Mpact Memphis is hosting two political debates this weekend to be aired live by Channel 3, and you’re invited to be part of the audience and to submit questions. But you must sign up now.
On Saturday at 7 p.m., senate candidates Harold Ford Jr. and Bob Corker will debate, and on Sunday at 7 p.m. it will be congressional candidates Jake Ford, Steve Cohen, and Mark White.
To register, go here.
Americans Andrew Fire and Craig Mello just learned that they’ve won the 2006 Nobel Prize for physiology or medicine, so where does that leave immunologist Peter Doherty? Still dividing his time between the University of Melbourne in Australia and St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis after winning the Nobel in medicine in 1996 (along with Rolf Zinkernagel).
1996 to 2006 … that’s enough time to author a book, and Doherty has: The Beginner’s Guide to Winning the Nobel Prize (Columbia University Press). It’s a memoir, but it’s also an argument for the proper role of science in education and society and an argument against its improper use by corporations, governments, and religious leaders.
And what’s one way to win a Nobel? A good upbringing, a good public-school education, and some good pig wrestling. As a veterinary scientist researching animal diseases, it worked for Doherty.
Last week, we told you about a contest promoting the movie The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Canes were buried in four cities, including Memphis. Those who found the cane using clues provided via the movie’s web site and e-mails would receive $1,000.
It appears that the cane in Memphis was found, but not by someone who using the Dr. Jekyll web site. According to a press release issued by the film’s company, the unnamed person is not eligible for the prize because “he did not enter the quiz, respond to the clues, nor did he find the buried cane as outlined in the rules of the game.”
The release also says that the person who found the cane has threatened to sue to get the $1,000.
Producer Mike Curb has had a long, impressive career, working with everyone from Sammy Davis Jr. to LeAnn Rimes. He is the chairman of Curb Records of Nashville and also served as lieutenant governor of California and has been a multi-million dollar benefactor to universities in Tennessee and California.
Curb also managed to snag Elvis’ Audubon house even after spoon-bending psychic Uri Geller won it from an eBay auction. (Geller is suing).
On Thursday, Curb will be at the Arts Leadership Conference at Rhodes College, where college president William Troutt will announce Curb’s latest venture, which a press release issued by Rhodes says is a “sizable donation to bring together educators, students, archivists, and artists as well as business and communities leaders to promote Southern musical traditions.”
Parents who are behind on child support payments will have to pay up or risk losing their driver’s license. The State Department of Human Services is sending out letters this week to more than 15,000 parents across the state. If you owe more than $500 and haven’t made payment in more than 90 days, your number’s up. To learn more, go to here.
Fall has fallen, so that means it’s time for the weekly lunch-and-concert combo, Calvary & the Arts, beginning at noon Wednesday at Calvary Episcopal Church downtown. On the menu tomorrow is pulled pork and the musical guest will be Sonny Turner of the Platters.
For a full schedule, go here.
October 6th is the deadline to register for “The Future of the South” conference, presented by the University of Mississippi Center for the Study of Southern Culture.
The conference, being held November 1-3 at the William Jefferson Clinton Presidential Center in Little Rock, will focus in part on the role cultural centers and museums in defining communities within the lower Mississippi Delta.
For more information, go here.
Memphis is not exactly the place where you can step out on the street and hail a cab, so it’s a tad surprising that Yellow Cab is celebrating 150 years of business in Memphis on Thursday.
According to a press release: “Yellow Cab got its start in Memphis in 1856, when Patterson Transfer & Storage Company started business here, transporting passengers by stagecoach. In 1926, the company purchased the Yellow Cab Company, which consisted of a fleet of 50 cabs, 26 Drive UR-Self cars and four trucks. The company later split into two different companies, Patterson Storage and Yellow Cab, both of which are still going strong today.”
A body found in an overgrown ditch in Olive Branch last week has been identified as Marcus Turner. According to MemphisRap.com, this could be the same Marcus Turner, known as “SS Boy” of Grenade Posse. While the autopsy results have not yet been released, speculation abounds on whether SS Boy was the victim of a homicide. For more details, click here.
In a surprise, the Memphis Grizzlies media day opened not with a statement by Jerry West, but with a joint press conference between current majority owner Michael Heisley and former Duke University basketball player Brian Davis, who leads an investment group that has agreed in principle to purchase Heisley’s 70-percent share of the team. If Davis’ group — which includes former Duke teammate and NBA player Christian Laettner along with other unnamed investors — does buy a majority share of the team, the deal is unlikely to be consummated until early 2007.
To read the rest of the story, click on the headline.
To promote the movie, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde, opening today in local theaters, canes were buried in Memphis, Nashville, Norfolk, and Los Angeles. Clues posted on the movie’s web site lead to the cane, and those who find it will receive $1,000 each.
We’ve been unable to get the site to work. You can give it a shot here.
WMC’s Jarvis Greer was voted “Best Sportscaster” in the Memphis Flyer’s Readers Poll for the millionth year in a row.
To see how everybody and everything else ranked, check out our Best of Memphis issue here.
.
Want the latest in local news, events, music and food? Our free newsletters deliver Memphis straight to your inbox.
