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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...

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED...CORRECTED CIVIL EMERGENCY MESSAGE MEMPHIS SHELBY COUNTY EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY RELAYED BY NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEMPHIS TN 332 PM CDT SAT APR 30 2011 THE FOLLOWING MESSAGE IS TRANSMITTED AT THE REQUEST OF THE MEMPHIS SHELBY COUNTY EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY. FLOOD WARNING ALL SHELBY RESIDENTS SHOULD TAKE PRECAUTION NOW...ESPECIALLY IF YOU LIVE WITHIN THE 100 YEAR FLOOD PLAIN OF RIVERS AND STREAMS...TO BE PREPARED TO EVACUATE HOMES AND BUSINESSES IF FLOODING OCCURS. NEAR RECORD FLOODING IS FORECAST ALONG THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER AS IT BORDERS SHELBY COUNTY. A MESSAGE FROM THE SHELBY COUNTY MAYOR MARK H. LUTTRELL...THIS...

Jihad Returns to America By: Robert Spencer FrontPageMagazine.com | Thursday, June 04, 2009 Jihad came once again to American soil on Monday, when an American convert to Islam, Abdulhakim Mujahid Muhammad, began shooting at soldiers who were standing outside the Army-Navy Career Center in Little Rock, Arkansas. Muhammad murdered Pvt. William Long, 23, and gravely wounded Pvt. Quinton Ezeagwula, 18. Muhammad was charged with capital murder and – in a departure from authorities’ practically reflexive dismissal of terrorism as a factor in virtually any act of violence by a Muslim -- sixteen counts of committing a terrorist act. Rather curiously,...

“The Extent of Radicalization in the American Muslim Community and that Community’s Response” Committee on Homeland Security - US House of Representatives March 10, 2011 Thank you very much for allowing me to come here and tell the country what happened to my son. This hearing today is extremely important to begin the discussion about the issue of Islamic radicalization in America and my hope is that this Committee can somehow address this issue in a meaningful, productive way. First, I would like to express my deepest sympathy to the family of Private William Long, and to the wounded soldier,...

Former state Sen. John Ford’s federal TennCare fraud and corruption convictions were tossed Thursday morning by the Sixth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The court specifically found that Ford’s failure to disclose that he was working as a consultant for a TennCare contractor while he was a state senator voting on policies governing TennCare wasn’t a matter for the federal courts. It was instead a matter for state government, the court ruled. A recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling on the use of the “honest services” federal statute also figured prominently in a ruling that could mean Ford will be released...

Longtime Rock 103 radio personality John "Bad Dog" McCormack died shortly after 4 p.m. Thursday at Methodist University Hospital after he was admitted to the hospital's intensive care unit in critical condition earlier in the day. McCormack, 55, was diagnosed with leukemia in 2009 and underwent a bone marrow transplant. He had relapsed and had been re-admitted to the hospital before his condition worsened Thursday. His WEGR-FM radio partner Tim Spencer posted a message from McCormack on the station's website. He said the words were written by McCormack to be published in the event of his death: "I have gone...

Memphis voters spoke very clearly, if not with overwhelming volume: The city wants a unified Shelby County school system. The specific question on Tuesday’s schools referendum read: “Shall the Administration of the Memphis City School System, a Special School District, be transferred to the Shelby County Board of Education?” A total of 71,424 voters showed up to answer, and 47,812 of them (67 percent) pushed the “yes” button. Those who wanted MCS to remain as is turned out only 23,612 voters (33 percent). “The people were not led so much by fear as people thought they would,” said MCS board...

Just 77 days have passed since the Memphis City Schools board chose to surrender its charter, and as voters set out today to confirm or reject the action, it's still unknown what a "yes" vote or "no" vote will really mean. Public bodies continue to push conflicting plans for a postvote future, and lawyers have prepared for a long struggle in court. Highlighting the uncertainty: More than 50 people have responded to a call for members of a proposed new, unified school board. The board might never exist. Applications continue to stream in ahead of the March 15 deadline. The...