from complications of COVID-19 and underlying health conditions. He was 79.

Mr. Simpson served as the dean of Continuing Education for more than 25 years and worked to develop educational opportunities throughout the greater Memphis community.

Southwest was named Shelby State Community College when it began to build its Continuing Education Department with programs and curricula for working adults who were not traditional students. Mr. Simpson joined the staff and was instrumental in building up the department.

The fourth of eight children, Mr. Simpson was born in West Memphis on Jan. 3, 1941 to Troy Simpson Sr. and Irene McWright Simpson.

“My grandmother used to joke that my father was probably more than the 13 pounds they said he was because that was as far as the scale would go,” said Stephanie Simpson, his youngest daughter.

Mr. Simpson grew up in Beautiful Zion Baptist Church in West Memphis. After moving to Memphis, he became a member of Monumental Baptist Church, where the Rev. Samuel “Billy” Kyles was long-time pastor.

“My father loved being a son of the South,” Stephanie Simpson said. “He would always talk about being from the Delta Region. And he was a born storyteller. Much of the oral history of our family was kept alive with his stories.”

Mr. Simpson graduated from Wonder High School in West Memphis in 1958 and continued his education at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff after returning from honorably serving in the U.S. Army.

After completing his master’s degree in social work at the University of Illinois, Champaign Urbana, he worked for the Illinois Department of Mental Health.

In 1972, he returned to the South and settled in Memphis.

Mr. Simpson was a proud, 50-plus-year member and former president of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. Alpha Delta Lambda chapter graduate chapter.

“My mother was an AKA and my dad was an Alpha,” Stephanie Simpson said. “He loved his fraternity brothers and the organization.”

Additionally, Mr. Simpson also was a member of the 1980 executive class of Leadership Memphis.

His personable and gregarious personality made him a great change agent, using those traits and personal-contacts network to bring more opportunities to Southwest’s Continuing Education students.

In 2013, after retirement, Mr. Simpson suffered a stroke and moved to the Glenmary Senior Assisted Living Community. He was well-liked and enjoyed talking with fellow residents.

“He was voted ‘Mr. Glenmary’ by the residents, and he was so proud of that,” Stephanie Simpson said. “He was infected with COVID-19 inside the facility, but we realize that it’s difficult for the staff to keep everyone safe once the virus gets in. They are in such close proximity.”

Before he died, his daughter said he had become nonverbal, as complications developed on some underlying medical conditions.

“Although we were restricted from seeing him and being there with dad, he knew we loved him,” Stephanie Simpson said.

Mr. Simpson is survived by two siblings, Cleve Simpson and Ruby Jean Richardson; three daughters, Angela, Joycelyn and Stephanie; two grandchildren, three great-grandchildren and a host of nieces, nephews, and cousins.

M.J. Edwards Funeral Home (Whitehaven) had charge of funeral arrangements.

New Mural in Honor of Rust Female President Dr. Ivy R. Taylor

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Special to TSDMemphis.com

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08/07/2020

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by Mary LeSure –

Holly Springs, Miss. – A new mural made its debut on Friday, August 7, 2020 at Rust College entitled “History Happens Here.” The Student Activities staff, Mrs. Marianne Ogutu, Ms. Keana Wash, and Mr. Gino Pierre, presented the mural to President Taylor in honor of her being the first female president of Rust College.

“My staff and I are so pleased to honor the Dr. Taylor in this way.” said Marianne Ogutu, Director of Student Activities. “I want to give a major thanks to Mr. Robert Banks for the vision and creating a mural that will not only catch anyone’s eye but will also tell a story.” Banks created murals throughout the front area of the recreation center. “Each mural reflects the history of Rust College. The markers are a visual reminder and permanent historical record educating both students and visitors.” said Banks.

Rust College is a historically Black, co-educational, senior liberal arts college founded in 1866 by the Freedman’s Aid Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church to offer quality programs in business, education, humanities, science and math, and social science to prepare students for leadership and service in a global society.

Located in Holly Springs, MS, Rust College is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges to award the associate and baccalaureate degrees.

Visit Rust College’s student center today and check out all of the wall murals.

For more information about Rust College, call (662) 252-8000, or visit www.rustcollege.edu.  Or follow @rustcollege.bearcats1866 on Instagram.

Living through COVID-19, Part XIII

By

Jerome Wright

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08/06/2020

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trio — Pictured (l-r): William Gandy Jr., Margaret Cowan and James Cook.

A timely rescue —

Entrepreneur James Cook took his family on vacation to Destin, Fla. last week and, while there, helped save a man and his two sons from drowning.

