Flyer Announces First $1,000 Grant As part of this publication's 10th-anniversary celebration, several months ago The Memphis Flyer announced the "Making a Difference in Millennial Memphis" grants -- a series of $1,000 grants, to be bestowed once a week for a year by a local benefactor identified only as Mr. Anonymous. The whole idea was to encourage "good works" -- little things that improved the quality of life here. The program was open only to nonprofit corporations within Shelby County, who were invited to submit applications for projects that needed funding. Once a week, the Flyer would announce which grant had been approved. The first "Making a Difference" grant is hereby bestowed upon a group called Park Friends, Inc., to help produce a self-guided trail brochure for the "Old Forest" portion of Overton Park. According to the application, the brochure "would locate about 20 stations along the dirt trails that run through the interior of the forest. These would point out record-size trees, wildflowers, plants to avoid, signs of forest animals, climate and drainage features as well as historical features within the forest. Also highlighted would be the dark side: intrusive plants that crowd out the native plants and damage done by humans, intentionally or not." Park Friends, Inc., is a volunteer organization dedicated to the preservation, protection, and stewardship of city parks. Grant money would cover map preparation, paper, and printing costs. Once completed, the guide would be distributed to schools and other groups who use Overton Park. The Flyer will announce other grants in upcoming issues. Submit proposals of 1,000 words or fewer to: Making a Difference, The Memphis Flyer, P.O. Box 687, Memphis, TN 38101. Sorry, no phone calls. - Michael Finger Student To Get Counseling For Joke A Juvenile Court judge has ordered eighth-grader Mathew Kaminski to undergo 12 weeks of psychological counseling after he cracked a poorly timed joke at Colonial Middle School. Just one day after the high-school shooting incident in Littleton, Colorado, Kaminski told fellow students that he "should have brought [his] trench coat to school." Kaminski's and fellow student Jason Cole's brief trials last week offered plot twists and unveiled new information, and Cole was ultimately acquitted after evidence failed to connect him to any sort of joke or morbid remark. As for Kaminski, the evidence proved that he had done nothing illegal. A Juvenile Court referee ordered the counseling anyway. The evidence against the two boys began to fall apart right away, starting with a police officer who misidentified Cole as Kaminski. Derrick Whiting, the 15-year-old student who was allegedly threatened by Kaminski's comments, swore under oath that he never took the comments seriously. "We didn't think nothing of it," Whiting told prosecutor Cory Woods. His mother had made him file the police report that led to the other boys' arrests. Bad luck had led to Cole's implication in the affair, Whiting testified. But then two secretaries from Colonial's administrative offices testified that Kaminski had made further remarks in the main office while he waited to be disciplined for the trench coat remark. "We got to talking about the Colorado incident," said one secretary, Marilyn Norman. "He felt that death was pretty cool. He wasn't afraid of dying." Kaminski told her that, had he coordinated the Littleton shooting, "he would be like a sniper." Kaminski admitted that he made the sniper remark, but hastily added that he wanted to be a sniper "for the military." As for his jokes in homeroom, Kaminski said, "I guess I was trying to be funny in class." -- Phil Campbell Crump House Is For Sale If you have an appetite for history and $450,000 to spare, you're in luck. The Central Gardens home of the late Memphis political leader E.H. Crump is now for sale. According to current owners James and Sylvia Shepherd, "Boss" Crump ordered the four-bedroom, 4,200-square-foot house at 1962 Peabody built in 1909. He took a personal interest in its construction, traveling by streetcar each afternoon to the building site from his downtown office and overseeing "every brick and board that went into the house." Crump ruled Memphis politics in and out of office until his death in 1954. After several years of private ownership, in the 1960s the Duration Club turned the building into a school for mentally retarded children. The Shepherds bought the house in 1978 and converted it back into a home. The property is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Interested parties should contact Shepherd at 278-3825. -- Daniel Connolly Sputnik Star Is Back In Orbit Only in Memphis would people stand in the rain to watch a liquor store switch on a neon sign. But this wasn't just any sign. This was the "relaunching" of the Sputnik Star, the