VOL. 123 | NO. 32 | Friday, February 15, 2008
Some Memphis citizens have been asking for years to have blight cleaned up in their neighborhoods, from vacant buildings used as drug houses to unsightly trash left on sidewalks.
All Memphis city middle, junior and senior high schools already have metal detectors. Memphis Mayor Willie Herenton's plan to put up $500,000 in city money for the immediate purchase of 65 walk-through and 210 handheld detectors is part of a plan to make daily searches of students less of an obstacle - logistically and politically.
When the Center City Commission decided recently to create a new position - chief administrative officer - the group ventured outside its own ranks in tapping the new hire. Eric Robertson, who stepped into the role Jan. 14, had spent almost the past decade in a similar job elsewhere in the city and was already an enthusiastic booster of Downtown Memphis.
Former State Sen. Kathryn Bowers was sentenced to one year and four months in prison by U.S. District Court Judge Daniel Breen Thursday after pleading guilty this summer to one bribery count. Bowers admitted taking $11,500 in bribes during an undercover FBI sting operation named Tennessee Waltz.
WASHINGTON (Dow Jones/AP) - U.S. money managers would have to provide online brochures describing their services, fees, investment performance and potential conflicts of interest under a proposal approved Wednesday by the Securities and Exchange Commission.
First comes the tax proposal. Then comes the tidal wave of opposition and a crushing defeat either by popular vote or by political will.
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) - Financial services provider Regions Financial Corp. has named Irene Esteves senior executive vice president and chief financial officer, effective April 1, to replace Al Yother, who is retiring.
Steve Cohen, a white congressman representing a mostly black district, is no stranger to political attacks tinged with race.
NASHVILLE (AP) - A proposal that would require parental consent before child care agencies can discuss sexual abuse prevention with a child is advancing in the Legislature.
WASHINGTON (AP) - U.S. airlines carried fewer passengers in November, the first time in 2007 that traffic declined compared with the same month a year earlier.
WASHINGTON (AP) - The number of newly laid off workers filing claims for unemployment benefits fell last week by a larger-than-expected amount.
WASHINGTON (AP) - Despite a soaring foreign oil bill and another record deficit with China, the overall U.S. trade deficit declined in 2007 after setting records for five consecutive years.
NEW YORK (AP) - Moody's Investor Service said Thursday it is considering a possible upgrade of its long-term rating on electrical component maker Thomas & Betts Corp.
WASHINGTON (AP) - A plan to limit damage caused by the mortgage mess that is gaining traction in Congress and the administration would make it easier for banks to write off part of the unpaid balance on loans that exceed a property's value, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter.
NASHVILLE (AP) - Former Sen. John Ford's federal trial on charges related to consultant payments he got from state contractors has been postponed until June.
NASHVILLE (AP) - Gov. Phil Bredesen acknowledges that there isn't much state money available for his plan to expand access to home care for the elderly and the disabled.
NASHVILLE (AP) - Senate Speaker Ron Ramsey says the idea of opening the governor's pre-kindergarten program to children who aren't poor will be a contentious issue this year.
And Lunati gives up his interest in the Tunica Cabaret strip club, 5599 Tenn. 61 South and another $19,297 in cash seized there in the same set of raids.