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Did you know that three Memphis, Tennessee parks named for our great Southern leaders Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest-Forrest Park, Confederate President Jefferson Davis-Jefferson Davis Park and Confederate Park were changed?

Next week Justin Timberlake, Al Green, Queen Latifah, and many others will perform at the White House in a "Memphis Soul" concert, the White House announced today. "As part of their 'In Performance at the White House' series, the President and First Lady will invite music legends and contemporary major artists to the White House for a celebration of Memphis Soul music. The program will include performances by Alabama Shakes, William Bell, Steve Cropper, Al Green, Ben Harper, Queen Latifah, Cyndi Lauper, Joshua Ledet, Sam Moore, Charlie Musselwhite, Mavis Staples and Justin Timberlake, with Booker T. Jones as music director...

If you are looking for a story that travels to the realms of disbelief, then this is the story that does so. It appears that a group of Memphis, Tennessee Ku Klux Klan members and the Grape Street Crips are teaming up to stop an upcoming KKK rally. Dajuan Horton, a Crip Gang member who lives in Memphis apparently heard of the rally happening. Being totally and unequivocally against it, he decided to work on a rally to combat the coming KKK rally. He told a local news station that instead of meeting the opposing rally members with violence, he...

Female LEO Link only

Photograps of Memphis Tennesse in 1944. See whats playing at the Palace Theater or the New Daisy. Or get some chop suey.... the Cake Box

B.B. Cunningham, a longtime keyboardist and backup singer for legendary rocker Jerry Lee Lewis as well as leader of his own band the Hombres, was gunned down early Sunday morning in Memphis. He was 70. Per Memphis' Commercial Appeal, Cunningham had been working as a security guard at an apartment complex in the southeast part of the city when he heard a gunshot in the neighboring Cherry Crest Apartments around 2 a.m. and went to check it out. Upon arrival, officers found the bodies of the musician and an unidentified 16-year-old boy, both of whom sustained gunshot wounds. Authorities are...

MEMPHIS, TN - (WMC-TV) - A Memphis family is irate after a police officer shot their dog Thursday. But the police department says the officer was trying to protect a child. Quawan Branch, 9, described the attack by Memphis Police on his 1-year-old Labrador, named Pepper. "The police officer, he just came up and started shooting at my dog," he said. According to the Memphis Police Department, an officer was flagged down on Spottswood Ave. regarding a loose dog trying to attack a child. "I didn't see anyone flag him down. They must have done it a street over or...

Colorful State Sen. Stacey Campfield seems to court controversy, particularly in his blog, Camp4u. So it was no real surprise when he took a reproachful tone in blog posts on Sept. 11 about the "gas for guns" program announced the day before by the City of Memphis and the Memphis Police Department. The city held a press conference on Sept. 10 to announce that on Sept. 15, it would conduct an event in which it would give people a $50 Mapco gas card plus two tickets to a Memphis Grizzlies basketball game for turning in a gun. The idea was...

A noble piece of NBA news this afternoon: The Memphis Grizzlies, who are in no need of increased fan attendance, are offering a promotion to help reduce violence in the city of Memphis. This Saturday, the Grizz will join forces with Bloomfield Baptist church in an effort to collect, and dispose of, unnecessary firearms currently on the streets. For every gun that is turned in—no questions asked and no background checks performed, of course—the “donor” will receive two free tickets to an upcoming preseason game. Via the Memphis Commercial Appeal: “The city of Memphis will trade gas cards and Grizzlies...

Wrestling legend and World Wrestling Entertainment announcer Jerry "The King" Lawler has been hospitalized after collapsing during a show in Montreal on Monday night, the show's producers announced. "Lawler suffered a heart attack while commentating during last night's broadcast of Monday Night Raw in Montreal," a statement on WWE's website said. "We are hopeful Jerry makes a full recovery and returns to WWE in the near future. Our thoughts are with Jerry and his family." Lawler passed out at ringside and was given CPR in the locker room of the arena before being taken to a hospital, co-host Michael Cole...

