City of Memphis: Two division directors — Lorene Essex and Estrice Boone were dismissed on Friday. More from WREG. Boone defends the City car he was driving that was repaired by City workers at an estimated cost of over $20,000. Mayor Wharton says more changes are coming.

City sanitation workers, who have come under fire lately, staged a protest at City Hall. Mayor A C Wharton is calling their behavior “totally unacceptable”.

The City Council is considering banning many beer sales downtown to crack down on panhandlers and homeless. They may also vote on a law to force “pit bull” owners to have their dogs spay or neutered.

Memphis City Schools: The AT&T Foundation has awarded the schools a $10,000 grant to support math education. (via the Germantown News) Amar’e Stoudemire wants to bring an online personal financial education program to MCS. Also, the similar $mart Tennessee Financial Literacy program, already in use.

Consolidation and Annexation: A group of “de-annexation” activists are trying to get a voter referendum in place to allow communities to withdraw from the City of Memphis into unincorporated Shelby County. A WREG report from Monday night’s meeting.

Willie Herenton: At a surprise interview at a Martin Luther King Day memorial, Herenton claims Memphis’ best days are behind it and says he’s got “fire in his bones” for the 9th Congressional District race. More from WREG.

The Regional Medical Center: A group of legislators from the Assembly and the Governor’s office will tour The MED and meet with administrators later this week. Interim County Mayor Joe Ford talks about how to save it.

Staff Sgt Dewayne Merriweather: The soldier from Whitehaven was killed by a roadside bomb last week. He was on his third tour of duty. More from Eyewitness News, WREG.

BRIDGES: The non-profit agency recently worked with 300 students to help build future social leaders of tomorrow.

Elections: Candidates are beginning to pull petitions ahead of the May Shelby County primary elections.

Mississippi: In his State of the State speech, Governor Haley Barbour hopes to cut over $400 million from the State’s budget. A short report on the speech from WREG. And a much more in-depth report in the Commercial Appeal.

The Carroll County School Board wants to ban citizens and officials from recording its meetings. Mississippi Outdoors — the hunting, fishing and wildlife news — from the Commercial Appeal. A bill is introduced in the Legislature to require the registration of ATVs, along with records and fees. The State Department of Mental Health’s mental health and suicide hotline can now accept emails and text messages. A national consulting firm will study merging some of the State’s smaller school districts. Restauranteurs don’t like a proposed “seafood origin” bill. Proposal to close the State’s training schools is meeting resistance.

Germantown:City officials and the Design Review Committee are at odds over digital advertising signs being allowed.

FedEx: Their interstate and intrastate less-than-truckload shipments will cost nearly 6% more soon. More from the Business Journal.

Business: New 2009 business permits rose 5.7% over 2008, although the 4Q slowed to 1%. Memphis improved its small business standing this year, but it’s still ranked low.

Studsvik, which once did business as RACE, agreed to an EEOC settlement of a discrimination claim for $650,000. Target will now offer television delivery and installation services. Dunkin’ Donuts comes to Germantown! Ozburn-Hessey Logistics is expanding its Memphis operation. Wal-Green’s will begin offering fresh and prepared foods in stores. Praxair and Valero Refining have finalised an agreement to provide industrial gasses to Valero’s refinery.

A business profile of Makeda’s Homemade Butter Cookies, from the Daily News. And, a business profile of The Eyewear Gallery, from the Germantown News. A business profile of Aussie Pet Mobile Company, in the CA.

The Small Business Advocate, in the CA, introduces and explains the “sales pipeline”.
Done Deals, from Sunday’s Commercial Appeal; also, What to Do, for Sunday, Monday and Tuesday; and People in Business, for Sunday, Monday and Tuesday.

Pinnacle Airlines: They secured, with Independent Bank of Memphis, a $10 million loan.

First United Methodist Church: They celebrated Sunday with Collins Chapel Christian Methodist Episcopal Church their common history, going back to 1841.

