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Why ‘New Chicago’ says ‘No’ to Memphis 3.O

NNPA NEWSWIRE — Memphis 3.0. is a proposed land use and development plan envisioned as a 20-year road map. With several dozen North Memphis residents on hand for “a show of force,” the Memphis City Council on Tuesday put off its initial vote on the plan for two weeks, pending a community meeting.

Published

7 years ago

March 24, 2019

Oakland Post

By Karanja A. Ajanaku, The New Tri-State Defender
kajanaku@tsmemphis.com

Dr. Carnita Atwater, representing the New Chicago Community Development Corporation, was about 50 minutes into her Monday press conference in North Memphis when a television reporter interrupted. He asked if the bottom line was that she was just upset for having been left out of the Memphis 3.0. plan.

Atwater took the question in stride, having heard the essence of it before and fully expecting to hear again.

It’s not about me. We are upset, she said, pressing that the people standing with her represented multiple groups with deep-rooted interests in the area. A plan had evolved from those interests and they are not reflected in Memphis 3.0, she said.

Memphis 3.0. is a proposed land use and development plan envisioned as a 20-year road map. With several dozen North Memphis residents on hand for “a show of force,” the Memphis City Council on Tuesday put off its initial vote on the plan for two weeks, pending a community meeting.

Thus far, City administrators don’t see things the way Atwater and her associates do. They point out that Atwater and her group attended hearings where the Memphis 3.0 plan was discussed.

Atwater does not dispute that she has attended meetings. She recalled introducing Mayor Jim Strickland – by invitation – at one of the sessions. Having attended and taken time to read the 495-page document is why she so vehemently protests going forward with it.

Standing outside the City Council Chambers after Tuesday’s vote to delay, Atwater said the group is open to the upcoming meeting.

“I think we need a community comprehensive plan, but let the plan include all of the citizens, not just a few…When we looked at the plan, we did not have the funding [for the North Memphis area]. You can’t revitalize the community without funding New Chicago, Walker Homes and other African-American communities. We have our own revitalization plan that they did not put into Memphis 3.0.”

Putting an emphasis on green space, bicycle and walking trails and more environmental assessments won’t cut it for those areas, Atwater said.

“We want TIFF, we want TDZ, we want incentives, we want capital funding, we want home development and we also want community builders grants…We have not received those in 30 to 40 years…

“All we talk about is new development. Development for who? Building up and not out, that’s new apartments for the creative class. Who are the creative class? Mostly young, white millennials. What about the community that’s suffering?”

Radio personality Michael Adrian Davis was among those aligned with Atwater and the North Memphis residents at Monday’s press conference and again at Tuesday’s council meeting. He told council members that he read Memphis 3.0.

“This is a major deal,” he said. “I think it is too important for us to rush this. Two years invested is cool, but there needs to be more time invested…

“Many people are living day-to-day and just make ends meet. Many people in the African-American community aren’t really thinking 5, 10, 15 years ahead and that’s where you guys come in,” Davis said. “I would suggest that we table this and allow us to saturate the community with this plan.”

Having looked at the plan, Davis said he noticed the absence of specific funding and investment for the North Memphis area.

“We don’t need Starbucks over there, we just need Joe’s coffee shop… We need the ability to provide for ourselves and allow whites to come into our neighborhood and buy from us as we have done through this entire city for all of our history.”

Before the council was a request to approve the plan on the first of three required readings. Following a motion by City Councilman Berlin Boyd, the council voted to delay action at least until a community meeting can be held for the North Memphis area.

Doug McGowen, the city’s chief operating officer, briefly noted that there had been hearings on the plan in North Memphis.

“We’ve been waiting 38 years for a comprehensive plan,” he said, adding that a two-week delay was “not too much to ask.”

City officials say 15,000 people had input into the plan. Atwater and her group want to see the evidence of that. They assert having 10,000 returned questionnaires of their own regarding the Memphis 3.0. plan.

The first question asks whether the person filling it out knows anything about the Memphis 3.0 plan. “No,” is the predominant response, Atwater said, pointing out that the Internet was used heavily to take in comments about Memphis 3.0 and that New Chicago and other such areas have limited access to the Internet.

If the City Council ultimately embraces Memphis 3.0, Atwater said the “fight will be on.” She envisions a multi-million dollar lawsuit, maybe even a billion dollars.

That figure caused a gruff from a member of the press corps on Monday.

“Why Not? Don’t you think we are worth it?” she asked.

Atwater said opposition to Memphis 3.0 is not an anti-Strickland move. She asserted that New Chicago has been getting shortchanged for years that predate Strickland and that other elected officials that represent the area have not stepped up aggressively or consistently.

Research and documentation is a big part of the lexicon for Atwater. There were pages and pages of documents spread out on tables at the Monday press conference. The documents note efforts to secure grants from local funding bodies and, she said, back up her claim that one such application (from her) was reported not received when it indeed had been submitted.

