Free Republic

It wasn't music but mudslinging that brought a national news team to Memphis Thursday to cover what "NBC Nightly News" anchor Brian Williams called one of the "hottest and dirtiest races of them all." Williams broadcast live from Beale Street, entering the Senate showdown between Democrat Harold Ford and Republican Bob Corker only to get caught in the middle. Advertisement Corker backers complained that the network was favoring the Democrat by broadcasting from what most consider Ford country. "It's such a crucial race, and the emotions are running so high," said Williams. "I just read an e-mail in the trailer...

MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- A church that wanted to do something special for Hurricane Katrina victims gave a $75,000 house, free and clear, to a couple who said they were left homeless by the storm. But the couple turned around and sold the place without ever moving in, and went back to New Orleans. "Take it up with God," an unrepentant Joshua Thompson told a TV reporter after it was learned that he and the woman he identified as his wife had flipped the home for $88,000. Church members said they feel their generosity was abused by scam artists. They are...

Indicted Poll Workers Will Be In Court Today Teased by news of ballot troubles and potential fraud, Shelby County voters head to the polls today as an older and very real case of alleged voting fraud quietly heads back to court. Three former county poll workers charged with faking votes from dead people will be in Criminal Court today -- Election Day -- when the role of a fourth, uncharged poll worker could become clearer. "Paid Political Advertisement"When the workers were charged in June with helping Ophelia Ford eke out a 13-vote win over Terry Roland in last year's Dist....

This is the day former state senator Roscoe Dixon is scheduled to report to federal prison. The Memphis Democrat was convicted in October and sentenced to five years and three months behind bars in the Tennessee Waltz public corruption probe. Dixon was convicted of taking payoffs to push for changes in state law supposedly wanted by a company called E-Cycle Management. The company was a fake, however, created by the FBI as part of its investigation. The investigation has led to indictments against eleven defendants, including five current or former state lawmakers and several local officials in Memphis and Chattanooga....

Did anybody else see this alert? I caught the very end. Jr. is already planning to overturn the election isf Corker wins.

At 12:33 ET, a very reluctant Chris Matthews gave an update on the Tennessee Senate race, unwilling to call the vote (even though it was complete) for Republican Bob Corker. He was overruled from the control room, but still was clearly disheartened that Tennesseans did not vote his way.Even after being corrected, Matthews continued to express skepticism that the Republican had defeated his preferred fellow Democrat. We just got word now that the count is complete now in Tennesee and we're not making any projections yet officially as NBC now but as you can see up on the board now...

Is it just me, or does it look like he has been crying?

Two city councilmen, including the uncle of U.S. Rep. Harold Ford Jr., were charged Thursday with taking thousands of dollars of bribes in exchange for their votes to allow new billboards in the city. Memphis council members Edmund Ford and Rickey Peete face federal charges that they took nearly $7,000 and $12,000, respectively, from an informant. Edmund Ford comes from a prominent political family in Memphis: His brother is former U.S. Rep. Harold Ford Sr., the first black congressman in Tennessee, and his nephew is Ford Jr., the unsuccessful Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate in November. The informant paid the...

At the Downtown Election Commission, mayoral critic Thaddeus Matthews got the green light to launch his recall effort. "So I'm officially in business now?" he asked a commission worker. The reason for the recall? Matthews' petition claims "gross malfeasance and betrayal of the public's trust." It's all nonsense to Willie Herenton. "I have great respect for the rule of law," he said. In a one-on-one interview about the recall effort, the Memphis Mayor told Action News Five he understands and appreciates the process. "I will always advocate the right of the people to elect their government officials and - with...

It's been 40 years since Memphis Mayor Willie Herenton strapped on boxing gloves and stepped into the ring. But next Thursday the 66-year-old mayor and amateur boxing champion will do just that in a three-round charity bout at The Peabody with 62-year-old former world heavyweight boxing champion Smokin' Joe Frazier. Proceeds benefit the Shelby County Drug Court, an alternative program for nonviolent adult offenders with drug charges. The feats of Frazier are not things that Herenton takes lightly -- he even had to sign a waiver releasing Frazier from liability should he hurt the mayor. "He's been hit by the...

Memphis, Tenn. (WHBQ)- Even before the ink dried on the last criminal complaint, two more Memphis City Council members have an appointment with the law. The two council members were subpoenaed by a federal grand jury Friday afternoon, eight days after two other councilmen were accused of bribery.

Today I'd like to award my first "On the Pipe" awards to Memphis City Councilmen Rickey Peete and Edmund Ford, both arrested Thursday on public corruption charges. No insult to addicts intended, this award goes to anyone whose behavior is so bizarre, so devoid of any common sense, so head-scratchingly stupid that the only explanation is a serious addiction to the crack pipe. What makes Ford's and Peete's stupidity so memorable, so worthy of the "On the Pipe" award is the timing. In August and October, federal prosecutors say Ford took a total of $6,900 in bribes to get the...

They didn't even keep their shirts on. Instead, hundreds at The Peabody Thursday were exposed to the AARP-age man boobs of Memphis Mayor Willie Herenton, 66, and former heavyweight champ Joe Frazier, 62. As I watched the exhibition match between a bouncing braggart and a punch-drunk former great, I had to keep reminding myself that this was a fund-raiser for the Shelby County Drug Court. Otherwise, I would have left in disgust. I know it's supposed to be entertainment, but what's entertaining about seeing just how far Smokin' Joe has declined? During three one-minute rounds, Herenton batted at Frazier's head...

With a hidden video camera rolling, Memphis City Councilman Edmund Ford allegedly pocketed a $1,900 payoff from a government informant in October, then promised results. "I'll drum up seven (votes) or make somebody walk out." That was among allegations levied Thursday against council members Ford and Rickey Peete, who were arrested by FBI agents on federal bribery charges accusing them of accepting thousands of dollars from an informant in exchange for their votes. In the second major local public corruption investigation in two years, authorities say secret audio and video recordings show the pair received cash payments -- $12,000 for...