For those of us crying out for more detailed maps on the recent redistricting of the Tennessee legislature by the Tennessee legislature,  here are the Google maps of the new State Senate, State House and U.S. House district lines as offered this afternoon by Lt. Gov. and Senate Speaker Ron Ramsey’s office.

Of particular interest in Shelby County will be the changes to the districts now represented by Memphis Democrats Jim Kyle and Beverly Marrero but Reginald Tate’s district has changed quite a bit as well in south Memphis.

These district lines are the ones that will be used in the August legislative primaries and the Nov. legislative general elections.

And you can see just how far the new 8th Congressional District will come into East Memphis proper.

Thursday’s edition of The Daily News previewed the paper’s upcoming Social Media seminar featuring keynote Glen Gilmore.

The globally recognized social media expert is principal at Gilmore Business Network in New Jersey, but he’s also a consultant, professor and an attorney. What’s more, Gilmore serves as the senior social media advisor to Amy Howell of Howell Marketing Strategies LLC, who’s also on the panel for the Thursday, Feb. 9 seminar.

@GlenGilmore has more than 100,000 followers on Twitter but said engagement beats quantity every time.

And he has the credentials to prove it. This week, Forbes even named him as a top 50 social media power influencer, based on his substantial online followings.

The lead deal in Friday’s Inked column was about Drexel Chemical Co., which recently purchased a 137,526-square-foot manufacturing/distribution facility on Presidents Island.

Drexel is already headquartered on Presidents Island and has four warehouses there, among other facilities. The local agricultural chemical provider is one of the two main industrial users of the island that borders Downtown Memphis, along with Cargill Inc.

The warehouse at 2070 and 2071 Channel Ave. had been vacant for awhile, and Drexel was able to snatch it up for only $5.89 per square foot.

At this time, Drexel has not decided what all it will do with the building other than warehousing, said company spokeswoman Leigh Shockey.

“We are in the cleanup/remodeling stage but are excited to have an even larger presence on Presidents Island,” Shockey said. “We think it’s a fantastic location given the accessibility to rail and road transportation.”

Raymond James delivered details of proposed retention packages to eligible Morgan Keegan advisers Wednesday.

According to Raymond James, the awards will be paid within two weeks of the closing date of the merger with Morgan Keegan. The company expects that to occur on or about April 1.

On Monday and Tuesday, more than 75 top advisers and management officials from Morgan Keegan will be visiting the Raymond James Financial headquarters in St. Petersburg.

Raymond James isn’t publicly talking about the retention payout details yet. One source told The Daily News, and a trade publication is also reporting, that advisers producing more than $1 million will get up to 70 percent of their trailing 12-month production as part of the retention payouts.

Advisers producing less than $300,000 aren’t expected to be offered retention payments. Advisers producing between half a million and $1 million will get up 50 percent; 40 percent for those producing between $400,000 and $500,000 and 30 percent for those between $300,000 and $400,000.

Will Barton and Tarik Black should be eligible to play in Saturday’s home game against Marshall despite coming off the bench in Wednesday night’s 73-51 win over Rice at FedExForum.

Black, Will Barton and Trey Draper were ejected – along with Rice’s Tamir Jackson – from the game. Tamir Jackson made a hard – flagrant – foul on the Tigers’ Joe Jackson as he was going in for what would have been an easy basket late in the second half.

Had the Tiger players become directly involved in the situation on the court – there was some pushing and grabbing but no punches were thrown – they likely would be suspended for at least a game. Tigers coach Josh Pastner also left the bench. Pastner said a player not leaving the bench is something they’ve stressed.

“We have gone over that as a team,” he said. “We’ve shown film on that. It’s a normal reaction to want to help your teammates, and they took a step or two out. But they were not involved in the altercation.

“I was a little upset because it was a hard foul. I wanted to make sure Joe was OK.”

The site of the abandoned French Quarter Suites Hotel is under contract to be purchased by a different ownership group than those that had recently planned to develop an upscale five-star hotel, the Memphis Regional Design Center announced to its members via email and Facebook Wednesday, Jan. 25.

Built in 1984, the 77,866-square-foot hotel at northeast corner of the Cooper-Madison intersection closed its doors in July 2008. There are five owners, including local attorney Donald Pemberton.

“I don’t really know what (the new owners’) plans are for the site,” Pemberton said. “We have a contract with them, I can’t tell you their names. It’s two individuals whose family is in the hotel business and it’s my understanding they’re going to convert it into a Comfort Suites, and that’s basically all I know at this point.”