Brilliant — in a bizarre kind of way. What other way to describe the Gas for Guns trade scheduled for Sept. 15 at Bloomfield Full Gospel Baptist Church in South Memphis? Modeled after similar programs in other cities with too much gun crime, Gas for Guns offers a $50 gas card and two tickets to a Memphis Grizzlies game to anyone willing to trade in an unwanted gun — no questions asked. Mayor A C Wharton, a number of Memphis-area radio stations, The Tri-State Defender newspaper and Bloomfield Baptist all have pitched in to make this event work — and...

Everyone can use some free gas these days, right? As a part of his Memphis Summer Challenge Initiative, Mayor A.C. Wharton and several community conscious sponsors have joined forces to offer free $50 gas cards to citizens who turn in guns, as part of an effort to stop gun violence in the city of Memphis, particularly among teens. The event is going to take place on Saturday, September 15, 2012 in the parking lot of Bloomfield Baptist Church, located at 123 S, Parkway West, Memphis, TN 39109, from 10:00 a.m until 2:00 p.m. There will be no questions asked about...

A Memphis-area mother is facing aggravated assault charges after attacking her sons’ little league football coach with a baseball bat. According to the no-nonsense mother, the coach had molested her sons and, upon seeing him, she simply couldn’t control herself. The New York Daily News relates: “I didn’t intend to do whatever I did to him,” said [Lakeshia Richmond]. “I apologize, but I don’t apologize for what happened to my kids.” She claimed one of her sons told her Saturday that [Tony Massey] touched him inappropriately. “I said, ‘was it just you?’ and he said ‘no, it was some more...

The Shelby County Commission has filed a subpoena in federal court asking for the identities of all online commenters in The Commercial Appeal's stories about suburban plans to create their own school districts. (snip) On June 26, the County Commission attorneys filed a federal court motion to block the Aug. 2 referendums to start school districts in Arlington, Bartlett, Collierville, Germantown, Lakeland and Millington. They argued that the people who arranged the referendums are trying to discriminate against African-Americans by carving out majority white suburban districts from the new unified school district. (snip) But, Levy said, "Let's hypothesize that people...

Memphis man indicted for helping teachers cheat on licensing exams in Tenn., Ark. and Miss.THE ASSOCIATED PRESS July 10, 2012 - 6:19 pm EDT MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A Memphis man has been indicted on federal charges that he was paid thousands of dollars by aspiring teachers in Tennessee, Arkansas and Mississippi to have other people take their teacher licensing exams. The federal indictment released Tuesday said 58-year-old Clarence Mumford hired a group of test takers, including Memphis City Schools employees or former employees, and used false documents during licensing exams in the three states. The Commercial Appeal reported that the...

Memphis may join the growing list of cash-strapped cities that ask nonprofit and tax-exempt organizations to make payments in lieu of tax. The City Council will vote Tuesday on a resolution to form a committee to explore the idea. "We want to see if this is feasible, and if it is feasible, how much revenue it could generate," said council member Janis Fullilove, who sponsored the resolution. Fullilove said the committee, if approved, would focus on tax-exempt and nonprofit entities that gross $15 million or more annually. As municipal budgets have felt the crunch of the economic slowdown, cities across...

The Shelby County Board of Commissioners filed a petition in federal court Tuesday to block Aug. 2 elections that could create six new suburban school districts, arguing that those who sought the elections are deliberately discriminating against black residents. The lawsuit alleges that "race was a motivating factor behind the enactment of the Shelby County Municipal School Acts and that such Acts are purposefully discriminatory." The filing is the latest step in a dispute over the proposed merger of the area's two largest school systems, the majority-black Memphis City Schools and the smaller, majority-white Shelby County Schools. The systems are...

