The 901: Updates on Ford's Blue Oval City construction; Memphis man jailed in Fiji

Good morning, Memphis, where we start to see cloudy weather and possible thunderstorms in the area starting today — bringing us much needed rain and cooler temperatures. 

But, first, Ford Motor Co. has not held a “groundbreaking” ceremony for its $5.6 billion Blue Oval City project in Haywood County. However, there are visible signs of progress on the construction site where people can expect to see “steel skeletons” of the project, our Omer Yusuf reports.

“If you drove by the site four months ago, it would’ve looked the same as it had in the past,” said Chris Morgan, vice president of operations at Walbridge, Blue Oval City’s prime contractor. “Farm fields. Trees. Majority of the site has been cleared, and the dirt is getting moved around and balanced. There’s a lot going on.”

The project, with the expectation of creating about 5,800 jobs, is scheduled to open in 2025. Meanwhile, there have been a handful of updates announced this month.

Omer tells us everything we need to know about the Blue Oval City project.

Memphis man accused of killing wife to remain in Fiji jail

Bradley Robert Dawson, husband of Christe Chen, remains locked up in Fiji and accused of killing his spouse. He appeared before court Wednesday and will remain jailed at least until Aug. 18, our Daniel Connolly reports.

The killing took place at Turtle Island Fiji, a luxury resort that offers private villas to only 14 couples at a time. Guests usually arrive at the island by seaplane, the resort's web site says.

"We can confirm an incident took place between a married couple at the resort on July 9th, resulting in a tragic outcome and charges being laid," the resort management said in an emailed statement. "We cooperated with the authorities during the investigation and the police left the island over a week ago. It is our understanding that charges have been filed in the case."

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Rev. Jesse Jackson pushes for automatic voter registration during Memphis visit

The Rev. Jesse Jackson returned to Memphis this week for the National Bar Association convention and advocated automatic voter registration when voters interact with government agencies, our Astrid Kayembe and Gina Butkovich report.

Most recently, Jackson has been on a tour across five states, speaking with citizens about voter registration and education.

"Right to citizenship is the right to vote," Jackson said. Encouraging young voters to be informed and engage with the decisions being made on their behalf, he asks them if they know: "What precinct are you in? What council district are you in? Who is your congressional representative?"

Meet the Dandy Dozen, Memphis area’s top college football prospects

The Commercial Appeal highlights some of the Memphis area’s top college football prospects in a feature series every year ahead of their regular high school season.

Beginning next week, we plan to feature each prospect and dive into who they are on and off the football field. The list will count down from the No. 12 prospect to the No. 1 prospect from the class of 2023.

Our Wynston Wilcox provides us with a list of student athletes who will be featured in this year’s Dandy Dozen. 

How Teran Conley might’ve saved White Station’s season

White Station was without a football coach through the winter and spring, and senior offensive and defensive lineman Bobby Burnett felt like people were quitting on his team, our Wynston reports in his story for subscribers.

“For the longest, we didn’t know if we were going to have a team,” Burnett said. “It was like, why am I putting in work here when I can go be doing something else?”

Now, White Station’s new coach Teran Conley has renewed Burnett’s faith in football and has helped him find his love for the sport again. In the process, Conley hopes to rebuild a football team that’s familiar with success at the state level.

Read Wynston’s story to see how Conley is rebuilding the team and how he plans to prove he was worth the wait for the Spartans.

The 901 is written by Ray Padilla, digital producer for The Commercial Appeal. He can be reached at raymond.padilla@commercialappeal.com or on Twitter at @Ray_Padilla_. 

This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: The 901: Ford Blue Oval City construction; Memphis man jailed in Fiji