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Summer is the prime time to move. If you’re moving to Memphis during the summer, there are some things you should remember in order to make things run smoothly. The most important thing to remember is to stay hydrated. With the highs for the summer months in the upper 80’s, lower 90’s, you can never be too careful.

Heat exhaustion is a real threat during summer moves, and it should not be taken lightly, which is why staying hydrated is the number one priority. Whether you are moving yourself, you have friends helping you, or you hired movers, be sure to help them out and keep them hydrated – they’re hot too.

Make sure you have a plan for children and pets. They need to be in a cool place that is out of the way to eliminate any risk of accidents. Getting a baby sitter or dropping them off at a friend or family member’s home the day of the move, will make your move exponentially easier. Nobody wants to worry about Spike getting out when you have five or six people going in and out of the house all day.

One thing that can be overlooked is air conditioning at the destination of the move. Keeping the air on while you are getting everything out of your house isn’t something you’ll forget. Setting it up so that you have it when you’re moving your stuff into your new home is something that could be overlooked. Plan ahead so that you are not miserable and moving in the heat.

And remember to stay hydrated!

When it comes time to review the budget in the next Memphis election year, you can expect to see the focus of the review shift drastically. Instead of the usual focus being purely on numbers, special attention will be paid to figuring out how Memphis continues to find itself in a state of financial crisis.

Throughout the past two years, one thing has remained constant – the mayor and council members will continue to go back and forth regarding why the financial state is the way that it is in Memphis. Mayor A C Wharton has reiterated that a major cause is due to cutting funding to Memphis City Schools, while his Council member counterparts will blame the crisis on Wharton’s decision to refinance the city’s debt in 2010. Regardless of the constant repetition between the two sides, one thing still holds true – nothing has changed.

According to city finance director Brian Collins, “there was a financial crisis of once-in-three-lifetime proportions. We had a plan to deal with it. We told everybody what it was. We had very few people listen. We went ahead and executed against that plan in plain sight.”

Although earlier this year the council already approved a new plan to refinance city debt payments, there are still those that find flaws in the plan. For instance, chairman of the council’s budget committee, Jim Strickland, points out that all of the refinancing plan does is push the responsibility of dealing with the debt onto future Memphis city leaders.

Regardless of the reasons as to why the city finds itself in a continual financial crisis, the community has seen no slowing of the amount of people packing and moving to Memphis. The city hopes to make greater strides in getting to the root of the problem, so that the prior statement does not change.

A voucher proposal called “opportunity scholarship”, would give Tennessee parents the opportunity to remove their children from a failing public school, and move them to a private school with funding completely from the state, is about to go to a key committee, with only a few days left in this current year’s legislative system.

Last year, when the same proposal was up for review it did not pass. However, the voucher proposal has been given a second chance because “Tennesseans continue to register their support for school choice and have impressed upon their elected representatives the importance of extending quality school options to parents and families who need them most,” according to Tennessee chapter of StudentsFirst, Brent Easley.

While it is the understanding of local family movers All My Sons, that the version of the proposal that was up for review last year only planned to extend the offer to low-income students that were in districts that have a school in the bottom 5 percent of failing schools, this new proposal does not limit who is eligible.

According to House Sponsor Bill Dunn, “Some of these children are in schools where over 90 percent of the children are not proficient. We’ve got to give them an opportunity. And I just hope the Legislature steps up and puts the students before the system.” However, those that oppose the voucher make the argument that the money could be better used to improve public schools instead.

Craig Fitzhugh, House Democratic Leader, explains that his standpoint against the proposal is because he feels that if we open that door for vouchers, all it’s going to do is take money out of an already small pot of money for public education, and stretch it very thin.”

This upcoming October will prove to be an exciting time for Memphis, as The Association for Successful Parenting is hosting the seventh biannual “A Chance to Parent” conference.

The event, whose theme this year is “Promoting Change Through Advocacy, Policy and Practice,” will bring people to Memphis from all over the world. In total, about 150-200 people are expected to attend the event at a Downtown Memphis hotel.

