Metro Charter Commission: Coming up next… designing the metro council districts.

Shelby County Elections: More early-voting rumblings of big Republican turnouts. And Democrats are now beginning to worry.

Education: Dozens of consulting firms are lining up for a piece of the State’s Race to the Top funds.

ArtsMemphis: A Plough Foundation grant of $600,000 will help the organisation make their own grants for three more years.

Memphis City Schools: More warnings to the community about TCAP scores. The Pre-K Express program was a huge success this year. The “Backpacks for Tatts” program is back! Students who are also illegal immigrants protested at the Board of Education building.

Memphis Heritage: The Daily News profiles the preservationist group and its leader, June West.

Habitat for Humanity of Greater Memphis: BancorpSouth sold the lots, and Federal stimulus funds gave some money and so Lake Las Cruces came into being.

Politics: The TN Civil Liberties Union has started a website concerning State immigration law. A majority of state Republicans support the goals of the tea party movement. Three-quarters of Tennessee voters are most concerned with jobs, the economy and government spending. The State has a law against anonymous political attacks, but it’s seldom enforced.

Eighth Congressional District Race: The Flyer’s Jackson Baker takes an unusually high-flown and literary tack in reporting on the race. The Jackson Sun looks at the tangled web of donors and conflicting polls in the race. Republican Dr Ron Kirkland has some old remarks come back to haunt him; Kirland denies the interpretation. Kirland supported former governor Don Sundquist’s income tax effort The Weakley County Press also reports on the Republican race..

Abraham Summit: Fourteen year old Elizabeth Dia brought together members of three great religions to learn about the role of Abraham in each.

Governor’s Race: A Mason-Dixon poll shows Republican Bill Haslam leading the primay, but none have a majority. More analysis from Tom Humphrey of the Knoxville News-Sentinel.

Republican Zach Wamp says he didn’t suggest secession as some have alleged. The original story and an update. Wamp claims to have visited Memphis sixty times. Haslam promises to appoint a “rural, agricultural and small town” czar. Republican Ron Ramsey is calling on the State’s Attorney General to file an amicus brief in the Federal effort to stop Arizona’s new immigration laws.

Democrat Mike McWherter has aired his first campaign ad.

Financial: The Bank of Bartlett is working to return to full profitablility this year.

West Tennessee: This year celebrates the thirtieth anniversary of “no-till” farming, which was invented here. State Senator Lowe Finney met with American Ordinance and the US Army to try to save jobs in Milan. The Dyer County Sheriff’s office is getting nearly $90,000 in Federal asset sharing funds. A public relations firm has been hired to write the TIGER II grant proposal for the Northwest Tennessee Regional Port. The Obion County United Way distributed $115,000 this fiscal year.

Previously Posted: More on the Agriculture Department grant for the Memphis Farmers Market downtown; further reports from Fox13. More on the purchase and demolition of Marina Cove apartments.

Arkansas: The Lester Dierksen Memorial Hospice system is expanding into Crittenden County. This Summer’s heat wave has claimed four lives in the state.

Wolf River Greenway: An in-depth look at the Greenway, the trail and the river itself, from the Commercial Appeal.

Real Estate: For the 2nd quarter in a row, Education Realty Trust has reported a decline in funds from operation. Downtown condo sales are steady this year. The construction backlog in the South declined in May.

Main Street Journal Online: Senior writer Michael Roy Hollihan sits down with County Commission District 5 candidate Dr Rolando Toyos and introduces him to voters in The Swing Seat.

NEW! Main Street Journal July Article: The Redbird Connection Our Publisher and Editor-in-Chief Jonathan Lindberg pens a paean to a summer’s night of baseball.

Shelby County Commission: One topic of discussion in today’s meeting is switching insurance agents for the FedEx Forum.

Downtown: The new president of the Center City Commission, Paul Morris, calls for a “denser downtown” as part of a “Downtown strategy”.

Memphis Police Department: They have answered 4000 animal calls this year. Why didn’t police shoot at the dog in the deadly attack last week?

Cohen v. Herenton: If the polls and pundits are to be believed, the race is over. An Associated Press story on the race that’s also appeared in the New York Times and on MSNBC.

Barbara Swearengen-Ware: The City Councilwoman’s husband is pastor of the Faith Fellowship Church of God in Christ, which is getting its parking lot repaved courtesy of the City of Memphis.

