Go, Johnny, Go American Records and Johnny Cash took a full-page ad out in the March 14th issue of Billboard magazine protesting the music industry’s ambivalence toward Cash and other veteran country artists. The ad, which is reproduced in this month’s Harper’s, features a classic shot of Cash flipping the camera the bird and reads, “American Recordings and Johnny Cash would like to acknowledge the Nashville music establishment and country radio for your support.” Despite a lack of radio airplay, Cash’s album Unchained won a Grammy for Best Country Album this year. What Are Those For Again? The downtown trolley line might need more marketing. Not only can empty or nearly empty cars regularly be seen making their rounds, but apparently some people haven’t even caught on to what those tracks are for. As it turns out, the trolleys ground to a halt Saturday morning when several visitors to the barbecue fest left their cars parked on the line’s Tennessee Street tracks. Just Stop It “Menacing music, ‘noir’ images, and a voice-over that sounds like Dr. Doom ….” No, it’s not the latest report from Channel 3’s Mike Matthews. It’s a new public-service announcement from the Memphis / Shelby County Crime Commission, as described in a press release from Archer/Malmo, the agency that created the campaign. The message of the spots is simple: Join the commission, put an end to crime. The slogan for the ads is, “Stop It – for $10.” Which kind of sounds like the last thing you hear before you get mugged. What Is The World Coming To? In a feature about the rising popularity of veggie burgers, Reuters reported last week that even Elvis Presley’s Memphis has started carrying nonmeat burgers. “While it sells Elvis’ favorite sandwiches, BLTs and banana and peanut butter,” reports the news service, “it has added the veggie burger for customers seeking low-fat and nonmeat dishes.” Low-fat? Elvis surely wept. We Had To Ask Driving past Las Savell’s jewelry store at McLean and Union, it’s tough to miss its ever-changing marquee that documents from week to week who Mr. Savell thinks is making Memphis a better place. Most of the names don’t ring a bell. This week, however, Savell singled out CA columnist Susan Adler Thorpe. Why? Well, we had to ask. “In my opinion she’s a straight-shooter and handles the politicians well,” he says. “She’s on the cutting edge of reporting, I would say.” In that case, the name of this column is “Fly on the Wall,” and we prefer it in all caps.		Bomb Scare Cunningham Hundreds of activists ended a demonstration outside the Federal Building downtown May 13th when a metal box thought to be a bomb was discovered outside. National members of the disability-rights group ADAPT (American Disabled for Attendant Programs Today) gathered in Memphis last week to pressure legislators to provide more funding for home- and community-based care. Last Wednesday, the group surrounded the Federal Building and demanded to talk with Vice President Al Gore on the telephone. ADAPT wanted the Clinton administration to support its cause publicly and to endorse pending legislation that would increase funding for at-home care. By about 2:30 p.m., local ADAPT organizer Deborah Cunningham says, the group wasn’t able to reach the vice president and had planned to block the entrances to the building. When the bomb squad was called to investigate the mysterious box, however, ADAPT’s leadership felt obligated to end the protest early. “We were cynical about that information [that there might be a bomb], but we didn’t want to take a chance,” she says. The box turned out to be empty. Some ADAPT leaders have said they think the bomb threat was a planned attempt to disperse the group. “It was a way to get rid of us,” says Joe Ehman, an ADAPT organizer from Denver. It’s hard to say if ADAPT’s activities here last week captured the attention of anyone in Washington. But the group certainly kept local law-enforcement officers busy. On Monday, May 11th, the activists filled Governor Don Sundquist’s Memphis office and blocked a parking garage beneath the county building. Because of the protest, employees were sent home early and the building remained closed the following day. There were no arrests. – Jacqueline Marino Enforcer Online The MPD Enforcer has gained new life on the World Wide Web. This underground newsletter, run by one or more anonymous officers in the Memphis Police Department, serves to air all the complaints a cop could muster against the administration. The publication attacks everything from the alleged wrongdoings of senior police administrators, editorials in the “Communist Appeal,” and the department’s recruiting standards. For example, in a mock recruiting ad, the Web site declares, “We just plain need bodies. So if your [sic] overweight, weak, brain dead, or possibly the director’s kin WE NEED YOU!!!” It’s harsh, but it’s a far cry from three years ago, when the publication printed a regular section called “Asshole of the Month,” in which it criticized politicians and police administrators for both real and alleged gaffes. The online version of the Enforcer is probably run by the same white officers who were publishing it on paper just a few years ago. Director Walter Winfrey was lambasted in its pages in late 1995 for disciplining the police officers who attended the “Good O’ Boys” roundup, an allegedly racist gathering of white law-enforcement officials in East Tennessee. The Enforcer’s Web address is www.geocities.com/Athens/Aegean/5407. – Phil Campbell County EMT Contract In Dispute Shelby County Commissioners stand ready to approve a contract with a private ambulance service, Rural/Metro, even though county firefighters oppose the deal and say they are willing to waive their annual raise to secure the contract for themselves. “We’re so concerned about the service that the citizens of Shelby County are receiving,” says Louis Lunati, vice president of Local 2585 of the International Association of Fire Fighters, “that we’re willing to make a sacrifice of our own annual raises.” The issue, according to Lawrence Riedel, secretary/treasurer of Local 2585, is quality. Among the problems he cites are less experienced EMTs and higher turnover rates. Bryan Gibson, Rural/Metro’s area general manager for Western Tennessee, disagrees with these assertions. “Our people are very well-trained,” says Gibson, noting that all EMTs in the state, including Rural/Metro’s, have to meet specific guidelines. Furthermore, according to Gibson, the turnover rate for Rural/Metro employees in the area is low – 5 percent. “That’s not true,” says Lunati of this figure. According to him, because of the lower pay and fewer benefits offered, EMTs in private companies have a much higher turnover. Also, Rural/Metro EMTs would not have fire training, which, by IAFF studies, decreases their performance. Currently, Rural/Metro Corporation runs more than 250 fire and ambulance services across America, including Knoxville, Louisville, and six Tennessee counties. Rural/Metro’s proposal is $808,000 a year, while the county firefighters’ proposal is over $3,000,000 a year. “There’s no way the local fire department could deliver [ambulance] service,” says Tom Jones, public-affairs officer for Shelby County. Furthermore, Jones says unless negotiations with Rural/Metro break down, future proposals will not be accepted. Proposals were due by March 19th. The recommendation for Rural/Metro was made by a commission that included local fire officials. Shelby County Fire Chief Michael Mulder, who sat on this committee, says Rural/Metro provides “as good a service, if not better, than we have now.” The current ambulance provider for Shelby County is ASI, another private company. – Dominic Jesse Children’s Fund Issues Report Welfare reform can be tough on children, especially on children in the South, according to a report released this month by the Children’s Defense Fund. Since the 1996 welfare-reform law, the number of parents and children receiving welfare has dropped 20 percent across the nation. But the futures of many of these families are uncertain. The jobs former welfare recipients find tend to be low-paying and unstable. Some families are kicked off the welfare rolls for not meeting certain requirements. And some have serious issues that prevent them from obtaining financial independence, including illiteracy, family violence, and lack of transportation and child care. In most Southern states, there are more poor children, but fewer of them actually receive benefits. When they do, the benefits are typically lower than in other parts of the country. Here’s how the Children’s Defense Fund says Tennessee measures up: For a family of three, the maximum monthly cash assistance benefit in 1997 was $185. Alabama was the only state that offered less. The national average was $377. Child-support enforcement in Tennessee declined drastically between 1994 and 1995. The state reduced the number of child-support orders by 75 percent. Only 6 percent of families on welfare in Tennessee had a vehicle, which is the same for welfare recipients nationwide. On the other hand, Tennessee has added $10 million for child-care subsidies and reimbursement rates. Also, there is a larger percentage of poor children in Tennessee receiving welfare than the national average. – Jacqueline Marino