Tennessee: Revenue shortfalls mean State budget officials are asking TennCare to cut State Medicaid by $140 million. Metro Nashville is also facing a too-tight budget and their Metro Finance chief isn’t ruling out property tax increases to plug gaps. Susan Cooper, the State Commissioner of Health, is concerned that the State’s budget isn’t keeping up with demands.

Schnuck’s: Their pharmacies are offering to pregnant women free pre-natal prescription vitamins in partnership with the March of Dimes.

NEW! Main Street Journal: Commissioner Mike Ritz looks at The MED and offers some ideas on what to do.
 

Shelby County Schools: Millington Central and Houston High Schools will go to a trimester system in the next academic year.

School Menus: The school menus for Memphis City schools and Shelby County schools.

Tipping: The first in a series on tipping at Mid-South restaurants, from Fredric Koeppel and the Memphis News. This part focuses on how tips are distributed.

State Education Reform: Governor Phil Bredesen’s package of education reform bills was passed by both the full House and Senate late Friday. More from Fox13, WMC. Bredesen has a “mule team” to finish the State’s application for Federal “Race to the Top” money. Changing the emphasis of higher education from enrollment size to graduation rates.

National Civil Rights Museum: They have a new exhibit called Soul Soldiers that looks at the role of African-American soldiers in the Vietnam War. More on the exhibit from Fox13.

Memphis Police: New digital license plate readers are proving very, very successful at catching criminals unawares and now the Shelby County Sheriff’s office is hoping to get some, too.

Bartlett: With Judge Freeman Marr assuming extra duties in Municipal Court, ex-Criminal Court Judge Fred Axley may be providing help.

Politics: A number of NW TN pols were present for the MLK breakfast in Jackson.

State House Speaker Kent Williams wants any legislative action to wait until an appeals court judge rules on the “gun carry in restaurants” bill. A new bill being introduced may keep many prisoners behind bars longer.

Republican gubernatorial candidate Bill Haslam has now raised $5.72 million. Another Republican, Bill Gibbons, is proposing to use lottery money to give students four year scholarships if they agree to teach in the state.

Nursing Institute of the Mid-South: They will host a reception this week to kick off a million dollar grant to “develop better clinical nurses”.

Red Light Traffic Cameras: While Memphis seems to be enamored of RLTCs, nationwide, the tide is against them. Millington is preparing for the installation of RLTCs along Navy Road and Highway 51.

West Tennessee: Dyersburg police will now be carrying tasers. (via the Dyersburg State Gazette)

Harold Ford Jr: Ford calls NY US Senator Kirsten Gillibrand a “weak puppet”. He goes to Harlem to meet local bigwigs, makes stops for the Martin Luther King holiday, and has now embarked on a “listening tour”. Is the Rev Al Sharpton switching sides? Brooklyn Dems about to come around? The New Republic’s Marty Peretz says Ford isn’t “easily dismissed”. The Commercial Appeal says he’s “fleeing Tennessee record”. The Hill puts Ford’s chance of running at 80%. The New York Times interviews Memphians on Ford’s past and future. In an election today, Gillibrand would crush Ford, but would a Coakley loss in nearby Massachusetts help him?

Agriculture: Expect fresh fruit prices to rise after the last deep freeze has damaged or killed a lot of crops.

Tea Party Nation: More critics of founder Judson Phillips are coming out of the woodwork. The New York Time’s Frank Rich picks up the story. And more from the Nashville Scene and the Tennessean.

Real Estate: Smith & Nephew completed acquisition of the property for their new $14 million HQ. The Downtown condominium market had a strong rebound in December.

DeSoto County: The Hernando Public Library will host an exhibit on WWII POW camps. Part one of a series from the DeSoto Times Tribune on the County’s animal shelters; this part is on the Hernando Animal Shelter. The County Democratic Party had a voter registration drive; more in the Commercial Appeal. More on Southaven’s restaurant tax to improve local sports parks. The governor lauded the DeSoto County schools for their effectiveness. The County’s highway scales will be replaced, beginning next month.

