CITY REPORTER continued
"Residential customers will pick up most of the rate increase," acknowledges Cason. "That kind of increase on industry could mean jobs lost or businesses closing."
The TVERC also criticizes TVA, a federally owned utility, for not allowing the public to be involved in the decision-making process. According to Neal, TVA held only one public-comment hearing about the rate increase, and that session was just two days before the board's August 5th vote. "It's an agency that's not accountable to anyone," she says.
TVA expects the rate increase to generate $325 million in revenue each year. The anticipated debt reduction is designed to make TVA more competitive when deregulation of the utilities industry occurs. Under deregulation, customers would be able (at least in theory) to choose their own utility, giving the advantage to companies that offer the best rates and services. A 1995 General Accounting Office report indicated that TVA could not be competitive in a free marketplace as long as its debt remained high.
Is there a possibility that at some point MLGW might drop TVA and switch to another power generator? "Any alternative [supplier], in order to be competitive, would have to give us a deal much better than what TVA offers," says Morris, "and that's good for us."
Cason argues that even with the rate hike, TVA's electricity will still be an excellent buy. "TVA is second among the top power-producers in the country in terms of efficiency," he says.
Still, TVA spends $3.5 billion a year operating its hydroelectric, fossil-fuel, and nuclear power plants. The agency recently spent millions improving its transmission grid, and it must soon incur new costs in order to meet the Environmental Protection Agency's stricter clean-air standards. But Cason isn't worried; he doesn't think TVA will have to deal with deregulation in the near future. "It'll probably be five years down the road before you see anything significant happening," he says.
"If we [MLGW] knew what was going to happen with deregulation, we'd be very, very rich," says Morris. "The conventional wisdom is that it will happen much faster than anyone expects."
THE ATTORNEY FOR BASKETBALL PLAYER Tony Harris vehemently denies reports that the former East High School standout's college-entry test scores are questionable. A story about Harris' test scores ran on WMC-TV's Action News 5 last week.
"In this country you are innocent until proven guilty, but the story was cast in a manner that made it seem he was guilty until proven innocent," says Donald Smart of the Memphis law firm Glankler Brown. Smart says his services were retained by Harris' uncle, Frank Harris, shortly before the TV report aired. "To me it is astounding that the station could run with the story so quickly. The reality is that Tony Harris has suffered harm to his reputation."
The report was the lead item -- "The Big Story" -- on the Thursday-night broadcast on Channel 5. The report said Harris, named Tennessee's Class AAA "Mr. Basketball" in 1997, took the ACT last year "several times and failed to get the score necessary for NCAA eligibility, but he took the SAT once and passed."
Smart says his investigation refutes that charge. He says the University of Tennessee at Knoxville admitted Harris and that he was cleared by the NCAA to play sports there this fall, based on a composite ACT score of 17 and a GPA in his core courses of more than 2.50, as stated in NCAA guidelines.
"It's my understanding that someone sent an anonymous tip to the TSSAA [Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association] which included individual student records," says Darrin Devault, spokesperson for Memphis City Schools. "Someone also made an anonymous call to the news media and alleged that someone had taken Tony's college-entrance test for him. Our coordinator for research services has contacted the testing programs to see if there are any irregularities in Tony's college-entrance exams.
"I have to say that we have no evidence that anything wrong has taken place," Devault continues. "Because of the seriousness of it, we are obligated to look into it."
Smart says Harris scored 1050 on the SAT, but the University of Tennessee used the ACT test score, not the SAT. "If anything, Tony underperformed on his ACT because his grade-point average would have predicted a higher number, perhaps a number more in line with his SAT score. He is not a candidate for a Rhodes Scholarship, but we are talking about the minimum required to be eligible to play Division-I."
Smart also says that there is no question that the signatures on the forms are authentic for the tests Harris took. "All of the signatures for the tests are all 100 percent intact," Smart says. "There is no discrepancy in the signatures."
According to Dr. Tim Sumner, director of athletic academic services at the University of Memphis, an ACT score of 17 should roughly equal an SAT score of 820, while an SAT score of 1050 would coincide with an ACT score of 23. Sumner agrees with Smart, however, that it is difficult to make comparisons between the test scores. "It's hard to match the validity of two different tests," Sumner says. "And you can't check it against other SAT scores [because Harris only took that test one time]."
Sumner says that a six-point differential is usually the threshold at which a university might begin to question the validity of the test scores. He also points out that it is the responsibility of the school, and not the NCAA, to verify the test scores. "The university has an obligation to check the validity of the tests," he says. "NCAA policy is somewhat informal, but it says the university is responsible for the validity of the test scores used."
