VOL. 128 | NO. 27 | Friday, February 8, 2013
Shelby County Mayor Mark Luttrell meets Friday, Feb. 8, with Shelby County Schools superintendent John Aitken to look over the still tentative budget plan for the consolidated school system that debuts in August.
Historians bring differing perspective to park debate
When the Memphis City Council got around to the discussion that counted this week on the future of Forrest Park and, as it turns out, two other Civil War-themed parks, council member Myron Lowery was adamant.
The LaunchYourCity entrepreneurial platform, which includes elements like Upstart Memphis and the Seed Hatchery startup accelerator, is getting set to relocate out of the EmergeMemphis building Downtown.
The Shops of Saddle Creek in Germantown will soon gain another national retailer with no other presence in Tennessee.
New changes to the hours of service (HOS) rules from the U.S. Department of Transportation will impact truckers and trucking companies beginning July 1 unless a pending lawsuit in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia blocks the new rules before then.
This weekend marks the start of the third season of Seed Hatchery, Memphis’ startup accelerator that aims to turn six teams of founders into well-prepared, more polished entrepreneurs.
MEMPHIS STANDOUT
“What does your business taste like?” That’s one of the first questions Chef Phillip Ashley Rix asks when company leaders commission his signature chocolates to represent their brands. It’s an unusual way to start a business conversation, and it usually jolts people into thinking outside the box, he says.
In the NBA, everyone’s used to living with the tight deadline that is the 24-second shot clock. Players and coaches are always turning the page from last possession to next possession.
Rudy Gay is incognito now – disguised as a genuine star player who had to go north of the border to take his rightful place center stage. In his Toronto Raptors debut, Gay came off the bench and scored 20 points on 8-of-16 shooting, 3-of-6 from 3-point range, in a dominating victory over the L.A. Clippers (albeit, without Chris Paul). In his first start, a loss to the Miami Heat, Rudy scored 29 points on 11-of-23 shooting.
LOCAL COLUMNISTS
TENNESSEE HAS DECLARED WAR ON SHELBY COUNTY. We now have renamed three parks. Forrest Park to Health Sciences Park. Confederate Park to Memphis Park. Jefferson Davis Park to Mississippi River Park. The new names are uninspired and uninteresting – they might as well be Boring Park, Bland Park and Whatever Park – but what inspired them is what makes them interesting.
Black History Month celebrations are incomplete without a salute to nationally recognized fundraiser Dr. Frederick Douglass Patterson, founder of the United Negro College Fund. Named for abolitionist Frederick Douglass, Patterson was committed not only to fundraising but to collective fundraising that has changed the lives of generations of African-Americans.
STATE GOVERNMENT
NASHVILLE (AP) – Senate Speaker Ron Ramsey says fellow Republican Sen. Brian Kelsey has agreed to delay consideration of a bill seeking to ban the state from participating in Medicaid expansion under the federal health care overhaul.
REGIONAL
TUPELO, Miss. (AP) – Renasant Corp. will buy fellow Mississippi bank First M&F Corp. in a $119 million stock transaction.
NATIONAL BUSINESS
NEW YORK (AP) – Sometimes, the devil is in the deals. Americans shopped the winter clearance racks in January, resulting in strong sales during the month for retailers.
NATIONAL GOVERNMENT
ST. LOUIS (AP) – A bipartisan Mississippi River Caucus is being launched in the U.S. Senate in an effort to encourage commerce and address issues such as flood mitigation and navigation concerns.
WASHINGTON (AP) – Fewer Americans sought unemployment benefits last week, indicating companies continue to hire at a modest but steady pace.