Ron Kirkpatrick, another one of French Quarter’s owners, vowed in December to redevelop the vacant building into “a four- or five-star hotel and day spa,” contingent upon Memphis City Council’s approval of $16 million in city funds for a parking garage and detention pond in Overton Square. He said the $10 million to $12 million project would alone create 125 jobs.

Save Overton Square and the Midtown Action Coalition have asked for a public meeting to meet the new owners and hear the plans for the site. The new prospective buyers have agreed to meet at Memphis Heritage’s Howard Hall, 2282 Madison Ave., on Wednesday, Feb. 1 at 6:00 pm.

The Memphis Regional Design Center “urged” all those interested in the future of Overton Square and its surrounding Midtown neighborhoods to attend.

The Alliance for Nonprofit Excellence Thursday, Jan. 26, will host an open house from 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. at its office, 5100 Poplar Ave., Suite 502, to kick off the organization’s 20^th anniversary year.

The Memphis-based Alliance serves nonprofits in more than 30 counties in Eastern Arkansas, Northern Mississippi and West Tennessee.

Also, Open Doors, the Alliance’s blog, recently posted some helpful information for nonprofits regarding the best websites for organizations to post nonprofit job opportunities, how to help employees improve their personal financial wellness, last-minute grant writing tips and more. Check it out here.

Memphis congressman Steve Cohen spoke on the floor of the House of Representatives Monday, giving remarks within the context of “Red Tails.”

That’s the new movie from executive producer George Lucas about the famed black Tuskegee Airmen of WWII.

Here are Cohen’s remarks:

In today’s special emphasis edition on education, I wrote a story on St. Agnes Academy’s 160th anniversary Mass, celebrated Friday, Jan. 20.

Well, lucky for all of you TDN blog readers, I’ve got connections at the Academy and have some alumni-insider, old school (pun intended) photos that I’d like to share:

Original St. Agnes building at Vance and Orleans, taken in 1926

Current St. Agnes building at Walnut Grove and Mendenhall, taken in 1951

St. Agnes graduating class from 1923

I also asked Ginger Jordan, director of communications and alumnae relations at St. Agnes-St. Dominic, about the “St. Agnes” street sign off Union Avenue, eastbound before South Hollywood Street.

She said St. Agnes had bought that property, but when the school decided to move from the original location at Vance and Orleans in 1951, they determined that the area on Union had already begun to become commercialized! St. Agnes then sold that property and bought the land it currently sits on at 4830 Walnut Grove Road.

In 1951, Walnut Grove and Mendenhall was the eastern boundary of the city.

Memphis Grizzlies center Marc Gasol has been named by the NBA as the Western Conference Player of the Week for games played Monday, Jan. 16 through Sunday, Jan. 22. This marks the first player of the week honor in Gasol’s career.

Gasol (7-1, 265) averaged 19.5 points, 9.8 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 2.50 blocks on .673 shooting (33-of-49 FG) while leading Memphis to a perfect 4-0 record for the week. The four wins are part of the Grizzlies’ current six-game winning streak, the team’s longest since a seven-game run from March 14-26, 2006.

The 26-year-old posted three double-doubles, starting with a 19-point, 10-rebound effort on Jan. 16, as Memphis defeated Chicago in the 10^th Annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day Game. After the win over the Bulls, Gasol then turned in two impressive performances on the road, recording a season-high 22 points, 12 rebounds and a season-high tying seven assists on Jan. 18 at New Orleans and collecting 17 points, six rebounds and three assists on Jan. 20 at Detroit.

Gasol finished the week by posting 20 points, 11 rebounds, five assists and a career-high tying six blocks in a 33-point home win on Jan. 21 vs. Sacramento, which tied the second-largest margin of victory in franchise history.

Gasol’s field goal percentage this week (.673) ranked third in the NBA, one spot behind teammate Mike Conley (.696), as Memphis exploded out of the gates in all four games, combining as a team to shoot .671 in the first quarter and .630 in the first half over that span. As a result, the Grizzlies never trailed by more than four points during the week.

The Barcelona native, who re-signed with Memphis to a multi-year contract on Dec. 14, is averaging career highs in points (15.2), rebounds (10.6, T-6^th in the NBA), assists (3.1) and blocks (franchise-record 2.60, 3^rd) in his fourth NBA season. He also is tied for sixth in the league in double-doubles (9) and ranks seventh in field goal percentage (.544) and ninth in minutes (37.5).

Gasol now joins Zach Randolph and Pau Gasol as the only Grizzlies to win Player of the Week.

The Southwest Division-leading Memphis Grizzlies will begin a four-game Western Conference road trip Monday, Jan. 23 against Golden State at ORACLE Arena at 9:30 p.m. on SportSouth. The four-game road swing matches the team’s longest of the season.