Kadia Sy hovered over her husband's nursing home bed Thursday, stroking his cheek and forehead, and shaking his shoulder as if to snap him back to life. But her husband, beating victim Alassane Sy, 67, didn't respond. He suffered severe brain damage April 6 when prosecutors say a teen delivered two blows to Sy's head with a baseball bat over a parking dispute. While the victim's wife was desperate to wake him during a visit to Covington Manor Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, the couple's son, Djibril, 17, seemed more resigned. "He's never going to be the same," he said of...

(Memphis) Latoya Shields says she had to sit down when she heard the news, “During the whole relationship, I only knew of four children.” When a prosecutor told her that the father of her child had 20 other children she said her knees buckled, “At that time, three years ago, my child was the 21st child. Yeah, that would be overwhelming for anybody.” She says after spending almost 8 years with Terry Turnage, she had no idea what he what he had been up to. WREG tried to find out by going to Shelby County Juvenile Court. Turnage had filed...

At least one man is in custody after a violent sexual assault that happened during a home invasion. Three men were inside a home on Orr Street when four armed men forced their way inside. The intruders taped the victims' mouths, noses, and eyes. Their wrists and ankles were bound with plastic ties. One of the victims was taken to one room, while the other two were taken to another. According to a police affidavit, they were beaten with a baseball bat and broom handle. All three of the men were sodomized and sexually assaulted with the weapons. The incident...

NASHVILLE – The state Senate gave final legislative approval this afternoon to a bill allowing the Memphis suburbs to hold referendums and school board elections this year on new municipal school districts, despite charges that the bill is “part of a growing trend…of apartheid in Shelby County.” The bill now goes to the governor for his signature, which is expected soon. The House approved the same measure Friday, which was the critical vote. The Senate, which had approved virtually the same language in the bill last week, followed suit today, approving the measure on a 22-9 vote that was largely...

A piñata shaped like a white woman was strung up to a tree at the University of Memphis, then African-American students took turns beating it with a stick. Where is Al Sharpton when you need him? Isn’t this a shocking case of racism? No, actually it isn’t. Turns out the students involved were mere grade school kids, brought on campus for a special “Luau” party sponsored by the university. The piñata was supposed to represent a hula dancer. “We want to assure our community that no racial or gender animosity was intended,” said a university spokesperson. At worst, this...

Before resigning last month as the Memphis officer heard on a police radio allegedly having sexual relations with a woman, Dion D. Anthony claimed that the encounter was a charade. He claimed he faked sexually explicit comments and sounds with a woman and broadcast them to expose racism and unfairness in the Memphis Police Department. Anthony, 37, raised the issues in an interview during an internal investigation at the department of the 58 seconds of sex talk broadcast over an open microphone on the police radio about 8:40 p.m. on March 12. "I was not having sex on duty," Anthony...

MEMPHIS, April 9 (UPI) -- Memphis police said an Easter egg hunt ended with a brawl between two families and a woman's arrest for taking a hammer to a man's head. Police said the man argued with Annette Pearson, 43, Sunday because he thought she was giving the children too much help finding the grand prize golden egg containing $7, The Memphis Commercial Appeal reported Monday. The families broke into violence after the man slapped the woman twice and police said Pearson retrieved a claw hammer from her house and struck the man in the head, leaving a wound that...

The latest labor stats offer better news for the Memphis area than for Memphis. The number of people employed -- 563,640 -- in the eight-county Memphis metropolitan area is a 3.2 percent increase over February 2011 when 545,880 were working. But among Memphis residents, the number employed fell by 7,890, or 3 percent, from 270,000 to 262,110. Those numbers show that while local employment is on the rebound since the most recent recession, the growth is not evenly distributed across the metro area. The disparity, a local economist said, may result from a continued migration of people and wealth from...

This is based on a genealogy table I made. Had a bit more trouble than I should have tracking down the first round results, wth.

