Photo Credit: Yacoubian Research/WMC
Can 2 Tribes Become 1?

 
On June 11, the Unified Shelby School Board will hold a special meeting to review the contract of Memphis City Schools superintendent Dr Kriner Cash. More on this development from the Daily News. Former MCS school board member Martavius Jones maintains that Shelby County Superintendent John Aitken’s contract may not even be legal. Is there a plot to oust Dr Cash? The unified district will debut in 2013 $89 million in the red.

Teachers in both systems have widely disparate views of the jobs the two superintendents are doing. Read the teacher survey here. (PDF document)

Memphis Budget Battle: There are now four budget proposals before the Council. Councilman Edmund Ford Jr will debut his budget plan today. Today’s budget hearing schedule. (PDF document) and the City Council website.

Shelby County Commission: In two weeks, they may vote on a hiring policy that mandates a certain percentage of workers be minorities of certain groups.

Memphis City Schools: “Little drama” is expected this year for funding at the start of the school year. All parties acknowledge flaws in the new teacher evaluations and promise that “procedural errors” will be investigated; more from WMC. MCS is conducting online surveys of parents about the just-ended school year.

Shelby County Elections: Activist group Black Box Voting, infamous already for unproved allegations from 2010, are now alleging that hundreds of Shelby County Democratis, mostly black, had their voting histories erased, at least temporarily. An open letter on the problem, from EC secretary Norma Lester. Congressman Steve Cohen has written a letter to the Justice Department asking for an investigation; more. More from WMC, Fox13. Election Commission chief Rich Holden says the whole “problem” is in the minds of the folks at Black Box Voting.

Shelby County District Attorney Democratic candidate Carol Chumney has launched her campaign in earnest. (Main Street Journal contributor Mick Wright made the same points, credited in this article to the CA’s Otis Sanford more than three months earlier.) Is there a swelling interest in Republican ranks for the Augst 2 election?

Girl Scouts: Local Girl Scout troops affiliated with the local Catholic dioceses are considering changing over to the American Heritage Girls.

Sheby County Trustee: Trustee David Lenoir’s office could collect current and past due Memphis taxes in exchange for a $1.25 million fee. This would save Memphis a half-million dollars. Former trustee Bob Patterson was a champion of this idea.

Blight: The skeleton of the Executive Inn Hotel concerns neighbors because so many tourists to Memphis see it. The owners of 118 Madison Avenue will sit down with the Mayor’s office today to work out what can be done about demolishing the building.

Local Media: For the political junkies, this weekend’s Informed Sources from WREG. And the archives of the Daily News’ Behind the Headlines at WKNO.

Business: The LaunchMemphis “Office Hours” series starts today, networking entrepreneurs and small business owners, for discussion and advice. The importance of barge traffic to Memphis transportation logistics.

From the Commercial Appeal, it’s People in Business for Monday; What to Do for Monday and Tuesday; and Property Transfers.

FedEx: FedEx Express will build a new hub in Osaka, Japan.

Delta Air Lines: US Representative Steve Cohen is promising more government regulation and Federal investigations to get Delta fares out of Memphis lower. Experts look into the pricing problem at Memphis International Airport.

Cargill: Officials at their Presidents Island facilty are counting on increased rail modernisation and connectivity to meet expansion plans.

Murfreesboro: In spite of an increase to the school budget, the County Commission passed a budget with no new tax increases.

Arkansas: The Pulaski County prosecutor has agreed to drop one charge and dismiss two others against State surgeon general Joe Thompson. Presidential candidate John Wolfe Jr is suing the AR Democratic Party to get his delegates to the national convention later this Summer; more from the Chattanooga Times Free Press.

NEW! INTERNET EXCLUSIVE: Achievement School District Blog 05: Every student attending Cornerstone Prep is performing at or above national standards for their grade. Cornerstone Prep serves students in the Binghampton community.

Internet Exclusive! Southpaw: The Tale of Two Covers: Columnist Andria K. Brown notes two very different magazine covers and the articles they represent. One, she thinks, is much more important than the other.

Weather: The Mid-South is experiencing a moderate drought this year. More from WREG. Record-setting heat brought the level of ozone pollution up over the weekend. Watch for MATA Orange Alert Days. City of Memphis cooling stations, if you need one.

Germantown: Citizen Christopher Cornell want to carve 5.5 acres for a dog park out of W.C. Johnson Park.

Lakeland: The Board of Commissioners is considering an 85 cent property tax, retroactive to January 1, which would be a hefty tax.

Municipal School Districts: All six suburban communties will have final readings of their MSD referenda this week.

