CITY BEAT

IDENTITY THEFT The Tri-State Defender, the oldest and most prominent African-American newspaper in Memphis, is a thief. For several years, the weekly newspaper that calls itself "The Mid-South's Best Alternative Newspaper" on its editorial-page masthead has been ripping off other weekly newspapers' stories, changing the datelines and place-names, and running them as its own "lead story" under the byline of Larry Reeves.

• by John Branston

GREEN EYESHADE RESULTS

The Memphis Flyer and its sister publication, Memphis magazine, were winners at the 2003 Green Eyeshade Awards, held April 5th in Atlanta. Hosted by the Atlanta chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists, this competition honors the best work of writers and photographers in 11 Southern states.

• by Ed Weathers

SIGN-O-THE-TIMES

SIGN-O-THE-TIMES

• by Chris Davis

THE WEATHERS REPORT

THE COLIN POWELL INTERNET WHOPPER In truth, the United States has always demanded and received much more than mere burial plots in the lands on which it fights its wars. We fought a war with Spain in 1898, and ended up with military bases in Cuba and the Philippines. Oh, yes, we also got Puerto Rico wholesale and have since used it for target practice--hardly a burial plot. We "liberated" the Germans and the Japanese in World War II, and--what a surprise!--ended up with military bases in Okinawa, Ramstein and all over the rest of Germany. We fought in Turkey and ended up with military bases there. We "freed" Italy and saved Spain and have bases there. We like to think we saved England and so have bases there. We fought for South Korea and have bases there. We invaded Afghanistan--and does anybody think we won't keep a base or two like Bagram there in the future? And just in the last few days, of course, Bush administration officials have said that we expect to maintain at least four military bases in Iraq for the foreseeable future.

• by Ed Weathers

City Reporter

City council, school board try to work out differences, and other news.

• by Flyer Staff

HOW IT LOOKS

• by Ed Weathers

FROM MY SEAT

MISSING JACK I miss Jack Buck. There's been a void to this 2003 baseball season that I've finally managed to identify. You can listen to a St. Louis Cardinals game on the radio without Buck's voice telling you the tale . . . but without that voice, well, it's going to take some getting used to. The Hall of Fame play-by-play man died last June 18th after a long illness. He hadn't been in the broadcast booth with partner Mike Shannon since the end of the 2001 season, so his passing wasn't as dramatic for radio listeners as it might have been had he taken ill during the baseball season. Even with the outpouring of emotion throughout Cardinal Nation-- more than 10,000 of Buck's friends attended a memorial service at Busch Stadium-- the heartache of Buck's passing was swallowed by the tragic death of Cardinal pitcher Darryl Kile only four days later.

• by Ed Weathers

LIBELOUS SLANDER...

LIBELOUS SLANDER...

• by Chris Davis

Place Your Bets

A Pyramid casino is a tantalizing long shot -- sort of like a lottery ticket. Here's the latest news from both fronts.

• by Flyer Staff

ENTER THE 'ADEQUATE FACILITIES FEE'

For a brief moment, at least locally, the cryptic phrase "adequate facilities fee" has replaced "weapons of mass destruction" as a neologism of note. Shelby County Mayor A C Wharton used the phrase (to describe a potential revenue-generating mechanism) in making a preliminary budget presentation to members of the county commission Wednesday, acknowledging later that it had characteristics in common with an impact fee on developers.

• by Ed Weathers

CITY BEAT

ANATOMY OF A LIE Plagiarism at the Tri-State Defender was much more extensive and, at times, malicious than we reported last week, according to additional research and interviews with former staff members. And the former managing editor, Virginia Porter, said it was carried out by the African-American newspaper's current owner, Tom Picou, using the aliases Larry Reeves and Reginold Bundy. Picou, who lives in Chicago, is the nephew of the late John Sengstacke, founder of the Tri-State Defender and the Chicago Defender and other newspapers that serve the black community.

• by Ed Weathers

They're Out There

What you need to know about termites.

• by Walter Jowers

Speaking the Speech

Hamlet's troubles are few but fatal; Breezeway plans to take on Chekhov.

• by Chris Davis

Local Record Roundup

Porch Ghouls go major; Compulsive Gamblers return from the grave.

• by Chris Herrington

Short Cuts

Mississippi-bred singer-songwriter makes a local return.

POLITICS

MARSHA SAYS SHE'S READY FOR A CHALLENGE If there ever was a government official who was entitled to hold court, it was 7th District U.S. Representative Marsha Blackburn on Tax Day, April 15, 2003. And the freshman congressman and seasoned anti-tax battler did it in the right venue--with an open house in her branch office on Stage Hills Boulevard in eastern Shelby County-- the other end of the district from her own Brentwood residence but the home of her once and maybe future opponent, Memphis lawyer David Kustoff.

• by Ed Weathers

Where's the Beef?

A wild Democratic convention produces lots of excitement -- but no party chair.

• by Jackson Baker

POLITICS

DOUBLE-HEADER It was a precedent-shattering day for the Shelby County Commission Monday. The assembled commissioners were addressed by two mayors-- county mayor A C Wharton in the morning, pitching his proposed new Adequate Facilities Tax, and Memphis mayor Willie Herenton in the afternoon, stumping for city/county consolidation. But the key moment may have come at the very end of the commissioners' long day, when, just before adjournment, Commissioner Joe Ford announced, almost as a throwaway line, "I'm going to vote for development every time it comes by here," and proceeded to make the case that adding property to the tax rolls was the summum bonum for country government, transcending considerations of "Smart Growth," urban sprawl, school funding, or whatever.

• by Ed Weathers

GREEN EYESHADE RESULTS

The Memphis Flyer and its sister publication, Memphis magazine, were winners at the 2003 Green Eyeshade Awards, held April 5th in Atlanta. Hosted by the Atlanta chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists, this competition honors the best work of writers and photographers in 11 Southern states.

• by Ed Weathers

Below and Beyond

James Cameron returns to the Titanic, likewise Bend It Like Beckham covers familiar ground.

Identity Theft

The Tri-State Defender has an interesting approach to news.

• by John Branston

TRANSLATION: MEMPHIS: Meanwhile, Bafck at ther (Used-to-Be) Cultural Crisis

By now, I suppose all of you have heard about "operation loot and pillage," the plague that has emaciated centers of cultural heritage, museums and libraries in post "shock and awe" Iraq.

• by Jenn Hall

TRANSLATION: MEMPHIS: Untouched by Human Hands

Recently a friend and I got into a conversation about the pros and cons of Wal-Mart as it pertains to the enhancement or degradation of the community fabric of America.

• by Jenn Hall

Postscript

Flyer readers respond.

• by Flyer Readers

Info Underload

It isn't computers that our children need; it's basic education.

• by Ruth Ogles

AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL

Of two new books of maximum current interest, one, Why Do People Hate America?, opens with the following statement: "This is not a book about 9-11." The other, The New Iraq, closes with the following statement: "This was not a book about a new Middle East." Both statements are true and false

• by Ed Weathers