School Menus: Memphis City schools here and Shelby County schools here.

ARKANSAS: An effort is underway by the Board of Aldermen to have a judge oust the City Treasurer of Helena-West Helena. State lawmakers are preparing a vote-ready bill on a lottery.

MATA: The city’s bus service is getting near-record low riderships even in a time of economic hardship. The Commercial Appeal talks with critics, experts and MATA officials to find out what can be done. Related national story from WMC.

Malco Theaters: What happened at a Malco theater in Raleigh that emptied it of hundreds of kids and caused three precincts worth of police to respond? Police say shots weren’t fired; witnesses say they were.

The Big Switch: Fox13 offers explanations and help if you are still confused about the switchover to digital broadcast television later this year. And more from Eyewitness News.

MISSISSIPPI: Fire destroys the Mid-South Animal Rescue League. The State House has approved the Voter ID bill. Study shows law intended to cut cell phone usage among State employees hasn’t had much effect.

City of Memphis: The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the ’scrap metal’ decision, requiring that sellers keep records and the scrap purchased for 10 days.

Dr Trent Pierce: Still no leads, clues or tips in the bombing of the West Memphis doctor.

POLITICS: A quick recap of the tumultuous doings in the State House as it reconvenes to start the new session. Why did State Rep. Jim Cobb place a recording device under an assistant’s desk? Democratic Rep. Jim Kyle was surprise-voted in as the leader of the Shelby County legislative delegation last week over Republican Curry Todd. Legislators agree to make K - 12 education a priority. The Commercial Appeal’s revived Political Notebook.

Harold Ford is in contention for the Secretary of Commerce job under President Obama. There are still questions about his compensation while at Merrill-Lynch.

Three West TN US Congresspeople have filed a bill to get benefits intended to go to owners of property damaged in last year’s tornoado assigned to heirs. Rep. Steve Cohen has requested an investigation of the firing of a Memphis Veterans Medical Center clinical psychologist; more from Eyewitness News, WMC, WREG.

How the Federally-funded stimulus jobs will be divvied up by the just-passed stimulus bill that will send $4.28 billion to TN, and why Memphis seems to get the short end of the stick; also, how the money is intended to be divided. The vote in Congress on the stimulus was a straight party-line affair.

Previously Posted: Smith & Nephew showed both revenue and profit increases in 2008; also, the Daily News reports that story. More on the just-opening Minglewood Plaza concert hall.

Germantown: Overflow traffic and parking may be fixed at Forgey Dog Park, if MLG&W allows it.

DeSoto County: Planners of the County’s Greenway are looking at the Coldwater River as a possible canoe/kayaking destination.

REAL ESTATE: This Wednesday, several hundred real estate professionals are expected to gather at the Commercial Property Forecast Summit in Germantown. Frayser’s foreclosure problems could receive Federal stimulus funds, via the Neighborhood Stabilization Program. Also, with the rise in unemployment and foreclosures came a rise in bankruptcies last year.

Shelby County: Arlington officials are hoping to get some of the Federal stimulus funds to local infrastructure work. A look at the possible layoffs and firings in Shelby County government, if new revenues aren’t created; via WREG.

Main Street Journal: Our February 2009 issue is now out! You can peruse the Table of Contents here. Chuck Bates presents Part Two of Socialism Not Seen Since FDR.

Television: A reality show to be based around writers was auditioning in Memphis recently.

Tax Season: Both Volunteer Income Tax Assistance and the AARP are providing free tax preparation and filing assistance until April 15th, at many locations.

NAACP: The Commercial Appeal profiles some of the early members of the Memphis branch of the NAACP on the anniversary of its centennial. Here is a loosely related story on the plight of historically black colleges in the down economy.

The New Jewish Neighborhood House: Midtown Jews are seeking to start a supplement for their spiritual lives since there is no synagogue in Midtown.

Survey Says: Consumer confidence dropped again in February.

President’s Day: What is today’s holiday and how is it observed locally? However, if you are a student of the DeSoto County school system, you’d best get going, as you still have to go to classes today.