Tennessee: The TN Clean Water Network is crying foul over a State Department of Environment and Conservation action that pre-empts their lawsuit. A new study of the DNA of the Melungeons finds a much more prosaic origin than stories would suggest. A report on this weekend’s Trafficking in America Conference in Nashville, about human sex trafficing. Starting July 1, having upaid court costs and fines will get your drivers license suspended but some officials worry about the extra load it would put on the State’s court system. Math teachers are in high demand in some Counties. The State is preparing for 50 million visitors this year.

Downtown: The Downtown Memphis Commission has hired North Star Destination Strategies of Nashville and tasked them with “rebranding” the South Main District.

Shelby Farms: More reporting on the automobile break-ins occuring there.

Second Amendment: Police are still fearful of the ultimate fate of the 40+ guns and rifles stolen from a Whitehaven home. Police still refuse to release details about the theft. More from Fox13. And police have arrested and charged Johnny Wash in connection with the thefts.

Tennessee Shakespeare Company: They will offer Summer Shakespeare Camps to area students thanks to the Barbara B. Apperson Angel Fund. Their website.
 

Politics: Former Democratic State Senator Ward Crutchfield, who was pled guilty to bribery in the Tennessee Waltz scandal a few years ago, might be resurrecting his political career with a run for the Chattanooga City Council. A study last week suggested that isolation of State capitols may make them more prone to corruption.

Internet: Your internet connections could be compromised by malware and viruses that might cause you to lose your connection on July 1. Go here to check your computer out.

Mississippi: The City of Oxford has $47 million in project planned, but hasn’t secured all the funding yet. Counties along the Mississippi River’s Delta are losing population dramatically. There’s a “sort of” settlement for the fees paid to attorneys doing work for the State’s Attorney General. Governor Phil Bryant and his wife have now moved into the State Governor’s mansion.

Chattanooga: A report on the Hamilton County Democratic Party executive board meeting. Hamilton County Sheriff Jim Hammond has a posse, of 71 people to be exact. Former County Democratic Party Chairman Stuart James is calling current chairman Paul Smith “corrupt” and supportive of Republicans.

DeSoto County: Southaven aldermen back up mayor Greg Davis’ assertion that his travel is necessary. All County judges have recused themselves from Davis’ traffic case. DeSoto Supervisiors have let out bids for the Stars Landing project and the Eudora fire house. Current State Representative Pat Nelson, of Southaven, will run for the State Senate. The County Bulletin Board from the Commercial Appeal.

Real Estate: The Memphis Area Home Builders Association says new construction permits are way up in Q1 this year, versus last. Is the Memphis real estate market on the upswing at long last? Realtors have an enormous database of information from buyer surveys.

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

John Branston: We already know how to get all high school students into college, but “demanding” that is “naive”. (via the Flyer)

Robert Houk: In which he calls Rush Limbaugh a “fraidy cat”, in order to generate more letters to the editor. (via the Johnson City Press)

Scott McNutt’s Snark Bites: He calls the Knoxville City budget Operation Silk Purse from Sow’s Ear. (via the Knoxville News-Sentinel)

Jack McElroy: The Flesch-Kincaid Index and the dumbing down of American political discourse. (via the Knoxville News-Sentinel)

Tom Humphrey: A concern that we may not have enough lawyers in the General Assembly. (via the Knoxville News-Sentinel)

Tennessean: They are surprised that, with the modern news system, so many soldiers still volunterr to fight.

Many-Bears Grinder: The distinctions between Armed Forces Day, Verterans Day and Memorial Day. (via the Tennessesan)

Cobb H. Hammond: He details his experiences at the Battle of Heartbreak Ridge in the Korean conflict. (via the Commercial Appeal)

Amos Maki: He examines Mayor A C Wharton’s financial incentive strategy to evoke change in Memphis. (via the Commercial Appeal)

Otis L. Sanford: He uses the now deprecated idea of “food deserts” to call for more government spending via tax incentives to get grocery stores into some neighborhoods. (via the Commercial Appeal)

Chris Peck: He touts the impact of “silver buckshot”, or collective impact, but all his examples are “top down” centralised government efforts. (via the Commercial Appeal)

Ron Coleman: He argues for not closing any more libraries. (via the Commercial Appeal)

Commercial Appeal: A lesson for Memphis in The Med’s return to profitability without bailouts. There must be a better way to fund City operations. Honoring the service and sacrifice of America’s servicemen and women. They support the sentence that businessman Thomas Bolton got as a message to others. They smooth the way for the ouster of Dr Kriner Cash and the hiring of John Aitken as the Unified Schools superintendent.