Covering local news, politics, and more Subscribe for $7/month Channel 10 dailymemphian.com Friday nights at 7 Friday, November 16, 2018 MemphisDailyNews.com Vol. 133 | No. 220 Rack–50¢/Delivery–39¢ Mud Island management launches new strategy BILL DRIES riverside and prepares for sig- “We kept our general man- “The island is much less ac- Mud Island as well as other city Special to The Daily News nificant changes in the park this ager, and aside from that, the tive in the winter so we don’t parks and facilities for the city Memphis River Parks Part- spring. staff was relatively small – five need all of the staff to stay on,” under a contract agreement. nership eliminated the full-time MRPP’s external affairs di- or six people,” Abbott said. “As we Abbott said. “Rather than main- The most recent season of positions of five to six employ- rector, George Abbott, confirmed came to the end of the season, we taining them, we thought it Mud Island park was the first ees at Mud Island River Park as the layoffs Wednesday, adding terminated all of those contracts would be a good chance to re- under the control of MRPP, which the organization moves to more that park manager Trey Giuntini to give us the opportunity for a fresh the organization.” centralized management of the remains. fresh start. MRPP manages and operates MUD ISLAND CONTINUED ON P2 Business signs are made to be seen by motor- ists. Digital boards with light that is too intense Sign of the times: Code can be a safety hazard by creating glare. They can even pose a danger if they are too bright to be eas- ily read; drivers must take a longer look to compre- hend the message. officers start measuring light In front of the Gattas Jewelers store at 4900 Poplar, the display showed that the brightest of the changing messages was 3.75 foot candles. Then Simmons measured again, but this time as Memphis & Shelby County Planning Director Josh Whitehead held a piece of cardboard between the sensor and sign so the equipment measured only the ambient light. It registered 3.3 foot candles. That meant that Simmons could attribute 0.45 of a foot candle of brightness to the sign. The city’s sign code states such signs should emit no more than 0.3 of a foot candle. Technically, the sign was in violation, but not by much. “Since this is our very first, we’re not really go- ing to send them to zoning jail,’’ Whitehead said. “Let’s see how everybody else fares.’’ Simmons and Whitehead on Tuesday night would measure three more East Memphis signs, chosen for testing because the smaller signs just seemed brighter to the naked eye and the billboard would make a good test case. Next stop: Daniel Yacoubian Jewelers at 5030 Poplar. Standing the prescribed 100 feet away to record an accurate measurement, Simmons announced the Yacoubian sign was 17 foot candles. The sec- ond measurement taken for the ambient light only measured 4.1 foot candles. That meant the sign was responsible for 12.9 foot candles, or 43 times more than the 0.3 foot Memphis and Shelby County Planning Director Josh Whitehead (right) and senior zoning inspector Christopher Simmons use a candles allowed by code. light meter to measure the brightness of signs on Poplar Avenue on Nov. 13. (Jim Weber/Special to The Daily News) “We’ll issue a courtesy citation,’’ Simmons said, “stating that the light is over the necessary amount TOM BAILEY held a small orange contraption with toward the future. of foot candles and giving them a time period to ad- Special to The Daily News digital display in one hand and used As more Memphis businesses re- just it. If they don’t adjust it, we’ll take court action.’’ For the first time the city saw the the other to aim the attached Dr. Meter place their old, static signs with ani- Next stop: A digital billboard at I-240 and light, at least in a measured way. light sensor toward the James Gattas mated, digital messaging boards, the Poplar. Simmons and Whitehead actually had to Senior Sign and Zoning Inspector Jewelers digital sign in East Memphis. potential for light pollution grows if Christopher Simmons on Tuesday night In a way, the code officer pointed they are turned up too bright. BRIGHTNESS CONTINUED ON P3 INSIDE Columns ............................ 3 memphisdailynews.com chandlerreports.com Public Records ................ 4 ©2018 The Daily News Publishing Company A division of The Daily News Publishing Company Memphis, Tennessee The standard for premium real estate Established 1886 • 133rd year information since 1968 Public Notices ............... 13 Call 901.523.1561 to subscribe Call 901.458.6419 for more information Page 2 MemphisDailyNews.com Friday, November 16, 2018 The Tipping Point Educators of Excellence honoree Kevin Kimberly Memphis stands at the threshold of it unacceptable that a five-digit zip code a bunch of statistics about college accep- incredible possibility. In this series, we and a three-digit area code should define tance rates and testing. I could sit here and introduce innovative Memphians who are a person’s future … that touched me. I have say all those things that are beautiful to driving our city forward and forging its to assume that if I didn’t get the education put on a banner. But it doesn’t have to be future success. experience I was able to receive via the so by the book: If A then B or if C then D. hard work of my mom, I don’t know that I You have to adjust your approach almost would’ve been afforded the opportunities daily. There’s a difference between feeling ANNA COX THOMPSON I’ve had.” sorry for someone and feeling empathetic Special to The Daily News He used his experiences as a spring- for them. I like to do the latter more since Editor’s note: To celebrate the outstand- board by joining the Alliance for Catholic the former doesn’t get us anywhere.” ing work of exceptional educators, New Education (ACE) at the University of Notre Another thing that doesn’t get us any- Memphis launched the Educators of Excel- Dame. The program landed this New Or- KEVIN KIMBERLY (AJM Images) where? Thinking that education is some- lence awards this year. Kevin is one of five leans native in Memphis, and the families one else’s problem. awardees being honored for doing transfor- he served won his heart. He decided to not I was given the opportunity to focus on el- “My principal who came the second mative work as a school leader. He is also only stay in education upon receiving his ementary in my current role, which is simi- year I taught used to say, ‘it may not be a graduate of the Embark program. Learn Master’s, but also stay in Memphis. Over lar to [when I was] a principal but I get to your fault but it is your problem.’ We live in more at newmemphis.org. the years, Kevin’s experience has grown focus all of my attention on the teachers.” a country that is supposed to be the land to include roles as a teacher, vice principal, His approach to education is unique in of the free. Life, liberty and the pursuit of It only takes one spark to start a fire, principal and instructional coach across that it unifies the big picture with the mi- happiness, and the last one is the key. There and for Kevin Kimberly it only took one the spectrum of elementary, middle and nutia of daily tasks. He’s able to see the op- is no pursuit of happiness without educa- class on policy to ignite his passion for high school. portunities while not getting bogged down tion. There is no true liberty in this country education. “As a teacher, I saw the need for quality by the journey to resolve them. without having a quality education system. “Some of the classwork I did in politics administrators. I think that a great princi- “Educators are professionals, and I I really do believe that helping to fix educa- sparked my interest in education,” says pal is a great instructional leader. It’s not think too many people don’t see it that way. tion is the beginning of fixing almost every Kevin, development coach at Perea Ele- just someone who can get the paperwork It’s crazy to me because teaching teaches other problem in this country. We think mentary and a Chief Educational Consul- done. It’s a person who can really coach every other profession. There are no doc- about healthcare, prison reform, all these tant at ForwardEd Consulting. “I’d always teachers to be better prepared for their tors, lawyers etc. without teachers. Politi- things … if we can get education correct been interested in education, but I didn’t students. I saw a need for that, and we de- cians would want me to say [that the only we can get those correct as well. But I don’t know if it was the path for me. I found veloped a strong culture for that. Recently meaningful impact is] data, and spout out know that the opposite is true.” Mud Island’s future probably philanthropic dollars,” she said. Bud Boogie Beach, a spread of isn’t a massive infusion of money “I don’t think that will ever be sand with volleyball nets near the from private donors, but is more a reality.