Photo Credit: WREG via Twitter
He’ll Be Home For Christmas

 
The seized pet dog–Kapone, whose disappearance while in Memphis Animal Shelter custody sparked massive changes, terminations and outrage–has been located. He was found in a backyard in Senatobia, MS, after an anonymous tip to Crime Stoppers. He had been last seen in the company of MAS employee Demetria Hogan on June 24. There are questions about where he was found and how he got there.

More reports from ABC24, WREG and the Commercial Appeal.

Memphis City Council: A council committee voted down a 2.7% hotel/motel tax increase proposed by Councilman Edmund Ford Jr. Ford says our hotel/motel tax rate is not in line with other similar cities. Hotel industry representatives came and expressed their opposition.

The Council also approved the $1.9 billion 2012 budget for MLG&W. Other council business.

Overton Square: The Council passed the $16 million “financial incentive” to fund a water detention facility under a parking structure built by Loeb Properties. Councilman Harold Collins noted that other parts of the city, such as Elvis Presley Boulevard have similar problems, but don’t get similar funding or attention. More from WREG and the Commercial Appeal.

Memphis City Schools: The Tennessee College Access & Success Network will subsidise the ACT and pay for tours of local colleges for students at Hamilton High School to increase college participation. Many questions, much contention and a very tight deadline for the MCS Engineering Lab.

Shelby County Commission: They are considering stricter laws, even spay/neuter, for “aggressive breeds” of animals.

Whistleblowers Lawsuit: A suit alleging wrongful termination for Cynthia Banks-Harris by Memphis mayor A C Wharton has finally made it to court. She and her former boss, John Todd, claim they were trying to “expose operational and financial mismanagement” in Homeland Security.

Memphis Police Department: Officer Michael Sinnock arranged to purchase 20 Lortab and 200 pounds of marijuana with the alleged intent to sell them. He was on-duty and in uniform at the time. A statement from Police Director Toney Armstrong. More from WMC and WREG and Commercial Appeal.

TN Higher Education Commission: The system that controls the State college system is asking legislators to approve an ambitious and expensive plan to fund capital improvement projects.

Politics: The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is running a robocall operation in US Representative Stephen Fincher’s district. Looking for a gift to give this Christmas? Congressman Marsha Blackburn suggests 100 watt incandescent bulbs!

State Representative Lois DeBerry reports she is now cancer-free. More from the Tennessean and the Commercial Appeal.

DeSoto County: Ohio-based The Pizutti Company has been chosen as the master developer and development adviser for the proposed large-scale industrial park development in Olive Branch. The Board of Supervisors dissolved the Summerhill Fire Protection District and the tax supporting it.

The Southaven Board of Aldermen met last night to review receipts turned over the them from the State Auditor’s office concerning mayor Greg Davis. After the meeting, some are calling for Davis to resign; more from WREG about the two-hour closed meeting.

Marine Christian Brown: He continues to recover at a hospital in Germany. The West Tennessee’s Patriot Guard is involved in his support; their website is here.
 
 

Tri-State Bank: Some changes to the executive management team were made.

Gasoline: Local gas prices have come down a bit. The Memphis average price is $3.03/gallon.

NEW! INTERNET EXCLUSIVE! Our Tea Party contributor Ed “Doc” Holliday looks at the Republican presidential candidacy of Newt Gingrich and wonders if his past baggage can–or should–be overcome in tea party eyes.

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.

Shelby County Office of Preparedness: They are preparing for deep cuts in Federal funding in the next year.

Mayor A C Wharton: His mother, Mary Wharton, passed away yesterday. She was 94. No word on arrangements yet. A statement from Mayor Wharton. The obituary from the Commercial Appeal.

Porter Leath: A Headstart program school owned by Porter Leath was vandalised and the copper was taken from 19 A/C units.

Holiday Closings: The Commercial Appeal has the list.

Memphis Fire Department: Another fire department officer, Lt Nick Molinaro, has been busted, by the family of New York 9/11 victim (and fellow Fire Department worker) Carl Molinaro for claiming a blood relationship that doesn’t exist.

Mississippi: Governor Haley Barbour last State budget revives some ideas he’s proposed before, including school district consolidation. In the State redistricting effort, US Representative Alan Nunnelee is sad to see three Counties moved from his First District.

Dyersburg State Community College: A two-year audit has found “significant financial misstatements” about school funds classification.

Business: Unemployment rates fell in 43 states in November. Shoppers appear to be increasing their holiday spending this year.

The Business Journal reports People on the Move. The Commercial Appeal covers What to Do and People in Business. And the Daily News notes Today’s Events and Memphis Newsmakers.

International Paper: The United Steelworkers have reached an agreement for 5700 employees that means a raise.

Delta Air Lines: When the airline had a sale on flights to New York, they forgot to include Memphis, even as they are touting their Atlanta hub.

Mahaffey Fabric Structures: They have been named one of the nation’s 100 fastest-growing inner-city businesses.

Real Estate: The National Association of Realtors is scheduled to release revised data for the past five years. An error in the formulae for computing the Multiple Listing Service is blamed but the extent of the misstatement is unclear.

Shelby County District Attorney: They will be using “DNA indictments” to stop the clock on statue of limitations.

Arkansas: Officials will lift lane restrictions on a 10 mile stretch of I-40 for the holidays. A student at Earle High School was beaten up for resisting joining a gang, and was suspended for fighting back.

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.

Yeah, and another thing: She’s a capitalist but she doesn’t subscribe to the credo of unrestrained consumerism.

Weeden Arts Watch: Continuing the “alphabet” series, a call for a “Kuntsverein” and people are more interesting when they are juxtaposed.

Walls of the City: Correlation does not imply causation. Thoughts on Square, which turns mobile phones in mobile charge cards.

Vegan Crunk: Christmas at Me-Maw’s.

Urf! A review of Charles Mingus: Beneath the Underdog.

This Classical Life: A history of the Twelve Days of Christmas and some free printable downloads.

The Soundcheck and the Fury: If his blog were a bar…. And, some lyricists’ thoughts on birds.

The Intersection of Madness and Reality: The “critical misunderstanding” in talking about immigrants and immigration.

Steve’s Nude Memphis Blog: A two-fer! Cops using Taser crotch shots and how new headlight placement (of high intensity beams) is blinding drivers.

Staging by M: Some simple but dramatic gift-wrapping ideas.

Squeaky Wheel Seeks Grease: Old embarrassing video. (OK, not really.) Thoughts on President Obama and “fight or flight”.

Joe Spake’s Daily Buzz: The rest of the day’s news, from all sorts of eclectic places.

Memphisotan: Her experience with jury duty.

Smart City Memphis: Getting the aerotropolis into the air. Becoming “Memphis: A City That Cares For Its Children“. The tax that Memphis never levied … until now.

sarah fortune: Baby Iris is now two months old. And cute!

Reginald Milton’s A Fresh Look: An open letter to County Commission chairman Sidney Chism.

readmorewritemorethinkmorebemore: An intensive review of the George Clooney film, The Ides of March.

Pretty in Pink Megan: What’s in your purse? A scarf that doubles as a neck brace.

Paul Ryburn’s Journal: WordCamp Memphis is coming in January. “Day drinking” in the downtown. What he’s looking for in a bar.

Guerrilla Sales & Marketing: “To blog or not to blog?” she asks. (via the Daily News)

Commercial Appeal: The “leading edge” of civic pet maintenance is more laws? They always go with the experts. Always.

Small Business Advocate: Being an avowed Scrooge isn’t all that bad. (via the Commercial Appeal)