17 Lots in Collierville Gardens Sell for $1.5M

Jason Crews Partnership has sold 17 lots in the Collierville Gardens Planned Development for $1.5 million to Hilliard Crews Partnership. The sale occurred Sept. 17. The 23-lot, 56.66-acre subdivision was developed by Shelby Group Realty LLC, which filed its plat on the property in 2001.

Collierville Gardens sits on the south side of East Holmes Road near its intersection with Reynolds Road. The subdivision is south of Tenn. 385 and just north of the Tennessee-Mississippi state line.

Lots in the gated community range from 2 to 2.4 acres with a minimum house size of 5,000 square feet, according to Crew Realty LLC’s Web site. Each of the vacant lots has an appraised value of $147,600, according to the Shelby County Assessor of Property. The homes have addresses on Garden Trail Lane and Garden Wind Cove.

A call about the transaction was not immediately returned.

Source: The Daily News Online & Chandler Reports

TVA Reduces Fuel Charge, Lower Bills Expected

Lower power bills are expected as TVA begins its new fiscal year on Thursday.

The utility’s board raised rates when it met last month, but reduced the fuel adjustment charge.

Although that fee can now be altered monthly, the combined result for most electricity users will be at least an initial reduction in what they pay.

TVA will raise base rates by 8 percent effective Thursday, but an 11 percent decline in fuel adjustment charges should offset that at least initially. The decision will affect about 9 million people receiving electricity from TVA in Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, Kentucky, Georgia, North Carolina and Virginia.

For a household using 1,000 kilowatt hours per month, the rate will increase $5.52 cents to the power bill, but fuel surcharge reduction will equal $7.36.

Tenn. Doctors Incorrectly Sent Patient Information

Doctors in Tennessee are being asked to check how they file claims after some confidential patient information was accidentally faxed to an Indiana business instead of the correct state office.

The medical information, including Social Security numbers, is part of Social Security and Supplemental Security Income disability claims that are supposed to be faxed to the Tennessee Department of Human Services.

The Tennessean reported Monday that the toll-free number for the state office is close to the toll-free fax number of SunRise Solar Inc. in St. John, Ind., which makes solar-powered attic fans.

“This is a total breach of privacy,” said Bill Keith, owner of the company.

“This is supposed to be confidential, and it just so happens we have some scruples here and wouldn’t do anything with that information. We’ve shredded them, but you can have a file an inch thick in no time.”

DHS spokeswoman Michelle Mowery Johnson said Friday the department is asking doctors’ offices to send a test fax and program the correct number into their machines.

“We certainly feel for the folks who put in a claim,” she said. “This is vital information. It is troubling. This also means their claims are delayed.”

Keith said the problem has gone on for years and they get an average of five patient faxes a week. His staff has called the doctors’ offices and Keith has contacted the state to let them know about the problem.

“We’ve also sent the faxes back to the doctors and the state,” Keith said. “I called the Department of Human Services and Governor (Phil) Bredesen’s office, and it’s been lip service. I still get these faxes.”

Johnson said the department periodically asks medical staff to check the fax numbers.

Doctor’s offices in Nashville, Johnson City and Germantown are among the many that sent the medical information to the wrong place.

Memphis Schools, Hospitals Receive $7.5M in Grants

U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen has announced that $7.5 million in federal research grants will go the University of Tennessee Health Science Center, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and the University of Memphis. Most of the grant money is coming from the National Institutes of Health.

Researchers at UTHSC will receive $1.24 million for radiation research, $244,561 for HIV/AIDS research, $182,500 for work on allergies and immunities, $74,907 for training in bacterial pathogenesis, $669,709 for research on health disparities among minorities, $626,193 for research on predictors of smokeless tobacco, $484,452 for research on vision problems and $74,000 for micro-RNA research.

St. Jude will receive $970,376 for research on pneumonia in children, $546,000 for research on allergies, $420,000 for HIV research, $387,297 for research on hearing disorders and $284,224 for liver research.

The University of Memphis will get $429,139 to research the importance of language in the diagnostic process.

Stanford Returned to Jail After Fight With Inmate

Texas financier R. Allen Stanford was returned to lockup Sunday afternoon after being hospitalized for treatment of a concussion following a jail fight.

Court-appointed attorney Kent Schaffer told The Associated Press on Monday his client was injured in a fight on Thursday with another inmate at the Joe Corley Detention Facility in Conroe near Houston.

Schaffer says Stanford had “a concussion, two black eyes (and) a broken nose.” A reason for the fight has not yet been disclosed.

Stanford is being held on charges of running a $7 billion Ponzi scheme. He has denied the allegations.

Stanford is charged with bilking investors of the now-defunct Stanford Financial Group, which once ran a prominent brokerage office in East Memphis with some 50 employees.

Schaffer says a status hearing is set for Oct. 14.

For more information about the scheme Stanford is accused by regulators of masterminding, see the Sept.26-27 edition of The Memphis News, a sister publication of The Daily News.

Arlington/Lakeland Rotary Kicks Off Coat Drive

The Arlington/Lakeland Rotary Club has launched a coat drive for its fall 2009 service project.

The Rotary Club is asking for new or used coats in good condition for children and adults.

The coat drive will run through November 10 and coats collected will be distributed through local schools and Youth Villages’ Arlington and Bartlett campuses on November 17.

Coats may be dropped off at the following locations: A1 Cleaners, 11615 Highway 70; Continental Cleaners, 11125 Highway 70; Dryve Cleaners, 8950 Highway 64; First Citizens Bank, 5845 Airline Road; Praxis Bible College, 3570 Canada Road, Suite 106; Stonebridge Cleaners, 9020 Highway 64; The Travel Agency, 6280 Chester St., Suite 104; and Towne & Country Cleaners, 9160 Highway 64.

For more information about the coat drive, call Rotary President Sandy Brewer at 867-8648.