The Tennessee Highway Patrol is assigning a helicopter and pilot to support law enforcement efforts in West Tennessee.

Department of Safety and Homeland Security Commissioner Bill Gibbons and THP Col. Tracy Trott said Friday that the helicopter will enhance public safety by increasing response time to incidents in the western areas of the state.

2. Drivers Can Renew Tennessee Licenses at Kiosks - Wednesday, January 23, 2013

NASHVILLE (AP) – The state is opening self-service kiosks that will allow drivers to renew or replace their driver licenses and state identification cards that will hopefully reduce lines and wait times.

3. Commissioner Not Surprised at More Traffic Deaths - Monday, January 21, 2013

State safety officials say they aren’t surprised that traffic fatalities were up statewide in 2012.

Safety and Homeland Security Commissioner Bill Gibbons noted that 2011 had the lowest number of Tennessee traffic deaths in nearly a half-century and officials knew it would be difficult to replicate.

4. Club Crave Nuisance Case Moves Slowly - Wednesday, January 09, 2013

The Shelby County District Attorney General’s office and attorneys for the owners of Club Crave have been talking privately since prosecutors got the court order that closed the Beale Street nightspot during the Christmas holidays as a public nuisance.

5. Council Tackles Blue CRUSH, Wage Theft - Tuesday, January 08, 2013

Memphis City Council members take up third and final reading Tuesday, Jan. 8, of an ordinance that sets up a local General Sessions Court-based process for settling “wage theft” complaints.

6. Events - Wednesday, November 14, 2012

Memphis Child Advocacy Center will hold its 20th anniversary and honors day celebration breakfast Wednesday, Nov. 14, from 8 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. at Memphis Botanic Garden Hardin Hall, 750 Cherry Road. Teresa Huizar, executive director of the National Children’s Alliance, will deliver the keynote. Email doglesby@memphiscac.org or call 888-4342.

7. County Sees 21.6 Pct. Voter Turnout - Monday, August 06, 2012

Slightly less than 127,000 Shelby County residents – or 21.6 percent of 584,443 registered voters – cast ballots in the Aug. 2 elections.

The turnout in early voting and election day combined was a higher percentage than the 15 percent turnout four years ago in the same election cycle, but it was well below the 44-year high of 39.4 percent set in the August 1992 elections.

8. Hargett: Shelby Election Problems Erode Public Confidence - Monday, July 30, 2012

The election driven by ballot questions and one-time-only races looks to become an election that goes into overtime as well.

Tennessee Secretary of State Tre Hargett formally asked State Comptroller Justin Wilson Friday, July 27, to audit the administration of the Shelby County Election Commission and investigate election procedures and returns.

9. State Confirms Shelby Election Investigation - Friday, July 27, 2012

Tennessee Secretary of State Tre Hargett has called for the Tennessee Comptroller to investigate the Shelby County elections and state officials are moving toward the probe as early voting comes to an end Saturday, July 27.

10. District Attorney Contenders Discuss Court Review - Wednesday, June 20, 2012

The two contenders for Shelby County District Attorney General on the Aug. 2 ballot offered different takes on Juvenile Court reforms Monday, June 18, at a League of Women Voters forum.

Republican incumbent Amy Weirich and Democratic challenger Carol Chumney were asked about the recent review of Memphis Shelby County Juvenile Court by the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Justice Department.

11. Haslam Signs Trio of Anti-Crime Bills - Friday, June 08, 2012

Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam signed a trio of anti-crime measures into law during a Wednesday, June 6, visit to Bartlett.

The laws include an increase in mandatory jail time for repeat domestic violence offenders and a second law upping sentences for convicted felons with guns that include some specific circumstances for longer sentences.

12. ‘Serious, Systemic Failures’ Mar Juvenile Court System - Monday, May 14, 2012

When U.S. Justice Department attorneys came to Memphis in 2010 and 2011 with a team of juvenile justice experts, they had good news and bad news for leaders of Memphis-Shelby County Juvenile Court.

13. Time for Court To Get it Right - Monday, May 14, 2012

You have probably heard the phrase “going forward” used a lot. And the temptation is great to use it again in the case of the recent report on Memphis-Shelby County Juvenile Court by the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Justice Department.

14. DOJ: ‘Fundamental Misunderstanding’ Exists In Local Juvenile Court - Tuesday, May 01, 2012

The U.S. Justice Department report critical of Memphis-Shelby County Juvenile Court released last week is the fourth since May 2007 on court operations.

It is also the fourth to note the need for change in the court that has only had two judges since the merger of the city and county juvenile courts in the 1960s.

15. New Rules Announced to Quickly Clear Crashes - Friday, February 17, 2012

State safety and transportation officials have unveiled new protocols aimed at getting major highways reopened more quickly after crashes.

Tennessee Transportation Commissioner John Schroer and Tennessee Safety Homeland Security Commissioner Bill Gibbons announced the new rules on Thursday, Feb. 16, in Nashville.

16. Weirich Exemplifies Hands-On Approach - Friday, January 13, 2012

Editor’s Note: A Daily News series features past winners of the Bobby Dunavant Public Service Awards, which annually honor one elected and one non-elected government official. The 2012 awards will be presented Feb. 22.

17. Dunavant Awards Nomination Deadline Nears - Tuesday, January 10, 2012

The choices are already being made in this election year. There are lots of nominees. Some already hold elected office. Others are the non-elected officials that are the day-to- day face of local government.

18. Weirich Addresses Complexity of Sex Abuse Laws - Wednesday, December 14, 2011

Shelby County District Attorney General Amy Weirich knew the questions were coming when Memphis Police Department brass said Monday, Dec. 12, they are investigating child sexual abuse allegations passed on to them by leaders of the Amateur Athletic Union Friday, Dec. 9.

19. Events - Tuesday, December 06, 2011

The Memphis Rotary Club will meet Tuesday, Dec. 6, at noon at the University Club of Memphis, 1346 Central Ave. Bill Gibbons, commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Safety & Homeland Security, will speak. Cost is $18 per person. For reservations, email Taylor Hughes at taylor@memphisrotary.org.