satellite-shaped sign that has stood outside Joe's Liquor, 1681 Poplar, since the early 1960s. Some 500 people huddled beneath umbrellas in the parking lot across from Joe's Sunday night, and at precisely 8:30 p.m., fireworks burst from Joe's roof, the neon blinked on, the red ball started twirling, and the Sputnik was back in orbit after more than a decade of darkness. "We had a ball," says Joe's owner Brad Larson. "We had a bit of miscommunication, and somebody started the dry ice [for a fog effect] before we were ready, but it was really great." Modeled after the Russian Sputnik satellite, the sign's complicated mechanism broke down in the mid-1980s. A 1994 restoration campaign faltered when repairs were estimated to cost $22,000. When Larson took over the store in August, he contacted Precision Signs and discovered repairs wouldn't be as extensive as originally thought. He won't reveal how much the new sign cost but says that, besides repainting it and replacing some of the neon, "All it really needed was a new bicycle chain inside" to make the ball spin. Maybe somebody can now get to work on the much-battered Peter Pan Pantry sign next door. -- Michael Finger Notes And Comments From The AAN Convention The annual convention of the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies --hosted in Memphis May 27-29 by the Flyer -- is over, and more than 600 journalists have returned to their homes around the country after a round of parties, seminars, parties, lunches, and parties. They toured Graceland, Beale Street, the National Civil Rights Museum, and Mud Island, and ventured out on their own to Sun Studio, Interstate Bar-B-Q, Buntyn Cafe, the Map Room, and other sites. Our visitors from the alternative press took back with them their impressions, both good and bad, of Memphis, and here are some comments picked up or overheard during the convention: · "I can't tell [Memphis] apart from Nashville. That's the problem. It's the same sort of blasted downtown, urban renewal, flattened chunk " -- syndicated sex columnist Dan Savage, reported in the May 29th AAN News, published once a day during the convention. · Also from the May 28th AAN News: "Speaking of local lore, here's the Top 10 things you will never hear a Memphisean [yes, that's how they referred to us] say: 10. I've got two cases of Zima for the Super Bowl. 9. Little Debbie snack cakes have too many fat grams. 8. I'll take Shakespeare for 1000, Alex. 7. Lisa Marie was lucky to catch Michael. 6. Give me the small bag of pork rinds. 5. Hey, here's an episode of Hee Haw we haven't seen! 4. She's too old to be wearing a bikini. 3. Who's Richard Petty? 2. Those shorts ought to be a little longer, Darla. 1. Elvis who?" · "I hate the ducks, and I stand against the hotel's avian exploitation. It's exploitation, it's cruel." -- Hartford Advocate publisher Fran Zankowski, referring to The Peabody ducks, reported in the May 29th AAN News. · "The hotel makes too much out of ducks. Why do they need to have ducks on the elevators, ducks on the soap, ducks everywhere? Hey, I like ducks, but " -- Rochester, New York, City Newspaper co-publisher Bill Towler, from the AAN News. · "Will someone please tell [AAN News] what the #$%@ is wrong with the elevators? True story: A mechanical glitch slowed The Peabody's four elevators to a crawl Thursday afternoon, forcing AAN attendees -- most of whom get winded just eating cheese -- to hoof it up the stairs. Suffice it to say, there hasn't been that much wheezing heard since Elvis was on the pot." -- May 28th AAN News. · "The collard greens are great. Have a banana shake with it." -- an apparently serious dining recommendation from Cleveland Free Times editor Tom Vasich, referring to the fare at the Arcade. · "So far the convention is great -- except the crummy monorail that goes to Mud Island. It's locked up. You couldn't go on it Thursday night." -- City Newspaper's Bill Towler again. Most AAN delegates rode shuttle buses to a party at the River Terrace Yacht Club Thursday, but a few decided to walk to the monorail station, only to find the cars not running that late. They ended up taking cabs over to the island, and they weren't too happy about it. · "I was walking by this very friendly, perhaps homeless guy, and he was smiling at me. And then he said, 'Tell me something good,'" says Pittsburgh City Paper editor Andy Newman. "I just drew a blank." -- from the May 29th AAN News. · Participants at a seminar called "Steal This Story: Seventy-Five Story Ideas in 75 Minutes" received knickknacks from Schwab's for good ideas. The person who submitted the worst idea received the "Tennessee Toilet Paper Award," which seminar presenter David Carr described as "a corn cob on a stick." -- May 28th AAN News. · "Don't forget to take some time to venture out beyond The Peabody's walls. After all, this