Main Street Journal - Thursday, January 26, 2012

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Photo Credit: WMC
Don’t Skip School

 
Shelby County District Attorney Amy Weirich met with parents of students at Frayser High School to talk with them about the school’s high truancy rate, the worst in the City. She noted that parents can still be arrested, if called for.


Memphis Police Department: An internal audit shows that members of the Organised Crime Unit improperly billed the MPD for overtime at a private business they owned.

More on the “gross oversight” of nearly 80,000 “memos” that may document hundreds, or thousands, of unrecorded crimes in the City. Will the new memos dramatically increase the local crime rate? The Fox13 Insiders comment. More reports from WMC and WREG.


Municipal School District: Shelby County Mayor Mark Luttrell called Rep. Curry Todd’s bill “premature” and “inappropriate”, and urged the State to not get involved. WMC reports on Todd’s proposed bill, as does WREG.


City of Memphis: The administration seems to be scattered when it comes to finances. More on City Councilwoman Henri Brook’s plan to provide free transportation to people who need proper ID to vote later this year.


West Memphis Three: Fox13 interviews Pam Hobbs about her marriage to Terry Hobbs and new charges about him.


US Representative Steve Cohen: The Flyer’s Jackson Baker reports on the ever-quotable Congressman’s comments about President Barack Obama’s performance during the State of the Union address. His press release on the SOTU.


DeSoto County: State auditors have denied receiving a payment from Southaven mayor Greg Davis. MDOT has suspended the funding for all Southaven road projects, due to the Davis scandal. The closing of the County State Farm office is drawing criticism. The delegation of officials aiming to fund their projects are headed to Washington next month. The Bulletin Board from the Commercial Appeal.


Gibson Guitar: The raid last Summer on the guitar maker and the legislative response are dividing the guitar industry.


Senator Rand Paul: He was stopped and “detained” at Nashville International Airport on Sunday, where TSA staff said he became “irate” but video doesn’t back their story.


Business: From the Daily News, it’s Today’s Events. The Commercial Appeal carries People in Business and What to Do. And the Business Journal has People on the Move.


Nucor: They plan to invest $209 million in several of their sites, including Memphis, to produce specialty steel bar. More from the Commercial Appeal.


Delta Air Lines: Even with rising fuel costs the company was able to increase profits by 44% last year. It was their most profitable quarter ever. But “clouds remain” over their Memphis plans.


Titan Tire: The new owners of the former Goodyear Tire & Rubber expect to hire 300 people by year’s end.


Electric Vehicles: More on the first-ever solar-powered charging state at Shelby Farms.


Chattanooga: The City Council decided not to send money to a troubled “multicultural” chamber of commerce, but to a minority business development program instead. They also voted to join the recall lawsuit against mayor Ron Littlefield, to protect the City charter. The Chattanooga Airport saw a 4% rise in passenger boardings.


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Internet Exclusive: The Political Silly Season: Our political and financial contributor, Chuck Bates, is already growing tired of outrageous political ads and he’s still got to survive until November!


Internet Exclusive: Rick Santorum and the Tea Party? Our Tea Party contributor, Ed “Doc” Holliday went to New Hampshire for the nation’s first primary vote and argues that, now, Rick Santorum might be the last hope for the Tea Party movement in national politics.


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Unified Shelby County Schools: More on the Board’s acceptance of the $250,000 limit on spending by the Superintendent. Germantown’s vote to have a “meaningful dialogue” with the Unified board is setting up a collision course. Proposed limits on board members’ and the public’s comment time is drawing some opposition. Local educators are enthused by President Obama’s proposal to keep kids in school until age 18.


Shelby County Juvenile Court: They are now the only juvenile program in the Southeast to win the top three honors of their kind.


Anthony Webster: The man accused of molesting three girls at Lifetime Fitness in Collierville tried unsuccessfully to have his bond reduced. More from Fox13 and WREG.


Shelby County Commission: The new food truck ordinance was approved on the third reading. The redesigned 8th Congressional District is drawing the interest of Commissioner Kemp Conrad.


French Quarter Suites: A surprise announcement foiled as news leaked out of a possible new owner for the Overton Square property. It may become a Comfort Suites. There will be a public meeting next week, February 1.


Financial: A small profit decline this quarter for Trustmark.


Mississippi: New governor Phil Bryant helped kick off the Eat Healthy Mississippi campaign; more from WREG. There are no files for five of the men pardoned by former governor Haley Barbour; more from the Associated Press. The State will outlaw many weight-loss shots. The State’s unemployment rate dropped last month to 10.4%.


Judicial Election: Governor Bill Haslam and both Speakers, Ron Ramsey and Beth Harwell, came out in favor of constitutionally ending the popular election of Supreme Court and Appeals judges. More from WPLN the Chattanooga Times Free Press, the Nashville Scene, the Knoxville News-Sentinel, and the Commercial Appeal. Critics of the move say it’s not needed.


Tennessee: The Tax Foundation rates us the 14th “tax friendliest state” for business. The press release. A majority of Tennesseans think texting while driving is as bad as drunk driving, but one-quarter still do it.


Politics: The General Assembly is still pushing to lower the grocery tax rate. Governor Bill Haslam says the General Assembly has better uses of its time than bills about homosexuality. More from the Nashville Scene. Opponents of such bills recruited the father of Matthew Shepard to speak on their behalf; more from the Nashville Scene and City Paper, the Knoxville News-Sentinel.


Arkansas: A tax-rate change mailing that went out had a wrong tax rate listed for West Memphis. A court case will rule on the rightful owner of a million dollar lottery ticket.


Income Tax: A strong “yes” vote for the constitutional ban on an income tax, with Democrats deeply divided.


Christ Community Health Services: With a $20,000 grant from the March of Dimes Tennessee Chapter they hope to expand their CenteringPregnancy program.


Nashville: The head of California’s Summit Preparatory Charter High, Todd Dickson is coming to Nashville to lead the creation of a charter school network there. He wll be a senior fellow of the Tennessee Charter School Incubator. Metro Nashivlle schools continue to isolate the school unions. Davidson County Clerk John Arriola, according to an audit, was pocketing nearly $120,000 from a $40 “gratuity” he charged for weddings. Round one goes to the independent cab drivers trying to break into Nashville’s tight cab consortium.


Picture of the Day

Hello! One of the pandas at the Memphis Zoo, from Flickr by kuku4pandas. © 2012. Used with permission.

Opinion

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


Tennessean: Dolly Parton’s water-themed park isn’t Opryland, but it’ll do.


Rays of Wisdom: Take appropriate measure to protect yourself against identity theft. (via the Daily News)


I Swear: He resolves to…. (via the Daily News)


Gail Kerr: Anti-gay legislation “breeds hostility” and is responsible for in-school violence. (via the Tennessean)


Commercial Appeal: Congratulations to the Manassas High School documentary, Undefeated, for an Academy Award nomination. The symbolic importance of 3000 solar panels is big for Memphis Bioworks.


Wendi C. Thomas: She discovers “gay teen suicide”. (via the Commercial Appeal)