Memphis Budget Cuts: Just how many appointed positions does City government have? Good question, as it turns out.

Just for comparison, in Nashville the Metro government is asking all departments to cut 7.5% from their budgets and all demolitions (fighting blight) are on hold as the program is out of money.

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

Downtown: A new restaurant and fresh-foods market, the Trolley Stop Market is coming in April.

After the Snow and Ice: Shelby County schools are closed today; Memphis City Schools will decide before dawn. Snow day! Still going to church. WREG team coverage. Tree danger and another story on trees.

Icy driving, from Fox13 and again, Eyewitness News, WMC.

Reports from the rest of the Mid-South and West Tennessee: Dyer County and Dyersburg. Fayette County. North Mississippi. Northeast Arkansas.

MLG&W used Twitter to alert customers to outages and repairs. Greyhound passengers stranded in Memphis.

Sanitation Workers: If your trash wasn’t picked up on Friday, it will be on Monday; more from Eyewitness News. Also, disciplinary hearings are set for this week.

BlizzFizz 2010: It wasn’t as bad as the warnings, but Friday and Satuday’s snow event was still pretty impressive. Finding fun in the ice and snow.

West Tennessee: A report (with photos and video) on the snowstorm in Dyersburg, from the State Gazette.

Politics: House Speaker Kent Williams, booted from the Republican Party after engineering his election as Speaker away from Republican Jason Mumpower, is allegedly looking for ways to backdoor into Republican primaries. Is Republican Rep. Beth Harwell considering running for the Speaker’s job?

Shelby County Commissioner George Flinn is nearing an announcement on entering the Eighth District Congressional race. Jarod Scott has filed to run as a Republican for Jim Cooper’s Fifth District US Congressional seat. Eighth District Democratic candidate Roy Herron is claiming credit for new TN Board of Education guidelines allowing teaching of the Bible in public schools. Republican candidate for the Sixth District, Lou Ann Zelenick, got most of her money in the last campaign reporting period, from herself; more on the Sixth District, from the Knoxville News-Sentinel. And, a report on fundraising in the Third Congressional district race.

Republican gubernatorial candidate Bill Haslam calls out fellow Republican Ron Ramsey over some comments, right after he made them! The ChattanoogaTimes Free Press reports that Republican Zach Wamp raised over $1.3 million since mid-2009. More on Bill Haslam and Bill Gibbons, from the News-Sentinel. Democratic candidate Jim Kyle claims to be “most in tune with Governor Bredesen”.

The biggest fight in the Legislature this year will be over spending reserve funds. Lawmakers discussed how to keep the State’s Unemployment Insurance Fund solvent after being drained last year. Republican House members get their own executive secretaries, to match Democrats, who have had them for some time. A preview of Governor Phil Bredesen’s budget-balancing act. And an overview of some of the new legislation.

The Commercial Appeal’s Bartholomew Sullivan has a report from the weekend’s Republican caucus retreat, focusing on Rep. Marsha Blackburn’s role; the Washington Post also reports. Also from the CA, meet Vincent Morgan, the Ford who isn’t a Ford.

Mississippi: The MS Supreme Court rules Governor Haley Barbour cannot constitutionally cut court funds in his budget-cutting process. Legislators consider the radical idea of reducing the size of the Legislature itself! No time for legislative toys. Failure to pass bill providing funding for District Attorney offices might mean furloughing ADAs. The legislature is now considering a State lottery.

WUMR: After a year-long sabbatical, Harrel “The Navigator” Moore is back on the air. WUMR website.

Tea Party Nation Convention: Sarah Palin confirms she will appear at the convention. Judson and Sherry Phillips are speaking out over the media stories and complaints from former supporters. And the convention will be opened up to more media. In a related story, Nashville radio talk host Phil Valentine says the mainstream media don’t understand the true leaderless grass-roots nature of the tea party movement. (via the Marshall County Tribune)

Baker Donelson Bearman Caldwell & Berkowitz: They are buying the old Pizitz Building in Birmingham for a new local headquarters.

Memphis City Schools: Memphis Police Director Larry Godwin and Superintendent Kriner Cash are fighting to control an MCS police force. Superintendent Kriner Cash renewed his call for a school police force.

Governor Phil Bredesen: In tonight’s State of the State speech, expect “stark cuts” in services.

Consolidation: Rebuild Government is hosting Jacksonville’s general counsel Richard Mullaney on Thursday, talking about their experience with consolidation.

Shelby County Government: The Commercial Appeal profiles Interim Mayor Joe Ford’s chief of staff, Pamela Marshall.

Shelby County Republican Party: Their keynote speaker for the Lincoln Day Gala will be national Republican Party chairman Michael Steele.

Tax Season: More TN families will qualify for the Earned Income Tax Credit this year.

Arkansas: Governor Mike Beebe declares a state of emergency over the snow. Arkansas Tech has placed scholarship students on a waiting list. Snow records were set in January.

Business: A business profile of Natural Stone Distributors, from the Commercial Appeal.

The Commercial Appeal looks at local PR firms that help businesses understand the new media. And the Daily News looks at Obsidian Public Relations.

From the Commercial Appeal, What do Do for Saturday, Sunday and Monday; People in Business for Saturday, Sunday and Monday; Done Deals.