A federal judge’s ruling has temporarily halted the Tennessee Department of Health’s decision to rescind funding for Planned Parenthood’s HIV and syphilis testing program. Today, U.S. Dist. Judge William Haynes granted a preliminary injunction filed by Planned Parenthood, which is suing the state over $150,000 in dropped grants. A portion of the grant money supported HIV testing at Planned Parenthood affiliates including the Memphis Gay and Lesbian Community Center.

NASHVILLE, TN (WSMV) - A state lawmaker with a history of impassioned speeches was at it again at the Capitol. This time, Sen. Ophelia Ford, D-Memphis, wanted to talk about nurses and her experiences in the hospital. Sen. Ford reacted during a senate committee meeting Tuesday night over a proposal that would increase penalties for assaults on healthcare workers. The Memphis lawmaker talked about her own experience during two separate hospitalizations in recent years. "I cannot tell you the horrific experience that I had, and it was nurses who were mainly doing these things to me," she said. The bill...

MEMPHIS, TN -(WMC-TV) – Police say a two-year-old pointed a gun at them while they were checking on a report that the child and its siblings were left alone in a car while their mother got her nails done. It was a bizarre twist of events that left other customers wondering why a mother would leave her kids alone in such a dangerous environment. "It's a crying shame," said Nicole Eubanks, after she heard about the arrest of 23-year-old Erica Rooks. "It doesn't make any sense." Rooks is charged with marijuana possession, unlawful possession of a weapon and three counts...

What you’re about to hear is stunning. Get ready. Here’s how MRC explains the exchange between a Memphis radio host, Thaddeus Matthews, and a GOP candidate for Congress, Charlotte Bergmann: "This shocking video (uploaded to YouTube by someone not friendly to the Tea Party) shows Memphis talk radio host Thaddeus Matthews insulting and humiliating Republican congressional candidate Charlotte Bergmann on air." And that’s being kind. Matthews quickly became upset with Bergmann when she wouldn’t answer directly about any affiliation with the Tea Party. Then he launched into a 16-minute argument filled with curse words and accusations that added up to...

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — Memphis officials on Thursday approved naming a city street after the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., nearly 44 years after the civil rights leader was killed in the city. The 10 members of the Memphis and Shelby County Land Use Control Board voted unanimously to re-name a nine-block downtown stretch as Dr. Martin Luther King Avenue. Previously called Linden Avenue, it runs in front of the FedExForum, where the Memphis Grizzlies play their home games, and parallel to Beale Street, the famous tourist drag. The street also runs near the Clayborn Temple, where King rallied with...

Occupy Memphis member Mallory Pope had just finished telling a group of about 75 tea party followers Thursday night that politicians should not allow themselves to be influenced by lobbyists and unions when she received an unexpected invitation. "It sounds to me that y'all ought to be joining us," said Jerry Rains, a 64-year-old computer programmer and tea party member. "You have a lot of the same goals we have, which is to take our country back." Pope and fellow Occupy Memphis protester Tristan Tran had a lively, sometimes strained and confrontational, but mostly civil discussion with members of the...

MEMPHIS, TN - (WMC-TV) - A new meal program for some students of Memphis City Schools was the subject of a recent rant by nationally syndicated radio host Rush Limbaugh. Students in dozens of Memphis City Schools are receiving an extra meal - dinner - during the district's after-hours enrichment programs. A recent story in the Commercial Appeal about the federally funded program caught Limbaugh's attention. "The writer, this Jane Roberts, (writes as if) 'oh this is wonderful...this is the greatest invention ever: supper at school,'" Limbaugh said. The article spotlighted an 11-year-old student at Shelby Oaks Elementary who expressed...

Herman Cain's speech today in Bartlett, TN (Memphis) the first 10 mins have been cut. Click the link at the top. Herman Cain was born in Memphis and is coming home to his roots, in Memphis. MY observations: There were over 2,000, when only 200 were expected, and we left the grounds SPOTLESS, we did not take a dump on a LEO car, or call the LEO bad names, or burn the Flag. Not one flag was left on the ground. Pledge was said, as was the National Anthem sung. People of all colors were there with their children. It...

