Survey Shows Inmates Lost in the System Ever hear those tall tales about getting lost in the downtown jail at 201 Poplar? Well, they aren't so tall after all. An impromptu count of last Tuesday's inmate total of 2,800 showed that more than 1,200 inmates had been in the facility for more than 100 days. According to processing data, more than 50 had been held for longer than 300 days and one person had been kept at the jail over 2,000 days -- that's about five years. The jail was originally built to hold a maximum of 1,300 inmates. Doug Morgan, the appointed special master or supervisor of the federal mandate filed against Shelby County, was flabbergasted as he sifted through the thick packet of papers pointing out inmates who apparently had been lost in the overcrowded, problem-plagued system. The jail is supposed to be a holding place for people who have been charged but not convicted, of any crimes. Inmates should not be kept at 201 Poplar more than 45 days at the most, he says. Morgan isn't sure who's to blame for the slack pace in processing, bonding, and releasing inmates. It could be a combination of incompetent, overworked, or apathetic public defenders and the jail's unorganized staff and archaic processing system. "You've got some people possibly serving time in a jail who shouldn't be in there or who should be at the Penal Farm or in a prison somewhere else," Morgan says. "I'd like to know how long this has been going on." -- Ashley Fantz Museum Searches for New Home Four months after the opening of one Memphis music museum, downtown looks to be on the verge of losing another one. The Memphis Music Hall of Fame, a small but well-stocked regional music museum at 97 S. Second Street, just across from The Peabody, has been a downtown fixture for the last decade, but according to owner and operator John Montague, it's preparing to close its doors at the end of the year. "I've been there for 10 years now, and my lease expires [at the end of the year] and I don' t have the money to rebuild," Montague says. A local attorney, he says that he began negotiating a new lease with landlord Lee Cooper this spring, but was informed in June that his lease will not be renewed when it expires in December. In the interim, Montague says he's been looking for an alternate space downtown -- including the Toyota Center adjacent to AutoZone Park -- but hasn't had much luck. "I made [the Redbirds] an offer, but we couldn't get together," Montague says. "They wanted more than I could afford." Montague says that the April opening of the Rock 'n' Soul Museum in the Gibson guitar plant has had an effect on his attendance this summer. "Attendance for walk-ins is up, but the tour business is down 25 percent. The Rock 'n' Soul Museum is getting most of the tour business now and that hurt me pretty bad," he says. Montague sold one of his prize artifacts, Elvis Presley's first piano, last fall in Las Vegas at the Elvis Presley Enterprises-sponsored auction for $90,000. "One reason for selling the Stroud [piano] was to try and upgrade [the museum] to get ready for the arrival of the Rock 'n' Soul," he says. Asked what would happen to the remainder of his collection of music memorabilia in the event that the museum didn't reopen, Montague says, "I guess I'll have to sell it." But he has no definite plans to do so at this time. -- Chris Herrington Consultants Kick Off Public Meetings The Riverfront Development Corporation (RDC) recently hired Cooper, Robertson & Partners to produce an overall development plan for the river, and last week introduced the New York City consulting firm to Memphians at a public meeting held at the Cook Convention Center. Some 60 Memphians voiced their concerns and dreams for the new changes to occur on the riverfront. In attendance were special-interest groups ranging from the Sons of Confederate Veterans to the Wolf River Conservancy. The former group wanted to ensure the safety of Confederate and Jefferson Davis Parks, while the latter reminded the consultants that Wolf River Harbor should "look, feel, and behave as naturally as possible." Individual citizens also came out to give their own plans for the river. One suggestion was to create a giant silver ball on the southern tip of Mud Island. Inside the sphere would be a riverboat adventure ride that would chronicle the history of the Mississippi River along with the cities situated there. Another less ambitious idea was to simply create a proper landing for riverboat cruises that included a canopy. This spectrum of interests is representative of the tremendous challenge that the RDC and its consulting teams face with the river. In addition to the human factor, Memphis' position on the river provides a "terrific challenge" according to Cooper, Robertson project leader David McGregor. McGregor compared the scope of Memphis' project with that of another well-known