The 901: Here are five 2021 New Year's resolutions for Memphis

Good Monday morning from Memphis, and in case you missed the greeters on your way in...welcome to the year of our Lord 2021! We'll take a closer look at today's top headlines in a moment, but first...

Now that 2020 has wobblingly limped across the finish line, crying into its hoarded toilet paper, it is of course time for that pastime of new times: The New Year's resolutions.

We won't belabor this, we promise.

But if we were to make a list of realistic resolutions for 2021, not for ourselves, but for our city, what would they be? Here's one such list...

1. Get 70% of people vaccinated. Experts dispute what percentage of people should be inoculated against COVID-19 before we return to normal. But Dr. William Schaffner, an infectious disease expert at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, said it's "actually pretty realistic" to shoot to have 70% of people vaccinated by Thanksgiving, as reported by The Tennessean.

As for why "70%" is important: Schaffner said that's how many would need to receive the vaccine to make large family gatherings safe again. Of course, being able to eat turkey together is a side benefit; the main benefit will be saving lives and livelihoods.

Whether Greater Memphis can get to 70% vaccinated by Thanksgiving is debatable. Because of shipping delays, many states, counties and cities are falling behind schedule — including Tennessee, which only managed to vaccinate 90,000 residents by the end of 2020 instead of the 200,000 anticipated. But those delays haven't been felt locally, said Shelby County Health Department Director Alisa Haushalter, our Max Garland reported last week. Since receiving its first shipments in mid-December, the SCHD has directly vaccinated 3,700 people, in addition to what partners like hospitals have done.

In Shelby County, assisted-living facilities are next in line, per our Micaela Watts.

2. Start addressing the underlying causes of homicides. By the end of 2020, the Memphis had logged a staggering 332 homicides for the year, blowing out of the water the previous record of 228 homicides in 2016, our Laura Testino reported last week.

Stevie Moore, who founded and leads the nonprofit Freedom From Unnecessary Negatives, and who had a son murdered in 2003, drills right to the heart of the matter in a weekend profile from Micaela: "that's a lot of parents who are burying their kids."

There isn't just one reason for the dramatic increase in homicides, it's safe to say, but it likely has something to do with confining stressed out people together for extended periods of time. Memphis' challenge over the next year will be to figure out what exactly is making Memphians kill each other, and then figure out how to stop them.

Maybe that looks like more counseling, mentoring and education about healthy relationships. Maybe that means more workforce training and economic development recruiting to get people into better jobs with higher wages. Maybe that means better transportation to connect people with jobs. Maybe that means people of faith giving hope to the hopeless. Maybe that means earlier intervention — with follow-up — in the lives of troubled youth. Maybe that means trying innovative new ways to improve people's quality of life — like allowing neighborhoods to buy shares in developments, like at South Memphis' Metro Shopping Plaza. Maybe that means starting to address the childhood trauma that has resulted from the pandemic and the shutdowns it caused.

The pandemic has ripped the veil off of Memphis' already existent, underlying problems, and now it's up to the city to resolve to do something about them.

3. Lay the foundation for an economic recovery. Before the pandemic, Memphis had "momentum" — at least it did when it came to economic development in some areas. But, of course, whatever momentum the city had came to an abrupt stop last year.

The economic recovery from the pandemic will take years. But that doesn't mean the city can't and shouldn't start preparing for the recovery that is sure to eventually come.

This year, the city could, at last, begin to see dirt moving at Liberty Park, formerly known as the Mid-South Fairgrounds, near the Orange Mound neighborhood. The hope is to make Liberty Park a destination, not only for youth sports, but for all of Memphis. And then there's the revamp of Tom Lee Park along the Mississippi River, which is part of a larger plan to make Downtown Memphis more attractive to businesses and residents. Another part of that plan: the reimagining of what parking in Downtown should look like. There's also the push to expand the city's capacity for conventions, from the newly renovated Renasant Convention Center to the Loews Hotel planned for Civic Plaza and the working being done on the Grand Hyatt at One Beale. 

All of those projects have taken on new significance over the past year. Instead of being part of the city's growth strategy, they've become major pieces in the city's strategy for bringing the city back from the brink of economic ruin. No pressure, right?

One of the city's goals over the next year should be to bring those projects closer to completion, which would give the city a leg up on its competition in the coming years.