20. Events - Monday, December 05, 2011

Kyle Durrie will bring her Moveable Type Truck to Memphis for a print workshop and presentation with Crosstown Arts Monday, Dec. 5, from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. in the parking lot of the Sears Crosstown building, at Cleveland Avenue and North Watkins Street. Visitors can tour the truck and print their own letterpress art to take away. For more information, visit www.powerandlightpress.com or www.type-truck.com.

21. Weirich Files Petition to Run for DA - Thursday, November 24, 2011

Shelby County District Attorney General Amy Weirich filed her qualifying petition Tuesday, Nov. 22, to run in the March 6 Republican primary for the post she has held since January.

22. Shelby County DA Race Taking Shape - Monday, November 07, 2011

With a month to the Dec. 8 filing deadline for the March 6 presidential and Shelby County primary elections, the coming race for Shelby County district attorney general is beginning to show signs of life. That is as voters in one part of Memphis prepare to decide the last election of 2011 this week.

23. 3 State Agencies Offer Budget Proposals - Friday, November 04, 2011

MEMPHIS (AP) – The heads of three state agencies on Wednesday began giving Gov. Bill Haslam their proposals for how they would cut 5 percent from their spending plans in next year's budget.

24. Martin to Keynote Dunavant Awards - Wednesday, November 02, 2011

A business leader with roots in the city’s political and nonprofit communities will be the keynote speaker at the 2012 Bobby Dunavant Public Service Awards.

25. Tenn. Issues 2,400 Photo IDs Needed to Vote - Tuesday, November 01, 2011

NASHVILLE (AP) – The state Safety Department has issued photo IDs to nearly 2,400 people who will need them to vote under a new state law.

Safety Commissioner Bill Gibbons said in a release Monday that there has been a "significant" increase in the number of people seeking photo IDs in recent weeks. He urged voters without photo identification to obtain one from the department without charge.

26. State Official: Police Can't ‘Baby-Sit’ Protesters - Monday, October 31, 2011

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Tennessee state troopers cleared out Wall Street protesters from the state Capitol grounds early Friday because they didn't have the resources to "babysit" the overnight encampment, the state's safety commissioner said.

27. Weirich Pulls Petition for March GOP Primary - Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Shelby County District Attorney General Amy Weirich pulled an election petition Monday, Oct. 24, to run for the office in the 2012 countywide elections.

28. Haslam to Campaign for Weirich - Friday, October 14, 2011

With the March Shelby County primaries on the way, Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam will be lending his support to a fundraiser for Shelby County District Attorney General Amy Weirich.

29. Tennessee Gov. Refuses to Disclose Personal Income - Tuesday, October 11, 2011

NASHVILLE – Gov. Bill Haslam, who drew sharp criticism from his gubernatorial campaign opponents by releasing only limited information on the amount of his personal income, has decided to release no information whatsoever now that he is in office.

30. Long Wait at Tenn. License Centers Grows Longer - Wednesday, September 21, 2011

NASHVILLE (AP) – As thousands of older Tennessee residents prepare to visit driver service centers to get the photo IDs required by a new state voting law, they should be ready to stand in line a long time.

31. Feds Seize Flea Market - Tuesday, September 20, 2011

After they shut it down in June, law enforcement agents seized 153,634 counterfeit items from the now-defunct flea market that operated at 4233 S. Third St.

32. Tennesseans Urged to be Prepared for Bad Weather - Wednesday, September 07, 2011

NASHVILLE (AP) – State officials marked National Preparedness Month on Tuesday by stressing the need for readiness for natural disasters, mindful of the Memphis flooding last May and the April tornadoes that claimed 37 lives in Tennessee.

33. Officials Increase Crime Prevention Programs - Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Just as statistics have driven the Blue CRUSH anti-crime strategy, U.S. Justice Department officials in Memphis this week said they are confident other statistics can point to strategies that will prevent crime.

34. TN Driver's License Offices Seek to Cut Wait Times - Tuesday, August 09, 2011

NASHVILLE (AP) – A new requirement that Tennessee voters must have photo identification is putting more pressure on driver's license examining stations to cut wait times.

The administration of Gov. Bill Haslam is moving to improve the efficiency of the Driver Services Division of the Tennessee Department of Safety. A pilot program is under way in Davidson County and the aim is to reduce the time people wait to receive service from an average of 50 minutes to 30 minutes.

35. Weirich Raises $45K for District Attorney General Run - Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Shelby County District Attorney General Amy Weirich has raised $45,000 in six months for her 2012 bid to remain the county’s chief prosecutor.

36. Luttrell, Weirich Win Dunavant Awards - Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Shelby County Mayor Mark Luttrell and Shelby County District Attorney General Amy Weirich are the winners of the eighth annual Bobby Dunavant Public Service Awards.

37. Haslam 'Won't Apologize' for Cabinet Pay Hikes - Wednesday, April 13, 2011

NASHVILLE (AP) – Gov. Bill Haslam on Tuesday said he won't apologize for his decision to give many of his department heads big raises while proposing only a 1.6 percent increase for other state workers.

38. Turner Stays on To Lead Local Democrats - Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Van Turner Jr. remains the Shelby County Democratic Party chairman after a weekend local party convention.

And Turner, who ran unopposed for the chairmanship, is hoping for a reversal of party fortunes in the next two years.

39. Haslam Boosts Commissioners' Salaries - Thursday, April 07, 2011

NASHVILLE (AP) – Republican Gov. Bill Haslam is paying his department heads significantly more than their counterparts made in the administration of the former Democratic governor.

An Associated Press analysis of public salary records shows that Education Commissioner Kevin Huffman is making $200,000 per year, up $20,000 from the previous administration. Safety Commissioner Bill Gibbons is making $43,000 more than his predecessor.

40. Council Could Vote On Police Director - Tuesday, April 05, 2011

Memphis City Council members have their first one-on-one meeting Tuesday with Memphis police director designate Toney Armstrong.

Armstrong makes his appearance before the council’s personnel committee at 8:30 a.m. Tuesday at City Hall, 250 N. Main St.

