A Time for Strict Measures The 1999 Tourist of the Year award has to go to Michael Henningsen of Albuquerque, who, on a visit to our town last week, was assaulted, beaten, robbed, stuffed into the trunk of his rental car, and -- had not fate, in the form of a police chase of his abductors, intervened -- would surely have been killed. Nevertheless, in remarks quoted later by The Commercial Appeal, Henningsen had nothing but praise to bestow on Memphis, bragging about the city's attractions, its hospitality, and its cuisine and actually suggesting that, on the whole, he had a good time here. Talk about grace (and graciousness) under pressure! Henningsen's good review and good nature should not blind us, however, to the grave problem pointed up so vividly by his horrific misfortune: Memphis continues to have a major crime problem, and it must be addressed, now. Period. Exclamation point. End of debate. We at the Flyer took what happened to Henningsen with utmost seriousness. He was our guest. As the senior editor of Albuquerque's Weekly Alibi, he was one of some 6500 out-of-town visitors who attended last week's annual convention of the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies (AAN). We hosted the convention as part of our 10th-anniversary celebration, but the real reason was to show off our hometown. We're proud of the giant strides Memphis has made in the last decade -- especially downtown -- and we were happy to bring so many influential people here to see how far we have come since 1968, when the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King became the occasion for Time magazine's referring to us as a "backwater river town." With the help of the Convention and Visitors Bureau, among others, we were able to show off the multitude of attractions here -- Beale Street, The Peabody, Graceland, the National Civil Rights Museum, the Sunset Symphony's big finale to Memphis in May at Tom Lee Park, and the city's teeming and versatile night life. Contrast all this with the effect wrought by the two thugs who were prowling Thursday night in the vicinity of one of the nightclubs we had recommended to our visitors. Their outrageous deed would have led to worse, had not their greed -- which continued Friday morning with the armed robbery of a CA carrier -- caused the police chase that led to their capture and to the release of Michael Henningsen. We congratulate the police for their prompt and efficient conduct. But the incident that forced them into action reminds us that, no matter how many joyous celebrations we throw on the river, we still have a deep-rooted problem in Memphis. Random acts of violence directed at innocent people cast a shadow over our city, and until we find a way to come to terms with this epidemic Memphis will never achieve the greatness to which it aspires. This newspaper intends to follow up on this incident. We will insist that the thugs who brutalized Henningsen face strict and immediate prosecution. The same goes for the others who presume to terrorize us and our guests and our good name -- like the so-far unapprehended "Evergreen Phantom." We are not newcomers to the War Against Crime, having long recommended that our city's police force be augmented to the degree necessary to control crime. We are aware that there are still unresolved social conditions locally which may beget crime. But that is another matter, to be resolved separately. Henceforth, we must give no quarter to the criminals in our midst. That's a resolve which we owe ourselves -- and our friends.