Thanksgiving and the Holidays: A food giveaway at the New Bethel Temple attracts large numbers of needy.

MATA: All bus rides this Friday will be twenty-five cents. Busses will run on the Saturday schedule. MATA website.

Mississippi: Already overweight, the state’s obesity rate is rising. The State’s schools have adopted a new, nationwide accountability system to measure achievement.

LaunchMemphis: A report from this weekend’s “Elevator Pitch” which was won by Martin Dinstuhl and his MarksMenus.com startup, as part of Global Entrepreneur Week.

Business: IMagDent will offer advanced imaging services in their new dental facility schedule to open next year. Memphis-based Enigma Games signed an agreement with Verizon to sell its products in their Vcast app store. Perkins & Marie Callendar’s Inc. is expected to report 3Q revenue shortfalls.

People in Business and What to Do, from the Commercial Appeal.

Kroc Center: The Salvation Army announced they have all their funding in place to build their new facility on the Fairgrounds.

Hope Christian Community Foundation: If there’s a recession, no one is telling their donors. They are on track to break records in donors and gifting.

Media: The new president and publisher of Nashville’s Tennessean is Carol Hudler of U.S. Community Publishing’s South Newspaper Group.

Real Estate: Existing home sales jumped in October; more in the Commercial Appeal. But in Shelby County, it’s another story as sales are way off. A look at Barry Yoakum’s first-in-the-city LEED certified residence. River Tower at South Bluff condos sold out at auction. Foreclosures can affect the folks who don’t lose their homes when neighborhoods fall apart.

Habitat for Humanity: Chapters across the state have been awarded a total of $2.4 million to construct 116 homes from Federal Home Loan Bank of Cincinnati.

Tennessee Arts Commission: They are now on Facebook!

Winter Arts Cooperative: A long list of local artists are setting up shop to sell their works and will have a “Meet the Artists” reception this Friday.

WKNO: Their Julian Bondurant Distinguished Service Award went this year to Stephen Rhea.

Tennessee: Despite our “regressive” tax system, the State’s tax revenues dropped by a lesser percentage than most other States. The Department of Children’s Services is collecting from students whose tuition DCS paid in exchange for working there, but who never did.

Survey Says: Memphis is ranked 10th worst city for crime, by CQ Press. Website here. The average Tennessean will spend $390 on Christmas gifts. A surprise as the delinquency rate for credit cards fell slightly during the 3Q of the year, which is unusual.

Willie Herenton: Former City Attorney Elbert Jefferson testified for a second time to the grand jury investigating former Mayor Herenton’s business dealings. More from WMC, Eyewitness News.

Interim County Mayor Joe Ford: He says priority one for him is finding funding for The MED’s emergency room and the whole system.

Second Amendment: More information and background on the Davidson County Chancery Court’s voiding of the “gun carry in restaurants” law. An argument against requiring permits for concealed carry.

ACORN: The founder of the nationwide consumer housing help and voter group, Wade Rathke, was interviewed by WMC’s Kontji Anthony. More on his speech at the U of M, from Eyewitness News. Rathke mentions something written by the Flyer’s Jackson Baker and Baker reacts.

Memphis Churches: Fox13 continues their Memphis in Black & White series with a look at local churches.

Politics: State Rep. Bill Ketron (R-Murphreesboro) says he may push wine sales in grocery stores this coming legislative session. House Speaker Kent Williams isn’t aware of any particular call yet for a special legislative session over worker’s compensation law. Why Williams and House Majority Leader Jason Mumpower disagree on the special session. More from the Knoxville News-Sentinel.

The TN Center for Policy Research looks at the UPS vs FedEx unionisation fight, and the harmful effects it could have for the state. Two watchdog groups have produced a combined list of the top 10,000 donors to State and Federal political campaigns.

Governor Phil Bredesen is previewing some of the possible cuts to this year’s State budget. More from the Tennessean and the News-Sentinel.

Oakland: Former police chief Bob Tisdale pled “no contest” to five charges and will get diversion.

Methodist University Hospitals: Their stroke and heart attack programs, along with many other things connected to them, received national accolades this year.

West Tennessee: Hundreds turn out for a food giveaway from the Mid-South Food Bank’s mobile pantry. Arnita Mitchell, the City Clerk for the town of Mason, has been indicted for stealing nearly $100,000.

Pop Tunes: The historic record store downtown is closed, but some want to make it a museum.
 
 
 
 

Agriculture: The Federal government says the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Commission was lax in its protection of some species of commercial fish and is stepping in.

Pretty in Pink Megan: The secret of hair powder. Snuggies … for dogs? Trend alert: sparkles!

John Branston: He writes about whatever interests him, not you. Deal with it. (via the Flyer)

Gadfly: He gets worked up over heavy-duty cell phone users. (via the Flyer)

Commercial Appeal: Hernando should adopt curbside recycling, regardless. Trying to find out what happened at the Memphis Animal Shelter should be a top civic priority.

Kristina Goetz: She writes more personally about her experiences as an undercover officer for the daily’s crime series. (via the Commercial Appeal)

Chick Chat: The feelings and fears of a single mother who is deploying with her TN National Guard unit to Iraq next week. (via the Commercial Appeal)

theology & geometry: The story of Thanksgiving, told by cats.

Weeden Arts Watch: Some terrible news about his mother.

What is a Carbunkle Trumpet? Remembering Sleep Out Louie’s. You won’t see this in “Bordova”.

Pulled Before the Push: A story about a Mac morphs into a sweetly sad tale of Brody and Uncle Bill.

The Shelf Life: Gamely trying to read How to Be Famous.

The Intersection of Madness and Reality: Thoughts on the movie Precious.

The Chubby Vegetarian: A recipe for honest-to-goodness sweet potato pie.

55-40 Memphsi: Weird computer behavior when using Twitter.

Adventures in Merriness: Best compliment ever.

artbutcher: An open letter to beer.

Xspectre8: Back from hiatus to wonder what’s wrong with his Ruger long rifle.

The Tale of a Southern Belle: Ten random facts about her and you’ve been tagged! Her new holiday pretty.

16 Balls in the Air: The Christmas lists start appearing. Well, at least the Bible lessons are sticking … sort of.

Blue Collar Republican: What do all the top ten worst cities for crime (see above) also have in common?

Student: Revisited: Time keeps on slippin’…

Smart City Memphis: Rethinking regionalism.

Ramblings of the Mad Cow: How to save money on Christmas decorations.