Cook, his, wife, children, and Cook’s sister Jannah Cook, were on a boat anchored off Crab Island when he noticed two boys, who appeared to be about 9 and 11 years old, and wearing floatation devices, being pulled away from their boat by the tide.

Cook, who was not wearing a floatation device, said he immediately realized that the boys were in peril and dived into the water after them. By that time, the boy’s father dived into the water, but was being pulled farther away by the tide. He also was not wearing a floatation device.

Jannah Cook, jumped into the water and helped corral the boys. Cook said he swam after the father and helped rescue him. Cook said the man had to be resuscitated.

Asked about his and Jannah’s swimming prowess, Cook credited his mother, Valerie Snipes, with making sure they knew how to swim at an early age.

The water depth around Crab Island is generally shallow, which makes it a popular anchoring spot for boaters and swimmers.

The depth of the water can vary, however, and the tides can make swimming tricky. A 40-year-old man died Saturday (Aug. 1) after reportedly diving off the back of boat, the third drowning in the area since June, according to a report in The Destin Log newspaper.

Cook said the family decided to take a vacation as relief from COVID-19 restrictions. He said they were extremely cautious about COVID-19 dangers, renting an Airbnb and avoiding crowds. Luckily, he said, the usually packed Destin was not overly crowded.

A slight uptick in airport passenger traffic allowed Cook to recently reopen his two eateries – Lenny’s Grill and Subs and Runway 901 Bar & Grill – at Memphis International Airport on limited schedules.

Grandma’s Big Vote

Barber William Gandy Jr. is pushing ahead with his planned musical production “Grandma’s Big Vote” on Oct. 25 at the Orpheum Theatre’s Halloran Centre for Performing Arts & Education.

And, he is praying the COVID-19 pandemic will have ease enough to allow a live audience. If not, he plans to stage the event virtually.

Shelby County’s reported COVID-19 cases stood at 22,317 Wednesday (Aug. 5), up 197 from Tuesday (Aug. 4), according to the Shelby County Health Department. There have been 293 reported COVID-19 deaths.

“Grandma’s Big Vote” is based on a book Gandy authored with same title about his 106-year-old grandmother Mary Alice Gandy, who made national headlines when she cast a vote for the first time in her life. She voted for Barack Obama in 2008.

The play is a reboot of the successful production he staged at the Kroc Center six years ago. It is a full musical production and, this time, will include a tribute to renown voting-rights advocate U.S. Rep. John Lewis, who died July 17.

New members

Margaret Cowan, founder of the nonprofit I Am My Sister’s Keeper, said two new mothers have joined her group.

The nonprofit helps single working mothers increase their earning potential.

Meanwhile, the group, in cooperation with the Mid-South Food Bank, will hold a mobile food bank Thursday (Aug. 6) at Longview Heights Seventh-day Adventist Church at 685 E. Mallory, starting at 10 a.m.

Families will receive a two-week supply of foodstuffs.

Cowan hopes I Am My Sister’s Keeper, in partnership with the Food Bank, can hold these kinds of giveaways on a regular basis.

Before that can happen, however, Cowan said the nonprofit has to demonstrate it can hold two successful giveaways. Thursday’s event is the first one.

(Jerome Wright is deputy editor for The New Tri-State Defender.)

Journeying to the polls during the pandemic

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Karanja A. Ajanaku

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08/06/2020

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vote today — The pandemic goes on as does the need to live up to the responsibility of voting. (Photo: Karanja A. Ajanaku)

Greeted by a masked woman, I obeyed her instruction to use the hand sanitizer, knowing that such now was standard procedure to cast a ballot in person in the midst of this disturbingly ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

I’d given some thought to voting early, eventually deciding to stick to my preference of absorbing election-day vibes. So, I rolled out of my house at about 8:20 a.m. and within minutes I was inside my precinct at the family life center at Mississippi Blvd. Christian Church.

The polls opened at 7 a.m. for the State and Federal Primary and Shelby County General Elections, with the closing time set for 7 p.m. per usual. I’d made my choices beforehand, responding politely onsite to poll workers that “I’m good,” meaning I’d pass on the candidate literature.

No line, I walked in and complied with the hand-sanitizing request. I was directed to a table, where another masked woman wearing gloves guided me through the next steps. She took my driver’s license and placed it in a small, black metal holder being used to limit contact.

“I should have had you put it there,” she said, making small talk about the designated precautions as my eligibility was checked.

“You get your own pen. It’s never been used,” she said, letting me know that I was to take it with me.

A clear covering separated us. Such was the case at the next table, where I used my new pen to sign appropriately on a form that also had a protected covering over it at the bottom where my hands would rest.