41. New Tenn. Driver License Harder to Fake - Thursday, March 17, 2011

NASHVILLE (AP) — Tennessee will begin issuing driver licenses with a new design, aimed at making them harder to counterfeit.

Safety and Homeland Security Commissioner Bill Gibbons said the design will help combat document fraud and protect against identity theft.

42. Higgins Named District AG’s Communications Director - Monday, March 14, 2011

Vince Higgins is the new communications director for the district attorney general’s office. Higgins was named by Shelby County District Attorney General Amy Weirich, who took office in January.

43. City Kicked Into ‘Overdrive’ to Lure MEPPI - Monday, March 07, 2011

In February 2010, Memphis showed up in the No. 3 spot on that year’s ranking of “America’s Most Miserable Cities” by Forbes magazine.

It wasn’t publicly discussed at the time, but that undesirable attention also nearly spoiled Memphis’ effort to convince Mitsubishi Electric Power Products Inc. to build a transformer manufacturing plant here. Ultimately, Memphis won the plant. MEPPI announced in mid-February it would build the facility at Belz Enterprises Inc.-owned Rivergate Industrial Park.

44. Godwin Named State Deputy Safety Commissioner - Friday, March 04, 2011

Memphis Police Director Larry Godwin looked closely last week at a newly decorated wall at the police training academy in Frayser.

45. Godwin to be State Deputy Safety Commissioner - Thursday, March 03, 2011

Memphis Police Director Larry Godwin will go to work for the Haslam administration when he retires next month.

46. Godwin May Have State Posting - Wednesday, March 02, 2011

Outgoing Memphis Police Director Larry Godwin may be going to work for the state of Tennessee.

Tennessee Commissioner of Safety and Homeland Security Bill Gibbons has called a 3 p.m. press conference at the Criminal Justice Center to make an announcement about Godwin.

47. Tenn. Agency Head Likens Budget Cuts to Amputation - Friday, February 04, 2011

NASHVILLE – Commissioner Doug Varney of the Tennessee Department of Mental Health on Wednesday likened pending budget cuts to amputating fingers.

Varney in a budget hearing before Republican Gov. Bill Haslam laid out $15 million in potential spending cuts at the state's public mental health and alcohol and drug abuse authority, including $11 million for programs paid for in the current year with state savings and federal stimulus money.

48. Safety Department Proposes Cutting 29 Troopers - Thursday, February 03, 2011

NASHVILLE (AP) – Tennessee Safety Commissioner Bill Gibbons is proposing cutting 29 highway patrol troopers and 36 driver's license workers across the state.

49. Long-Sought Family Safety Center Moves Forward - Tuesday, February 01, 2011

After years of talk and false starts, much of the local response to domestic violence will now be under one roof in Midtown.

Memphis Mayor A C Wharton Jr. and Shelby County Mayor Mark Luttrell announced Monday the opening of the long-planned Family Safety Center in the Madison Professional Building at 1750 Madison Ave.

50. Violent, Property Crimes Drop in 2010 - Thursday, January 27, 2011

Year-end crime statistics for Memphis in 2010 show one-year double-digit percentage drops in reported violent crimes, excluding domestic violence, as well as a decline in property crimes. Domestic violence reports increased.

51. New DA Weirich Ready to ‘Roll Up Sleeves’ - Thursday, January 20, 2011

Newly sworn-in Shelby County District Attorney General Amy Weirich has spent 20 years in courtrooms trying all manner of cases.

52. 2010 Court Filings Show Mixed Bag - Monday, January 17, 2011

Court filings were a mixed bag in terms of their volume for 2010.

The three civil courts tracked by The Daily News Online (www.memphisdailynews.com) reported more filings in Circuit Court compared to 2009 and fewer filings in Chancery and Probate courts than in 2009.

53. McGriff Goes To Nashville on Interim Basis - Monday, January 03, 2011

David McGriff, the director of the West Tennessee Drug Task Force, is the new interim deputy commissioner of the State Safety and Homeland Security Commission.

Tennessee Gov.-elect Bill Haslam and Safety and Homeland Security Commissioner designate Bill Gibbons announced the appointment before the New Year’s holiday weekend.

54. What Happens Next - Monday, January 03, 2011

Take a good look around you, Memphis.

The next 12 months have so much in store, almost anywhere a person looks – from the neighborhood school to the family doctor to office buildings Downtown to industrial space in South Memphis – the pace of change is likely to make 2011 one for the record books.

55. Local School Issue on Verge of Going Statewide - Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Tennessee Gov.-elect Bill Haslam knew the question was coming.

Haslam was in Memphis earlier this month to announce he was tapping District Attorney General Bill Gibbons for his cabinet.

56. Weirich Preps for Role as County’s Top Prosecutor - Thursday, December 16, 2010

Amy Weirich wasted no time and used few words the day her appointment as District Attorney General was announced.

57. Bredesen Ponders Future as Term Winds Down - Monday, December 13, 2010

Phil Bredesen has about a month left in his eight-year tenure as governor.

And during a trip to Memphis last week, he sounded like a political figure who won’t run again for elected office.

“I don’t think so,” he said when asked, and then specifically addressed speculation he might be a future candidate for the U.S. Senate. “I don’t think I’d be any good at that. I don’t think I’d be happy. I don’t they’d be happy with me. I just think my inclinations are much more toward the executive branch.”

58. Gibbons Tapped for Haslam’s Cabinet - Friday, December 10, 2010

Bill Gibbons began his political journey as an aide to Lamar Alexander when Alexander was governor.

Thirty years later, Gibbons is returning to Nashville again to work for another Republican governor – Bill Haslam.

59. Haslam Names Gibbons to Cabinet Safety Position - Thursday, December 09, 2010

Shelby County District Attorney General Bill Gibbons is leaving the job as the county’s chief prosecutor to join the cabinet of Gov.-Elect Bill Haslam.

60. Haslam Names Gibbons Commissioner of Public Safety, Homeland Security - Wednesday, December 08, 2010

Shelby County District Attorney General Bill Gibbons is leaving the job as the county’s chief prosecutor to join the cabinet of Gov.-Elect Bill Haslam.