Memphis movers want those who are not familiar with what The Association for Successful Parenting is, to know that they are an organization of a community of parents, researchers, social workers, support providers and advocates who work together, with the main goal of ensuring that families succeed in parenting. The group shares resources for advocacy, including resources, events, contacts and other various forms of information. Another way the association keeps members informed, is by consistently adding up-to-date webinars regarding multiple topics onto their website.

According to TASP president Susan Yuan, having the conference held in Memphis this year, “represents an expansion of the work of TASP into the South, where we hope to tap into the community energy so strong in this region.” In fact, since the association has seen so much success recently, they are adding a new focus into this upcoming conference: a new focus on supporting parents with intellectual disabilities and those who support them in return.

For those who hope to attend the conference, it is open to anyone who wishes to attend for a registration fee, which can be paid while registering at the association’s site, anytime from June 1 and onward.

A Memphis native is proving that it is never too late to go after your dreams. Elementary school teacher Mary Claire White, has long hoped to one day own her own store. Well, after spending an entire summer roaming around the surrounding neighborhood in the Broad Avenue area, all the while taking time to get acquainted with all the other business owners in the area and familiarizing herself with all of the shops and restaurants, she will finally be able to count herself amongst them this coming June.

She has already resigned her teaching job, in preparation for the grand opening of her new home-goods retailer shop – appropriately named Falling into Place. The store name pays homage to her time well spent familiarizing herself with the business community last summer. An owner of the Five in One Social Club saw a space become available and immediately called White to let her know, upon which she immediately jumped at the opportunity.

White explains that, “as far as the story behind the name – one of the things I’ve always done is set goals and work toward attaining them. The great thing is when you do that, you work to make them happen. And when you do achieve that goal, it feels like things have just fallen into place. But nothing ever really falls into place. It’s the work you put in. It’s almost an ironic title.”

The name does not only apply to how she found the store to begin with, but also how the store’s atmosphere will be as well. It will sell items such as: local art, jewelry, textiles, ceramics, lamps and other various home-goods made by the Memphis community; customers can expect to stumble upon a surprise when shopping and to feel as if things have magically “fallen into place.”

A favorite shop among avid Memphis bike riders for a long while now, Victory Bicycle Studio, will become part of a bike shop duo when owner Clark Butcher finally decides upon the location of its sister store. The only difference is – Butcher plans to open a store geared towards a completely different customer base next time.

Butcher has gone on the record stating that, “we don’t have any interest in selling to somebody who only wants to ride their bike on pretty days and then hang it up after that. I’m not going to dog any other shops or the bikes they carry. We all love bikes. The difference is Victory loves the bike business. We want to keep you fired up through exclusive customer events, nutrition clinics, and maintenance. We have the complete agenda to hook you into this sport.”

While the pioneer store targets mainly cycling aficionados, the new store will aim to cater to families at a much more affordable price. However, in order to ensure that the Victory Bicycle Studio’s name keeps its integrity, the new location will take on a unique name of its own.

In the midst of packing and moving to a new location three times in a row now – only to have the contracts fall through – Butcher has not given up hope. He proclaims his commitment to adhering to his original agenda by stating that, “I could be like every other bike shop. I could do my entire concept and Victory all in the same space. But I’d be like every other bike shop out there.”

The Memphis City Council plans to vote for a restructuring of how the city will plan to repay their debts. The Memphis Mayor, A C Wharton Jr., has proposed the restructuring in order to postpose a future payment in 2020 that would cause the city’s annual payment go from $15 million the year before, to $30 million.

The payment in 2020 would fall in the same year that the city is also supposed to begin making its full annual payment of $74 million to the city’s pension fund. However, some members of the council believe that the city should have to pay the annual pension contribution in two years, without having to push it past 2020.

As a result, the council has hired PFM, a municipal finance firm, to advise them on the restructuring proposal. PFM put together a PowerPoint presentation aimed at helping the council to make a decision. The last slide of the presentation read, “restructuring the debt provides an opportunity to focus paying the pension obligation.”

PFM argues that not only would a restructure lower the gap between revenues, pensions, debt service, the combined annual debt service and pension costs in 2020, it would do so by $104 million. However, if the city fails to act, then the gap could grow to about $172 million, and Memphis movers are not sure how the inevitable ripple effect would hinder residents.

