HERENTON STRIKES AGAIN! Monday afternoon on Thaddeus Matthews’ radio show, former Mayor Willie Herenton announced he’s not running for Memphis mayor after all! More from the Commercial Appeal, Daily News, WREG, Eyewitness News, WMC, Fox13 and again.

Reaction from the other candidates. From Fox13’s Political Insiders.

Memphis City Schools: Superintendent Kriner Cash is defending the new, “no flunk” policy for pre-K through 3rd grade students. Mixed parental reactions.

City of Memphis: More on the former mayor’s Cadillac Escalade and efforts to reduce and eliminate city-paid vehicles for employees.

Memphis’ Next Mayor: Sunday’s Commercial Appeal story on an alleged sexual orientation incident at Rev. Kenneth Whalum Jr’s church on Sunday is gaining media traction. More from the two women making the allegations here, with rebuttals from the congregation in comments. Other stories from Eyewitness News, Fox13.

More from the Flyer on the A C Wharton campaign’s rollout. Mayor Pro-tem Myron Lowery calls this election season “crazy”.

Tennessee: The number of uninsured children in the state fell sharply in the last year, though adult numbers rose with the recession; more from the NWTN TODAY website. Also, a report on the disparities across the state in child health care and maternity treatment.

Business: Charles Ewing Sr, founder of Ewing Moving Service is featured in this month’s Black Enterprise Magazine. TECworks is hosting a training program for the FastTrac TechVenture system.

A business profile of Ben Vaughn, who is opening new restaurant Grace, from the Daily News.

People in business, from the CA.

DeSoto County: The traveling exhibition from the Smithsonian Institution is closing Sunday. Southaven’s Fire Station No. 2 is now open for business. County Board of Supervisors worked on next year’s budget Monday. And the County school board approved new rules for recruiting athletes.

Preservation: A look at the restoration’s progress with the Chick-fil-A on Union Avenue and the old Cumberland Presbyterian building.

Pidgeon Industrial Park: The Port Commission is using matching funds with Nucor to pay for dredging of the harbor.

Financial: CEO Jim Wells of SunTrust Bank says the banking system faces uncertainty but is “back from the brink”.

Collierville: Persistent flooding is leading the City to hire seven engineering firms to study the problem.

Survey Says: The 401(k) plans for Memphis’ International Paper and Buckeye Technologies are ranked top performing. Business bankruptcies are up 64% in the first half of the year. Memphis housing prices fell just over 4% in June.

Tigers & Liberty Bowl: The University of Memphis will sell beer during home football games at the Liberty Bowl stadium. Money is the motivation. More from the Commercial Appeal, WREG, Eyewitness News, WMC, Fox13. The University still opposes the idea.

Consolidation: Few details in a WMC story alleging a “secret meeting” between national African-American leaders and local opponents of consolidation.

Politics: Adrienne Pakis-Gillon is seeking the Democratic nomination in the race for State Senate 31 seat that Paul Stanley recently vacated. The Secretary of State’s office may change the order of names on the next State ballot, giving the top slots to Republicans. A popular West TN Democratic blogger, Trace Sharp (nee Newscoma), will also handle “new media” duties for Democratic gubernatorial candidate Mike McWherter. A report from the Office of Legislative Administration on the per diem expenses of state legislators. Republican gubernatorial candidate Ron Ramsey is promising to put a homeschooling representative on the State Board of Education.

US 8th District Rep. John Tanner appeared at a public Q&A session in Union City Saturday. (via the NWTN Today website)

Former Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist is fasting to protest the genocide in Darfur.

Arkansas: Lethal injection suit is halting all such executions until the case is heard in October. The state’s cotton crop faces a couple of problems.

More on the cutback of police presence in West Memphis in tensions between police and City Council; further stories from Eyewitness News and again, Fox13.

Oakland: A detailed report of a public meeting on problems with flooding in some subdivisions –especially around Northwood Estates — what’s causing them and what can be done. (via the Oakland News)

Forest Hill Funeral Home: Judge has set January 4 date for embezzlement trial, and didn’t separate the cases.

Christian Brothers University: The school has been nationally recognised by two different publications: U.S. News & World Report and The Princeton Review.

Reelfoot Lake: Before a permit allowing hunters to spray herbicides around their stands and blinds is renewed, there will be a public hearing by the Department of Environment and Conservation’s Division of Water Pollution Control. Date of hearing is September 14. (via the Dyersburg State Gazette)

Real Estate: The intersection at Poplar Avenue and Colonial is slated for redevelopment and the Saint Paul Book & Gift Store may be moving. Restaurant supply company Lit has struck a deal to buy the old Chism Trail grocery store on Winchester in Whitehaven.

Smart City Memphis: Thoughts on MCS and Dr Kriner Cash, and transparency and more. And some thoughts and cheerleading on City-County consolidation.

Paul Ryburn’s Journal: Some pictures from the weekend.

Squeaky Wheel Seeks Grease: If you know the “photo-crashing squirrel” meme, you’ll get the joke.

Steve’s Nude Memphis Blog: A psychologically complex post on waters, homes and Australia.

Student: Revisited: Tales from the pharmacy counter.

The Conservative Zone: Health care reform as a Trojan horse. Refighting World War Two in miniature for fun and sponsorships. One hundred victims of government health care.

Urf! More back to school thoughts.

theology & geometry: My god, it’s full of stars!

Vegan Crunk: Pics of some vegan dishes from various Memphis restaurants. Fun at farmers markets. Thoughts (and more) on summer soups.

The Shelf Life: A book on Twitter, the most terse of social media?

The Ominous Comma: At last! Dr Harold Toboggans releases his anti-zombie patch to the general public!

The Memphis Liberal: Praise for the MCS new “no flunk” policy.

Wendi C. Thomas: On her personal blog, she’s back from her journey into her past. Training can be difficult. A post in which she speaks on behalf of all other local journalists. An invitation to Common Ground.

Walt’s World: Walt will soon have a sister. Very soon!

Commercial Appeal: State needs to revisit open meeting laws thanks to Twitter and Facebook. New MCS “no flunk” policy requires lots of money and planning and resources.

A Right Perspective: The new “no flunk” policy is wrong-headed and damaging. (via the Commercial Appeal)

16 Balls in the Air: Marking another phase of mothering. An accident makes this six year old feel cool.

The Tale of a Southern Belle: It’s a one-year anniversary and she recounts how they met.

Blue Collar Republican: A request for Memphis voters from a Shelby Countian.

Wow. Really? Huh. Some detailed advice if you’re looking for an aesthetician.

Whitebread on Patrol: Part one of the police recruiting testing is over. And part two.

what would you ax it? Alarmed by the sheer amount of sucking, Dave offers some tips on how to not suck.