Gibbons will be commissioner of public safety and homeland security. What were once two separate cabinet positions were combined under the administration of outgoing Gov. Phil Bredesen.

61. Rotary Seeks Nominations for Dunavant Award - Monday, November 29, 2010

The Rotary Club of Memphis East is seeking nominees for its 8th annual Bobby Dunavant Public Service Award, an event that honors distinguished work by public officials.

62. Blue CRUSH Boots Midtown ‘Problem Renter’ - Wednesday, November 17, 2010

The house on the corner of South Cox Street and Southern Avenue didn’t look bad, as alleged drug houses go.

There was fresh blue-gray paint with neat borders, the distinct lines of a well-built house and a substantial red door with heavy glass.

63. Ware’s Political Future in Balance - Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Memphis Mayor A C Wharton Jr. opened the city’s newest auto inspection station Monday.

As he did, the political career of one of the Memphis City Council’s most influential members hangs in the balance because of allegations she used her office to avoid the required annual car inspection ritual for city residents.

64. Ware Turns Self In On Misconduct Charge - Monday, November 15, 2010

Memphis City Council member Barbara Swearengen Ware turned herself in to authorities Friday afternoon on an official misconduct charge.

65. Swearengen Ware Faces Council Suspension - Friday, October 29, 2010

For the fifth time in the Memphis City Council’s 42-year history, one of its sitting members has been charged with felony misconduct.

And the charge against council member Barbara Swearengen Ware raises the same questions the other cases did about whether an indicted council member should remain in elected office.

66. Ware Indicted For Official Misconduct - Thursday, October 28, 2010

Memphis City Council member Barbara Swearengen Ware faces official misconduct charges in a two-year long criminal probe of the Shelby County Clerk’s office.

67. Election Fracas Nearing End - Wednesday, October 27, 2010

There is still a report from the state election coordinator to come on the Aug. 5 Shelby County elections, but this week’s findings from District Attorney General Bill Gibbons on the problems at the polls across the county that day confirm the controversy and criticism cuts across party lines.

68. No Charges in Aug. 5 Election Ruckus - Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Shelby County District Attorney General Bill Gibbons says there will be no criminal charges filed involving problems with the Aug. 5 election results in Shelby County.

69. Longtime Prosecutor Weirich Embraces New Role as Deputy DA - Thursday, October 14, 2010

In August, veteran prosecutor Amy Weirich made history when she was appointed Shelby County’s first female deputy district attorney.

70. Alabama Avenue Could Become Residential Corridor - Thursday, October 14, 2010

For years, the stretch of Alabama Avenue between Danny Thomas Boulevard and Poplar Avenue has been both a traffic shortcut and a hotspot for illegal drug sales and violent crime.

For the last year, there has been some very different activity.

71. AP Interview: Lottery Scholarships May be Tweaked - Tuesday, October 05, 2010

NASHVILLE (AP) – Democratic gubernatorial candidate Mike McWherter would consider annually tweaking the state's lottery scholarships to ensure there is enough money to pay for the popular program.

72. MSARC Move Up for New Commissioners - Monday, September 13, 2010

Shelby County Commissioners elected in the Aug. 5 elections hold their first meeting Monday of their four-year term of office.

Topping the agenda is confirmation of six top officials and division directors of County Mayor Mark Luttrell’s administration as well as a resolution to move control of the Memphis Sexual Assault Resource Center (MSARC) from the health department to the county division of Community Services.

73. ‘Vertical Prosecution’ To Enhance DA’s Casework - Thursday, September 02, 2010

Shelby County District Attorney General Bill Gibbons’ creation this week of a new special victims unit is part of a paradigm shift for his office that involves new prosecutors and new ways of trying cases.

74. Gibbons Creates Special Victims Unit - Monday, August 30, 2010

Shelby County District Attorney General Bill Gibbons is creating a new special victims unit effective Wednesday that will prosecute all cases of rape, aggravated rape, child sexual abuse and severe physical abuse. The unit expands the office’s child protection investigative team and will also handle other cases such as nursing home abuse.

75. Gov. Contender McWherter Tours MED - Monday, August 30, 2010

For candidates running for Tennessee governor, their frequent trips to Memphis this summer have resembled pilgrimages at times.

No one has made the most obvious Memphis pilgrimage stop yet – Graceland – but two other points in the city have been popular.

76. Weirich Appointed Deputy District Atty. General - Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Amy Weirich is the new deputy district attorney general.

Weirich was appointed to the No. 2 spot by Shelby County District Attorney General Bill Gibbons this week following the retirement of deputy district attorney James Challen.

77. State Division of Elections Investigates Vote Counts - Monday, August 16, 2010

Add another investigation into the Shelby County vote count. The state Division of Elections is looking into problems during the Aug. 5 election.

Shelby County District Attorney General Bill Gibbons has asked the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation to look into problems with an old early voting list finding its way into electronic poll books. Gibbons acted on a request from Shelby County Election Commission chairman Bill Giannini.

78. Dem Leaders Prepare for Legal Challenge - Friday, August 13, 2010

Local Democratic Party leaders are collecting affidavits as a start toward formally challenging the Aug. 5 Shelby County election results.

A standing-room-only crowd of more than 200 people gathered at the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers union hall in Midtown this week.

79. Luttrell Appoints CAO, Transition Team - Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Shelby County Mayor-elect Mark Luttrell has begun preparing to take office in just a few weeks.

Luttrell, who won last week’s election for Shelby County mayor, takes office Sept. 1.

80. Candidates Wait on Certified Results Before Legal Challenge - Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Before there can be a challenge of the Aug. 5 election results, there has to be a set of certified election results.

That’s the bottom line of a possible legal challenge of the recent county general election results that materialized this week.

81. GOP Carries Countywide Offices - Friday, August 06, 2010

The only thing Republican candidates in Shelby County were denied in the Aug. 5 elections was a majority on the Shelby County Commission. The local GOP slate swept every countywide partisan race on the ballot with Thursday’s election results.

Voter turnout – early and Election Day – was almost 30 percent of Shelby County’s 600,000 voters. All election returns will be audited and must be certified by the Shelby County Election Commission.

