Our bashful mayor took the occasion, while addressing the Downtown Kiwanis Club on Wednesday, of boasting his success in building up the meager City of Memphis financial reserves on taking office in 1992. Said Willie Herenton: “When I became mayor we had $3 million in reserves! Three million! That’s about what my friend [Circuit Court […]
Posted inWe Recommend, We Recommend
thursday, 6
Through Friday, January 7th: paintings by Bill Hicks at Askew Nixon Ferguson Architects, 1500 Union Ave; rustic landscapes by Janet Weed Beaver and work by Terri Panitz at DCI Gallery, 772 Brookhaven Circle East.
Posted inSports, Sports Feature
New Year’s Resolutions
The Memphis Grizzlies face an uphill battle to get back into the playoff hunt, but if these key players make and keep the following New Year’s resolutions, they just might pull it off: Pau Gasol: Protect the ball under duress. For a maximum-contract player, Gasol still has plenty of areas that need work, with clutch […]
Posted inNews, News Feature
Iraq Reality Check
It’s hard to make Iraq into a suitable Christmas topic, unless one bears news of Our Boys getting home-knit socks and home-baked cookies from Lard Lake or Fluterville. Mere mention is enough to drive full-grown adults to doctored eggnog. Nevertheless, since the season should require us to do at least some thinking about the killing […]
Posted inCover Feature, News
“Are You Following Me?”
One of Mayor Willie Herenton’s personal quirks when talking to someone is to periodically interrupt himself to ask his listener(s), “Are you following me?” In 2004, the answer was a resounding “No.” Herenton had a bad year. Not an ordinary bad year, like anyone might have once in a while during 25 years in public […]
Posted inPolitics, Politics Beat Blog
News Cycle
JANUARY 2004: At his annual New Year’s Day prayer breakfast, Mayor Willie Herenton virtually declares war on his City Council while seeming to claim divine sanction. The background? Personnel matters, still-fresh MLGW prepayment deal with TVA, and Herenton’s ID as alpha male. Darker issues rumored. Road duty in Iowa and New Hampshire, where the once […]
Posted inNews
Gomi Night
Imagine all the neurotic aspects of American culture — the materialism, the bright lights, the TV addiction, the obsession with ourselves — and then imagine it growing unchecked for decades into the future. Imagine the cities getting denser and taller, the people getting more whacked out, the stuff that we buy getting more stuffy, and […]
Posted inCover Feature, News
Soldier’s Heart
The first time Kristin Peterson’s husband hit her, she was asleep in their bed. She awoke that night a split second after Joshua’s fist smashed into her face and ran, terrified and crying, to the bathroom to wipe the blood spurting from her nose. When she stuck her head back into the bedroom, there he […]
Posted inMusic, Music Features
It Was a Very Good Year
As a marketing plan, the 50th Anniversary of Rock-and-Roll may have been a bit of an underachiever. Fortunately, no one told local musicians it was supposed to be a disappointing year, so they kept pumping out good to great records regardless of how much notice the record-buying public outside the metro area did or didn’t […]
Posted inNews, The Fly-By
Smuggle Cops
As a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) inspector, Daryl Victor has seen some bizarre attempts to smuggle illegal wildlife and wildlife products into the country. While working at the USFWS Law Enforcement Office in Atlanta, he helped detain an airline employee who’d tried to smuggle in a live monkey by taping it under her […]
Posted inMusic, Music Features
Local Record Roundup
With the year winding down, let’s check in on some of the more notable recent local releases: Hola Day — The Carlos Ecos Band (Young Ave. Records): Recent participants in the Mid-South Grammy Showcase, the bluesy rock trio the Carlos Ecos Band show off an eclectic sound on their six-song debut EP. The anthemic “Sing” […]