Northeast Shelby Republican Club Dinner: The four leading Republican candidates for governor — Bill Gibbons, Bill Haslam, Ron Ramsay and Zach Wamp — will attend the 2009 Pasta and Politics fundraiser on November 13. (PDF document) Website here.

Red Light Traffic Cameras: WREG does a major investigation into the cameras, their efficacy and usefulness and more. You can also check out our post from yesterday (See calendar on right.) for more links on red light traffic cameras and how more communities are abandoning them.

Shelby County Schools: Both ad hoc school board and student advisory committees are re-examining the system’s cell phone policy.

IRS: There are 479 people in Shelby County who are due tax refunds.

Arkansas: A recent poll shows US Senator Blanche Lincoln’s approval rating is at its lowest levell ever. Gilbert Baker, who hopes to be her Republican challenger, was in Washington for a National Republican Senatorial Committee fundraiser.

Corporate Neighbor Award: This year’s recipients were Kemmons Wilson Cos. and Cummins Inc, honored for volunteerism, giving and public-service programs.

Germantown: The Board of Mayor and Aldermen will vote Monday on a three-tiered proposal for storm water fees.

Arlington: Mayor Russell Wiseman says the city won’t opt out of gun carry in public parks like Memphis did. Lakeland is the only Shelby County community that hasn’t dealt with the issue now.

Politics: A Davidson County chancellor has denied a request for an injunction by Common Cause to force the Secretary of State, Tre Hargett, to implement the TN Voter Confidence Act, but he did rule the 2005 standard put forward by Hargett doesn’t apply. Hargett’s reply here. And the TN Democratic Party responds. More from the Humphrey on the Hill blog and the Commercial Appeal.

State Treasurer David Lillard spoke to the Jackson Rotary Club Wednesday on the condition of the State’s pension fund. (via the Jackson Sun) With four of House Speaker Kent Williams’ most vociferous critics leaving to run for the State Senate, what does that mean for Williams? (via the Metro Pulse) US Rep. Bart Gordon (6th District) re-iterates his opposition to the current Democratic health care reform plan.

The Shelby County Republican Party is considering ditching the very partisan primaries they ushered in.

Legislators may scrap the State’s switchgrass / biofuels project because of extensive changes to it and a drastic scaling back of production goals. Governor Phil Bredesen calls the effort “ridiculous” and “outrageous”. More from Humphrey on the Hill.

ALSAC: The fundraising side of St Jude Children’s Research Hospital laid off 70 employees. More from Eyewitness News, the Commercial Appeal.

Delta Air Lines: They saw traffic drop by 6.5% for October.

DeSoto County: The Board of Supervisors has restructured the way $250,000 is given to Impact Missions, which runs a shelter for at-risk and abused children.

Methodist Healthcare Hospice: Construction of the $11 million residential hospice facility is set to begin later this year.

Media: From Knoxville’s Metro Pulse, how the News-Sentinel has handled commenters on its website and how they actually got ahead of a competing local website in driving local discussions.

TNInvestco: The first round of finalists in the State-sponsored venture capital fund have been announced. Memphis’ Innova Fund II was one of the finalists. Legislators are now asking for $40 million more. More from the Commercial Appeal.

Real Estate: Mid-America Apartment Communities saw a 3Q income rise. The first-time home buyer’s tax credit has been extended and expanded.

Nathan Bedford Forrest: A new novel by Madison Smartt Bell, Devil’s Dream, unearth’s some surprising facts of the Civil War hero and Ku Klux Klan president’s life. (via the Nashville Scene)

Memphis City Schools: Superintendent Dr Kriner Cash appears on Good Morning Memphis to address the NCLB report card and the teacher pay issue. You can read the State’s official report card on Memphis and Shelby County schools. A look at how the Davidson County (Nashville) school system and Dyer County schools system doing. The Knoxville News-Sentinel’s blogger laments Memphis. The system is claiming it saved 84 jobs with Federal stimulus funding.

Sexually-Oriented Businesses: City Councilman Shea Flinn is proposing putting all the city’s SOBs into one tightly regulated zone, like President’s Island. More from Eyewitness News, WREG.

MLG&W: The smart-grid project is being cut back from 70,000 homes and businesses to just 1000 residential units, thanks to lowered Federal stimulus funding.