Republican Bill Oldham, the former chief deputy of the Sheriff’s Department under outgoing Sheriff Mark Luttrell, beat Democrat Randy Wade in the race for sheriff.

The unofficial returns with all precincts reporting were:

Oldham: 89,613 (52%)

Wade: 82,981 (48%)

Wade, who was the Democratic nominee for sheriff in 2002, linked his 2010 campaign to the re-election bid of Democratic U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen. Wade, a former sheriff’s deputy, is Cohen’s district director.

Oldham campaigned on continuing the policies of Luttrell. But his campaign faltered when Oldham was forced to resign his job as chief deputy – the No. 2 position in the department – following a complaint to the U.S. Justice Department that his candidacy violated the Federal Hatch Act.

The civil complaint investigated by the Justice Department’s Office of Special Counsel left Oldham with the choice of either quitting the job or quitting the race. To keep both could have jeopardized federal funding the department receives.

The complaint was unique because deputies and high-ranking officers running for sheriff has been a regular feature of the sheriff’s race for decades. It wasn’t until 2002 that those in the department were required to take a leave of absence if they ran.

In other general election races, challenger Ken Hoover lost to Shelby County School Board Chairman David Pickler in the race for the District 5 seat on the seven-member board.

Pickler has been chairman for 11 of the 12 years the school board has been an elected body. Pickler ran on his record as chairman. Hoover also ran on Pickler’s record, saying his leadership style was too autocratic and not transparent enough.

The unofficial results were:

Pickler: 5,123 (51%)

Hoover: 4,956 (49%)

In the two other contested school board races, former Bolton High School principal Snowden “Butch” Carruthers beat Millington parent Charlene White in District 1. And political newcomer David Reaves beat fellow newcomer Lara A. McIntyre, both of Bartlett, for the District 3 seat.

White and McIntyre both called for change in school board methods during their campaigns.

District 7 school board member Ernest Chism ran unopposed.

The even-numbered district school board seats are on the 2012 county ballot.

After running for Probate Court clerk three other times, Democratic nominee Sondra Becton could not claim the office on her fourth try – even with the incumbent she campaigned against the three other times out of the race. Republican contender Paul Boyd easily beat Becton in the race for the office Chris Thomas gave up to run for and win a seat on the Shelby County Commission.

Becton lost to Thomas by 604 votes four years ago and was among the four Democratic challengers who unsuccessfully challenged the results in Chancery Court. This time she lost by more than 6,500 votes.

The vote totals were:

Boyd: 82,259 (52%)

Becton: 75,702 (48%)

Republican Tom Leatherwood easily defeated Democratic challenger Coleman Thompson to remain Shelby County register. The two faced each other in 2006, with Leatherwood winning.

The results Thursday were:

Leatherwood: 96,531 (58%)

Thompson: 68,784 (42%)

As early voting began, Thompson’s Pyramid Recovery Center was evicted from its longtime South Memphis space that was also an early voting site and an election day polling place. The landlord agreed to leave the voting sites up and running. But the possibility of a change in polling places served to highlight Thompson’s financial problems.

Late publicity about financial problems took a toll on another Democratic contender.

Newcomer Corey Maclin began campaigning early for Shelby County clerk, with incumbent Republican Debbie Stamson not seeking re-election. Maclin lost to Republican nominee Wayne Mashburn, the son of late county clerk Sonny Mashburn.

The unofficial returns were:

Mashburn: 88,619 (55%)

Maclin: 72,651 (45%)

Stamson’s husband, Steve Stamson, retired as Juvenile Court clerk, setting up the race that was won by Republican nominee Joy Touliatos, the chief administrative officer of the clerk’s office. She beat Democratic nominee Shep Wilbun, who won appointment to the clerk’s office in 2000 but lost to Stamson in the 2002 election and was beaten by Stamson again in 2006.

With all precincts reporting, the numbers were:

Touliatos: 85,849 (51%)

Wilbun: 73,345 (44%)

The remaining votes went to independent candidate Julia R. Wiseman.

Also seeking a return to countywide office was Minerva Johnican. Johnican, the Democratic nominee for Criminal Court clerk, lost to Republican nominee Kevin Key, the son of outgoing Criminal Court Clerk Bill Key and an administrator with the Circuit Court Clerk’s office.

The results were:

Key: 79,755 (49%)

Johnican: 74,831 (46%)

Independent candidate Jerry Stamson: 8,581 (5%)

Johnican, also a former Memphis City Council member and Shelby County Commissioner lost the clerk’s job in 1994 when she was upset by the elder Key.

Incumbent Republican Circuit Court Clerk Jimmy Moore easily defeated Democratic challenger Ricky Dixon. Although Dixon was part of the effort by Democratic party leaders to get voters to vote the entire party slate, Moore continued to show up at Democratic functions and make his case for crossover votes.

Regina Morrison Newman, the third Shelby County tustee in four years, lost her bid for a full term in the office to Republican challenger David Lenoir. It was an impressive political debut for Lenoir, who had heavy backing from the local GOP.

The results were:

Lenoir: 77,166 (49%)

Newman: 72,618 (46%)

Independent candidate Derrick Bennett: 6,353 (4%)

Newman was appointed to the office by the Shelby County Commission following the 2009 death of Trustee Paul Mattila. Mattila was appointed to the office and won a special election for the position following the 2008 death of Bob Patterson. Patterson was re-elected to a four-year term in 2006.

In the judicial races:

Attorney Bill Anderson Jr. emerged atop a field of 20 candidates for General Sessions Criminal Court Judge Div. 7 with 15 percent of the vote. Assistant County Attorney Janet Lansky Shipman was second and the only other contender to go into double digit percentages. The 20 candidates were the largest field in any race – primary or general – on the Shelby County ballot.

Prosecutor Bobby Carter, who had the backing of District Attorney General Bill Gibbons and former District Attorney General John Pierotti, was elected judge of Criminal Court Div. 3 in a close race with attorneys Glenn Wright and Latonya Sue Burrow.