waterfront, Baltimore. He says that while the Baltimore waterfront encompassed 40 acres and experienced a three-inch variation in water levels, the Memphis riverfront covers over 15 miles (including the Mud Island riverfront) and sees a water level fluctuation of roughly 50 feet a year. In order to facilitate further public opinion, the RDC has added a "Pollin' the River" section to their Web site, www.memphisriverfront.com. There, with a free user name and password, visitors can join online discussions with others and discuss Memphis' western boundary. The RDC will plan future meetings with the Memphis public after it makes some progress in the planning process. -- Chris Przybyszewski Like a Prayer: USDA Cuts off Food Contributions to Memphis Union Mission Don't say that the government isn't serious about separating church and state. The USDA has stopped supplying the Memphis Union Mission with 12 tons of subsidized food because the Christian organization requires that needy people attend a prayer service before being fed. The decision came after the Tennessee Department of Agriculture inspected the operation and found that the mission's religious requirement for service clearly violated state and federal laws. The mission, which has received the food for four years, plans to continue to buy goods from the Memphis Food Bank for 11 cents a pound, but Reverend Mark Calhoun says the loss from the USDA's contributions is highly significant. "They were mainly meats, and the people we feed need protein," he says. "It's a hard time with the holidays coming up." So far this year, the mission has distributed more than 3,000 meals to the homeless. Calhoun can get the food back if he agrees to make the prayer service optional. "That's not a choice for us," he explains. "Prayer has been in our charter since 1945. It's the reason we exist." Terry Minton, commodity director for the Tennessee Department of Agriculture, believes that the mission's prayer requirement denies more people from receiving food. "There are some people who couldn't get the food because their religion tells them to pray to a different, non-Christian god, or maybe not to pray at all," Minton says. "We are uncomfortable with making anyone do anything. We view requiring prayer as a restriction to getting our food to people." Calhoun has sent a "Hungergram" letter to Memphians explaining the situation and asking that they contribute money or food to the mission. "Speaking for our board, staff, residents, and all donors who have placed their trust in us," he writes, "I must respectfully say to the USDA, 'This will never happen! It goes against the reason we exist -- to preach and promote the spreading of the Gospel of Jesus Christ!'" The Mission is one of eight religiously affiliated food shelters/soup kitchens in Memphis. Firstwork, a nonprofit organization that provides food to the poor and hungry, grew out of First United Methodist Church 10 years ago. Its executive director, Scottie Brafford, says that the group intentionally chose not to require prayer at the soup kitchen. The group receives USDA food for their children's program. "We don't theologically want to be in that position," she says. "People who are hungry need to be fed. If their souls desire to be fed as well, then we'll work with that. "We are not areligious. Obviously, that's a great core of what we do, but it's important to maintain a respect for the separation of prayer and physical care for the people who come to us." -- Ashley Fantz Verbatim "Do you browse through railway timetables, directories, or dictionaries just for pleasure?" -- Just one of 200 intriguing questions from "Are You Curious About Yourself?", a Church of Scientology survey placed on cars in Overton Square over the weekend. What we're really curious about is: Where can one obtain good railway timetables these days? Other equally perplexing queries included: "Do you ever get disturbed by the noise of the wind or a 'house settling down'?", "Does an unexpected action cause your muscles to twitch?" and "Is your facial expression varied rather than set?" Silky Sullivan Opens Bar in French Quarter A "World Famous Irish Bar" by the name of Silky O'Sullivan's will open later this month on Decatur Street in New Orleans, between the Hard Rock Cafe and the House of Blues. "Pat O'Brien has been saying for 10 years that [they] wanted to move to Memphis. ... No one has done anything but talk," says Thomas "Silky" Sullivan, owner of Silky O'Sullivan's on Beale Street. "This shows the world that Memphis is doing it." The New Orleans bar will showcase blues music and will serve as an important first step in creating a Memphis/New Orleans "music corridor," according to Jerry Schilling, president of the Memphis & Shelby County Music Commission. Schilling says that a Silky's in New Orleans "gives Memphis artists a new place to play and will bring