Hunter’s Arrest Could End Casino Dreams

by Phil Campbell

Kevin Hunter

Memphis Mayor Willie Herenton’s plans to buy a casino in Tunica County may have been scuttled last week with the felony arrest of the mayor’s potential business partner.

Kevin Hunter, former owner of the now-defunct Memphis Pharaohs Arena Football League team, was arrested May 14th and charged with possession with intent to manufacture, sell, or distribute 2.6 grams of cocaine and heroin police found on his body. If convicted, the 34-year-old Tupelo native could get anywhere from eight to 30 years in jail.

Convicted felons are prohibited from owning or operating casinos, according to the Mississippi Gaming Commission. “Do not pass ‘Go.’ Go straight to jail. No 200 bucks,” says Warren Straight, director of public affairs for the Mississippi Gaming Commission. “No one with a felony conviction of any kind or a misdemeanor gaming violation would be allowed to hold a [casino license].”

The incidents surrounding last Thursday night’s arrest have some people speculating loudly and others – including Hunter himself – absolutely mum.

Hunter had parked his car at The Peabody and was apparently planning to walk from the hotel to Tom Lee Park.

“He was on his way to meet me to go to the [Memphis in May] barbecue fest and one of the places we were going to stop was the mayor’s tent, along with about 10 other stops,” says Joe Cooper, the first of Hunter’s friends to see him after his arrest.

Before that, Hunter was seen browsing alone at a men’s clothing store in The Peabody and left around 7:35 or 7:40 p.m. “Nothing was wrong with him,” says Hal Lansky, the store’s president.

It’s unclear what happened in the next 20 to 25 minutes, but by 8 p.m., police had received an emergency call “with one officer down” near the intersection of Main and Union. Officers and paramedics who converged on the scene found Hunter instead of a wounded cop. They first thought that he had been shot, but then decided that he could be having a seizure, so paramedics moved him into an ambulance to get out of the crowd that had formed.