Everything having checked out, I was given my ballot and pointed to a stack of wooden sticks on the table. I realized I must have had a puzzled look on my masked face when the voting-precinct worker said I could use a stick to make my selections at my next stop, the electronic voting machine.

Stepping over and up to the machine, and with my voting stick in hand, I poked my way through the selection process in short order. Finished, I returned the card that activated the machine I used and turned for the door.

Invited to take an “I voted” sticker, I did, placing it on my daishiki.

“Thank you for voting,” came a voice from behind me.

I smiled, discarding my voting stick in a conspicuous trash container on the way out.

Within minutes, I was back at home/work, washing my hands. The pandemic goes on as does the need to safely live up to the responsibility of voting.

Justices overturn Tennessee mail vote expansion for November

By

Associated Press

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08/06/2020

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by Jonathan Mattise —

NASHVILLE — The Tennessee Supreme Court on Wednesday overturned the option for all eligible voters to vote by mail in November due to COVID-19.

The ruling nixes a June expansion order by a lower court that state election officials opposed. The decision came the day voters could start requesting absentee ballots for the general election.

The high court’s decision restores Tennessee’s excuse-based system for November, with COVID-19 related additions that include exposure-based quarantining, caretaking and underlying health conditions. The ruling requires the state to provide “appropriate guidance” to voters regarding the underlying health conditions qualification, which was first discussed by the state during oral arguments last week.

Justices wrote that the decision doesn’t impact ballots for Thursday’s primary election.

“We find that the State’s interests in the efficacy and integrity of the election process are sufficient to justify the moderate burden placed on the right to vote of those plaintiffs and persons who neither have special vulnerability to COVID-19 nor are caretakers for persons with special vulnerability to COVID-19,” Justice Cornelia Clark wrote in the opinion.

Four justices voted in favor of overturning the expansion. Justice Sharon Lee opposed the move, but supported the absentee voting option regarding underlying health conditions.

“This ruling does not go far enough,” Lee wrote. “All qualified Tennessee voters — like voters in forty-five other states — should be allowed to apply to vote by absentee mail ballot during the unprecedented and deadly COVID-19 pandemic that is gripping our community, state, nation, and world.”

The American Civil Liberties Union, which helped sue over the expansion, agreed.

“The court should have gone further, however, and ruled that all eligible voters have a right to vote safely by mail,” said Dale Ho, director of the ACLU’s Voting Rights Project. “But this ruling remains an important victory for many Tennessee voters.”

Republican Secretary of State Tre Hargett’s office has recommended preparations as though all registered voters 60 and older, a group of 1.4 million voters automatically eligible to vote absentee and more than a third of Tennessee’s registered electorate, will cast mail-in ballots in the primary. Historically, Tennessee has seen less than 2.5% of votes cast by mail, according to the state.

Illness is another of more than a dozen excuses that make a voter eligible to vote by mail in Tennessee. Fear of catching or spreading the virus is not one, the state has determined.

Hargett praised the Supreme Court’s ruling.

“I appreciate the Tennessee Supreme Court agreeing with our analysis of Tennessee election law,” Hargett said in a statement. “I am also grateful for the excellent representation provided by the Office of the Attorney General.”

Justices ordered the guidance for voters on the underlying conditions exemption after last week’s hearing, when they questioned why it wasn’t mentioned in the election plan from April or on the absentee ballot application form. The state’s attorney said it’ll be up to voters to determine what constitutes a condition that makes them too vulnerable to vote in person for November.

The state has argued the expansion is unfeasible for the 2020 election and touted offerings for in-person early voting with precautions.

Given the state’s preparations and precautions, the majority opinion said that the burden on the right to vote for people who don’t have underlying health conditions or care for someone who does “is best characterized as moderate,” not “severe.”

The plaintiffs include Memphis area voting rights group #UpTheVote901 and several voters. The ACLU filed one of two state court lawsuits, which were considered together. A number of other groups filed briefs on either side, including the Republican National Committee, which opposed the expansion ruling.

The Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law and the Campaign Legal Center have filed a similar federal lawsuit that also challenges three other restrictions on absentee voting. One bars first-time voters from voting by mail unless they show ID at a local election office beforehand.

“Tennessee remains one of the most restrictive in the nation when it comes to access to absentee ballots this season,” said Kristen Clarke, president of the Lawyers’ Committee group. “This is an injustice and we look forward to moving our litigation forward in federal court.”

Only a handful of states are not offering by-mail voting for everyone during the pandemic, though two-thirds of states allowed the practice before it.

Historically, Tennessee has seen less than 2.5% of votes cast by mail, according to the state.

