School Unification: The Planning Commission and the Shelby County Planning Foundation have worked out a memorandum of understanding with Boston Consulting Group, to be paid for with private funding. (Website here.) More on the blending of cultures going on with the unification of the two school boards. Before the Unified School Board is forced to decide on selling schools to the municipalities, USB member Martavious Jones wants a policy in place.

Broad Avenue Arts District: They are working to make the most of their connections to the expanded Memphis Greenline and the large biking community that surrounds them.

State Education Reform: The State may use the Achievement School District to take over 10 low-performing Metro Nashville schools. By comparison, Memphis has 68 schools in danger of takeover.

Memphis Animal Shelter: They will have a grand opening of the new shelter this Saturday, but is it all a fresh start.

Morgan Keegan: The Daily News reports that any interest in puchasing them by Stifel Financial are “all but dead”. A number of lawsuits, potentially totalling billions of dollars, are still hanging over the firm.

Tennessee: Over one million dollars is available for rebates for energy-efficient appliances if you apply soon.

Labor Law: A controversial action by the National Labor Relations Board, taken ahead of the NLRB not having enough members to make a quorum, is being panned in Memphis.

Shelby County Commission: The updated map for Commission districts survived its first (of three required) votes. County Commissioner Steve Mulroy has two ordinance that would tighten the ways that people abuse their pets; more from the Commercial Appeal. They also voted in favor of giving County employees a bonus.

Federal Reserve: The quarterly Beige Book says most economic activity in the Mid-South slowed. Direct link to summary is here. Related observations from the Daily News’ blog. And a short report from the Commercial Appeal.

Greater Memphis Chamber of Commerce: Larry Cox, head of the Shelby County Airport Authority, has been elected the chairman of the board of the GMCC. More from the Daily News and the Commercial Appeal.

Business: With yesterday’s market surge, most Memphis publicly-traded stocks also rose.

People on the Move, noted in the Business Journal. Today’s Events, from the Daily News. In the Commercial Appeal, there’s People in Business and What to Do.

NBA: The Commercial Appeal has an overview of the current situation.

Memphis Police Department: The spouses of police officers rallied in opposition to efforts to cut their salaries and pensions. More from WMC.

Mississippi: About 30 bow hunters have received permits for a deer herd-thinning effort in Oxford.

Politics: State Democrats are targetting Republican Congressman Scott DesJarlais and his re-election effort. The State Senate Lottery Stabilization Task Force panel is proposing some cuts to some HOPE scholarships. More from the Tennessean, the Associated Press. American Elect is a group that wants to recast the American political system into a more non-partisan model.

Social Promotion: Republican State Senator Brian Kelsey and Democratic counterpart Charlotte Burks have introduced legislation to end social promotion of eighth graders. (Senate Bill 2156) Morefrom the Commercial Appeal.

NEW! INTERNET EXCLUSIVE: Chuck Bates is fired up this month and lets loose a cri de couer of frustration at a mass media that’s telling Republican voters whom to vote for before they’ve even met all the candidates honestly. It’s a firecracker of a column.

INTERNET EXCLUSIVE: Bloomberg’s Money: What Does It Mean For Memphis? Correspondent Craig Harper returns to ask the difficult questions that no one else is asking about Memphis Mayor A C Wharton’s use of New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s money to fight juvenile handgun violence.

Internet Exclusive: Why Shelby County Needs Single-Member Commission Districts: County Commissioner Steve Mulroy explains his single-member district proposal for the County Commission redistricting–why it’s better and more responsive to community needs.

Election Commission Disaster: The former Sumner County election administrator, Darlean McDougal, has thrown her former office into disaster, possiblly affecting elections, but destroying an unknown number of documents, records, files and data when she was terminated from her job. The District Attorney has been called in to investigate.

General Sessions Court Clerk: Suspended Court Clerk Otis Jackson is running for re-election despite his status and will face a challenge from County Commissioner Sidney Chism. Jackson has been indicted on 4 counts of official misconduct. More from Fox13 and the Commercial Appeal.

Shelby County Government: More on Mayor Mark Luttrell’s use of “surplus” County revenues to give County employees a bonus.

University of Memphis: Students are pushing for a campus crime report from the administration, on a regular basis. The school will now be paying three coaches next year.

Occupy: Occupy Nashville is growing bolder and digging in for winter. They “feel so at home they’ve been flying kites and square dancing.” Website here. MSNBC has even done a package on them. Did you know there’s an Occupy Tupelo? Occupy Memphis is called “no issue” with local authorities, and has 15 Occupants full-time..

Poverty: A study of US Census data says there are more children living in poverty than previously thought, though changes in measurements are also responsible.

DeSoto County: Southaven mayor Greg Davis is calling repeated inquiries from the public and media “distracting”. ABC24 dives into the State auditors’ numbers and Davis’ repayments. Five popular restaurants have been flagged by the Health Department. Grassroots reaction to government action marks Take A Knee! and they’ll have their second “gathering” on this Sunday afternoon. (Facebook page here.) County officials are “rallying around” Nathan’s Law, which would toughen fines for passing a school bus.

World AIDS Day: Local officials are in the difficult situation of reminding people the disease is still a daily threat.

2012 State Budget: The Department of Environment and Conservation says it can cut its budget, as the governor is requesting of all State agencies, but there are conditions. The State Republicans are wrapping up their study of small business and formulating a plan of action.

Germantown: The town sent a delegation of officials to East Tennessee, to study the feasibility of a municipal school system.

TN Home for the Holidays: This is a new holiday tradition started by Governor Bill Haslam of self-guided tours of the executive residence. The First Lady, Crissy Haslam, explains and gives a tour.

IRS: There are 1779 undelivered tax refund checks for Tennesseans. More from Fox13.

Internet Exclusive: Mississippi Tea Party activist Ed “Doc” Holliday supports the Republican presidential candidacy of Herman Cain and says he brings “Rock Splitting Politics” to the race.
 

Danelle F. Walker: Child sex abuse is preventable. (via the Tennessean)

Barbara Sanders: A rather mushy, emotional appeal to embrace the Occupy movement. (via the Tennessean)

Jackson Sun: The current attempt to raise school performance and educational attainment isn’t the first and likely won’t be the last.

Commercial Appeal: An odd argument against closing schools: prevent neighborhood blight. Inoffensive is, apparently, a good quality in a public protest.

Rev Kenneth S. Robinson: He challenges the Memphis community to get serious about fighting AIDS. (via the Commercial Appeal)