new artists here." He hopes to expand the music corridor to connect the Mississippi River's musical touchstones: Chicago (in spirit), St. Louis, Memphis, and New Orleans. His goal, he says, is to "expose our music to the world." Amtrak is helping this along by creating a "Silky Express" to run daily between Memphis and New Orleans, according to Amtrak marketing manager Shannon Kloek. Amtrak will market a package that will include transportation, on-board entertainment, and hotel accommodations. The first Silky Express will run September 29-October 1. The inaugural trip will feature music by Greenville, Mississippi, native Jerry Kattawar and will include a parade from the New Orleans train station to Silky O'Sullivan's. —Chris Przybyszewski Starbucks Raises Prices Prices at the Starbucks coffee chain have spiked all over town. For example, a Venti (or small) Hazelnut latte was $3.73. Now the drink is $4.01. Regular coffee prices rose more than 10 cents. The costs to the consumer are apparently not the fault of any financial hits the company has taken recently. In fact, Starbucks Corp. shares rose 2.9 percent Friday after it reported sales at stores open at least a year rose more than expected in August. The stock has gained more than 55 percent since January, around the time that Starbucks seemed to pop up everywhere in Memphis and its suburbs. Nationwide, the average price increase per beverage is seven cents. Analysts are reporting that the price bump is meant to offset the company's increased expenditures for staffing as more coffee shops go up around the nation. But is that really the reason? Why did the corporate coffee-sellers pass their financial perks onto the consumer? The Flyer contacted the Union Avenue Starbucks, but was told to call the corporate spokesperson for Memphis in New Jersey, who then passed the name of a media rep in L.A. That person punted to his colleague in Seattle -- where Starbucks is based -- who in turn suggested that a quote come from a different media mouthpiece whose secretary says will not be available for a day or two. Whew. No wonder coffee has become so complex.—Ashley Fantz

					Fly on the Wall Sleepless in Shelby County Memphis is a sleepy town. At least that's what Yankelovich and Partners, a group seeking to promote a healthier America vis-a-vis snooze therapy, claims. Y&P, who are conducting a national "Sleep Census," have not only determined that Mid-Southerners are a heavy-lidded lot, but they're cranky too. When asked if getting more sleep would make their lives better, only 69.5 percent of Memphians polled said yes. Wassamatta Memphis, too much caffeine? Wag the Dawg A recent article in the CA quoted bowhunter Jeff Barry as saying, "A lot of people think Labs are strictly duck dogs. That's not right. They make excellent trackers for wounded deer." While the eye-opening column cataloging the amazing versatility of Labrador retrievers went a long way to clear up the age-old duck/deer controversy, it did little to quell the escalating feud over "Frisbee vs. red bouncy-ball." All for gun control, say "eye." People don't blind people, guns do. At least that's the message former Horn Lake police officer Christopher Stotts -- who accidentally shot himself in the eye while cleaning his department-issued pistol -- seems to be sending. Stotts is not only suing the city for $20 million claiming that he did not receive proper gun training, he has leveled an additional $20 million suit against gun manufacturers Heckler & Kooch. Apparently nobody ever told him not to point a loaded gun at his head. Not the Monorail! The Riverfront Development Corporation, along with New York architects Cooper, Robertson & Partners, have suggested some drastic changes for Riverside Drive. Their proposal includes not only the elimination of the southern tip of Mud Island, and the Lone Star Concrete plant downtown, but also the demolition or reinvention of Jefferson Davis Park. Though nobody seemed to know exactly how the park would be redeveloped, RDC Chairman Kristi Jernigan did tell the architects, "That's a great piece of real estate." Curiously enough, Jefferson Davis once said the exact same thing about New York. It's-a One for the Money Forget Powerball. Elvis Presley Enterprises has teamed with MIDI Entertainment to create Elvis-themed lottery games. Lucky winners will receive special Elvis travel packages, which include air-travel and lodging, along with VIP Platinum tours of Graceland and "related Graceland attractions." While we are both aware of Elvis' immense global popularity and intrigued by these mysterious "related attractions," it's still hard to imagine anyone getting all that excited about winning a trip to Whitehaven.
		Compiled by Chris Davis Send items to: P.O. Box 1738 Memphis, TN 38101 FAX: 521-0129 e-mail: davis@memphisflyer.com.

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