Millington: Police Chief Ray Douglas is proud to have reduced crime on his watch by 27%.

NAACP: Memphis executive director Johnnie Turner is on leave while she’s in Nashville and that leaves a leadership vacuum.

Financial: First Tennessee has agreed to cooperate with a Federal Housing Administration probe of their mortgage lending practices.

University of Memphis: The Memphis Literacy Corps enlists college students to teach to third, fourth and fifth graders in Memphis schools. A new program on the school’s jazz radio station, WUMR, aims to keep thing fresh. (stories via the Daily Helmsman) School president Shirley Raines’ compensation package is ranked in the bottom half among her peers.

Commercial Appeal: Mediaverse: Memphis is reporting that another round of layoffs is imminent at the daily paper.

Previously Posted: Comtrak Logistics CEO Mike Bruns is retiring.

West Memphis 3: A judge will announce this week whether to grant retrials to two of the three men convicted.

Notes from Memphis: The Memphistanista has been on vacation in Florida! Lots of envy-making pictures for you to pore over. More random pictures. And some Miami Beach pictures.

Just A Girl in the World: The sad end of Mr. Barely Legal. (Mild language alert.) And then she runs into Mr Risky Business.

Downtown Memphis Blog: He constantly revisits Steve’s Nude Memphis Blog and is puzzled by it.

Cwabs! As Valentine’s Day nears, here are some of the things he’s done for love.

Pretty in Pink Megan: A sad fashion realisation.

Pulled Before the Push: A lifetime growing up at the Zoo.

Rustmeister’s Alehouse: Pointing out another Memphis anti-gun politician.

Complacencies of the Peignoir: Thoughts on cookies and snowflakes in the classroom.

Shane of Memphis: He’s in love with a woman he’s not yet met.

The Chubby Vegetarian: Looking for a quick and tasty ravioli filling?

That’s My B: Not sure what’s going on here, but it’s intriguing.

Squeaky Wheel Seeks Grease: “Adjust your expectations” as she’s about to change her blog up.

artbutcher: Your quick joke of the day.

16 Balls in the Air: Things no one told them before they had the boys.

Air Traffic Mike’s: He shares his brother’s funeral.

Akiddo: His plan for life, Plan B, and music video accompaniment!

vibinc: He continues his series of discussions about a “legislative body” for a new Metro government (ie. a city council or commission) in part two and part three. (Part one is here.)

Smart City Memphis: Governor Bredesen’s education reforms plain dismiss Memphis’ colleges and universities. And more discussion of the school funding issue. Thoughts on free food at fundraisers.

The Shelf Life: Holy catchphase, Batman! Captain Comics returns to the Commercial Appeal, sort of.

The Soundcheck and the Fury: He presents one perfect sentence. If his blog were a bar….

Memphis News: Strong Midtown tastes clashed with slipshod presentation and rumor control to doom Overton Square.

Commercial Appeal: They favor merging higher education boards in Mississippi> And the pro-consolidation paper also supports merging City and County Fire Departments. The solution to school violence is a new, better-armed, police force in the schools? Railing at right-wingers for being haters and not looking at the other side at all. The U of M Tigers shouldn’t be using public police for private security. New police license plate readers aren’t invasive technology and shouldn’t worry the public.

Jerome Wright: A history of the push for a separate City schools police force and the concerns of some of the main parties involved. (via the Commercial Appeal)

Wendi C. Thomas: Memphians are a generous people. (via the Commercial Appeal)

Chris Peck: Basicaly, freedom and democracy are messy things and government should “restrict civil liberties” as much as it can, protecting the “common good”? (via the Commercial Appeal)

Otis L. Sanford: He opines on Harold Ford Jr’s shift to New York. (via the Commercial Appeal)

James Overstreet: At least one economic forecaster thinks the recessions is about to merge with the aging baby boomers’ changing demands. (via the Commercial Appeal)

John Branston: The judge in the appeals ruling on the Memphis City schools funding case appears to have made a $75 million error.