The Small Business Advocate warns against heeding maxims, the conventional wisdom, in the CA.

Memphis International Airport: Friday and Saturday’s icy conditions force cancellation of most passenger flights.

Unemployment: The suburban ring in Shelby County saw much lower rates of unemployment than Memphis proper. Many Southern unemployed are coming to Tennessee for jobs.

Local Media: The Commercial Appeal is sponsoring, along with First Tennessee Bank, a financial literacy essay contest among students. The deadline is in a month. Jon Alverson is the new editor for the DeSoto Times-Tribune.

Tipping: Part Three in the Memphis News’ helpful series on proper gratuities. This entry is on the amounts and reasons for tips.

South Main Association: Jodie Vance, publisher of the Downtowner magazine, will speak at their February meeting this February 9.

Harold Ford Jr: President Obama’s presidential campaign manager, David Plouffe, is going to Senator Kirsten Gillibrand’s aid. Gay rights protester calls him “snake-oil Harry” and a gay State legislator says he’s “to the right of [Dick] Cheney” on gay marriage. Is this why the Rev Al Sharpton is supporting Ford? The New York Post’s Cindy Adams give Ford a nod.

West Tennessee Healthcare Foundation: They received a $5 million donation for the Alice and Carl Kirkland Cancer Center in Jackson, from the couple.

HopeWorks: A fundraising breakfast later this month will feature guest speaker Sean Tuohy.

Tennessee: The State’s parks system needs $105 million for basic maintenance needs. The University of Tennessee may be overlooking the state’s needist poor and minority students.

Financial: Cadence Bank reported its first profitable quarter for 2009; more in the Daily News. Local banks are only too happy to pay back TARP funds.

Memphis Zoo: The new baby giraffe born last week is named Akili. More from Fox13, WMC.
 

Karl Rove: A very short interview with president Bush’s former adviser, when he was in Memphis to speak at Rhodes College.

Arlington: The Daily News looks at the particular mix that makes the town attractive to developers.

Desoto County: Two snow days from earlier in the month will have to be made up. Reports on the weather and roads from the snow storm, from the Commercial Appeal. Olive Branch is reconsidering its 2007 annexation plan. The County schools are still fighting the H1N1 virus.

2010 Census: More and more people are not defining themselves by the racial categories of the US Census.

Pretty in Pink Megan: A photo-report from the Women, Wine & Shoes benefit.

Running With Dice: It’s a new post, on D&D gaming under the 4th edition rules.

Smart City Memphis: Phase three, BEG, of the B.E.G. plan. Spotlighting five special people.

The Chubby Vegetarian: A milestone passed with a thank-you and a request for your vegetarian questions.

The English Major Bookstore: Hey y’all! She’s looking for part-time, night workers.

vibinc: He’s come to a conclusion about life, which he illustrates with marbles.

Amie Vanderford: Jack the cat may have just lucked into his new forever home!

Quite Swimmingly: A simple recipe for a filling beef stew. Yum!

MemphisConnect: The culinary safari continues, at the Mesquite Chophouse.

Memphis Daily News Blog: Do people outside Memphis see it better than those of us inside?

Just a Girl in the World: Encountering turbulence in the sea of Mr Risky Business.

Boys in the ‘Hood: Walt’s first time using sarcasm!

Brain Release Valve: Pinpointing the moment when we traded big fundamental science for micro-science.

Can’t Stop: Why life is like a marathon.

Divers and Sundry: Studying the new high school Bible curriculum guidelines and asking questions.

Friends for Our Riverfront: Suggestions for a better Beale Street Landing for less money. The numbers on the Beale Street Landing keep changing.

I’ll be the one in heels: Why do so many women deprecate themselves for others?

a field guide to urban memphis: Some interesting thoughts on socio-political boycotts and regionalism.

Akiddo: Remember, y’all, text files of howling self-pity are forever.

55-40 Memphis: Is CA editor Chris Peck being naive about the savior power of the iPad? Calling out Paul Ryburn for misogyny.

artbutcher: One of the great things about the new Playhouse on the Square is that it has art galleries!

Memphis News: However the Wells Fargo lawsuit goes, it’s sure to make a point.

Tom Humphrey: The special session on higher education reform was the easy part of this session’s legislative work. (via the Knoxville News-Sentinel)

Wendi C. Thomas: She’s hoping to build some support for the Grizzlies. (via the Commercial Appeal)

Otis L. Sanford: The Super Bowl is crazy and no place for anti-abortion ads. (via the Commercial Appeal)

Chris Peck: He hopes the iPad will have journalism and the economic model his industry is based on. (via the Commercial Appeal)

Bartholomew Sullivan: The nation’s Great Recession requires ambitious Great Depression-sized solutions. (via the Commercial Appeal)

Lucie Bridgforth: She argues for merging the State’s three historically black colleges and one women’s college under other universities’ administrations. (via the Commercial Appeal)

Commercial Appeal: The Legislauture shouldn’t waste time on junk legislation, except when it should. Supporting crackdowns on guns in schools. And the support the proposed new spay/neuter ordinance for pit bulls and pit-bull breeds. Mixid news on the recessions masks the fundamental need for jobs.