Owner of Big Creek Apartments Files Loan

The owner of the 104-unit Big Creek Apartments at 6155 Woodstock Hills Drive in unincorporated Shelby County near Millington has filed a $5.8 million loan on the property.

Big Creek Apartments Partnership filed the multifamily deed of trust, assignment of leases and rents and security agreement Oct. 1 through Greystone Funding Corp.

Jack R. Tickle signed the deed as president of Tapp Enterprises Inc., the managing partner of the borrower, which bought the vacant land in 1999 and then developed the apartments.

Built in 2000, the Class B apartment complex contains 113,056 square feet in multiple buildings on 7 acres north of Woodstock Hills Drive and south of Woodstock Cuba Road. An alternate address for the property is 2266 N. Big Creek View Circle.

The Shelby County Assessor of Property’s 2013 appraisal is $4.6 million.

Source: The Daily News Online & Chandler Reports

– Daily News staff

Pandas Stay in Memphis For 10 More Years

Two giant pandas have a home at the Memphis Zoo for at least 10 more years.

WREG-TV in Memphis reports that the Zoo and the Chinese Association of Zoological Gardens and China’s State Forestry Administration reached a deal Wednesday morning.

China owns and leases all pandas to other zoos throughout the world and will lease them to the Memphis Zoo for half a million dollars a year.

The process of acquiring giant pandas for the Memphis Zoo began in 1999.

The Memphis Zoo has had Ya Ya and Le Le since April 2003.

– The Associated Press

Indie Memphis Showing Movies Outdoors

The Indie Memphis Film Festival is presenting a free movie double feature outdoors at the end of the week.

The double feature will be held Friday, Nov. 1, at Overton Square’s new Tower Courtyard, on Trimble Place behind Memphis Pizza Cafe and Golden India). The event, sponsored by FOX 13, will begin at 6:30 p.m. with Mel Brooks’ “Young Frankenstein.” FOX 13 at 8:30 p.m. will present an episode from Fox’s new drama “Sleepy Hollow,” then at 9:30 p.m., Tim Burton’s “Edward Scissorhands” will be shown.

Chairs will be available for the outdoor movies, but attendees can bring their own seating, as well. Attendees also are welcome to wear costumes.

This year’s Indie Memphis festival opens Halloween night and runs through Sunday, Nov. 3, at five venues.

– Andy Meek

Upholstery and Design Author to Visit Memphis

If you have a quality piece of furniture that has seen better days but still has potential, or family heirlooms and flea market finds you’ve wanted to transform, an Austin, Texas-based upholstery and design expert will be offering hands-on advice in Memphis next week

Amanda Brown, author of the upcoming book “Spruce: A Step-by-Step Guide to Upholstery and Design,” will host a book-signing Tuesday, Nov. 5, at 6 p.m. at The Booksellers at Laurelwood, 387 Perkins Road Extended.

She will also host two beginner upholstery classes – a bench class and a lampshade class – followed by a book-signing party on Wednesday, Nov. 6, at Propcellar Vintage Rentals, 4726 Poplar Ave., suite 4.

And on Thursday, Nov. 7, she will hold a book-signing at Me & Mrs. Jones, 889 S. Cooper St.

In the upcoming book, Brown leads beginners through six upholstery projects, teaching the basic skills needed to tackle most furniture makeovers.

Brown launched Spruce, a furniture redesign studio, in 2007. Her work has been featured in the New York Times, Metropolitan Home and Southern Living.

– Amos Maki

Campaigns Begin In Abortion Referendum

Anti-abortion rights activists are planning a high-dollar fundraiser next week to kick off their campaign for a constitutional amendment next fall that would give lawmakers more power to restrict access to abortions.

Republican state Senate Speaker Ron Ramsey is hosting a reception and dinner at a Nashville hotel Monday to support the proposed amendment, which seeks to void a 2000 state Supreme Court ruling. The court threw out mandatory 48-hour waiting periods for abortions, along with requirements that clinics provide detailed information about the procedure and that all but first-term abortions be performed in hospitals.

The ruling prevented lawmakers from re-enacting those laws and from passing other restrictions. For example, Republican lawmakers this year considered a bill to require ultrasounds before abortions, but the proposal was delayed pending the outcome of next year’s referendum. One of that measure’s main sponsors, Republican state Sen. Jim Tracy of Shelbyville, is running for Congress this year.

Jeff Teague, president of Planned Parenthood of Middle and East Tennessee, said abortion rights advocates will also mount a vigorous campaign against the amendment.

“It’s absolutely going to be a fight,” he said in a phone interview. “It’s been our experience that when people find out about it they get very concerned. They get concerned about privacy rights and an attack on women’s rights.”

The full language of the proposed constitutional amendment reads: “Nothing in this Constitution secures or protects a right to abortion or requires the funding of an abortion.

“The people retain the right through their elected state representatives and state senators to enact, amend, or repeal statutes regarding abortion, including, but not limited to, circumstances of pregnancy resulting from rape or incest or when necessary to save the life of the mother.”

– The Associated Press

Consumer Prices Rise 0.2 Percent in September

U.S. consumer prices increased only slightly in September, as higher energy costs offset flat food prices. The figures are the latest evidence that slow economic growth is keeping inflation tame.

The consumer price index rose a seasonally adjusted 0.2 percent in September, the Labor Department said Wednesday. That’s up from 0.1 percent in August. Higher gas, electricity and other energy costs rose 0.8 percent, making up about half the overall increase.

In the past year, consumer prices have increased just 1.2 percent, down from a 1.5 percent annual gain in August. That’s the smallest 12-month gain since April, and it’s below the Federal Reserve’s 2 percent inflation target.

Excluding volatile food and energy costs, core prices rose just 0.1 percent and are up 1.7 percent in the past 12 months.

High unemployment and meager wage increases have made it difficult for Americans to pay more for most goods. That has also made it hard for retailers to charge more.

Prices for clothing and hotels fell, while airline fares, new car prices, and rents rose. Fruit and vegetable prices dropped, offsetting increases in meat, breads and dairy products.

September’s report also includes data used by the Social Security Administration to calculate cost-of-living adjustments for 58 million Social Security beneficiaries. Mild inflation means benefits will increase 1.5 percent next year, among the smallest increases since the automatic adjustments began in 1975.

The shutdown has likely slowed growth in an already weak economy. Economists expect economic growth at an annual rate of between 1.5 percent and 2 percent from July through September. That would be down from a 2.5 percent annual rate in the April-June quarter.

– The Associated Press