is Memphis, one of America's most storied cities, home of the King, Beale Street, and the world's greatest BBQ. And that's just the beginning." -- May 27th AAN News. · "The whole city seems to be under construction." -- overheard aboard the bus taking visitors to Graceland. · "I'm surprised I haven't seen more people driving around with bumper stickers which say, 'I hate Elvis.'" -- another convention delegate on his way to Graceland. · "It sure is small" and "Gosh, my parents' house is larger than this." -- overheard at Graceland as visitors arrived in front of the house. · "Do they only hire people with good Southern accents to work here?" -- a question asked of a Graceland tour guide. The visitor later apologized: "I wasn't making fun of your accent." (Yes, we think he was.) · "Phoenix will have a hard act to follow after this." -- overheard in The Peabody lobby. Phoenix, Arizona, hosts next year's AAN convention. · "Just a short note to say 'thanks' to one and all at The Memphis Flyer for a truly great convention. Next year's host city really has their work cut out for them." -- letter from Ottawa X Press sales manager Mike Beard. · "So what's the deal with West Memphis? I just don't get that at all." -- comment made to a Flyer staffer during a party on Mud Island. · "I consider myself the alternative newspaper of Elvis impersonators." -- El Vez ("the Mexican Elvis") to the AAN crowd Saturday night at Elvis Presley's Memphis, marking the first time the club had allowed an Elvis impersonator on stage there. · "I hear New Times has made an offer to acquire The Memphis Flyer." -- a rumor concerning the fast-growing chain of papers headquartered in Phoenix and your favorite local weekly. And finally, this isn't really about Memphis, but it was interesting: · Some staff members from Willamette Week, the Portland alternative, and Salt Lake City Weekly convened at the Flying Saucer Thursday night to watch game six of the NBA playoff series between the Utah Jazz and the Portland Trailblazers. To make the game more interesting, the two papers issued a bet -- the paper whose team lost would have to provide a full-page ad for the other city to sing its virtues. The only notes coming out of Salt Lake City the next day were blues.

			Fly on the Wall Mixed Message PHOTO BY DONPERRY KIDS AND CROWN Is this billboard, on eastbound Poplar east of Midtown, sending the right message? Seen Jerry Seinfeld was spotted in town over the weekend, dining at the Blues City Cafe on Beale Street. According to the joint's daytime manager, J.W. Whitten, the unemployed actor was only slightly incognito, sporting a ball cap and glasses. "He was on vacation. He talked with everybody," says Whitten. "Just hanging out in Memphis. He just wanted traditional Memphis food." He had the tamales. Believe It (Or Not) "Highly reflective 'fat' disk-shaped object 1,000 ft. off ground flying perpendicular to ground (not parallel) i.e. on end at a 45 degree angle approx. 2 miles away. The UFO flew 500 ft. under a FedEx MD11 widebody jet descending to land on glide path. The FedEx MD11 was flying just under 200 mph to south. UFO traveling same speed to north east. Could not be an aircraft banking or a mylar type balloon due to shape and size, viz. 1/3 to 1/2 the size of the MD11. Also, UFO did not behave as a balloon or kite, i.e. flapping, waving, or oscillating in wind. UFO flew straight, level trajectory at approx. 1,000 ft. and disappeared above a tree line to the north east. As UFO passed by and the angle changed, I could see that it was definitely not spherical but disc-shaped. Also, the brilliance of the reflection did not change as the angle to sight changed. UFO was silent and demonstrated no evidence of propulsion, but demonstrated controlled flight & trajectory." -- from a report filed by David Day with the National UFO Reporting Center in Seattle about a recent sighting over Midtown Memphis. Day is a co-host of Night Search Radio, a Sunday-night radio program devoted to discussion of the unexplained on WOWW-AM 1430 "The Buzz." "I can't tell you what that damn thing was," says Day. "I wish I knew." Precaution "I think you have a very real potential for anarchy and chaos, which we've seen in our times. Watts. The L.A. riots. When the Chicago Bulls win. It doesn't take much. -- Brentwood, Tennessee, businessman Jamie O'Rourke, talking to the Associated Press about his recent change of address. Fearing fallout over Y2K, O'Rourke recently sold his million-dollar home near Nashville and moved with his wife and eight children to a five-bedroom double-wide trailer near the Tennessee/Alabama border. "The question becomes, what can you assume? And in the final analysis, I think that you cannot assume the power will be on," he says. "Therefore, in order to prepare, you have to assume it's going to be off. That's where I am."