by Jacqueline Marino
hile the Memphis
Police Department investigates whether it should have warned the public
about a number of related sexual attacks on girls in the Winchester and
airport areas, one local group has turned outrage into activism.
The Memphis chapter of the National Organization for Women's Committee on Rape wants the police department to adopt an official policy requiring it to warn the public about serial sex offenders.
And this time, chapter president Virginia Stallworth says, they want to see something in writing.
"They said last time they would tell the public," Stallworth says, referring to a series of rapes in south Memphis three years ago. "Well, it's happened again and now they're investigating whether they should have told the public."
Memphis NOW formed a committee to examine the crime of rape a month ago because "we're all tired of turning on the television and seeing rapes reported one after the other," Stallworth says.
Among cities with populations greater than 500,000, Memphis ranked second in the country in rape, according to the 1996 Memphis and Shelby County Crime Report.
Last week the police department announced that 10 girls were sexually assaulted and one was raped by a man who climbed through their bedroom windows. All of the attacks took place in December, January, and March. Despite similar descriptions given by the victims, all of whom are between the ages of 8 and 13, the police say there could be more than one perpetrator. Initially, police said alerting the public could hinder the investigation.
In addition to a March 17th letter to Police Director Walter Winfrey requesting the policy, Memphis NOW has discussed forming a countywide rape council similar in format to the Shelby County Domestic Violence Council. Members would be law-enforcement officers, service providers, and other concerned citizens. Committee members also say they would ask Mayor W.W. Herenton and members of the Crime Commission to address the issue of rape more seriously.
At Thursday's committee meeting, chair Mary Durham held up a Commercial Appeal article detailing the 1996 Crime Report recommendations. She said none specifically address sex crimes.
"I never see anything about what anybody's doing about rape," Durham said. "There's never enough attention given to rape. It's such a secret crime."
MPD spokesman Lt. Richard True would not say whether a specific policy requiring the disclosure of serial sex crimes already exists, nor would he comment on the ongoing investigation except to say, "All information will be forthcoming."
Winfrey has said residents should know if crime patterns are being committed in specific areas. The current investigation will take a couple of weeks and "would tell me if there was a breakdown in communication and if there should have been a pattern identified," he says.
by Mark Jordan
WHILE ACTUAL CRIME IS ALWAYS A CONcern, downtown officials continue to be worried about the more pervasive perception of violence that keeps visitors out of the Central Business District.
On March 8th, Collierville resident John Kretzer was shot and seriously wounded during a robbery just two blocks from a Beale Street crowded with fans in town for the SEC basketball tournament. Police subsequently charged two alleged gang members for the crime.
Inspector A.J. Torrance, commander of the police department's Downtown Precinct, has told Flyer reporters that the Kretzer shooting is the first in the area since she took command last June. Nevertheless, the incident -- and the way some local media covered it -- have fueled sentiment that downtown is unsafe.
During WREG Channel 3's 6 p.m. newscast on March 10th, reporter Stephanie Scurlock reported on the shooting and its possible effects on downtown development, including the AAA baseball stadium proposal. At the end of her report, Scurlock almost offhandedly remarked, "We'll just have to wait and see how that shooting and some of the others in the downtown area will affect tourists coming here."
What exactly Scurlock meant by "others" is not clear. The only other incident mentioned in her report was a 1995 shooting involving a German tourist.
Except for a high incidence of car theft and vandalism, police and most downtown residents agree that downtown is one of the safest parts of town. But according to officials with the Center City Commission, the agency charged with spurring downtown development, that is a fact they could better relay to downtown visitors
"To my knowledge the Downtown Precinct has one of the lowest reported crime rates in the city and is, in reality, one of the safest parts of the city," says Lee Warren, vice president of marketing for the CCC. "That doesn't preclude this unfortunate incident. People still need to be aware that Memphis is a major city."
by Phil Campbell
PUBLIC OR PRIVATE? TEAR IT DOWN OR lease it to non-profit organizations? A community center or a senior citizens center? Perhaps a museum?
City officials and neighborhood activists sat down Monday to begin discussions on what to do with the building at 1850 Peabody Avenue once the main branch of the Memphis/Shelby County Public Library and Information Center moves into its new home farther to the east.
Construction on a new main library at 3030 Poplar Ave. is expected to begin sometime in 1998 and end in early 2000, according to Judith Drescher, library director. At that time, the main library on Peabody will have to shut down completely while the books and other materials are transferred from one library to the next.
After that, the library system expects to maintain a branch at the Peabody Avenue building, a branch that is only expected to take up about 7 percent of the usable space available. The rest of the 137,000 square feet could be used for practically anything.
"It's a big building," says City Engineer John Conroy, who sits on the committee [NAME TK]. "It will have to be put to multiple use. I don't think there's a single use for it."
The conclusion of the first meeting was that no one had a monopoly on ideas, and further study will be necessary. In fact, the city's chief administrative officer, Rick Masson, wants you, the ordinary citizen, to mail in your own ideas to him (160 N. Main #308, Memphis, TN 38103).
Drescher noted that San Antonio and San Francisco, which recently built new libraries for themselves, turned their old library buildings into museums. This idea didn't seem to survive the committee's discussions after someone wondered what artifacts Memphis would use to fill a new museum.
Maybe they'll just raze the building, which Drescher derisively calls the "Pit." After all, one of the main reasons she pushed for a new main library was a number of structural problems at the Peabody facility. These include inadequate heating and air conditioning, and they preclude some of the uses that had been suggested, notably the use of the space as a day-care center.
Conroy isn't so sure about leveling the building, though. There's an asbestos problem which only has to be addressed if the building is destroyed. Remediating the asbestos could cost anywhere from $50,000 to $250,000, he says.
