Memphis in May

announces music lineup

Memphis in May International Festival announced the performance lineup Tuesday for the 2003 Beale Street Music Festival. Headliners include Sheryl Crow, John Mayer, Jonny Lang, Joe Cocker, Steve Winwood, Willie Nelson, Jerry Lee Lewis, the B-52s, ZZ Top, the Gamble Brothers Band, Blind Mississippi Morris and Booker T & the MGs.

Tickets go on sale at 10 a.m. Friday. Three-day passes are available for $44 through April 30. Single-day tickets are $19.50 in advance or $22.50 the day of the event.

Grizzlies introduce

Seuss to young readers

Memphis Grizzlies players Mike Miller and Ryan Humphrey will be joined by Grizz, the teams mascot, at Bickford Head Start Center, 232 Bickford Ave., at 9 a.m. Thursday in a colorful giveaway of 240 Dr. Seuss and other books to 80 preschool children in Bridges program the Reading Bridge.

Davis Kidd and the Grizzlies are donating the books. Youngsters

will have their pictures taken with Grizz and The Cat In The Hat.

Reading Bridge is a 2-year-old Bridges program that features 236 trained community volunteers reading to 1,193 preschool children in 30 Head Start and child care centers.

Bredesen makes good

on promise to return

Gov. Phil Bredesen will address the Economic Club of Memphis at 7:30 p.m. Thursday.

The address will follow a reception and dinner at the Adams Mark, 939 Ridge Lake Boulevard.

The Economic Club of Memphis was established to promote the study and discussion of economic, political and social issues.

FedEx Express to bring

panda pair to Memphis

FedEx Express is donating the use of its global transportation network to ship two giant pandas from Beijing to the Memphis Zoo on April 7.

Le Le, a 4-year-old male panda, and Ya Ya, a 2-year-old female panda, will travel aboard a custom-decaled FedEx Express MD-11 jet, known as "The FedEx PandaExpress," during the trans-Pacific journey. The pandas are part of an education and conservation program between China and the United States.

FedEx Express will provide air and ground transportation and logistical support to move the animals, which are currently quarantined at the Beijing Zoo and Shanghai Zoo in preparation for their trip.

Veterinarians from the Memphis Zoo, as well as the Beijing and Shanghai zoos, have been granted special flight privileges so they can accompany the pandas onboard the plane.

Le Le and Ya Ya, the only shipment aboard the FedEx Express MD-11, will be housed in two custom-built transport containers during their 15-hour flight.

FedEx has launched a Web site dedicated to the panda shipment, www.fedex.com/pandas, which will provide the ability to track the pandas during the April 7 transport.