The change will come on Monday when WMC-AM (790) will drop "Country Legends" and become a sports/talk station as "Sports 790am." WMC will be affiliated with Fox Sports Radio, and will be the home of some St. Louis Cardinals baseball games. The lineup will include Zakk & Jack in mornings, with Jim Rome from 11am-2pm, Fox's "Loose Cannons" in the afternoon, followed by Petros & Money and Fox Sports Tonight from 9pm-12am. The new affiliation with Premiere's Jim Rome was revealed earlier this week, and the Memphis Board of Radio-Info.com speculated about a change to sports by Entercom. The company...

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — A 17-year-old student charged with first-degree murder in the slaying of a Christian school principal told investigators he had planned to stab the woman on the third day of classes, when he knew he'd be alone with her in a classroom, police said Thursday. Eduardo Marmolejo was held without bond and ordered to undergo a mental evaluation by a Juvenile Court judge during a hearing Thursday. State law allows police to release the names of juveniles charged with first-degree murder.

I was listening to Andrew on WREC Memphis Saturday afternoon, and he was saying it was his farewell weekend. He said tune in Sunday in the 2 o'clock hour for details. Well listening Sunday, it was a Rush weekend show. Does anyone know what happened to Andrew? He is a strong black conservative to those who do not know him, who was doing a Saturday and Sunday show in Memphis TN.

The Memphis area's jobless rate surged in June, nearing the worst levels of the recession. Layoffs by government offices and the tourism industry caused the surge along with a big flow of people who had given up looking for work coming back into the labor force and hunting for jobs again..... Business analysts sounded a pessimistic note, saying the high jobless rate is another sign the Memphis economy is running poorly. "We're still fighting our way up from the bottom," said economist John Gnuschke of the University of Memphis.... The jobless rate rose in June. Here's how June 2011 compares...

Delusion guided accused shooter of soldiers at Little Rock recruiting centerPsychiatrist says reality was lost on Muhammad By Kristina Goetz Memphis Commercial Appeal Posted July 23, 2011 at midnight LITTLE ROCK -- The star defense witness in the capital murder trial of Abdulhakim Mujahid Muhammad said Friday that the defendant believes he is persecuted because he's Muslim and that his actions are more important than they really are -- all because he suffers from a delusional disorder. "Saying you're an operative of a major terrorist organization is grandiose," said Dr. Shawn Agharkar, a psychiatrist who examined Muhammad three times in...

The atmosphere around the Downtown DoubleTree Hotel was in stark contrast this morning to the chaos that swirled at Third and Union after a Memphis police officer and a civilian were killed at the hotel Sunday night. Officer Timothy Warren, 39, and a still unidentified man were shot to death at the DoubleTree about 7 p.m. Sunday in what authorities say started as a "shots fired" call . A domestic dispute appears to have contributed to the incident.

PETA Proposes Ad for Memphis Garbage TrucksPosted by Bianca Phillips on Mon, Jun 20, 2011 at 12:41 PM Last week, Memphis was named the fourth dirtiest city in the country by Travel+Leisure Magazine, but staffers at People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) think they have the solution. The animal rights organization will offer to pay the city's sanitation department for advertising space on garbage trucks. The ads would feature a lady wearing a lettuce leaf bikini with the message, "Meat Trashes the Planet. Go Vegan. Free Starter Recipes: PETA.org." They may have a point. Factory farming is one...

Police arrested a man and woman fighting in a parked vehicle with their pants undone Saturday evening in South Memphis. Shortly after 6:30 p.m., officers approached a Dodge Ram truck parked at a stop sign at Latham and Belz. Inside the vehicle, Tiffany King, 24, and Herbert Winters, 61, appeared to be tussling when officers alerted them of their presence. Police noted in an affidavit that King’s shorts were unbuttoned and not pulled up on her waist and Winters’ belt was unbuckled and his pants were open. King immediately told officers her pants were not on because she had just...

