St. Jude Files Permits for $25 Million Garage

St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital has filed a pair of building permits with the city-county Office of Construction Code Enforcement for a $25 million parking garage on its Downtown campus.

The nine-story, 1,601-space garage at 542 Danny Thomas Place will become St. Jude’s third parking structure.

“At our current growth rate, it should handle growth for at least six or seven years,” John Curran, St. Jude’s director of design and construction, told The Commercial Appeal recently.

St. Jude filed a $2.1 million permit application for foundation work and a $20.9 million permit application for construction.

Evans Taylor Foster Childress Architects is architect and Flintco LLC is general contractor for the project.

Source: The Daily News Online & Chandler Reports

– Daily News staff

Neely’s Receives Loan With Conditions

The original Neely’s Bar-B-Que could be making a comeback if owners can pay off back property taxes.

The Downtown Memphis Commission’s Center City Development Corp. on Wednesday, April 16, approved a $67,500 development loan to bring Neely’s back to 670 Jefferson Ave. if owners pay back taxes on two closed restaurants.

Owners owe more than $40,000 in delinquent city and county taxes and penalties on the Jefferson Avenue property and a former restaurant at 5700 Mt. Moriah Road, which both closed in October 2012.

Tony Neely, who would operate the restaurant, applied for the development loan to help revive the original Neely’s restaurant in the Victorian Village area just west of the Medical Center.

Neely previously operated the Neely’s location in Nashville and is the brother of Patrick Neely, who stars with his wife, Gina, in the Food Network’s “Down Home with the Neelys.”

– Amos Maki

GTx Scientific Officer Resigns

James Dalton, the chief scientific officer and vice president of Memphis-based GTx Inc., will resign effective Aug. 31 to become dean of the University of Michigan College of Pharmacy.

The biopharmaceutical company announced Dalton’s resignation Wednesday, April 16, in a notice to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Terms of Dalton’s departure were still being discussed, according to the GTx notice, with the possibility Dalton might serve as a consultant for some period after the end of August.

Dalton is the latest departure from the biopharmaceutical company.

GTx co-founder Dr. Mitchell Steiner resigned as CEO of the company effective April 3 to “pursue other business interests.”

With Steiner’s departure, the company’s board announced its intent to seek a European marketing application for enobosarm, a drug it has been trying to gain approval for marketing in the U.S. as well.

The drug is a treatment for muscle wasting in patients with advance non-small cell lung cancer.

Earlier this month, the company was told by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration that tests on enobosarm did not produce the necessary data in current trials that allow GTx to file a new drug application.

GTx laid off 53 non-executive employees late last year, with the company’s chief financial officer resigning the day the layoffs were announced.

– Bill Dries

Hope House Golf Classic to be Held April 28

The Hope House Classic will be held Monday, April 28, at Chickasaw Country Club, 3395 Galloway Ave., to raise funding for programs and services that Hope House provides for children and families affected by HIV.

Hope House is seeking individuals and teams interested in participating in the tournament or acting as a sponsor. Throughout the day, golfers can challenge teammates and other players through games such as the hole-in-one competition and the birdie challenge.

Registration is $1,000 per team of four players, and individual entries are $300. Registration fees include player gifts, a silent auction with high-end items such as gift cards to local restaurants, entertainment and travel packages, spa packages and other gifts.

Register at hopehousememphis.org or 272-2702, ext. 206.

– Don Wade

Magna Bank Launches New Checking Product

Magna Bank has announced a new checking account package called Prime Checking, which allows a wider range of the bank’s checking customers to earn interest on their account balances.

With Prime Checking, if monthly qualifications are met, customers can earn an enhanced interest rate on average collected balances up to $30,000 and have up to $15 of ATM surcharges refunded per statement cycle. Customers can open Prime Checking and most other deposit accounts online, part of Magna’s ongoing technology upgrades.

The bank also recently began offering mobile deposit capability through its upgraded mobile app and plans to unveil more upgrades in the coming months.

– Andy Meek

Council Stands By Abolishing Weights and Measures Division

Memphis City Council member Myron Lowery unsuccessfully attempted Tuesday, April 15, to take back the April 1 council vote to abolish the city’s department of weights and measures.

Lowery moved for reconsideration, saying he wanted a one-year transition period to ensure state government would be prepared to take over the duties of making sure gas pumps and scales in retail stores accurately reflect prices by weight or amount.

His move for reconsideration lost on 6-7 vote.

The city department will no longer be funded by the city as of July 1 under terms of the resolution, which is similar to action the council took to do away with auto inspections.

– Bill Dries

Redbirds Rainout to be Made Up May 28

The scheduled April 14 game between the Memphis Redbirds and Iowa Cubs was postponed to due to rain and field conditions and will be made up as part of a 5:05 p.m. doubleheader at AutoZone Park Wednesday, May 28, when the two teams will play a pair of seven-inning games. Gates will open at 4:30 p.m.

Tickets from Monday night’s rainout can be exchanged at the box office for any 2014 regular season contest, excluding all fireworks games and July 4.

The Redbirds return to AutoZone Park Saturday, April 19, to start a four-game homestand against Oklahoma City. For tickets, call 722-0299 or visit memphisredbirds.com.

– Don Wade

Bill Passes That Would Help Felons Get Jobs

The Tennessee Legislature has passed a bill that may make it easier for some felons who have turned their lives around to find a job.

The bill, which passed with overwhelming bipartisan support, would allow courts to issue a certificate of employability to convicted felons who have stayed out of trouble. It would also grant some legal protection from lawsuits to employers who hire a felon who has the court-issued certificate.

The legislation was sponsored by Sen. Brian Kelsey, a Republican from Germantown. Rep. Karen Camper, a Democrat from Memphis, sponsored the House version of the bill.

Kelsey said the bill encourages public safety because people are less likely to turn back to crime if they have a job.

The bill has yet to be signed by the governor.

– The Associated Press

House Rejects Senate Version of Anti-Meth Bill

The Tennessee House has refused to go along with the Senate version of Gov. Bill Haslam's proposal to set tighter annual limits on the amount of cold and allergy medicines used to make meth that can be bought without a prescription.

The lower chamber voted 80-10 on Wednesday, April 16, to reject the Senate version, meaning the legislation is likely headed for conference committee to work out their differences.

The House version would set an annual limit of 28.8 grams, or a five-month supply, without a prescription. The Senate bill would set a limit at half that amount.

According to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, 1,685 meth labs were seized in Tennessee last year.

– The Associated Press