- Issue Archive for
- Jun 5-11, 2008
- Vol. 1, No. 1006
News
Bad News
The Commercial Appeal to lay off 55 employees.
Sisterhood Showcase This Weekend
"Come on," says Tina Birchett. Birchett, publisher of the local African-American women's magazine Grace, is issuing an invitation to this weekend's Sisterhood Showcase at the Memphis Cook Convention Center. This huge, annual two-day event draws more than 25,000 participants and features fashion shows, cooking demos, live music, health screenings, and more. Among the celebrity guests appearing this year are Chef G. Garvin of TV One's Turn Up the Heat, gospel star Yolanda Adams, and bestselling author Kimberia Lawson Roby.
Birchett, who works on the event year-round, recently took a break to talk about the showcase....
Residency Requirement Fee for Memphis Police Moving Forward
It looks like Harold Collins' residency proposal for Memphis police officers is moving forward.
In executive committee today, the proposed resolution to allow police officers to live outside Memphis -- but charge them $1,200 for the privilege of doing so -- passed in a close 7-6 vote ...
School Board Hires Miami's Cash -- Maybe
Dr. Kriner Cash, chief of accountability for Miami/Dade County Schools, was offered the job of superintendent of Memphis City Schools after the school board voted in his favor 9-0 in a brief meeting Tuesday. Cash accepted via conference call, but, pending completion of negotiations, he may still visit Cincinnati on Wednesday to check out a possible offer there.
Free as a Bird
New report urges county to spend more money keeping people out of jail.
What to Do? Get Outside This Weekend
Weekend forecast: Sunny, highs in the mid-90s. Chance of precipitation: slim to none. Sounds like the perfect weekend for dragging your lazy butt out of the house into the summer sun. Good thing there's plenty of outdoor fun around town this weekend.
Ask Vance: Goat Testicles and Erectile Disfunction!
I wonder what it is about Memphis that makes our city such a magnet for colorful characters. One of the most intriguing gentlemen in American history wasn't born here, but he dwelled here for several years and today lies buried in Forest Hill Cemetery.
His name was Dr. John R. Brinkley, and he gained fame around the world as the "Goat Gland Doctor." He's also the subject of an amazing book by Pope Brock called Charlatan, subtitled "America's Most Dangerous Huckster, The Man Who Pursued Him, and the Age of Flimflam" ...
What They Said
Comments from memphisflyer.com
Memphis Eccentrics
Four profiles in quirk-age.
Marathon Men: Would-be Memphis School Superintendents Get Specific
The two finalists for Memphis City Schools superintendent are both in it to win it.
Kriner Cash and Nick Gledich made that clear as much by their actions as their words. Each one answered questions for more than two hours Wednesday. But, most significantly, they showed a serious interest in the job just by showing up ...
New Growth
A revived Citizens to Preserve Overton Park fights for 17 acres of old-growth forest.
Chick-fil-A and Memphis Heritage Looking at Compromise
The following is a press release the Flyer received today from Memphis Heritage:
Memphis Heritage has had two successful meetings with representatives from Chick-fil-A over the past several weeks to discuss plans for the Union Avenue site.
Game On
Midtown bar hosts bimonthly table tennis tourney.
Flyer Writers Win Four Awards at National Alt-Weekly Convention
Memphis Flyer writers won four awards at the annual convention of the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies in Philadelphia Saturday ...
Real Estate
Mid-Century Hideaway
Circa 1956 modern off Park.
We Recommend
Music
-
Takin' It to the Streets
Oxford's Colour Revolt toured hard throughout college. Now they're reaping the benefits.
Politics
Memphis Native Had Scoops on Obama's "Bitter" Remarks and Bill Clinton's "Scumbag" Comment
Any student of American popular music knows that a Memphis connection is only a step or two away from almost any personage or movement of any note. Can the same be true of national politics? Maybe so, if Memphis native Mayhill Fowler is a case in point. Fowler, granddaughter of a former mayor, is the blogger/author of two now notorious items concerning Barack Obama and Bill Clinton ...
GADFLY: Carnival Memphis an Anachronism?
A self-proclaimed "big believer in tradition," Marty Aussenberg, the Memphis attorney who doubles as our curmudgeonly online columnist, is less than enthusiastic about one particular Memphis tradition -- the annual springtime carnival to which Vivien Leigh (a.k.a. 'Scarlett O'Hara') was once an invitee.
Tinker Gets a Boost
But endorsement by Emily's List stirs some local outrage.
Clearing the Way for a New County Charter
In lengthy deliberations that lasted for weeks, the Shelby County Commission finally got its work done on an August ballot initiative to bring the county charter up to date. It took hard work, jawboning, and horse-trading, and sometimes a dutiful commissioner -- like Mike Ritz here -- had to take a recharging break.
Tennessee Democrats Unify Behind Obama
Tennessee delivered a majority of its votes to Hillary Clinton in the February 5th Super Tuesday primary, (which to some observers now seems a hundred years ago). But after a summit meeting of party leaders in Nashville Wednesday morning, the state's Democratic hierarchy responded to the close of the primary season by taking a firm unity stand on behalf of Barack Obama.
Did Trustee Bob Patterson Anoint His Own Successor?