Inside the ambulance, according to the arrest report, Hunter put his right hand over his mouth and started coughing. With that same hand, he then threw a “white object” out of the ambulance.

The object hit one officer on the knee before it fell to the ground, according to the report. The object was a plastic bag, the contents of which tested positive for cocaine and heroin.

Then Hunter reportedly told a paramedic that he had swallowed a second bag. He was taken to the Regional Medical Center at Memphis for “his own safety.” Police quote Hunter as saying that this second bag was filled with “cocaine mixed with heroin or PCP.” Police have only charged Hunter for possession of the first bag, however, so it’s unclear if this alleged second bag was ever recovered.

In his police mug shot, Hunter’s pullover shirt is stained, possibly with blood. A small bandage covers part of his forehead and hair. Cooper describes this injury as a “deep gash,” and claims Hunter was somehow set up, possibly as part of a conspiracy to destroy Hunter and Herenton’s casino plans.

“If somebody didn’t want him to close that deal, the quickest way to torpedo that deal would be to set him up and discredit him, so he’d lose his license,” Cooper says. “And you can take that to the bank. It’s a hard world where people play that way.”

The mayor is not saying anything about his business relationship with Hunter. “As the mayor said before, there’s a confidentiality agreement, and he can’t comment at this time,” says Carey Hoffman, Herenton’s spokeswoman. When told that Hunter had allegedly been seeking the mayor out shortly before his arrest, she responded, “That’s the first I’ve heard of that.”

Summer, Long-term Concert Outlook Appears Bleak

by Mark Jordan

Just days after the kickoff of the summer concert season and less than two months after the suicide of its founder, Mid-South Concerts, the Memphis area’s dominant music promoter, has closed its doors.

Though the Flyer could not contact family members of Bob Kelley, the impresario who created Mid-South Concerts in the early ’70s and was its guiding force until his death last March of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, last week the company’s Midtown offices were closed and its phone number disconnected.

In addition, the two remaining key employees of Mid-South Concerts – vice president Susan Green and talent buyer Jim Green – have been hired by Don Fox’s Beaver Productions to set up that organization’s first Memphis office. Beaver, which also has an office in Dallas, has long been the dominant music promoter in the New Orleans area, and the company had enjoyed a long and fruitful working relationship with Kelley and Mid-South Concerts.

The loss of Kelley, the closing of Mid-South Concerts, and the relatively late move into Memphis by Beaver, however, have combined to present a bleak summer concert outlook. The concert season started last week with Eric Clapton’s appearance at The Pyramid, a show that was originally to have been co-produced by Mid-South Concerts but was ultimately handled by national promoter C&C Concerts alone.

But beyond that, the summer concert schedule looks slim. Particularly hard-hit will be the annual concert series at the Mud Island Amphitheatre. As of early this week, only two shows – a July 24th concert by Jethro Tull and an August 24th appearance by Alan Parsons and Yes – were on the amphitheatre’s schedule.

Two more shows by summer favorite James Taylor had been scheduled for June 23rd and 24th but were cancelled after Kelley’s death. The Mid-South Coliseum, booking on its own, recently picked up the June 24th date for Taylor.

Since 1994, Mid-South Concerts and Fred Jones’ Summitt Management, producers of the annual Southern Heritage Football Classic, had enjoyed exclusive booking rights on Mud Island under the shared name Island Events. A month after Kelley’s death, the Memphis Park Commission board voted to give Summitt exclusive rights to book Mud Island, only to have Mayor Willie Herenton kill the deal. According to a release from Memphis Park Commission board chairman John Malmo, Herenton said he believes an open-booking policy would be better for the city financially.

Jones, however, disagrees. He says that his company will most likely not stage any events at Mud Island under the open-booking policy because the amphitheatre’s small size makes it necessary for promoters to stage several events to make it financially worthwhile.

“I know from experience that the only way to make it successful – and it has been successful over the five years Kelley and I did it – is to look at it not just show to show but as a whole season,” says Jones. “… You may lose money on a concert here or there but then make it up on another date. It’s the only way to do it in a venue that size.”

Jones says that though this summer may be disappointing for concert fans, things will pick up as Beaver asserts itself and, possibly, as other promoters move into town. But in the long term, Jones says, Memphis faces more serious threats to its status as the area’s entertainment center.

“Our [concert] facilities are rapidly becoming outdated,” he says. “Mud Island was too small when it was built more than 10 years ago, and it is even more so now. We just don’t have anything that can compete with Starwood in Nashville or Chastain Park in Atlanta. … I’m going to say something that I know a lot of people aren’t going to want to hear, but I would think that in two or three years the casinos will probably be the dominant source of live entertainment for Memphians, and we’re just not doing anything to compete.”