Fund the Mission: The Signature Chefs Auction, benefiting the March of Dimes Birth Defects Foundation, has named its event and committee chairs .

DeSoto County: With the success of the recent WWII memorial event, the planners are now hoping to do the same for a Korean War tribute. Commerical truckers on US Highway 51 should watch for “virtual weigh stations”. The Horn Lake American Legion post is a little closer to solving their flag mystery. The Regional Utility Authority will unveil a new, consumer-friendly website. A tour and some history of the Black Industrial College. More on the acquital of Clarksdale Police Chief Gregory Hoskins. (two previous stories via the Desoto Times Tribune)

Tennessee: Six candidates have come forward for the chancellor’s position of the TN Board of Regents; more.

Business: The Cresecent City restaurants in Memphis and Collierville are closed for renovations this week; more in the Daily News. SurgiVision has delayed its IPO by a week. The FedEx-UPS battle could end up costing Memphis jobs. Home Depot Fuel Centers (only in TN and GA) will soon offer takeaway chicken.

A business profile of nexAir, a gas distribution company, and another profile, of Rockin’ Runnin’ Tours, a foot-based downtown tour company, from the Daily News.

Today’s Events in the Daily News. From the Commercial Appeal: People in Business for Sunday; What to Do Sunday and Monday. The Small Business Advocate notes that running a business is like the Tour de France.

Overton Park: A local boy scout troop has undertaken removing graffiti from the “Doughboy” statue at the entrance.
 
 

Germantown: The Board of Mayor and Aldermen will discuss starting their own ambulance service. A report on the construction of the Everybody Tree House at Riverdale Park.

Mississippi: The director of MDOT, Butch Brown, was arrested on a charge of misdemeanor public intoxication. Members of the 114th Military Police Company came home from Iraq; more from WREG. The tax-free holiday could be a much-needed sales boost. At least a part of the opposition to the Choctaw gambling project is just political.

Survey Says: According to Businessweek.com, the Mid-South states are three of the top five laziest states.

Collierville: The Small Area Plan for Town Square will be voted on this week.

The Conservative Zone: He warns of the (tax) wave that’s coming.

The Daily Docket: Wintermute’s rather extensively detailed list of endorsements.

Steve’s Nude Memphis Blog: For some reason, this sad party tale reminds me of The Smiths’ How Soon Is Now?

Musings, Nits, and Praises: What kind of English teacher are you?

Air Traffic Mike: He misses AutoZone Park and the Redbirds. Vacationing on the beach at Nags Head.

Ansley Fones: An entertaining family story filtered through NO gas.

Xspectre8: He’s rebooting his blog and so he re-introduces himself. Welcome back. How a farmer looks at his land.

Artful Memphis: An extremely in-depth analysis and review of Tim Crowder’s works at the David Lusk Gallery.

Thoroughly Modern Medusa: Yeah, you’re a modern, married, working couple with kids when this is your idea of a great night.

Them’s The Rules: Another milestone passed with The Candidate as they plan a weekend getaway.

Speak to Power: Thoughts on the tangled question of who is voting for whom in the Ninth Congressional race. Is the recent turn of events a sign that Democrats have lost their confidence?

3: Her baby shower was coming up and she is, as usual, worried.

Tom Humphrey: Candidates who rely on their own money often lose. (via the Knoxville News-Sentinel)

Tom Bohs: How can we raise the expectations of students and their parents? (via the Jackson Sun)

Jackson Sun: Counting on the public to solve the murder of Euhommie “Ollie” Bond.

Jan Knight: Are you offended when someone else corrects your child? (via the Desoto Times Tribune)

Geoff Calkins: Problems are easily solved when you agree with him. (via the Commercial Appeal)

Chris Peck: Dad watches his little girl grow up. (via the Commercial Appeal)

Otis L. Sanford: He believes Republicans are primary voting for Steve Cohen to defeat Willie Herenton. (via the Commercial Appeal)

Commecial Appeal: Honoring the Bar-Kays. Despite years to prepare, warnings and encouragement about TCAP scores. Getting a greenway is good; keeping it is harder. They admit the City’s proposed anti-discrimination ordinance isn’t needed, but will make us look good? Opposition to a pay hike for Sheriff’s deputies.

Memphis News: Chaotic Midtown development now calls for planning and development.

Tom Pease: Every manager needs a dashboard to gauge his business. (via the Daily News)