Obama: Graduates said 'Yes we can'Published: May 16, 2011 at 2:14 PM MEMPHIS, May 16 (UPI) -- Commencement at Booker T. Washington High School in Memphis was a celebration and a chance to prove the naysayers wrong, President Obama said Monday. "Every commencement is a day of celebration. But this one is especially hopeful," Obama told the graduating class during its graduation exercise. "That's because some people say that schools like BTW just aren't supposed to succeed in America. You'll hear them say, 'The streets are too rough in those neighborhoods.' Or 'The schools are too broken.' Or 'Those kids...

MEMPHIS, Tenn (Reuters) – The motto for the 2011 Memphis In May International World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest was "Come Hell or High Water." Mission accomplished. The high water came -- nearly 48 feet deep -- washing the contest out of Tom Lee Park next to the Mississippi River in downtown Memphis for the first time in more than 30 years. But nearly 250 cooking teams turned out anyway with names such as "Pigs Gone Wild," "Notorious P.I.G," "The People's Republic of Swina," and "Not Ready for Swine Time Porkers." Thousands of spectators came as well, including sisters Kathy Lawson...

WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama will deliver a commencement address at Booker T. Washington High School in Memphis, the White House has confirmed. After the announcement was expected last Friday and again Monday but delayed, the winner of the Race to the Top Commencement Challenge was named to great expectations after each of the three finalists were notified. The date of the speech has yet to be determined. In his first 27 months in office, Obama has not visited Memphis as president. The other finalists were High Tech High International in San Diego, Calif., and Bridgeport High School in Washington...

(AP) - The Mississippi River crested in Memphis at nearly 48 feet on Tuesday, falling inches short of its all-time record but still soaking low-lying areas with enough water to require a massive cleanup. National Weather Service meteorologist Bill Borghoff says the river reached 47.85 feet at 2 a.m. Tuesday and is expected to stay very close to that level for the next 24 to 36 hours. Reaching its high point means things shouldn't get worse in the area, but it will take weeks for the water to recede and much longer for inundated areas to recover. "Pretty much the...

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – Forecasters say the Mississippi River could crest late Monday at Memphis — hours sooner than previously predicted — but the mayor says the city's ready for it. Mayor AC Wharton said that despite the tightened timeframe, he's confident that precautions such as door-to-door warnings have prepared the city. "We don't have as much time, but fortunately we're ready for it," Wharton told The Early Show on CBS Monday.

I shot this image today. It's from just west of the I-40 MS River bridge, before the Arkansas truck scale. An old school bus (perhaps converted for hunting/camping) had been left on the I-40 access road. It's a good bet that it's beyond salvaging at this point. Anyway, it gives a good perspective as to just how bad the flooding is right now.

Roads Closed Roads in Memphis / Shelby County Due to Flooding ■Old Mills S. of Watkins ■Chelsea west of McLean ■Evergreen south of Chelsea ■Highway 51 North bound and South bound lanes closed from Fite road to North watlkins ■Chelsea West of Evergreen ■Watkins @ Highway 51 (Alternative ways in and out of Northhaven and Shelby Forests use 51 to Rust Rd, Rust Rd to Woodstock-Cuba, Woodstock-Cuba to Locke, Locke to Walsh, Walsh to Fite, Fite to North Watkins) ■New allen @ Ridgemont – bridge ■Scenic Hwy @ James Rd ■Rivergate @ Riverport ■Beale and Riverside ■Belmont @ Blue Map...

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Two Muslim religious leaders say they were asked to leave a commercial airliner in Memphis on Friday and were told it was because the pilot refused to fly with them aboard. Masudur Rahman, who is also an adjunct instructor of Arabic at the University of Memphis, said by phone from the terminal at Memphis International Airport that he and another imam had already been allowed to board their Delta Connection flight to Charlotte, N.C., before they were asked to get off the plane. Transportation Security Administration spokesman Jon Allen in Atlanta confirmed the incident and said it...