Photo Credit: WMC
Listening to Divided Voices

 
The Shelby County Unified Schools’ Transitional Planning Commission will hold two “listening sessions” tonight–at Millington Central High School and Westwood High School in south Memphis. Last night’s meeting in Hickory Hill only attracted 75.

Memphis City Council: Today will be the first of three readings on the annexation of Gray’s Creek. The meeting agenda.

Suburban School Districts: There will be a public meeting on February 21, to discuss the creation and funding of a school district for Lakeland. Collierville becomes the first suburb to officially draw up a resolution for the Board of Aldermen to vote on; if approved the vote would come on May 10.

Bartlett: Last night’s forum on creating a municipal school district revealed strong support and willingness to pay higher taxes. But some still have questions.

City of Memphis: It is now a firing offense to Tweet anything that paints the City in a negative light. The City owes thousands of dollars in unpaid traffic fines to Walls and the State of Mississippi.

Minority Hiring: At least two Shelby County businesses have sued because they failed to qualify for the County’s hiring program–they feel unfairly.

Mo’ Money: The complaints against the tax refund business are now appearing in several states. Some are getting refunds; some are not.

DeSoto County: Holly Steward is the DeSoto County Schools Teacher of the Year. The Board of Supervisors named a panel to study the immediate renovation needs and long term needs of the Fire Department, among other business. The County is also stepping up earthquake preparedness. The Southaven Police Department is accepting applications for the Citizens Police Academy.

Memphis City Schools: Part Two of the Commercial Appeal’s series on how teachers are reacting to reforms in teacher evaluations. MCS is looking for ways to continue funding the Gates Foundation’s reforms after the Gates funding stops.

Collier Smith, a bus driver for Durham School Services, was arrested for the statutory rape of a 14 year old student. More from Fox13, ABC24, WMC, WREG.
 
 

Immigration: Fox13 looks at legal immigration.

Business Leader Briefing: Fresh from last week’s trip to the White House for a meeting with the Obama administration, Memphis business leaders are contemplating how to turn it into productive action. Leaders say we’ll need a new set of labor skills. This was a project of Business Forward.

Business: In the era of the “big grocery store”, don’t write off the little guys yet. Eighty percent of Memphis growth in office space rental was Downtown.

The Daily News covers Today’s Events. In the Business Journal you’ll find People on the Move. What to Do and People in Business, in the Commercial Appeal.

Smith & Nephew: They have settled a bribery case involving Greek doctors for $22.2 million. The Justice Department and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission brought the charges, civil and criminal.

Delta Air Lines: Passenger counts were down slightly for January, though capacity did rise.

Neil’s: The Midtown institution has found a new home…on Quince Road.

Matthews v. Bergmann: Republican candidate for the Ninth Congressional District, Charlotte Bergmann, speaks out about her confrontation with radio talk show host Thaddeus Matthews. See our previous coverage here.

Tornadoes: 2011 was a record year for Tennessee. More from WMC.
 
 

Online Exclusive: Comparing Health Care Costs of the Two School Systems The Shelby County Watchdog, Joe Saino, has been crunching the numbers for the health care (and benefit) costs for the two systems independently. When they merge, some hard decisions will have to be made … with your pocketbook on the line!

Online Exclusive: R-E-W-T, Root For Newt! Our tea party contributor, Ed “Doc” Holliday was in Charleston, South Carolina, for the CNN Republican presidential debate and he thinks he’s found “the Tea Party’s new prize fighter”. Do you agree?

Shelby County Commission: They nearly inserted themselves into the municipal schools debate when they almost passed a requirement setting minimum sale prices for County school buildings. Commissioner Walter Bailey wants the County to receive “fair market value” for the schools the suburbs might take over. More reports from Fox13.

The Commission continues to be divided on redistricting plans–though it seems down to two proposals. Two new single-district maps have been created and you can see them in the Flyer.

Shelby County Juries: Does the County sequester an unusally large number of juries, at enormous taxpayer expense?

Black History Month: LeMoyne-Owen College has a full schedule of events to celebrate black history.

March 6 Elections: A report from last night’s candidates’ forum hosted by the McCorkle Road Neighborhood Development Association.

Great American Steamboat Company: The company will host a career fair to fill their 300 job openings. The company’s website.

Train Derailment: Sunday’s derailment, whose effects lingered into Monday, is again spurring talk of what to do to make the interference with traffic lower. The cause of the derailment is still unknown and being investigated.

Tennessee: This is Earthquake Awareness Week in TN. The Department of Tourist Development claims to bring back $42 million on its $20 million budget. Former governor Phil Bredesen, State Senator Joe Armstrong and the current Comptroller Justin Wilson are involved in the State’s first bank failure, BankEast, in nearly ten years.

Crime: A two year old left alone in a car pointed a gun at a Memphis police officer. His mother, Erica Rooks, was arrested on several charges including marijuana possession, unlawful possession of a weapon and three counts of leaving a child unattended in a vehicle.

R. Allen Stanford: James Davis continued his testimony on the Ponzi scheme Stanford is charged with running.

Gasoline: Prices at the pump are rising. Closed refineries and the annual Spring price increase are blamed. The Memphis average price is $3.37/gallon. (via MemphisGasPrices.com)

Politics: Patronage isn’t the threat it’s assumed to be in the modern era, says Governor Bill Haslam. Three bills that alter the State’s retirement system were shelved. Tennessee grocers are continuing their efforts to allow sales of wine in their stores. The TN GOP has a three-to-one fundraising advantage over state Democrats.

Home Building: Memphis has cracked the list of improving housing markets. More from the CA.

Mississippi: The disappearance of dozens of dogs in the Pontotoc area has come to light.

Online 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!

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

Walls of the City: Is the new Tweetdeck bugging you? Go back to the old Tweetdeck.

Time Flies: Confused by a water bottle and the surprise solution.

Tiffany Tastes: It took her four years, but she finally made it to The Arcade.

The Daddler and Me: On being the man of the house and strange late visitors. A meditation on mortality.

Smart City Memphis: The Shelby County suburbs are “parasitic”?

Secondhand Underground: A visit to City Thrift on Summer Avenue to marvel at the cast0ffs.

Giving Back: This week he highlights the recent Memphis appearance by author Dr Joseph Michelli. (via the Daily News)

Commercial Appeal: Praising the early actions of the Overton Park Conservancy. And praising our “world class” cooking.

Small Business Advocate: His first two letters are history, but I’m not so sure the third letter will happen. (via the Commercial Appeal)

redmorewritemorethinkmorebemore: The latest post in a series, this one is about pet robots and the “uncanny valley”. Well worth the read.

Taming Insanity: If your book club chooses The Ruins of Us to discuss, the author will call in via Skype for an author Q&A! Words everyone should know.