Renasant Reclaims 11 Highland Point Lots
Renasant Bank has bought back 11 lots in the Highland Point Subdivision in unincorporated Shelby County from developer Latting Road Partners LLC following a foreclosure. The bank bought the parcels for a combined $1 million in a substitute trustee’s deed, acquiring the properties on the steps of the Shelby County Courthouse from trustee Paul Royal of the law firm Crislip, Philip and Associates.
Though the sale closed in July, it wasn’t recorded by the Shelby County Register of Deeds until last week. The bank foreclosed on the parcels during the summer.
The previous owner, Latting Road Partners, had defaulted on a $3.1 million construction loan through Renasant dated Feb. 18, 2005. That loan was modified and extended in June 2006, tacking on another $438,000. David Miller signed the original trust deed as chief manager of Latting Road Partners.
The 11 parcels are part of Highland Point Subdivision, which is a resubdivision of Wilderwood Estates near Cordova. The subdivision includes 83 lots on 34.27 acres. It sits east of Berryhill Road south of Grove Road.
The foreclosed lots are sized between a fourth and a half of an acre, each one with an appraised value of $48,600, according to the Shelby County Assessor of Property.
Source: The Daily News Online & Chandler Reports
– Eric Smith
Rite-Hite to Lay Off Some Local Workers
Rite-Hite Products Corp., a Milwaukee-based manufacturer and seller of loading dock and industrial door safety products, will lay off up to 36 employees in Memphis by the end of the month, according to a notice from the Tennessee Department of Labor & Workforce Development.
State officials were notified at the end of November about the imminent layoffs at the Rite-Hite facility at 4129 Outland Road. Rite-Hite, which employs about 1,400 people worldwide, was founded in 1965.
– Andy Meek
H1N1 Vaccine Availability Expands to Everyone
Beginning today, everyone can get the H1N1 vaccine for free from the Memphis and Shelby County Health Department.
However, officials continue to stress that people in target groups receive the vaccine. Target groups include pregnant women, people who live with or care for infants, health care workers, emergency personnel, children, young adults and people with chronic health conditions.
The vaccine is available at several Health Department locations. For more information, call the Health Department’s flu hotline at 379-4161 from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Mondays through Fridays.
– Tom Wilemon
Jeweler Las Savell Plans Retirement
Las Savell is retiring as a jeweler after 31 years in the business.
The Midtown jeweler recently sent letters to his customers announcing his plans. Savell, who is 75, said in the letter that he plans to turn over the operation of the store at 61 S. McLean Blvd. to his long-time associates.
Customers who received the letter get to shop early for a retirement sale, which opens to the general public Saturday.
– Tom Wilemon
Crime Commission Unveils Web Site
The Memphis Shelby Crime Commission has unveiled a new Web site for its “Operation: Safe Community” initiative, www.operationsafecommunity.org.
“Operation: Safe Community” launched in 2005 as a crime-reduction initiative and call-to-action for law enforcement, local government, churches, neighborhoods, schools, businesses, media and residents.
The new site will provide members of the community with a centralized location for all “Operation: Safe Community” information.
The Web site will feature regularly updated local crime statistics through a partnership between the commission and the University of Memphis.
The crime-reduction initiative is chaired by Shelby County Dist. Atty. Gen. Bill Gibbons and uses 15 research-based strategies developed with the University of Memphis’ Center for Community Criminology and Research.
It also engages community partners in an effort to make Memphis and Shelby County one of the safest communities of its size in the nation by the end of 2011.
– Taylor Shoptaw
Lawmaker Questions Radioactive Waste in Fills
Tennessee lawmakers want more information on a state program that allows low-level radioactive waste into regular landfills around the state.
State Rep. Brenda Gilmore of Nashville told The Nashville Tennessean that she plans to push a bill to restrict the practice.
A similar measure ground to a halt last year. Gilmore said a strong lobbying effort from the industry stopped it.
State officials say Tennessee’s program was developed because of its proximity to so many nuclear facilities and doesn’t handle cases individually. Instead, it has a licensing process that makes disposal more economical and quicker here.
State rules allow landfills to use less than 5 percent of their space for very low-level wastes. And, the wastes in the landfills can expose no one to more than 1 millirem of radioactivity a year. That compares with the average 360 millirems a person can expect generally in a year.
– The Associated Press