MEMPHIS, Tenn. Carnell Vann Jr., trims a fade on an early morning client at his barber shop in the northern neighborhood of Frayser. As he sprays a can of hairspray for the finishing touches, he remembers his younger sister Marlanda. "She was a lovable person. She just liked to love on people," he says with a smile. Marlanda was buried this past weekend, after someone shot into her car while she was driving last month.
After a study of federal data recently found that Memphis had the highest per-capita car crash death rate in the entire country - and the highest per-capita death rate for pedestrians of any metropolitan area - advocates there have launched a fundraising campaign for a new initiative called Street Fair, which will be dedicated to "advocating for a better transportation system for everyone - no matter how you choose to get around."
Violet Newborn had just moved into a new house, a rental on the edge of midtown and Frasier, when her son Logan's developmental milestones started "moving backwards." Logan was six months old and suddenly lethargic, always constipated, and refusing to eat or drink. He became joyless and fatigued. He'd sit silently at daycare, or hang his head when Newborn pushed him on the swings.
US President Donald Trump will extend federal law enforcement action to the city of Memphis, Tennessee, in a move that will include sending in National Guard troops and setting up a Memphis State Task Force to tackle crime, though police say overall criminal offences are at a 25-year low. Trump announced the move in an executive order on Monday to rid Memphis of what he called the tremendous levels of violent crime that have overwhelmed its local government's ability to respond effectively.