4. Get the Grizzlies in the playoffs. You knew this one was coming, right? The Memphis Grizzlies came so close to making the NBA's inaugural "play-in" playoffs last year, thanks in no small part to the grittiness and grindiness of NBA Rookie of the Year Ja Morant. But they fell short, once again, as they have since the 2016-17 season.

Will this year be different?

It is, of course, impossible to say this early. The competition in the Western Conference will be stiff. And there's always a question mark behind any prediction of Jaren Jackson Jr.'s health. But if Morant continues playing at a high level, and if JJJ gets and stays healthy, then the team has a shot. And yeah, maybe it's a bit of a long shot — but even a decent showing could go a long way toward lifting Memphians' spirits.

5. Stop this foolishness. Over the weekend, this video surfaced of cars doing donuts on Interstate 240 near the Walnut Grove exit. That's right — donuts, on the interstate.

+ Speaking of the new year: Our John Beifuss has five things Memphians can look forward to in 2021. Plus, our Bob Mehr previews five music albums to look forward to.

Judge Teresa Jones dies over weekend

Memphis Municipal Judge Teresa Jones, a pillar of the legal community who had previously served as chairwoman of the Shelby County Schools board and as a chief city prosecutor, died of cancer over the weekend, our Corinne Kennedy reports. She was 61. 

The condolences quickly started flowing in from all quarters over the weekend, but here are a few that stood out:

Jones resigned her school board seat in 2019 to fill out the term of retiring Division 1 Memphis Municipal Court judge Earnestine Hunt Dorse. In a testament to her popularity, she won the general election last year with 73% of the vote, as Corinne points out.

Once we have funeral arrangements, we'll include them in an upcoming column. In the meantime, be sure to read Corinne's story for more about Jones' background and the hole she'll leave behind in the community.

Quotable: Mark Gasol, back in M-town

Mark Gasol, a longtime mainstay of the Memphis Grizzlies, was back in Memphis yesterday, playing in FedExForum for the first time since he left the team in 2019. 

The game didn't go great for the Grizzlies, who fell to the Lakers in a 108-94 loss, as our Evan Barnes reports. But it was a nostalgic moment for Gasol as well as Memphis:

Here's what Gasol said in a pregame interview with Evan:

Nearly 20 years after being a teenager watching the Grizzlies play at The Pyramid, his basketball journey brings him back to where it started.

“From going from a fan in the stands to defending that jersey for over 10 years. Now going back and still supporting the team? That’s the (full) circle I see," Gasol said.

What else is happening in the 901

• A former Memphis principal who was convicted of second-degree murder in 2005 (he maintains he accidentally strangled her to death during a bout of erotic asphyxiation), is asking for early release because he has cancer and is concerned about COVID-19, our Micaela Watts reports.
• Our Corinne Kennedy gives us the state of local hospitals at the start of the year. (In a word? Strained.)
• The city of Memphis officially "deannexed" the South Cordova, Southwind-Windyke and Rocky Point areas on the east side of the city at midnight on New Year's Eve (and there was much rejoicing). Now, the deannexed residents are having to figure out their own trash pickup, our Katherine Burgess reports.
• If you missed it last week, our Max Garland wrote a special obit for the Memphis-area paramedic who carried a child across the I-40 bridge to a waiting ambulance when a Black Lives Matter demonstration closed the bridge in 2016. The paramedic, Bobby Harrell, died after contracting COVID-19, seemingly on the job.
• This is just outside of "The 901" — but it's close enough. Our Sarah Macaraeg interviewed LeVar Burton and Ilyasah Shabazz about the legacy of journalist and "Roots" author Alex Haley, who is buried in Henning, Tennessee, north of Memphis.

The Fadeout: 'Knock on Wood'

What better song to mark the start of the year than the Soul classic "Knock on Wood"? The Associated Press just profiled Memphis guitar legend Steve Cropper, and included the story about how he co-wrote the song with Eddie Floyd in 1966 in the same Memphis hotel where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. would be shot and killed two years later. 

Without further ado, here's a video of Eddie Floyd lip-syncing the song back in the day...

Like The Fadeout? Check out The 901's Spotify playlist. Want to submit a recommendation of your own? Reach me by email, address below.

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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