Memphis City Council: The education committee quickly approved the City Schools budget, including a $78 million City contribution. More from WMC, Fox13.

But, will that vote mean a tax increase for Memphians? The Commercial Appeal also looks at the issue.

More issues from the meeting: Residency rule. Joseph Lee payment. Work on the Fairgrounds.

Consolidation: More on the recently renewed push for a City - County merger. More on this from Fox13, the Daily News and the Commercial Appeal.

MLG&W and Joseph Lee: “Tempers flare” as the Daily News puts it. The matter still appears far from settled.

June Storms: Debris from the storms that raked Memphis in June still litters the streets and is becoming a haven for rats and critters.

Aerotropolis: The Memphis City Council delayed action on $2.3 million to begin work on Plough Boulevard.

Politics: Removal and replacement of black Madison County Ethics Committee member James “Pete” Johnson leads to charges from County Commissioner of oppression and abuse.

MS Blue Dog Democrat, US Rep. Gene Taylor (4th District), declares he will not support any “Obamacare” health care reform. 1st District MS US Rep. Travis Childers qualifies himself as not voting for the health care bill in its current form; more from WREG. Childers claims 7200 at “phone it in” town hall meeting. TN US Rep. John Tanner (8th District) defends and rationalises not having full-scale town hall meetings.

American Institute of Architects Tennessee: The 2009 Design Awards saw healthy Memphis representation.

Arkansas: No banks bid to become the lotto claims center. Dr Randeep Mann has pled not guilty to all charges against him; more from Fox13. The State is about to launch a two week campaign against drunk driving. The Southern Christian Leadership Conference is coming to West Memphis to protest “school district injustices”. A study showed that AR high school students who took a full college-prep course load did better than students who did not.

Youth Villages: They have opened a new office in Hernando, to serve northwest Mississippi. More in the Commercial Appeal.

Germantown: New breakfast “pre-meeting” of Board of Mayor and Aldermen draws no city residents.

DeSoto County: A civil rights lawsuit alleging excessive force has been dismissed. The Olive Branch Board of Mayor and Aldermen approved $4 million in bonds. Bad economic times mean booming business for Horn Lake’s First Regional Library.

Mississippi Outdoors, the hunting, fishing and wildlife news, from the Commercial Appeal.

Small Business Chamber: Business trainer Don Hutson spoke to their quarterly meeting on American entrepreneurship.

“Cash for Clunkers”: Local auto dealers are concerned by the lack of repayment from the Federal government.

Survey Says: The Federal Reserve says business loan activity was down in 2Q. Declines in air travel appear to have slowed down in June. Housing starts, however, were down in July. Wholesale prices dropped more than expected in July. Construction of new single-family homes rose for the fifth straight month; more in the CA.

Criminal Justice Center: Security guards were stiffed two weeks pay by former company, DWA, which has now gone out of business.

Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz: Ninety-seven Tennessee attorneys with the firm are in the The Best Lawyers in America 2010. Thirty-eight are in Memphis.

Previously Posted: More on security for the DeSoto County Mid-South Fair, and a WREG story, too. More on Methodist LeBonheur Healthcare and the Hospital Quality Incentive Demonstration Project.

Collierville: The City’s Animal Services has a pride of kittens they hope to get adopted out at an adoption party.

Jeff Sanford, Center City Commission: Sanford’s address to the Commission’s annual luncheon two weeks ago caused a buzz. But it’s been hard to find more than excerpts, until now. Thanks to the CCC, the Main Street Journal is proud to present the full text of his address!

Memphis’ Next Mayor: Thirty people have now pulled petitions, more are expected; final number of candidates may reach three dozen! Republican and former mayoral candidate John Willingham joins the scrum. More candidates pulling petitions. A strange Associated Press story on candidate Willie Herenton. Mayoral candidates are coming forward, agreeing to be drug tested?

Continuing the WREG mayoral profile series with Myron Lowery.

Second Amendment: The city of Dyerburg opts out of gun carry in public parks. (via the Dyersburg State Gazette) The city of Bartlett is still delaying voting on “opting out”, asking that certain questions be answered first.

Memphis City Schools: The changed bus routes were not communicated to the Memphis Police and Director Larry Godwin says they were “caught off guard”; more on that from WREG. More on Monday’s angry school board meeting; also in the Daily News.

MCS is in line to possibly receive $100 million this Fall from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation for “teacher recruitment, professional development and school leadership”.

Mosquitoes: Some parts of the city are scheduled for spraying today.