Two apparently evenly-matched opponents -- Democrat Paul Mattila and Republican Ray Butler -- debated Monday night for the right to succeed the late, well-liked Trustee Bob Patterson. Both are long-term associates of Patterson. But the debate revealed that the late Trustee may already have designated which of the two should hold the office.
Cohen, Lowery Lead Unity Rally for Obama, Clinton Delegates
‘Everything that Rises Must Converge’ – That vintage Flannery O’Connor title might well have been invoked to describe a gathering of the twain Saturday as delegates pledged to both Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton came together to unify behind presumptive Democratic nominee Obama. The meeting was led by 9th District congressman and Obama super-delegate Steve Cohen and city councilman Myron Lowery, a Clinton super-delegate. (Both are shown speaking at later political gathering on Saturday.)
Hillary Preparing Friday Exit from Campaign
Multiple news sources are now reporting that New York Senator Hillary Clinton has communicated to supporters definite plans to close down her presidential campaign on Friday and concede the Democratic nomination to rival Barack Obama, whom she will endorse.
Graves to be Confirmed for TVA Board as Alexander-Reid Showdown Ends
Bishop William Graves of Memphis is due for another term on the governing board of the Tennessee Valley Authority, as the result of Tennessee Senator Lamar Alexander's apparent victory in a political arm-wrestling contest with Senate majority leader Harry Reid of Nevada.
MAD AS HELL: It Was the War, Stupid!
Flyer online columnist Cheri DelBroco, who counts herself as a longtime admirer of Hillary Clinton, diagnoses the reasons why a can't-lose presidential candidate did lose in her Democratic primary battle with Barack Obama, and why, says DelBrocco, "I could not vote for her."
Sports
FROM MY SEAT: 'Talking Points' for Father's Day
"It's the lost chats -- long or brief, in the same room or across a phone line -- that make the absence of someone we love so acute, so permanent." So writes sports scribe Frank Murtaugh, as he imagines "the conversations Dad and I would enjoy these days, so many of them attached to the world of sports."
Grizzlies Work Out Love, Jordan, McGee, and Joey Dorsey
The Grizzlies conducted what will surely be one of their most important pre-draft workout sessions this morning with a six-pack workout that grouped big men Kevin Love, DeAndre Jordan, JaVale McGee, and Joey Dorsey and paired them with guards Kyle Weaver and Jeremy Pargo.
The focus was on the big men and particularly on Love, one of maybe half-a-dozen-or-so players the team would legitimately consider at #5. Here's how Love and the rest of the players looked today ...
Grizzlies Draft Board: Take 2
The full measurements and workout data from the Orlando Pre-Draft Camp is out and, with it, the second edition of my Grizzlies draft rankings. The first edition, with fuller commentary on what I think these players can and can't do, is here.
The biggest changes: I’m higher on Kevin Love and Eric Gordon than before ...
Film
In the Mood for Americana
Hong Kong master Wong Kar-Wai takes a long stop in Memphis.
Opinion
-
Letter from the Editor
As we talked, his phone continued to try to communicate with him with a series of blurps, blips, and buzzes ...
After the Rainmaker
No one can accuse federal prosecutors of Ford fatigue.
Waiting in the Wings
If there is a mayoral vacancy, there's no dearth of people wanting to fill it.
Bianca Knows Best
My fiance's mom has horrible taste. Just last week, she bought me an oversized melon-colored blouse that looks like it came fresh off the plus-sized rack at Wal-Mart. I'm a size small and I would never, ever be caught dead in melon or any shade thereof.
But she keeps buying me awful, cheap clothing that more than likely was sewn together by some poor starving child in an Asian sweatshop ...
Books
LA Lady
Rheta Grimsley Johnson brings Cajun to Memphis.
Food & Wine
-
"Ultimate Beer Lover" Booksigning Saturday
People have been imbibing brewskies since the beginning of time, it seems. "The Golden Rock Star," as John Schlimm calls it, is said to be the world's oldest and most popular alcoholic beverage. And what better to enhance a beer buzz than beer-infused food? Schlimm is the author of The Ultimate Beer Lover's Cookbook, which features more than 400 food and drink recipes -- from appetizers to desserts to a party drink guide -- all including beer.
Schlimm, who'll be Harrah's Tunica for booksigning on Saturday at 5 p.m., recently spoke with the Flyer. Among other things, he says it's ok to have beer all day, starting with breakfast. ...
-
The Locavore Experiment
No chocolate. No bananas. No beer. Not a single orange or a slice of bread. And worst of all, no cookies. At the start of my local-food eating challenge, I'm focusing on the have-nots rather than the haves.
For one week, I will only eat foods grown within a three-hour drive of Memphis. I will be a "locavore" ....
-
Close to Home
Eating local means reducing food miles and supporting family farms.
-
Blue Monkey Downtown Open: What Took So Long?
If you're wondering why it took so long to reopen the downtown Blue Monkey after it burned down in 2005, consider this: How would you recreate the charm and character of an historic building in a commercial strip mall first built as a garage for buses?
Factor in run-away construction costs and do-it-yourself remodeling, and you'll understand why Mike Johnson talks about his newest restaurant with gratitude and a touch of disbelief...
Special Sections
THIS WEEK'S ISSUE
SPECIAL ISSUES
