RIGHT SAID, FRED?

RIGHT SAID, FRED?

• by Chris Davis

MEET THE NEIGHBORS

MEET THE NEIGHBORS

• by Chris Davis

HOW IT LOOKS

• by Chris Davis

BLUES ROOTS

BLUES ROOTS

• by Chris Davis

RACIAL PROFILING

RACIAL PROFILING

• by Chris Davis

CORRECTIONS 'N AMPLIFICATIONS

CORRECTIONS 'N AMPLIFICATIONS

• by Chris Davis

"...WORTH A THOUSAND WORDS...."

• by Chris Davis

FROM MY SEAT

DEFENSE? IT'S OFFENSIVE We, as a civilized people, must bind ourselves to honesty as our moral compass. And yes, good defense tends to trump good offense. But what about choosing the path less traveled, perhaps a different direction toward that same championship light of truth? Wayne Gretzky won four Stanley Cups, and he scored a few goals. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Michael Jordan each won six NBA titles . . . they're first and third in career SCORING. It's an ugly mix, truth and cliches. Repeat after me: offense wins championships.

• by Chris Davis

City Reporter

Health-care woes fuel rumors of hospital's closing, and other news.

• by Flyer Staff

THE WEATHERS REPORT

ONE CLASSROOM UNDER GOD I'm eight years old. I'm a good kid. I add "under God" the way I'm told. It even makes sense, because I know all about God from Sunday school: he's a big white-bearded old man, white like me, in white robes up in the white clouds. Of course our nation is "under" him. I'm eight years old. What I don't know then is that this is how it happens: This is how a government takes a religious idea and drips it into the brains of its kids.

• by Chris Davis

QUACK!

QUACK!

• by Chris Davis

"Where Are They Now?"

Yesterday's heroes and villains are gone but not forgotten.

• by Flyer Staff

SEPARATED AT BIRTH

• by Chris Davis

Short Cuts

Meet the new metal. Same as the old metal?

'WHAT IS THE TRUE COST OF THIS WAR?'

"...[O]ur people and this Congress should not have to wait until our troops are sent to fight to know what we are facing, including the painful costs of this war in dollars, political turmoil, and blood. In a democratic Republic, secrecy has no place. Hiding information from the public to rally support behind a war, at the very time when the government should be striving for maximum trust will eventually undermine our nation's strength. This conflict will be paid for with the people's treasure and the people's blood. This is no time to affront that sacrifice with beltway spin and secrecy."

• by Kenneth Neill

POLITICS: Kustoff vs. Marsha?

KUSTOFF VS. MARSHA? Why are there persistent rumors that David Kustoff is aiming to oppose Marsha Blackburn's relection in 2004? And why does Kustoff -- who acknowledges having been encouraged to oppose Blackburn by "a number of people," especially in Shelby County-- choose not to rule out making the race?

• by Jackson Baker

MASSIE LEADS TIGERS TO 9TH STRAIGHT

Playing for most of the first half without foul-plagued point guard Chris Massie, the U of M Tigers held on to see a big second half for Massie, who had 17 points in the half and 23 points overall, leading the Tigers over the Cincinnati Bearcats, 67-48.

• by Chris Davis

CITY BEAT

END OF THE LINE This is what a no-growth policy looks like. The mayor of Memphis, the mayor of Shelby County, the mayors of six municipalities, 13 Memphis City Council members, 13 Shelby County Commission members, two school superintendents, nine Memphis Board of Education members, and seven Shelby County Board of Education members can't agree on how to pay for a proposed new high school in Arlington, so nothing happens.

• by Chris Davis

KARAOKE KILLER UPDATE

Joseph Crouch, the karaoke enthusiast from Memphis wanted for the 2001 murder of his wife, Betsy, has been spotted. Just as police suspected, he has been seen singing karaoke and playing golf along the Gulf Coast in Mississippi and Louisiana. He has also been gambling in the Gulf Coast casinos. According to Crouch's daughter, Teresa Wampler, police have received 50 tips in the past two weeks, thanks in large part to an article about Crouch that ran in the New Orleans Times-Picayune and two consecutive segments aired on America's Most Wanted.

• by Chris Davis

POLITICS

SERVING NOTICE The newly elected chairman of the Shelby County Republican Party, businessman Kemp Conrad, let it be known after his overwhelming election at Sunday's local GOP convention that he intended for the party to take an active role in endorsing candidates in this year's forthcoming-- and formally non-partisan-- city elections.

• by Chris Davis

CITY BEAT: Barons of the Bluff

BARONS OF THE BLUFF To which special agency, professionally staffed and with a board stacked with politicians and business leaders, do neighborhoods go to attract a fraction of the thousands of new expensive houses and market-rate apartments that have been built downtown in the last decade? They go to City Hall. They don't have special agencies. They have elected representatives who are stretched thin and associations staffed by volunteers, and they compete for scarce tax dollars in the messy public process.

• by John Branston

Serving Notice

The GOP's new chairman avoids the school issue, aims at city elections.

• by Jackson Baker

A FAN'S "FIRST TIME"

"... I touched him! With my right hand, which was now moist with perspiration after touching Lorenzen, I tapped Harvey, my husband, and said, "Babe, I just touched Lorenzen Wright." First Harvey asked, "Why are you putting another man's sweat on me?" Then he said that I better behave before I either got arrested for touching the players or before the players started to beat him up. The latter is a man thing, I guess...."

• by Chris Davis

A SAD DAY IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD

Mr. Rogers never claimed to have all the answers. Perhaps the best thing about his message of self-acceptance was the way he presented it-- on-the-level, without a grown-up's condescending gushiness. One of my favorite Mr. Rogers tunes claims, "There are many ways to say 'I love you." He showed us that there are also many ways to say "You're important." You can invite someone inside your imagination. You can introduce them to your mailman. You can just smile and say, "I'm glad you're here." Sentimentality doesn't matter as much as sentiment. As Mr. Rogers suggested in the radio segment, sometimes a scolding is a hug in disguise.

• by Chris Davis

City Sports

It was no holds barred in last Saturday's best boxing match; What can Grizzlies fans expect from new acquisition Mike Miller?

Smoking Guns

Dark Blue: You've seen it once, you've seen it a thousand times.

No Rose-Colored Glasses

No Rose-Colored Glasses

• by Editorial

Postscript

Flyer readers respond.

• by Flyer Readers

Blues in the Night

Is Memphis losing out to Seattle in the battle for the blues?

• by David Simmons

End of the Line

How Shelby County came to have a slow-growth policy.

• by John Branston