At its core, Memphis 3.0 is structured to foster gentrification, she said. Others have raised concerns about gentrification, she said, producing two college-level studies probing that in Memphis.

Do your homework, she said. “We’ve done ours.”

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2026 Lucid Air Grand Touring Review — Is This $136K EV Sedan Worth It?

AUTONETWORK ON BLACKPRESSUSA — Finished in Stellar White Metallic with the Tahoe Grand Touring interior, this Lucid makes a strong first impression. The shape is sleek and low, but it still feels elegant instead of trying too hard. Features like soft-close doors, powered illuminated door handles, 20-inch Aero Lite wheels, and the Glass Canopy Roof help the car feel expensive before you even start it.

Published

2 weeks ago

May 3, 2026

Oakland Post

The 2026 Lucid Air Grand Touring is the kind of luxury EV that makes people stop and ask a simple question: Is this really better than a Tesla Model S, Mercedes EQS, or BMW i7? At $136,150, it has to do more than look futuristic. It has to feel special every time you get in it.

Finished in Stellar White Metallic with the Tahoe Grand Touring interior, this Lucid makes a strong first impression. The shape is sleek and low, yet it still feels elegant rather than trying too hard. Features like soft-close doors, powered illuminated door handles, 20-inch Aero Lite wheels, and the Glass Canopy Roof help the car feel expensive before you even start it.

Inside is where the Air Grand Touring really makes its case. The 34-inch Glass Cockpit Display and retractable Pilot Panel screen give the cabin a clean, modern look that still feels different from other EVs. The Tahoe Extended Leather and Lucid Black Alcantara headliner lifts the sense of occasion, and the front seats are a highlight. They are 20-way power-adjustable, heated, ventilated, and include massage. That matters because luxury buyers at this price expect comfort first.

Rear passengers are not ignored either. You get 5-zone heated rear seating, a rear center console display, and power rear and rear side window sunshades. Add in the Surreal Sound Pro system with 21 speakers, and the Air feels like a true long-distance luxury sedan.

Lucid also gives this car serious EV hardware. The dual-motor all-wheel-drive system, 900V+ charging architecture, and Wunderbox onboard charger are big talking points. Buyers in this segment care about range, charging speed, and everyday ease, not just raw performance. That is where the Lucid continues to stand out.

On the technology side, the Air Grand Touring includes DreamDrive Premium, with 3D Surround View Monitoring, Blind Spot Warning, Automatic Park In and Out, Automatic Emergency Braking, and a Driver Monitoring System with distracted and drowsy driver alerts. This one also has DreamDrive Pro, which adds future-capable ADAS hardware.

There are still some real-world annoyances. Based on your notes, the windshield wiper control is hard to find and use, and that matters more than people think in a high-tech car. When controls become less intuitive, even a beautiful interior can feel frustrating.

Still, the 2026 Lucid Air Grand Touring succeeds where it matters most. It feels luxurious, advanced, comfortable, and thoughtfully engineered. For buyers who want an EV sedan that feels truly premium and less common than the usual choices, this Lucid makes a very strong case.

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Snoop Dogg Celebrates 10 Til’ Midnight at the Compound

LOS ANGELES SENTINEL — The album is paired with a film that stars Snoop Dogg, Hitta J3, G Perico, and Ray Vaughn, and one of the strongest elements of the whole project is that the production stayed rooted right here in Los Angeles.

Published

2 weeks ago

May 3, 2026

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Snoop Dogg celebrated the premiere of 10 Til’ Midnight at his Inglewood recording studio & multipurpose facility, The Compound, but the night felt like much more than an album release. It felt like Los Angeles. It felt like legacy. And it felt like another major move from one of the city’s greatest cultural architects as he continues to prove that he is not just dropping music — he is building moments, shaping narratives, and pushing the culture forward in real time.

What made the event so powerful was the clarity behind the vision. During a panel conversation with DJ Hed, Snoop opened up about the heart behind 10 Til’ Midnight, explaining that the project was created to help bridge older and younger generations while also speaking to the long-standing divisions between Bloods and Crips in a unique way through film. That alone gave the project a different kind of weight. This was not just about songs. This was about using creativity as a tool for connection. This was about taking a story rooted in Los Angeles and telling it in a way that could bring people together.

Snoop Congratulated By Rapper & Fellow 10 Til Midnight Cast Member G Perico (CreativeLB/KreativeKapturez)

The album is paired with a film that stars Snoop Dogg, Hitta J3, G Perico, and Ray Vaughn, and one of the strongest elements of the whole project is that the production stayed rooted right here in Los Angeles. The film was shot in the city, including at WePlay Studios in Inglewood, which gave the entire project an even deeper hometown feel. It was not just a West Coast story in content — it was a Los Angeles-made production from the ground up.

That matters because, in a city like this, authenticity still carries weight. Snoop understands how to make sure that what he creates does not just represent Los Angeles on the surface, but actually comes from it.