Memphis Animal Shelter: About 200 people staged a vigil at the shelter in protest of the management and conditions there. An overview of the problems a the shelter, from the Flyer. Mayor A C Wharton stopped euthanasia because they weren’t following their own procedures. More from the Commercial Appeal.

COGIC Convocation: From the Tri-State Defender, a brief report on the week. Presiding Bishop Charles Blake addressed concerns over sexual misconduct at a news conference. He also discussed the better deal St Louis offered them to move.

Financial: Bankers have slowed hiring and cut costs. Commercial mortgage lending is down 54%.

University of Memphis: Benjamin Hooks spoke to students about using the past to prevent oppression in the future. The J. M. Smith Hall computer lab will close with the opening of the University Center computer facility. A study is underway looking at compassion fatigue among 911 dispatch callers. (all stories via the Daily Helmsman)

Mississippi: The $300 million plant that was supposed to be announced last month is still planning an announcement later this year; more from the Commercial Appeal. Tourism is down in Tupelo, but revenues are up? Governor Haley Barbour is resisting the siren call of legislators who don’t want to make more budget cuts next year.

Image of Jesus: A Jonesborough man, Jim Stevens, says an image of Jesus has been appearing on his truck window every morning with the dew. (via the Johnson City Press)

Business: Verso Paper saw 3Q income double; the CA has more. While their 3Q sales rose, Fred’s October sales dipped; more from the Commercial Appeal. Starbucks reports customer traffic and spending are both up. Cellular South is predicting strong sales of its new Hero smartphone when it arrives later this year.

People in Business and What to Do, from the Commercial Appeal.

Collierville: Federal stimulus grants will allow the police to buy video tech and new bulletproof vests.

MPACT: They collaborated with the Memphis College of Art for Creative Conservations: Ideas That Work, which is intended to brainstorm ideas for making Memphis attractive to the “creative class”.

Survey Says: Commercial real estate pros don’t expect a recovery until 2011. Online spending dropped below $30 billion in the 3Q. More shoppers than ever expect to buy on Black Friday. From Memphis-area large department stores, a mixed report for October.

Commontaries: Thoughts on Tuesday’s Republican gubernatorial wins.

cbduke: A letter to Mayor Wharton on the Animal Shelter.

Buck Daddy: Not-quite-Wordless Wednesday.

The Flyer: Partisan political primaries were a bad idea then and are a bad idea today.

Gerard Stranch and John Bonifaz:They argue the State should begin implementing the Tennessee Voter Confidence Act. (via the Flyer)

John Branston: Is Raleigh Springs Mall too much retail for its neighborhood? (via the Flyer)

The Rant: Dick Cheney: the ultimate, scary insider. (via the Flyer)

Gwynn Bradley: Next year, Labor Day will mark the start of the Christmas season. (via the Daily Helmsman)

Commercial Appeal: There’s a perfectly good explanation for why the two young boys killed in a residential fire haven’t been noted by the Fire Department. Patient, methodical examination is called for in Animal Shelter reactions.

Tri-State Defender: In the current political season, African Americans are still coming up winners.

Steve Cohen: “Real and perceived racial and ethnic disparities” in law enforcement must be addressed. (via the Tri-State Defender)

Tony Nichelson: Memphis needs “real men” for her children and the future. (via the Tri-State Defender)

theology & geometry: Lindsey’s been suffering all kinds of weird symptoms all week and now comes the despair, followed by the crash.

The English Major Bookstore: Anyone want to buy a Marshall Yoder show cart for their horse?

Student: Revisited: A quick catch-up post as she readies for graduation. And, a happy birthday to her dog, Buttercup.

Steve’s Nude Memphis Blog: Best. Halloween party. Ever.

Smart City Memphis: Some advice for A C Wharton if he wants to become a great mayor of a great city. The TN Department of Education has finally been caught lying to Memphis.

Doug Johnson at Work: Diminshed expectations from occasional businesses.

Just A Girl in the World: Once your friends and family discover your blog, it’s pretty much all over.

Author of Y’all’s Destruction: Hey, he’s got creative stuff you can buy!

The Tale of a Southern Belle: Is it Xmas already?

polar donkey: A call to “do one thing right” with the Animal Shelter.

Persian Pit Bull: The Spaytacular is this Sunday — a party and fundraiser for your pets’ health.

Notes from Memphis: Do you recognise this dog, found lost on South Main earlier this week? Please help get her home.

I’ll be the one in heels: First best friends.