Carter got 26 percent of the vote to Wright’s 25 percent and Burrow’s 24.7 percent.

The results in the three other special judicial races saw the three appointed judges rejected by voters.

• Lee Wilson, the appointee to General Sessions Criminal Court Judge Div. 10, lost to former General Sessions Court Clerk Chris Turner by more than 64,000 votes. Turner’s victory was the strongest proof of the strong Republican turnout for races across the general election ballot. Turner had been the General Sessions Court clerk until 2006, when he was upset by Democratic challenger Otis Jackson. He is also a former Republican state legislator.
• Lorrie Ridder, the appointee to Circuit Court Judge Div. 4, lost to attorney Gina Higgins by about 5,000 votes.
• Rhynette Northcross Hurd, the appointee to Circuit Court Judge Div. 8, lost to attorney Bob Weiss by more than 12,000 votes.

Ridder and Hurd had been appointed to the Circuit Court vacancies by Gov. Phil Bredesen, who picked them each from a list of three finalists from the Judicial Nominating Commission. Bredesen even taped a robo-call on behalf of Hurd, his first robo-call for any candidate in the state.

Wilson was appointed to the General Sessions vacancy by the Shelby County Commission and adopted a domestic violence case docket for the court.

82. DA Indicts More in Voter Fraud Case - Monday, August 02, 2010

Shelby County District Attorney Bill Gibbons said Friday the state grand jury for the county has returned additional indictments following an investigation into allegations of voter fraud related to elections held in 2006 in Shelby County.

83. Former Register's Office Employee Charged With Theft, Misconduct - Friday, July 30, 2010

A former employee of the Shelby County Register’s office is charged two counts of theft and official misconduct for twice taking money from the office in late 2008 and early 2009.

Regina Daniel, 50, a cashier in the register’s office, was indicted by the Shelby County grand jury July 22 on the three charges.

84. Former Register's Office Employee Charged With Theft, Misconduct - Thursday, July 29, 2010

A former employee of the Shelby County Register’s office is charged two counts of theft and official misconduct for twice taking money from the office in late 2008 and early 2009.

Regina Daniel, 50, a cashier in the register’s office, was indicted by the Shelby County grand jury July 22 on the three charges.

85. Voter Fraud Probe Moves Forward - Wednesday, July 21, 2010

The Shelby County Election Commission and the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation are continuing a probe of voter fraud in the 2006 elections. Word of the continuing investigation comes as two Shelby County voters have been indicted for each voting more than once during the 2006 election season.

86. 2 Indicted in Memphis for Voting (Too) Often - Tuesday, July 20, 2010

MEMPHIS (AP) — Two people in Memphis officials believe cast multiple votes in 2006 have been indicted on voter fraud charges.

According to a news release from the office of Shelby County District Attorney General Bill Gibbons, 69-year-old Anne Enochs voted more than once in the primary and general elections that year. Fifty-two-year-old James Golden is accused of casting two votes in the general election.

87. Bredesen Commutes Bartlett Woman’s Death Sentence - Thursday, July 15, 2010

Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen has commuted the death sentence of Gaile Owens in a Bartlett murder-for-hire case.

Owens was scheduled for execution Sept. 28 for the 1985 beating death of her husband, Ron Owens at their home.

88. Bredesen Commutes Bartlett Woman's Death Sentence - Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen has commuted the death sentence of Gaile Owens in a Bartlett murder-for-hire case.

Owens was scheduled for execution Sept. 28 for the 1985 beating death of her husband, Ron Owens at their home. She was the only woman on death row in the state.

89. Springdale Fights Back - Monday, June 21, 2010

In the mile of Springdale Street between Chelsea and Jackson avenues there are five churches. That’s not counting the churches on side streets.

On Eldridge Avenue, one of those side streets, between two tiny churches is a pair of identical small houses – both boarded up.

The one closest to the corner has faded blue spray paint stenciled across the plywood.

In inner-city Memphis, the stenciling is as familiar as gang graffiti. It’s the mark of the Memphis Police Department’s Blue CRUSH campaign.

Five years into the crackdown guided by a devotion to crime statistics, crime is down in Memphis.

But the statistical drop in crime has come with lingering questions and concerns in Springdale and other neighborhoods with Blue CRUSH houses.

“Once we board them up, we really have to depend on the community to let us know if drug dealers have broken back into them,” Shelby County District Attorney General Bill Gibbons said. “If we don’t know about it, sometimes drug dealers can get right back in there.”

In the neighborhoods, homeowners lament that street level dealers are easily replaced and soon released from jail to resume their place in the neighborhoods – now with a criminal record that makes a move away from drug dealing even more unlikely.

Last year, a team from Memphis that included a police officer, a state prosecutor, a federal prosecutor, a University of Memphis researcher, the head of the Memphis Leadership Foundation and the pastor of one of those five churches along Springdale went to several cities to get training in a new anti-drug strategy.

“We were really interested in changing people’s lives, not locking them up,” Springdale Baptist Pastor Derrick Hughes told The Memphis News. Hughes wasn’t sure at first if he would be part of the Drug Market Intervention (DMI) program.

“It sounded as if possibly it was just another program that was going to possibly just put criminals in jail without rehabilitation,” he said. “And I wanted to make sure that if we were going to be a part of something that it was going to look at rehabilitating the person, changing lives, changing them from a holistic point of view as well as a spiritual point of view.”

Gibbons said some of his prosecutors and some police brass also had their doubts as they looked for an area to test out DMI Memphis style.

“It was based primarily on looking at crime patterns and in particular drug activity in that area,” he told The Memphis News. There was plenty of open drug dealing in the Springdale area.

Drug Market Intervention is picking several street level drug dealers in a community, confronting them with the evidence against them and telling them they have one more chance to get out of the business. The police are involved in making a decision not to prosecute a few as they target dozens of others in an area.

Others on the team are community leaders from the neighborhood. And some are with proven programs to provide job training and other help in getting a legitimate job.

High Point, N.C., was the first stop for the Memphis group because it is the birthplace of DMI. It seems an unlikely example for Memphis with a population of fewer than 100,000. But in 2003, High Point had several open air drug markets. The city’s new police chief, James Fealy, attacked them using what became the DMI strategy.