What also makes 10 Til’ Midnight significant is that it represents another major step in Snoop’s evolution as both an artist and executive. Public reporting around the project identifies it as his 22nd studio album, but the bigger story is what it represents in this season of his life. This is one of several consecutive moves he has made in his 50s that show he is still building, still expanding, and still finding new ways to reinvent what the next chapter looks like.

Snoop Dogg at the Premiere of 10 Til Midnight (CreativeLB/KreativeKapturez)

Now, as the head of Death Row Records and the newly aligned leader of Death Row Pictures, he is taking the brand into a new dimension. That is what made this moment feel bigger than music. Snoop is not just protecting the legacy of Death Row — he is stretching it. He is expanding it beyond records and into film, visual storytelling, and larger creative worlds that can continue carrying the label’s impact forward. Public reporting has noted that this project arrives as part of that broader cinematic push.

That is a major Los Angeles move because the city has always been built on the intersection of music, film, neighborhood identity, and cultural storytelling. With 10 Til’ Midnight, Snoop is leaning all the way into that intersection.

The room at The Compound reflected that. It felt like a private premiere, but it also felt like a statement — a reminder that Snoop Dogg’s staying power has never been based only on nostalgia. It comes from his ability to remain connected, remain visionary, and remain in tune with how to move the culture without losing the essence of who he is.

That is why this premiere mattered. It was not just about celebrating another album. It was about witnessing a Los Angeles legend continue to evolve, continue to unify, and continue to use art to tell stories that hit deeper than entertainment alone.

In that sense, 10 Til’ Midnight became more than a project launch. It became another example of how Snoop Dogg is still taking Los Angeles to the next level — using music, film, and legacy together to build something bigger than a moment.

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OP-ED: Small Businesses Need Minnesota to Act on Pass-Through Tax Policy

MINNESOTA SPOKESMAN RECORDER — A Twin Cities immigrant entrepreneur who built several businesses including grocery stores in underserved neighborhoods is calling on Minnesota lawmakers to extend the Pass-Through Entity tax option before it expires, warning that its loss would hit small businesses already recovering from Operation Metro Surge with higher federal tax bills.

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2 weeks ago

May 3, 2026

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A Twin Cities Small Business Owner Is Urging Minnesota to Extend a Tax Policy That Could Save Thousands of Businesses

By Daniel Hernandez | Minnesota Spokesman Recorder

I came to the United States as a teenager with a clear goal: to build something meaningful through hard work. I put in long days in construction, restaurants, and landscaping; doing whatever it took to learn, save, and eventually start my own business.

Over time, I built and ran several successful ventures, including an event photography company, a magazine, a tax and accounting firm, and now grocery stores serving neighborhoods across the Twin Cities where other retailers chose not to invest. I’ve created jobs, supported families, and committed to communities that deserve stability and opportunity.

That’s why I’m speaking out now.

Small business owners in Minneapolis and the communities we serve are recovering from serious disruptions, including the impacts of Operation Metro Surge. That event hit immigrant communities especially hard. In my own case, I lost nearly half of my 60 employees and saw revenue drop by about 85%. While I worked to provide competitive wages, health benefits, and paid time off, the real hardship fell on the people who lost their jobs and income.

Even as we rebuild, small businesses are facing another challenge. The Minnesota Legislature is considering letting an important tax policy expire: the Pass-Through Entity tax option.

Here’s what that means in plain terms.

Many small businesses, including mine, are pass-through businesses. That means the business itself doesn’t pay income tax. Instead, the owners report the income on their personal tax returns. But under current federal rules, there’s a limit on how much state tax we can deduct. That often leads to higher federal tax bills.

The Pass-Through Entity option fixes that. It allows the business to pay the state tax directly, which means the business can fully deduct those taxes on its federal return and lower the total amount of income taxed federally. The result is straightforward: small business owners pay less in federal taxes, without reducing what the state collects.

This policy is not new or controversial. Thirty-six states already offer it. It doesn’t cost Minnesota anything, it’s revenue neutral. And it benefits more than 66,000 businesses across the state.

In a state where the cost of doing business is already high, it’s hard to understand why we wouldn’t offer the same basic tax treatment as states like California and Illinois.

Small businesses have carried a heavy load in recent years, through a pandemic, rising costs and public safety disruptions. We’ve adapted, reinvested and stayed committed to our communities. What we need now are practical policies that support that work, not make it harder.

If the Minnesota House does not act soon, many businesses will face significantly higher federal tax bills. That’s money that could otherwise be used to hire workers, raise wages or reinvest in local neighborhoods.

I urge Gov. Tim Walz and members of the House Tax Committee to pass House File 3127 and extend the Pass-Through Entity election.

Small businesses are the backbone of our communities. We’ve proven our resilience. Now we need our state leaders to show the same commitment to us.

Daniel Hernandez is the owner of Colonial Market located at 2100 E. Lake St.

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