Smart would not say whether the Harris family is considering legal action against Channel 5. "Right now we are considering different options," he says.
It will cost $2.4 million to complete a public walkway along the Chickasaw River Bluff, $800,000 more than it did when the Memphis City Council first approved the project in 1995. The Public Works and Transportation Committee was scheduled to vote Tuesday on whether to recommend the council allocate the extra funding.
Several attempts have been made over the last few years to stall or alter the project. While the city council approved construction of the 1.1-mile walkway in 1995, Mayor Willie Herenton objected to it being built into the bluff. The Chickasaw Bluffs Conservancy, a group of citizens dedicated to the riverwalk, sued Herenton and the city for delaying the project. Although a Chancery Court decided in favor of the conservancy and ordered the construction of the walkway, Herenton appealed the court's decision and lost.
Lately most of the resistance has come from residents of the South Bluffs, Riverbluff, and Chickasaw developments who object to a public walkway being notched several feet below their property lines for both safety and environmental reasons.
"If it's going to cost another million, then it's really become ridiculous," says Orpheum president and South Bluffs resident Pat Halloran. "We probably will voice our opinion. We have always said there are alternatives to this that would not cut down the trees or endanger the bluff and those should be considered."
Conservancy president Pat Merrill says she does not expect the committee will refrain from recommending the extra funding.
"The court has said build it and we assume they will," she says.
Public Works Director Benny Lendermon says the bids submitted for the project are higher now. The increased cost is also largely due to inflation.
by Olivia Ralston
"We pray for MempHIS city."
So goes the slogan of the Highland Street Church of Christ. This is one catch phrase, though, that is more than a smug play on words. This motto actually reflects the character of that church. "We feel strongly called to urban missions," explains Dr. Harold Shank, the church's minister.
One example of this calling is the Highland School Store, a ministry in its eighth year offering needy kids from Memphis and the surrounding three states an opportunity to stock up on school supplies in preparation for the upcoming school year. An estimated 6,500 students (K-6) will shop, parents in tow, for basic school supplies on Saturday, August 16th, from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Shank says that this year, donations and contributions to the store amounted to $30,000, about $25,000 of which was given by members of the church. The rest came from corporations such as First Tennessee Bank, which funds part of the store through a recycling program, and Eberhard Faber, which donates about 40,000 pens and pencils to the store.
The Highland School Store, however, is just one of various ministries that the Highland Street Church of Christ operates, in keeping with a deliberate commitment the church has made to the city. Shank says that the church feels that many urban problems are "spiritual in nature. Unless the church has a role in the city, those problems will escalate."
Like several other Memphis churches, Highland has made a deliberate decision to remain in the city. "We want to be one of those churches with influence in the city," Shank says. "The middle of the city is a good place to have a heart for the city."
So instead of moving elsewhere to accommodate a growing church, the landlocked Highland Street Church has opted instead to work with what it has, where it has it. Currently, a $1.6 million expansion is under way, which includes a new youth wing and additional adult classrooms.
"There needs to be strong churches," Shank says. "Churches can change the face of the city. We're trying to make sure that the issue of mercy is not forgotten in the city."
In this era of welfare reform, Shank points out that the church's goal of mercy transcends political currents. He calls such political trends "contextual factors that create the need," but says the mission of the church has always been mercy -- welfare reform or no.
Shank's vision is historically founded. He compares Memphis to New York City of the 19th century -- both crime-ridden communities, about the same size, with the same number of welfare recipients. Before the turn of the century, however, publisher Horace Greeley would declare that "churches have eradicated poverty in New York City."
Shank, of course, realizes that those hopes are mighty high. Of his own church's role, he says, "It's just a finger in the dike, but someone's gotta do it."
Regulators of the Vancouver Stock Exchange (VSE) have expressed renewed doubts about the credibility of Sungold Gaming, the Canadian company on which Mayor Willie Herenton serves as a director.
The VSE this week rejected the company's proposal to resume trading of its stock, which was halted in February. At the price of the last trade, Herenton has a paper profit of over $500,000 in risk-free stock options he has exercised. But this week's announcement from the VSE jeopardizes that.
Regulators cited a number of reasons for declining Sungold's request to resume trading, saying the company "appears not to have a focused business plan," it appears to be insufficiently capitalized, management lacks direct industry experience, and management does not have a record of success with public companies.
Sungold has proposed to develop casinos in South Korea and on Indian lands in southeastern Michigan, as well as a horseracing track near Vancouver. Herenton joined the board in 1995.