David Kennedy, director of the Center for Crime Control and Prevention at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, replicated DMI in other cities with money from the federal Bureau of Justice Assistance. The BJA funded the training of the Memphis team and came here.

Kennedy’s philosophy is specific to open air drug markets. It doesn’t pretend to eliminate all drug dealing.

“Open air drug markets are found primarily in our cities and in African-American neighborhoods,” Kennedy wrote in a 2008 article for the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) Journal. “Although we are loathe to admit it, this issue is soaked in race.”

Kennedy said police complained to him that the families of the drug dealers and others in the surrounding communities knew they were selling drugs, did nothing to stop it and profited from it.

But Kennedy said those living in the communities countered that police were only interested in locking up as many people as they could as part of a conspiracy to destroy the community.

Kennedy said each side had a point and each side was wrong.

“The crime is real and overwhelmingly the arrests are legitimate. But we are destroying the village in order to save it,” he wrote. “And none of this gets rid of the crime. The drug markets and violence continue to exist.”

Kennedy didn’t try to tackle the long-standing racial issues and their lengthy back story. The conversations that formed the basis for the DMI strategy were about drug markets.

It was hard for some on the Memphis team to believe that hardened drug dealers would respond when the threat of arrest, prison time, drive-by shootings and gang turf tripwires hadn’t discouraged them from the life.

Nevertheless, when they returned to Memphis, the planning began for several months of undercover drug buys in the Springdale area by the police Organized Crime Unit. For months, the officers bought repeatedly from dozens of street dealers in a two-mile radius of Springdale. And they recorded the drug buys on video – not just one buy but multiple buys.

Prosecutors reviewed the cases against more than 60 men and women and prosecuted 51 of them. Five were indicted on federal drug charges. Six others – five men and a woman – were the first candidates for the Memphis DMI program.

“It was taking a look at individuals who obviously were involved in drug trafficking, but a little more on the periphery – not an extensive drug record,” Gibbons said.

A few days after New Year’s Day, police descended on the Springdale area serving the arrest warrants and putting up a fresh crop of plywood with blue stenciling on the drug houses in the area. The neighborhood grapevine buzzed anew about the heavy police presence.

It was still buzzing when on the coldest day of the year – Jan. 8 – the Memphis group knocked on six doors in the Springdale area. The temperature never got near freezing and was in single digits part of the day.

No one inside the six houses knew they were coming. No one approaching the doorsteps knew what the reaction inside would be.

It was the first indication the six people involved and inside those homes had that they had sold drugs to undercover Memphis police officers and had been recorded on video making multiple drug sales to the officers.

The father of one of the six was among those who had been arrested.

When the DMI team knocked on his door, his grandmother answered.

“He did not want his grandmother to know why we were standing at the door,” Peggie Russell, the DMI coordinator and a University of Memphis researcher and community resource specialist, said. “He said, ‘It’s OK grandmother.’”

Howard Eddings, president of the Memphis Leadership Foundation, said the young man didn’t deny he was a drug dealer.

“He wanted to basically shut the door,” Eddings told The Memphis News. “She might not have known exactly what he was doing. She was an older lady. He didn’t like the fact that we were knocking on her door.”

He and the other five got a letter asking them to come to Springdale Baptist Church a few days later. If they came, the letter from Police Director Larry Godwin said they would not be prosecuted this time.

For Hughes the pledge was crucial. He wanted to be able to say, “I give you my word, you will not be arrested,” with certainty and conviction.

Five of the six showed up at Hughes’ church where the congregation and other community leaders were waiting in the sanctuary. On the walls were posters of the 51 defendants who weren’t getting the chance they were about to get. The posters included the possible prison sentences those defendants faced.

The five “guests” sat in a reserved front row with a friend or family member.

Their faces blurred in a video of the event, they listened as Assistant District Attorney Amy Weirich told them, “We’ve had it,” and called their names individually. “The Memphis Police Department is tired of picking up dead bodies in the street.”

Russell remembers some denying they had done anything wrong. Then police showed the video.

They watched video of themselves selling drugs numerous times to undercover police officers.

The woman’s denials stopped.

“She got caught during the first time. I don’t necessarily know that we believed it was the first time,” Eddings remembered. “But she was so embarrassed as a mom who had small kids who was put in the spotlight. … All of her junk is coming to the forefront.”

Russell said some of the others were telling those who came with them that they had no idea why they were summoned to the church.

“You’re sitting there and you’re telling your family member, ‘No, I didn’t do it,’” Russell said. “Then the tape started rolling … and you see yourself. It’s reality. You can’t hide it. I think that was a turning point for most of them.”

Hughes told the group of five that the church cared about them and was willing to help.

Some of his congregants spoke up too.

“Our congregants said, ‘Listen, we’re tired of watching you sell drugs. We’re tired of being afraid of coming in and out of our communities. We want our community back,’” Hughes recalled. “During the call in, some of our residents had an opportunity to look in their faces and say, ‘We are tired of the way you’ve been running down our communities. This used to be a wonderful community where people had pride, where people had hope. … Now a lot of us are afraid.’”

After the tough talk and the confrontation came a commitment to work with the five DMI candidates. Eddings emphasized there are no guarantees.

“We were careful not to promise them that we were going to get them jobs or that even if we could get them a job that it was going to pay them something comparable to what they were making on the street,” he said. ”We said the opposite. We can’t do that at all. But one thing we do know for sure. If you stop doing what you’re doing, you don’t go to jail.”

Russell, who gets much of the credit for pushing to give DMI a try and has become the program’s de facto coordinator, described the response as “something totally new.”

“It’s not about those five,” she said. “They are supposed to stay out of trouble for two years to make the necessary transition in their lives. But it’s really about the Hollywood Springdale community, changing the response of the community to open air drug sales.”

Eddings was surprised by the response.

“Most of these guys’ mamas know what they’re doing. But to know now that other mamas and other grandparents and other church leaders and the community have their eye on you, it has a different motivation,” he said. “Some of these guys are hardened. They’ve been doing it for a while and they’ve been out there on the streets. So, not much embarrasses them. But I could tell by looking at them and even some of the denials.”