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Follow AP coverage of the virus outbreak at https://apnews.com/VirusOutbreak and https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak.

Getting ready for school – A virtual balancing act

By

Terrisa Coreen Mark

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08/06/2020

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GSWE_5782 — SCS started the distribution of 95,000 computer devices on Monday (Aug. 3), with parents driving through this pick-up point at the Teaching and Learning Academy at 2485 Union Ave. (Photo: Gary S. Whitlow/GSW Enterprises)

With Shelby County Schools on track for an all-virtual opening on Aug. 31, the emphasis shifted this week to getting computer devices into the hands of those in need.

Initially, SCS parents were given the option to keep their children home to be taught virtually or physically attend classes. Supt. Joris Ray later nixed that plan, citing alarming COVID-19 numbers.

“Every student will be provided with a device and have the opportunity for an internet hotspot based on need, “said Ray.

The device distribution began Monday (August 3). Parents and students must visit SCS website for Pick up information and scheduling is available at http://www.scsk12.org/accessforall/.

Different devices are being offered for students based open these grade ranges:

Pre-K to Grade 2 will receive a Microsoft Surface Go tablet.
Grades 3-8 will receive a Microsoft Surface Go tablet with an attached keyboard.
Grades 9-12 will receive HP laptop devices.

SCS has created live online training sessions for parents and older siblings to understand Microsoft Teams, the districts preferred virtual learning platform.

Monique Shelton, a SCS parent, is urging all parents to take advantage of the resource help.

“I think SCS has done a good job of showing everyone how to use the devices and what is expected of the virtual learning,” said Shelton.

Janez Kelly, a student at Memphis Academy of Science and Engineering, will be entering the 12th grade when the fall semester begins. She was eagerly awaiting her much-needed device, which for her grade will be an HP laptop, when she talked with The New Tri-State Defender.

“I have a computer at home, but it’s messed up. So by them giving me a laptop it will help me to do my work,” she said.

While eager for the new laptop, starting her senior year in a virtual learning environment certainly is not her preference.

“I’d rather be in school because virtually I won’t be as focused compared to how I will be in school, sitting in class,” said Kelly.

Roderick Morris, a chef at King Jerry Lawler’s Restaurant Bar and Grille on Beale St., believes having classes virtually is the safe way forward. However, he’s keenly aware of a drawback.

“These kids need to be around more children from different aspects of life. “It gives them a different outlook, it gives the other kids a perspective of life of how the world goes,” said Morris.

As a chef, Morris cannot work from home. He and other parents are working through the crucial decision of making sure an adult is in the home to help with the virtual-learning experience.

“Well, my wife works in the daytime and I work in the evening/night; so we will be able to balance it out.”

Bubble trouble for the Grizzlies

By

Terry Davis

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08/06/2020

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Anthony Tolliver of the Memphis Grizzlies plays defense against the Utah Jazz at the HP Field House at ESPN Wide World of Sports in Orlando. (Photo: Joe Murphy/NBAE via Getty images)

Great optimism oozed from the Memphis Grizzlies after the NBA announced the restart of the pandemic-altered season. They had 17 healthy bodies and the hopes of getting the eighth seed in the Western Conference of the NBA Playoffs were soaring high.

Four games into the restart, the Grizzlies have yet to win a game in the bubble environment in Orlando, losing 124-115 to Utah on Wednesday.

And, Memphis, which faces the Oklahoma City Thunder on Friday, must go the rest of the way without star big man Jaren Jackson Jr.

Jackson was playing his best basketball of the season, scoring 20-plus points in the first three games. He took a bad fall during the loss to New Orleans and continued to play. A postgame evaluation revealed a meniscus tear, with Jackson ruled out for the rest of this season.

It’s not the first time this season the team has had to play without Jackson. Asked about playing without Jackson, head coach Taylor Jenkins pointed to “resilience and the resolve of our team all season. We play Grizzlies basketball regardless to who is in the lineup.”

Still, Jackson’s voice “is definitely going to be missed,” said Jenkins.

“We have talked (about) this with the whole team. Everyone has got to step up on the offensive end. Being at the right spot on defense. He had taken huge (strides) in his leadership and being a more vocal player on the court.”

Because of the pandemic, all of the NBA’s playoffs-contending teams are playing games in a restricted, no-fans-allowed environment in Orlando. Memphis made it to Orlando with a good margin on the final playoffs spot, but that has shrunken in recent days.

The health factor is affecting Memphis’ fortunes. Justice Winslow arrived for the playoffs run looking to make an impact after being traded to Memphis from the Miami Heat. He had been slated to hit the court before the COVID-19 interruption.

