THE 9:01

The 901: Memphis moment of silence should become a movement against violence

The 901 is your morning blend of Memphis news and commentary

Ryan Poe
Memphis Commercial Appeal
Community members release ballons Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2020, during a vigil for Jadon Knox on the 700 block of Pendleton Street in Memphis. Knox was killed nearby over the weekend.

Good morning from Memphis, which may have to shell out $7 billion if it wants to shed the Tennessee Valley Authority. We'll get into the latest there, but first...

At 11 a.m. Sunday, Memphians should pause their sermons, pull their vehicles to the sides of the road, stop their conversations, turn off their televisions, mute their radios.

Memphis should be able to hear a pin drop.

The Memphis City Council is urging the moment of silence to remember the three children slain over the past week — 6-year-old Ashlynn Luckett, 10-year-old Jadon Knox, and 16-year-old Lequan Boyd — and "to pray for the protection of all citizens against those lawless individuals who are a plague on our society," our Alexa Imani Spencer reports. Read the council's full statement on the moment here.

Aspire Henley Elementary School teacher Earl Wilson looks over papers with student Jadon Knox.

Perhaps, in a city with one of the highest rates of violent crime in the nation, the silence will tell anyone whose feet are swift to shed blood that this isn't normal, that it's not OK.

But even though a moment is good, a movement is better. Poverty, broken families, hopelessness, lack of opportunities — all of these pave the path to violence. And until Memphis moves from a moment to a movement by beginning to address these issues in a broader, more meaningful and sustained way, these deafening silences will continue.

Study: Leaving TVA to cost at least $7B

Buying power from somewhere other than the Tennessee Valley Authority could save Memphis billions of dollars — but it could also potentially cost billions of dollars.

In a details-packed, subscribers-only story this morning, our Sam Hardiman digs into the early findings of a new, comprehensive study commissioned by Memphis Light, Gas and Water. Read the story for more, but the gist is that the city would have to spend more than $7 billion building solar farms and up to four natural gas power plants, and upwards of $400 million in transmission lines to Arkansas and Mississippi, to have reliable power.

And that's just what it will cost to put Memphis in a position to buy the potentially cheaper power offered by Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO). One of the big, yet-to-be-answered question is how much it would cost MLGW to hire the people required to manage and operate natural gas plants and solar farms.

Also, the study has yet to total up TVA's contributions to the city — including tens of millions of dollars in the form of payments in lieu of taxes. Although TVA has said it won't negotiate electricity rates, chief executive Jeff Lyash indicated in a letter to members of the city's Power Supply Advisory Team that TVA could sweeten the deal in other ways:

"TVA is aware of the immediate infrastructure issues on the MLGW system and the needed cash flow to address them. We stand ready to work with MLGW to address reliability issues and financial limitations," Lyash said. "We are confident we can partner with MLGW to reduce the energy burden on its customers."  

Meanwhile, advocates for leaving TVA maintain that Memphis can buy power without building its own power supply. So, the debate could move to whether building plants and solar fields is strictly necessary for Memphis to have reliable power outside of TVA.

Again, read Sam's story, which digs much deeper into what all of this means.

But what's clear from these early findings is that Memphis still has more work to do before anyone can definitively say leaving TVA is the right move.

Oprah's magazine shows BSMF love

Oprah Winfrey speaks during the WW (Weight Watchers Reimagined) & Oprah's 2020 Vision: Your Life In Focus Tour at BB&T Center on January 4, 2020 in Sunrise, Florida.

Memphis' Beale Street Music Festival is one of the must-see concerts this summer. Who says? Oprah's "O, The Oprah Magazine" says, that's who, our John Beifuss reports. Two other Tennessee festivals — Bonnaroo in Great Stage Park and the Country Music Awards Festival in Nashville — also received the "O" stamp of approval.

Things to know, places to go, in the 901

The Fadeout: Drew & Ellie Holcomb

Drew Holcomb, formerly of Memphis, now of Nashville, and wife Ellie just released their latest video to YouTube, "Love Anyway," which fades us out this morning...

Like The Fadeout? The 901's Spotify playlist has all of the available featured songs from local artists.

Columnist Ryan Poe writes The 901, a running commentary on all things Memphis. Reach him at poe@commercialappeal.com and on Twitter @ryanpoe.

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