On the other hand, a restructure would add roughly $12.7 million to the city’s debt service expense, noting that “higher interest rates will increase financing costs and mitigate some of the benefit of the restructure.

Treadwell Middle School has recently been adopted by Colliers International Memphis, so that finally the school and teachers, administrators, and students will receive some much needed help from its new parent school.

According to the principal at Treadwell Middle, Tonye McBride, “we don’t make a lot of money, but we do what we have to do to make sure our children are successful. And it’s not all about the financial resources, once you show the kids attention and give the kids time, they know that you care.”

Moreover, Colliers Principal Andy Cates attested to the positive relationship with Treadwell Middle School by stating that, “if you went over there and visited, you would see the actions and attitudes of the students and staff, their attitudes are unbelievable.”

The Collier School already got a head start on cleaning and improving the Memphis school system, when they enacted a school-wide cleanup effort last year. Teachers and administrators did everything from plant flowers to haul mulch – they even planted about 300 daffodils, which are set to bloom with the coming of spring.

Not only did they help the students within the school, but they also contributed to the community, by participating in a coat drive that delivered almost 300 coats to students at Treadwell.

McBride further stated that, “unfortunately, so many of our students are in situations beyond their control, but all they need is one person or company to show interest in them and help them thrive and prosper. We know that when students have what they need then they can really focus on school.”

If you are moving to Memphis and you have younger children, schedule a tour of Treadwell Middle School before you enroll them in just any Memphis school; enroll them in a Memphis school that strives to make a difference in the lives of their students!

Due to consumers regaining their confidence in the housing market, it looks like Memphis movers will be staying busy, according to Regions Bank manager Dean Puryear. The bank has seen a 14 percent gain in its mortgage volume year over year, while country-wide mortgage market has had a positive month – not just the Memphis mortgage market – with total mortgage volume up 8 percent as a whole. In total, the amount of mortgage volume increased $5.6 million from February 2014 to February 2015 – up from $72.4 million to $78 million.

Simultaneously, the number of mortgages created, as well as the average mortgage amount, increased throughout the same time span; with mortgages increasing from 457 to 464, and the average amounts of mortgages up from $158,446 to $168,933.

According to Puryear, “with the pullback we saw that occurred for rates in January, there was a lot of optimism around the affordability of housing, so we now have a lot of people pursuing the act of purchasing a house. They’re in the process of getting approved, they’re searching for homes and they’re putting offers in. So, I think activity is growing. Traditionally in the second quarter, everyone also wants to get moved with their kids out of school before they’re back in school, so that also drives the market.”

However, in the month of February 2015, home sales were not as high in Shelby County as compared to earlier dates. Compared to February 2014, home sales were down 6 percent. On the other hand, the average selling price for the month was up 22 percent, at $150,371.

Thanks to the Juvenile Detention Alternative Initiative, the number of young adults being detained in the Memphis and Shelby County Juvenile Court has decreased more than 65 percent since 2012. The program, enacted in 2012, aims to drastically reduce the number of juveniles being admitted into juvenile court for misdemeanor offenses; such as: domestic assaults and special emphasis on felonies.

According to Chief Administrative Officer of Memphis and Shelby County Juvenile Court Larry Scroggs, “what we try to do is not detain those juveniles unless there’s some other related charge. Usually, it just takes a cooling off period, trying to get everybody calmed down. For those cases, it’s appropriate that we are able to house them over night until things are pretty much under control.”

The Juvenile Detention Alternative Initiative uses an assessment tool strategy in order to determine whether or not a teen should be admitted into juvenile court or released to their parents or appropriate supervision. The assessment analyzes the offender’s prior offense history and prior failures to appear before court. Each assessment is assigned a number that factors into the end score. For example, if a juvenile has a score of less than 10, then they are free to go. However, if the score is 19 or above then they have no choice but to be detained.

The program seems to be working, considering that in 2011, before the Initiative was enacted, 5,249 juveniles were detained. A year later, post the implementation of the program, only 3,949 were admitted to juvenile detention. At the rate the program is going, residents can look forward to rarely seeing juveniles packing up and moving anywhere.