New Life Holiness Church Buys Winchester Property

New Life Holiness Church, working under the name New Life Holiness Church of the Nazarene, has bought Crestview Baptist Church’s former site at 5680 Winchester Road for $700,000, financing it with a $512,525 loan through Regions Bank.

The 3.9-acre property is on the northeast corner of Winchester and Clarke roads. New Life Holiness Church moved to the former Crestview site last August, said pastor Frederick Smith, adding the sale transaction was on hold because New Life still owned its former church site on Vera Cruz Street.

Another church, Pursuit of God, has taken over the Vera Cruz site, Smith said.

New Life Holiness operates a food pantry at its new location and has partnered with Wooddale schools to offer after-school programs four days a week, Smith said.

Source: The Daily News Online & Chandler Reports

– Kate Simone

Historical Commission Seeks Preservation Grant Proposals

The Tennessee Historical Commission is accepting grant applications for historic preservation projects for the 2010-2011 fiscal year.

Applications will be reviewed, rated and ranked. The selection process will emphasize projects conducting architectural, archaeological and historic site surveys. Assistance is available for other types of historic preservation projects, as well.

Grants will pay for up to 60 percent of the costs of approved project work. Recipients must cover the remaining 40 percent.

Applications must be postmarked by Sept. 1. The grants are federally funded and will be available after Oct. 1. The precise amount of funds available to Tennessee will not be known until Congress has passed a fiscal 2010-2011 budget.

For information, call 615-532-1550.

– Taylor Shoptaw

St. Jude Ranks Second on ‘Best Places to Work’ List

St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital ranks second behind Princeton University in The Scientist magazine’s annual “Best Places to Work in Academia” list.

This is the fifth straight year the Memphis research institution has made the Top 10 list.

Dr. William E. Evans, the chief executive officer of St. Jude, said the hospital works to create an environment for “innovation and teamwork.”

The results are based on an online questionnaire. The magazine received 2,302 responses.

– Tom Wilemon

Bar Association Announces Endorsements

The first bar endorsements in the August judicial elections are out. A committee of the Ben F. Jones chapter of the National Bar Association has endorsed candidates in all five of the special judicial elections on the Aug. 5 ballot. The committee also endorsed candidates in three of the court clerk races on the ballot.

Still to come are ratings from the Memphis Bar Association, which is conducting an online poll of the city’s attorneys.

The 10-member Ben F. Jones committee, headed by retired Circuit Court Judge D’Army Bailey and attorney Samuel Perkins, spent Saturday and Sunday interviewing dozens of candidates. They also reviewed applications from the candidates.

Twenty candidates are in the race for General Sessions Criminal Court Div. 7 judge – the largest field of any race, primary or general, on the Aug. 5 ballot.

The endorsements are: Circuit Court Div. 4 judge: Gina Higgins; Circuit Court Div. 8 judge: Venita Martin; Criminal Court Div. 3 judge: Glenn Wright; General Sessions Criminal Court Div. 7 judge: Carolyn Watkins; General Sessions Criminal Court Div. 10 judge: Lee Wilson; Criminal Court clerk: Minerva Johnican; Probate Court clerk: Sondra Becton; and Juvenile Court clerk: Shep Wilbun

The committee heard from the candidates in the race for Circuit Court clerk – incumbent Republican Jimmy Moore and Democratic challenger Ricky Dixon – but did not make an endorsement in that race.

– Bill Dries

LaVere to Host Concert Wednesday at Playhouse

Amy LaVere will take the stage at Playhouse on the Square Wednesday night for what she hopes will be the first of a regular concert series at the Midtown venue. Dubbed “Amy LaVere & Friends,” it will feature the bass-playing singer backed by an eclectic lineup of her peers in a “big band”-type show that LaVere told The Daily News she’s wanted to do for a long time.

LaVere came up with the idea for the show with Paul Chandler, a producer and agent at Resource Entertainment Group, which works with LaVere on private, corporate and fundraising performances in the area.

– Andy Meek

String ‘n Swing Tennis Opens Brentwood Store

The Mid-South’s oldest tennis specialty store will open a new store in the Nashville area Thursday.

String ‘n Swing’s new store will be at 127 Franklin Road in Brentwood.

Gary Grear, president of String ‘n Swing, said the Nashville area is home to many talented and committed tennis players, so it made sense to open a store there.

The Memphis store is located off Interstate 65 South at 6100 Primacy Parkway, Suite 115. It is owned, managed and staffed by tennis players. The store carries brand-name racquets, equipment and clothing lines for men and women.

– Tom Wilemon

GIVE 365 Seeks Grant Applications

GIVE 365, a new initiative of the Community Foundation of Greater Memphis, now has nearly 100 members and $34,650 available in grants to local nonprofits this summer.

Members give $365 or more a year, pooling their gifts into a charitable fund. The initiative was launched June 1. The Community Foundation matched dollar-for-dollar the first $20,000 in gifts. Several local companies are also matching donations from their employees.

Information and the online application are available at www.give365memphis.org. Proposals are due by July 12.

GIVE 365 members will review the proposals and select finalists. Grants will be announced Aug. 20.

– Tom Wilemon

Alexander Sets Date for Senate Hearing on Floods

U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander said he does not want to judge the actions of federal agencies during last month’s flooding in Tennessee before listening to their representatives at a Senate hearing next month.

In a conference call Monday, Alexander said the purpose of the July 22 hearing in Washington is to find out how the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the National Weather Service communicated with other agencies and the public and learn what can be done better in the future.

Record rainfall in early May killed 22 people across Middle and West Tennessee and caused more than $2 billion in damage in Nashville alone.

– The Associated Press