Winslow was making strides in practice and was very energetic during the zoom meetings with the media. Then he suffered an injury in practice and was ruled out for the season.

And, right before the Orlando stretch began, backup point guard Tyrus Jones suffered an injury, with word of his status for the rest of the season pending.

Still, the schedule may be in the favor of the Grizzlies. Memphis’ last three games are against powerhouses Toronto, Boston and Milwaukee – teams that may be resting their stars at that juncture

Memphis has shown resilience all season. With backs to the wall, the Grizzlies have responded with unexpected wins.

Notably, the Grizzlies have played well in the seeding games, with chances to win in the fourth quarter of each. So far, they just have not been able to get over the hump.

Helen Jones Woods, founding member of first integrated, all-women jazz orchestra, dies of COVID-19

By

Special to TSDMemphis.com

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08/06/2020

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AC1218-0000007 — Helen Jones Woods with her trombone. (Courtesy photo)

Helen Jones Woods, a founding member of the first integrated, all-women swing orchestra, The International Sweethearts of Rhythm, died of COVID-19 at the age of 96 on July 25.

Cathy Liggins Hughes (daughter), Helen Jones Woods and Alfred Liggins (grandson). (Courtesy photo)

Woods was the daughter of Dr. Laurence Clifton Jones, founder of the historic Piney Woods boarding school in Mississippi and the mother of media mogul, Cathy Hughes, who founded Urban One, the largest African-American-owned and operated broadcast company in the nation.

Ms. Woods was born in the fall of 1923 in Meridian, Misssissippi. Her adopted father, Dr. Laurence Clifton Jones, was the founder of the Piney Woods Country Life School, a historic Mississippi-based African- American boarding school, which is still in existence.

She grew up on the school campus and began playing music at the age of 6. Dr. Jones wanted her to learn to play the violin, but, instead, she opted for the trombone because she liked the way the struts slid up and down.

Dr. Jones raised funds for the school by touring student groups such as The Cotton Blossom Singers. One evening when he heard Phil Spitalny’s All-Girl Orchestra play on the 1930s CBS radio broadcast “Hour of Charm,” he had a new fundraising idea.

“He said, `I’ve got a bunch of women here [at the school], why don’t I start a girl band?’” Woods remembered during a forum discussion at Washington, D.C.’s Smithsonian Institution in 2011.

In 1937, Dr. Jones formed the Swinging Rays of Rhythm with a pre-teen Woods and other Piney Woods students ranging in age from 13-19.

The all-girl band toured extensively to raise revenue for the school. Eventually, the band relocated to Arlington, Virginia, where its manager Daniel Gary, changed its name to the International Sweethearts of Rhythm to reflect the ethnic composition of the group, which featured not only African Americans but also Asian, Mexican, Native American and European American women.

The ensemble became huge during World War II. For a time, Jesse Stone, who would eventually write the Rock N Roll classic, “Shake, Rattle & Roll,” was their arranger and brought polish to their sound.

They had their own tour bus and set a Howard Theater box office record when they attracted more than 35,000 patrons for a week of shows there in 1941.

They did a USO tour for the troops and performed at prestigious venues ranging from the Apollo Theater in Harlem to Wrigley Field in Los Angeles. They shared stages with or backed acts such as Dizzy Gillespie, Billie Holiday and Ella Fitzgerald. Louis Armstrong and Count Basie were fans.

In 1944, they were cited as America’s Top All-Female Orchestra by DownBeat Magazine. Although, they mostly performed hit songs of the day, they also recorded their own songs such as the popular “Jump Children” in 1945.

(Courtesy photo/NMAH Archives Center International Sweethearts of Rhythm Collection)

By 1949, the group had folded and Woods moved on with her life.

“When I found out other women could play trombone better than me, I retired myself,” she cracked at the Smithsonian forum.

She married William Alfred Woods and raised a family in Omaha, where she earned a nursing degree and a master’s in social work. She worked at the Douglas County Hospital there for more than 30 years.

Because of her history with The International Sweethearts of Rhythm, Woods was inducted into the Omaha Black Music Hall of Fame in 2007.

For the last few years, Woods has lived in Sarasota, Florida.

She is survived by her four children, Catherine Liggins Hughes, Jacquelyn Marie Woods, William Alfred Woods and Dr. Robert Anthony Woods.

One of Woods’ favorite sayings was, “Never give a person credit for what they have done when cash would be more appropriate.”

In keeping with her wishes, the family requests that the public make financial donations to The Helen Jones Woods Fund at The Piney Woods School to help insure and guarantee a solid education for the next generation.

(For more information, visit https://bit.ly/2DzOSHB.)

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