Committee members say they are also trying to keep in mind another complicating factor -- all the kids who now walk to the main library after school. Drescher said the staff members have counted as many as 400 children under age 10 cramming the spaces between the library shelves between 2:30 p.m. and 5 p.m. Their parents pick them up after work. "The majority of children go there because of its location," she said, noting the nearby presence of a number of schools.
Whatever the outcome, the Central Gardens Neighborhood Association is sure to have a say in it. Central Gardens is known for how ferociously it maintains the integrity of its neighborhood, and the old library falls within those boundaries. The association has two representatives sitting on the committee, architect Carl Awsumb and Hamilton Smythe IV, president of Checker Cab Co. Drescher herself lives in Central Gardens.
Smythe said he was hoping for something between the ideal of "vacant elysian fields" and the "place where people pick up their [welfare] checks from [the Department of Human Services]." This last option, Smythe says, would be a "real bad thing."
The committee will meet again in three weeks when it takes a tour of the old library.
by Jacqueline Marino
AIRPORT AREA RESIDENTS WILL MOST likely reject the Memphis-Shelby County Airport Authority's $18 million offer to settle a class-action lawsuit first filed almost a decade ago, says Louie Yeldell, president of the Airport Area Residents Alliance.
According to the settlement offer, the airport would distribute $18 million to 12,000 homeowners in areas that were not bought out by the airport as part of its noise-reduction plan. The formula for divvying out the compensation has not yet been determined. If divided evenly, each household would receive $1,500. In return, the airport would be entitled to fly planes over the affected homes.
"It's ridiculous to think these people are going to give up any right to their property for $1,500," says Yeldell, leader of the 273-member AARA. While some residents may accept the offer, many believe they are entitled to a larger settlement. Residents blame the airport for noise, pollution, and declining property values in the area.
Yeldell says attorneys are expected to offer a counter-proposal.
Harriette Coleman, one of the residents' attorneys, was not speaking with the media Monday. The other, Eugene Greener, was in Florida and could not be reached.
Larry Cox, airport authority president and CEO, says the airport has planned to pay for the settlement with revenue bonds that would be financed by landing fees. He declined further comment.
About 1,200 residents have financially contributed to the lawsuit, but many of the original residents have since moved or lost interest. The suit became class-action in 1993.
by Mark Jordan
THE
BEALE STREET MUSIC FESTIVAL came of age this week when organizers announced
the lineup for the 21st edition of the concert event. Some of the major
acts scheduled to perform include longtime local favorites Z.Z. Top, Memphian
and recent Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award recipient Bobby "Blue"
Bland, and the Steve Miller Band.
The Beale Street Music Festival will be held May 2-4 in Tom Lee Park. Tickets went on sale Monday.
This year's lineup has sparked speculation of some possible impromptu onstage collaborations. In what organizer Bob Kelley described as a first, a father and son -- folk-rock legend Bob Dylan and Jakob Dylan of the Wallflowers -- will share the same festival bill. And though both Miller and former bandmate Boz Scaggs, whom Miller actually taught to play guitar, are playing separately, the makings are all there for an onstage reunion.
Of note for Memphis music fans will be an appearance by the reformed Box Tops, performers of such hits as "The Letter" and "Cry Like a Baby," with original frontman Alex Chilton.
This year's festival will also feature an expanded gospel tent, featuring performances by the Georgia Mass Choir, who appeared with Whitney Houston in the film The Preacher's Wife, and Margaret Allison and Angelic Gospel.
The
hugely popular Memphis music tent will also return this year with the Eric
and Eugene Gales Bands, FreeWorld, the Grifters, the Mudflaps, Ross Rice,
Saliva, and Blind Mississippi Morris.
Also performing at this year's festival are: Luther Allison, Marcia Ball, Barenaked Ladies, Better Than Ezra, Rory Block, the Bluebirds, Pat Boyack and the Prowlers, Lonnie Brooks, Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown, R.L. Burnside, Shawn Colvin, Johnny "Clyde" Copeland, James Cotton, Cowboy Mouth, Cravin' Melon, the Hazies, Nielson Hubbard, Big Jack Johnson, K's Choice, Big Daddy Kinsey, Johnny Lang, Leftover Salmon, Lillian Lily, Los Lobos, Taj Mahal and the Phantom Blues Band, Bob Margolin, Modern English, Coco Montoya, Pinetop Perkins, Jimmy Rodgers, Saffire, Uppity Blues Women, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, the Staple Singers, Stir, Storyville, Jimmy Thackery, War, the Williams Brothers, and Phil Williams and Exhortion.
by Susan Ellis
IT'S NO JOKE. A NEW COMEDY CLUB will soon be occupying the old Comedy Zone space in Overton Square.
Partners Larry Marks and Jeff Jones have signed a short-term lease and are planning to open the Loony Bin the second week in April. The Loony Bin, says Marks, is just one of a number of clubs, including one in Little Rock, spawned from a Kansas City business called Stanford's Comedy House. Envisioning his latest endeavor to be part comedy club/part neighborhood bar, Marks says the club will offer dancing, food, and maybe live music, in addition to comedy. The Loony Bin will feature up-and-coming acts and will host bigger-name comics every month or six weeks. While Marks and Jones are still working on their early lineup, Marks says that his other clubs have seen such on-the-cusp acts as Jeff Foxworthy, George Wallace, Robin Williams, and Roseanne.
According to Marks, he and Jones signed a short-term lease so that they can determine if the space is adequate -- not out of any fear that the club may suffer the fate of other Memphis comedy clubs like the Comedy Zone, which closed last year. "I can't worry about other clubs," says Marks. "We will offer people a little bit more."