by Tanuja Surpuriya
Earlier this year, city councilman E.C. Jones was dropped from a $1 million sexual-harassment suit filed by Katherine Gray, a bookkeeper for the Al Chymia Shrine Circus, where Jones is a member. But the District 1 representative says he still does not know why he is no longer a defendant.
"I don't know why they dropped my name," Jones says. "All I know is that it was a voluntary decision. I was never told why."
The lawsuit, which also names Al Chymia Shrine Temple, Imperial Shrine Temple International, and temple member Albert Owings, was filed last year.
Jones says he never settled out of court with Gray and never asked why the charges against him were dropped. Gray's attorney did not return repeated phone calls.
And while Jonathan Scharff is listed as Jones' attorney in court records, he says he is not and never has been the councilman's lawyer. Scharff is representing the other three defendants in the case.
"I think this will all go away soon," he says.
Scharff says that although Jones was dropped as a defendant, the allegations against him still stand. However, they have been imputed to the temple. He says he will file a statement this week denying the allegations of sexual harassment for all three parties.
Gray says that when she was working for the temple in 1994, Jones and Owings made sexual advances toward her. She alleges she was fired in 1995 because she resisted their advances and not because of a money shortage, the reason she was given at the time.
by Jim Hanas
TWO YEARS AFTER UNION JAX AT 117 Union became one of the early comers in downtown redevelopment, the British-style pub has closed its doors. Its final day of business was Saturday.
"We just got worn out and spread too thin," says co-owner Jim Garts, who says the decision to close was in part sparked by the increased competition downtown with the recent additions of Breckenridge Brewery and the Flying Saucer Draught Emporium.
Two years ago, Union Jax looked a lot like the Flying Saucer does now, packed to the rafters with lines of people waiting to get in. But after the honeymoon period passed and other places started opening, business dropped off.
"Once the Saucer opened," says Garts, "[business] slowed substantially. ... When a new place opens you get all of the business. When the Saucer opened, the same thing happened, and they're still benefiting from that newness."
Also, he notes that the stretch of Union where the bar was located has increasingly become "somewhat of a restaurant row" with Huey's, Sleep Out Louie's, Automatic Slim's, and Cafe Samovar in the area.
"We were the sole remaining honky-tonk in Union Commons, " he says. "And I think the rest of the neighborhood was going the other way, toward restaurants."
That trend will continue. The Union Jax location is expected to reopen in November as a Buckley's Fine Filet Grill.
by Jacqueline Marino
WHEN CITY COURT CLERK THOMAS Long recently asked for a list of unpaid traffic fines and tickets, he was given a double-sided computer printout that stretched 5 feet long.
Since then, Long has attempted to recover more than $35 million in unpaid fines and forfeitures by starting a debt-recovery program that works out payment plans for violators and allows the fines to be paid with credit cards. The debt-recovery offices in the Shelby County Justice Center downtown and at four other locations across the city offer extended hours.
Before the program formally opened August 4th, stepped-up collection efforts yielded $80,000 to $90,000 per month. August figures were unavailable due to problems with a new computer system.
Besides hoping to collect the fines owed on 469,572 violations, there are safety reasons for the new initiative as well.
"People with suspended or revoked licenses don't have insurance," Long says. "It's a health hazard."
by Tanuja Surpuriya
MISS
AMERICA IS COMING! MISS America is coming! Read all about it -- literally.
The Memphis Literacy Council is bringing Tara Dawn Holland, the 1997 Miss America, to Memphis in October for a dinner that will help raise funds for the organization and raise awareness about the problem of illiteracy in America. According to the 1990 Census, 4 to 6.5 million U.S. residents either speak no English or have such limited proficiency that even reading a bus schedule is almost impossible.
Throughout her reign, Holland has traveled the country, averaging about 20,000 miles per month, focusing on her platform, "Literacy in America. The power of one."
"She's been a great role model," says MLC spokesperson Tonya Katsovlis. "She's really been spreading the message everywhere she's been."
Katsovlis says the MLC chooses to look at illiteracy in terms of finding solutions instead of just identifying problems.
"When people come to our office and cannot read, we don't look at them as having a problem," she says. "Instead, we look at what they've already accomplished, and work from there."
Although Holland will be crowning her replacement, the 1998 Miss America, on September 18th, she plans to continue speaking to the country's teachers, business leaders, and government officials about finding solutions to bring down the illiteracy rate.
In Memphis, she will address guests at the MLC fund-raiser over the course of a progressive dinner on October 15th. Cocktails will begin at 6 p.m. in the home of 1960 Miss America, Lynda Mead Shea, and her husband, John. Dinner and dessert will be served at the homes of Frank and Glenna Flautt and Rodney and June Baber.
The cost to feast with Miss America is $250 per couple/person, and all proceeds will benefit MLC programs. For tickets, contact the Memphis Literacy Council.
by Susan Ellis
CUPS FOR LOCAL INDEPENDENT movie-lovers may soon run over, thanks to Robert Redford and General Cinemas.
On August 20th, GC Companies, Inc., parent company of General Cinemas Theatres, Inc., announced that the company will join Redford in a venture to create Sundance Cinemas, which is being described as "a stand-alone theatre circuit dedicated to the exhibition of the growing number of independent films." There are three General Cinema theatres in Memphis -- the Raleigh 6 adjacent to Raleigh Springs Mall, at the Mall of Memphis, and at Hickory Ridge Mall.
The partnership will be building most of the Sundance Cinemas, though some existing General Cinemas will be refurbished. Sundance Cinemas are scheduled to open next year, and locations should be announced this fall.
by Jim Hanas
WSSR-FM 98.1 named a new program director last week after a nationwide search to fill the post, vacated when Dana Daniels resigned at the end of June. Steve Nicholl -- a 25-year veteran of rock, adult contemporary, and oldies formats -- was most recently program director of WIOD-AM, a news/talk station in Miami that is the flagship station of the Miami Dolphins.
"Star 98," which plays so-called "classic hits," has been trending upward in recent Arbitron ratings and was 11th in the market in the most recent survey and ninth among 25- to 54-year-olds. Nicholl, however, says he doesn't like to put too much emphasis on ratings and says that his objective is to make WSSR a "top-of-mind" station -- that is, a station that comes to people's minds unprompted when asked what radio they listen to.
WSSR is owned by Massachusetts-based Barnstable Broadcasting and is the sister-station of WGKX-FM 105.9, "KIX 106."
Spell
it D-I-V-O-R-C-E. Barbara Jones of Raleigh got this vanity plate for her
1990 Lexus after she and her husband parted ways two years ago. The 32-year-old
Jones now runs a sundry store at 1283 N. Hollywood.
Jones' unusual plate draws a lot of attention in town, much of it supportive.
The divorce rate in Memphis is about 10 percent higher than the national
average.