University of Memphis: Just who is Lucy and why is she wandering all over campus? After approval by the Land Use Control Board, the University Neighborhood District redevelopment plan goes to the City Council for approval.

AGRICULTURE: A study projects a 14% drop in cotton acreage this coming season.

Stanford St Jude Golf Championship: The sponsors, the Stanford Group, are reportedly under investigation by the SEC.

Memphis City Schools: Next year, a plethora of languages will be taught to elementary school students.

BUSINESS: State saw a doubling of layoffs in 4Q 2008, but the total number of workers laid off fell. SCORE can help your small business in hard times. Intermodal Bridge Transport is moving operations to the Outland Business Center. The UT Medical Group us hoping to save millions by consolidating their administrative offices in Midtown. A Hilton Garden Inn is going to be built near the Countrywood Crossing shopping center in Cordova. Circuit City is seeking approval to sell some of their properties as they go through bankruptcy.

A summary of the status of the Morgan Keegan fund investors’ lawsuits. McCall Wilson, of The Bank of Fayette County, offers some thoughts on the Federal bailout of the banking industry. Both JP Morgan Chase and Citigroup are going to stop home foreclosures temporarily. Churches and other religious non-profits should be especially transparent in the finances right now. More creativity for business funding from Fox13.

People in Business, from the CA, for Saturday AND Monday. A profile of Leadership Academy’s Will Moore. Another business profile OF web design firm SPEAK! And a short business profile of Tennessee Roofing Consultants. Old Towne Olive Branch’s new director, Donna Wadford, is profiled by the CA, as is Hernando Chamber of Commerce’s new executive director, Angie Hick.

Home owners looking to sell find the current climate a tough sell.

FedEx: A dividend of 11 cents a share was declared.

Healthy Memphis Common Table: The Commercial Appeal talks with executive director Renee S. Frazier about health, diet, exercise and what HMCT is for.

MedTronic: Turns out the judge who dismissed nearly 700 lawsuits against the company has a son who works for the law firm representing MedTronic in other matters. More from Eyewitness News.

Panacea: Some evocative words, brought on by waking from a dream.

Otis L. Sanford: Achievement in a field of endeavour does not a role model make.

Chris Peck: Defending the daily paper’s publishing of the concealed carry permit holders database.

Wendi Thomas: Arguing over the religiousness of gay adoptions.

Commercial Appeal: Taking a snide shot at the Mid-South Fair as it plans to spend a year at the DeSoto County Civic Center. Apparently unaware that the Nashville Tennessean published the same concealed carry permit holder database two years ago and caught the same storm of controversy, the CA thinks bills in the legislature to restrict access to certain databases are their doing. Honoring the NAACP for their incalculable contributions to American society. Rep. Brian Kelsey’s text message wasn’t a lawbreaker, but it hopefully taught him a lesson. Now that Juvenile Court has lost the contract for collection of payments, they should drop the issue and focus on the children.

The Daily Docket: A recommendation to watch Dateline on ID, about the Memphis Police Department.

Urf! Stuck in a bad situation doesn’t always make you a bad parent.

Joseph Russell: Valentine’s Day sucks; watch basketball instead.

vibinc: Decrying the use of anonymous sources and then thoughts on bringing back the Glass-Steagal Act and the bankruptcy bill from 2005.

Squeaky Wheel Seeks Grease: She writes a letter to a legislator, expressing her anger at having her name appear in the Commercial Appeal’s database of concealed carry permit holders. And, PETA uses a Ku Klux Klan comparison!

Mediaverse: Memphis: Thoughts on the carbombing of Dr Pierce.

LeftWing Cracker: Thoughts on the race for chairman of the Shelby County Democratic Party.

Dining With Monkeys: A large, filling and successful meal at Los Comales on Summer.

Smart City Memphis: Some solutions for a gritty city like Memphis. Memphis may be ‘different’ but the problems and their solutions are still the same.