Downtown: A couple of forgivable retail loans are on the agenda for today’s Center City Development Corporation meeting. The Center City Commission’s Main Street Task Force is putting renewed emphasis on Downtown infrastructure maintenance.

Business: Revenues for ServiceMaster are down but net income is well up. FedEx CEO Fred Smith took a 26% cut in his compensation package in FY2009. Shares of AutoZone were upgraded to “buy” by an analyst and share value rose.

People in business, from the Daily News, and from the Commercial Appeal.

East Memphis: Work on The Gold Club, a strip club at Summer and White Station, is resuming after a court delay. Extensive flooding on parts of Poplar around Massey last night; others lost power. More on the flooding in the Commercial Appeal.

Lamar Avenue: The city’s most congested traffic corridor will be the subject of a study by Cambridge Systematics Inc. and several Memphis agencies, with an eye to improving traffic control and flow.

Southwest Tennessee Community College: A ribbon-cutting ceremony yesterday for the Maxine A. Smith Center featuring the namesake herself.

WILLIE HERENTON V. WMC’s JOE BIRCH! The one-on-one “explosive” interview that all Memphis is talking about. (Includes full 18 minute video.) Was Herenton’s entry into the special election part of enormous sub-rosa power struggles involving Mayor Pro-tem Myron Lowery and local attorney Richard Fields?

Is he mentally unstable? Fox13 Insiders, WMC, the Commercial Appeal wonder.

Herenton also did a radio interview with WDIA’s Bobby O’Jay. And, he spoke with Fox13’s Les Smith. News reports from WMC, CA’s Eye on City Hall, Eyewitness News, WREG.

More reports on Herenton’s decision to pull an election petition from WREG.

Reactions! From Mayor Pro-tem Myron Lowery. From various City Council members. From the other mayoral candidates. WREG’s Mike Matthews. From rival candidate and former confidant Charles Carpenter. From the Knoxville News-Sentinel’s Tom Humphries.

How does this affect the A C Wharton campaign? Not much, says Wharton.

Squeaky Wheel Seeks Grease: She takes a couple of friends out shooting.

That’s My B: It was Dabney’s birthday weekend.

THE INTERSECTION OF MADNESS AND REALITY: The brother was a plant!

The Memphis Liberal: Even a hardcore, pro-reform Democratic liberal is worried about the provisions of H. R. 3200.

Xspectre8: A rant on biased and fear-mongering reporting from the news media.

Confessions of a West Tennessee Liberal: Some thoughts about the consolidation charter commission the City Council approved yesterday.

vibinc: He has the same misgivings as West Tennessee Liberal above.

Midtown Stomp: Yet another story of bad customer service, splashed across the internet for all your future non-customers to see.

Mrs. Katherine: OK, this story is just plain cute.

Joy’s Life and Times: Fun stories of three-hour morning training sessions, preparing for the Ironman triathlon.

(Lang Wiseman) Random Thoughts: The series of posts discussing health care reform continues: government “competition”; Ronald Reagan called it, fifty years ago; there ain’t no free lunch.

The Adventures of Clara: A slideshow of the Memphis Botanic Garden’s My Big Backyard.

The Suggs: An update with baby pictures!

garage sale of ignorance: Remember the song Walking in Memphis? This isn’t it.

Doug Johnson at Work: Goodbye to friends and sticking to the plan. A brush with fame, of a sort.

Crime in Memphis: Some disturbing numbers on criminal recidivism after release.

Commontaries: Thoughts on the things you did know you bought and the bigger fish.

Cliff Heegel, PhD: Surviving child sexual abuse by asking how a soldier survives the aftermath of war.

Born Again Hippies: Some very personal and very extensive experiences with the former Jim Dickinson.

Bigger Than Your Head: The best steak in the galaxy, topped with Sludge of the Gods.

Bryan Brasher: Today’s “gun fanatics” lack the nobility of earlier “gun owners”? (via the Sunday Commercial Appeal)

Geoff Calkins: Unlike Richard Nixon, we still have Willie Herenton to kick around some more. (via the Commercial Appeal)

Dorothy Johnson: For just $70/year, Books from Birth will deliver expert-selected books once a month to needy young children. (via the Commercial Appeal)

Commercial Appeal: President Obama must “get his hands dirty cajoling and browbeating” everyone to support his healthcare reform plan. Attorney Allan Wade’s role in City and City Council affairs needs scrutiny.

I’ll be the one in heels: Taking inspiration from the audiobook of Julie and Julia.