The Memphis Leadership Foundation already works with convicted felons trying to make the difficult transition after prison. There are even fewer guarantees for those with a substantial prison record.

Marcus, who didn’t want his last name used, vented about how hard it’s been to find a legitimate job since he did prison time in 2006 for felony drug dealing.

“It’s not like people want to sell drugs,” he began. “On a lot of applications they are saying they don’t discriminate. They’re lying. … They’re ready to end the session right then. They might tear up the application in your face.”

If drug dealers like him bring blight to areas like Springdale and violence and a hard life for law-abiding citizens, Marcus said society has responded with its own brand of hardness.

“They ain’t reaching out anymore,” he said. “They expect for the world to be better because we’re building more jails. We’re putting more cops out. If somebody killed me today – the person who killed me, they want to put him in jail. But why put him in jail when y’all treating this man he killed like he’s a nobody anyway.”

Eddings said with criminal records or without, street level drug dealers have problems as they get older because they have no legitimate work history. He started to say there aren’t transferable skills before thinking about it.

“Actually, some of the skills do transfer. They’ve just got to get access,” he said. “It’s really a reshaping, a little bit more recognition that they need to deal with in terms of how they see themselves and how they can use those skills that they utilize on the streets to do something positive and pursue a legitimate way of life.”

The young man Eddings is working with seems not to have hit the wall that Marcus is at yet.

“He is simply trying to figure out how to put one foot in front of the other. They go from having some source of income to having no source of income,” Eddings told The Memphis News. “We’re convincing him now that getting his GED ought to be a decision that he ought to make. He’s been a little slow in that.”

Hughes said he would get the occasional dope boy showing up at his church before DMI.

“Very rarely. I did hear one or two stragglers you come across who say, ‘Yes, I do want to change.’ Often times, it’s usually because of a pending trial or they are in trouble,” he said. “Since that time, we’ve had a lot of people coming, wanting to change their lives.”

Gibbons is reviewing some neighborhoods where DMI might go next but he’s not saying where because of the undercover police work involved. He wants to see it replicated based on lessons learned in Memphis and he hopes to get a federal grant to hire a full-time coordinator.

The sixth man given a chance in the DMI program didn’t come to the church and was prosecuted. He pleaded guilty to five counts of selling drugs and was sentenced to four years in prison and fined $10,000. But the sentence was suspended and he was put on a diversion program.

Weirich recalled Criminal Court Judge John Fowlkes asking the man why he didn’t respond. He told Fowlkes, “It sounded too good to be true.”

90. New Vacancies Add to Judicial Races on Ballot - Wednesday, May 26, 2010

The Aug. 5 election will feature five special judicial elections.

One of the two latest races to go on the ballot is for the Criminal Court Division 3 judge’s position being vacated by John Colton, whose resignation is effective April 30. He originally set the date for June 30, but changed it so the vacancy could be up for public vote.

91. GOP Candidates Differ on Aid to The MED - Monday, May 24, 2010

Nine Shelby County Commissioners – outgoing, re-elected and recently elected – waited outside the emergency room at The Regional Medical Center at Memphis last week.

The unofficial quorum was the enthusiastic reception Republican gubernatorial contender Zach Wamp received when he signed the commission-authored pledge to support returning all federal revenue for uncompensated care generated by The MED to the hospital if elected governor.

92. New Procedure Used in Meth Prosecutions in Memphis - Wednesday, May 19, 2010

MEMPHIS (AP) - Prosecutors in Shelby County are using a new procedure to handle all felony methamphetamine cases.

One prosecutor will now be assigned to a case to handle all aspects from the time the defendant is arrested until the case is disposed.

93. 4 Indicted in Alleged Scheme to Bribe Clerks - Monday, May 17, 2010

MEMPHIS (AP) — A Shelby County grand jury has indicted four people in a suspected scheme to bribe officials in the county clerk's office so they would register vehicles without proper documentation.

94. More Former Clerks Indicted for Bribery - Monday, May 17, 2010

The former chief administrative officer for the Shelby County Clerk’s Office is in the latest batch of indictments in a continuing investigation of the clerk’s office.

Charles Nichols was indicted last week on two counts of bribery. Also charged by the Shelby County grand jury were Jacqueline Denson, a clerk, on six bribery counts, and Nancy Life, title clerk manager for Gossett Motor cars, on two bribery counts.

95. Ex-Rivals Catch On to Gibbons’ Anti-Crime Ideas - Monday, May 17, 2010

Shelby County District Attorney Bill Gibbons didn’t have the money as a candidate for governor to get his campaign platform to a wide enough audience.

96. Governor Candidates Place Focus on Economic Development - Friday, May 14, 2010

Contenders for Tennessee governor differ on plans for the state’s next wave of economic development.

As most of the them are airing a new bank of television ads talking about job growth, Democratic nominee Mike McWherter and one of the three Republican contenders, Chattanooga Congressman Zach Wamp, have taken slightly different positions.

97. Gubernatorial Hopefuls Point to Memphis to Boost Campaigns - Monday, May 10, 2010

No one from Memphis is among the four major contenders for Tennessee governor.

But the four candidates are making more than the usual amount of campaign noise about how important Memphis is to them.

98. McWherter Steps up Governor’s Race Efforts - Friday, May 07, 2010

The race for Tennessee governor moves into full view locally now that the county primaries have been decided.

Mike McWherter, the only major candidate for governor among the Democrats, has campaigned differently in Shelby County.

99. Gibbons Plies Ex-Rivals With Crime Views - Friday, April 30, 2010

All three major contenders for the Republican nomination for Tennessee governor have now made the trip to the Criminal Justice Center to see Bill Gibbons.

100. Wamp Pushes ‘Memphis Matters’ Slogan - Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Gubernatorial candidate and U.S. Rep. Zach Wamp was in Memphis Monday to meet with one-time Republican rival Bill Gibbons and took the opportunity to tout his “Memphis matters” campaign mantra.