Author Archive

Jonathan Cole reports at Grand Divisions that Councilor Janis Fullilove has received death threats for sponsoring the city’s proposed Non-Discrimination Ordinance: Last night, Memphis City Councilwoman Janis Fullilove informed me that she had received four phone calls from unknown numbers threating her life.  Each death threat referenced Fullilove’s sponsorship of the LGBT-inclusive employment non-discrimination legislation...
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Hat tip to jensized, the LA Times runs this AP story about Target Stores making a political donation to a surprising choice in the Minnesota Governor’s race: As two “Boycott Target” groups sprang up on Facebook on Tuesday, the giant retailer defended its $150,000 donation to a group helping a Minnesota Republican gubernatorial candidate who...
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Morning, campers, It’s WEDNESDAY, woo-hoo!  Right, I’m not that excited either, and neither are Democratic voters, apparently.  Well, it’s hot, it’s humid, with no sign from anywhere that we are in for any relief any time soon. Let’s not waste time, I need coffee and so do you! Wow! SEVEN in TEN voters in a statewide...
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Sean Braisted reports that the number of Davidson County voters pulling GOP primary ballots are almost as many as those pulling Democratic ballots: With the first day in from the start of expanded early voting polling sites, it looks as if Republicans have all but eliminated the early voting lead held by Democrats in the...
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The CA is reporting that Early Voting is brisk this August: Surging Republican turnout is setting a pace for early voting numbers in the Aug. 5 elections that would break the previous Shelby County early voting record in a summer election. Through Thursday, 30,388 voters had cast ballots, 28,856 since voting expanded to satellite sites on...
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Remember the General Services Division employees who decided to “retire” after being caught in potential scandals?  The CA reports that the GSD is THROWING A PARTY for them.  One hopes it’s NOT on City time: The city’s troubled General Services Division is planning to celebrate the careers of three employees who have recently resigned under...
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At-Large City Councilor Janis Fullilove has started the process to pass a Non-Discrimination Ordinance through the Memphis City Council today.  The Personnel committee sent it to the full Council without recommendation because it had not yet heard from Mayor Wharton’s office on its position regarding the ordinance. Councilor Fullilove explains why she is leading the...
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John Branston’s column in this morning’s Flyer sums it up: If you drive less than a mile from Southwind High School you can be in Germantown, Memphis, or unincorporated Shelby County (or Mississippi if you drive two miles). The tax rates where you end up vary from $4.06 to $7.22. Same stores, same roads, same...
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Oh wait, this article isn’t from Jay-Z, it’s from JB, Jackson Baker, that is, talking about Harold Ford’s endorsement of Steve Cohen: One has to give credit to former mayor Willie Herenton for even trying to spin President Obama’s endorsement of his congressional opponent, U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen, as a plus for himself. It’s as...
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Of course, the Flyer’s Jackson Baker was on top of the situation: The last time former mayor Willie Herenton met with the assembled media in his South Third St. congressional campaign headquarters, he let that “free for all” sprawl for all of an hour and a half and answered every question under the sun. On Tuesday,...
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