The Commercial Appeal (2007-Current)

Zoning Board Axes Animal Shelter

The Fayette County Board of Zoning Appeals ruled against the Fayette County Animal Rescue group Tuesday night, but shelter officials vow to fight to stay open. "We're not giving up," said shelter president Gina Thweatt. "Our work is too important."

Sports - Girls, Get Fit at Patosha's Camp

According to a report by Trust for America's Health (TFAH) released in August of 2007, Tennessee has the fifth-highest rate of adult obesity at 27.4 percent and the fourth-highest rate of overweight youths (ages 10-17) at 20.0 percent in the nation. However, Patosha Jeffery, former University of Memphis Lady Tiger and known as the Girls Basketball Trainer, has a fun solution for girls this summer.

Sports - Lausanne's Smith to Play for Iit

Lausanne graduating senior Amanda Smith has signed a letter of intent to play soccer at Illinois Institute of Technology. In addition to an athletic scholarship, she has been awarded an academic merit-based Heald scholarship and an IIT University scholarship. Amanda was a four-year starting defender and co-captain of the Lady Lynx, and was named to the All Region Team in 2007 while helping lead the way to Lausanne's first appearance and semifinal finish at the Tennessee Division II-A state so...

Sports - What a Season!

The Briarcrest Middle School Girls had an unprecedented tennis season. Maggie Leavell led the team, winning the year-end singles tournament, while twin sister Neely Leavell and teammate Erin Patton, joined to give the Saints three of the top four places in the tournament. The BCS team captured the overall title with twice as many team points as any other school. In addition, Maggie, Neely and Erin went undefeated in the regular season, as did the team with a perfect 7- 0 record. Other contrib...

Tva Heeds Concerns of Cyber Attack -- Utility Upgrades Computer Safety

KNOXVILLE - Congressional investigators say the Tennessee Valley Authority is vulnerable to cyber attacks that could interrupt its vast power production and transmission system, though the federal utility insists it has fixed the problems. The Government Accountability Office reported Wednesday that the nation's largest public utility must secure its computer control systems or risk cyber incidents that could affect its operations and 8.7 million consumers.

Briefs

Brown Bag Book Talk An "Our Brown Bag Book Talk" is set for noon today with local historian and author Terry Thompson as the guest. He'll discuss the history of the lumber industry in Memphis.

Snapshots

Deaths - Thursday, May 22, 2008

SHELBY COUNTY Anderson, Georgia Lucille

Sun, Sand and Fun -- Berclair Students Enjoy Year-End Beach Party

Police Report

South Memphis Police arrest two robbery suspects

Mid-South Memories - Legal Eagle

May 22 25 years ago: 1983

Church Tries to Stave Off Foreclosure -- Financing Crisis Hits God's House As Well

The foreclosure epidemic that has swept across the nation hasn't stopped at the house of God. After falling behind on payments, Blessed Trinity Missionary Baptist Church in South Memphis was slated to be auctioned to the highest bidder on Friday.

County Schools Award Honors Diplomas -- Overachievers Get Their Due for Extra Efforts

They are overachievers. High school scholars who push themselves to not just score high marks in traditional grade-level work, but to excel in rigorous honors classes and college-level Advanced Placement courses.

Lawmakers Relax Hope Requirements -- 2.75 Gpa Needed to Keep Grants for 72 Credit Hours; More Older Students Eligible

NASHVILLE - After two years of wrangling, the Tennessee legislature finally approved an expansion of the lottery scholarship program Wednesday night. The agreement includes eased academic requirements to keep the grants and it will make more older, "nontraditional" students eligible for the scholarships.

In Brief

Greater Memphis Haltom makes judicial short list

For 100 Years, Circle Is Unbroken -- Renaissance Group has Long Devotion to Music

The Renaissance Music Circle was around before W.C. Handy wrote "Memphis Blues," before Clarence Saunders opened the first Piggly Wiggly, before E.H. Crump was the boss. Wednesday morning at the Memphis Country Club, the organization of professional and amateur musicians celebrated 100 years of being serious about the art (while having some fun, too).

Copious Request Speaks Volumes -- Blackburn Team Seeks Pile of Opponent's Files

The opposition research for the 7th Congressional District race is gearing up - and requiring a staggering number of public documents from Shelby County government. A volunteer for Republican Rep. Marsha Blackburn's campaign has asked the county for thousands of pages of documents about Republican primary challenger and Shelby County Register Tom Leatherwood.

Tennesseans Text a Lot in Vehicles -- Survey Puts State 2nd Worst for Messaging While Driving

While motorists should have their hands positioned at 10 o'clock and 2 o'clock on the wheel, many Tennessee drivers have one hand - or at least a few digits - on a totally different set of numbers. Tennessee ranked second to worst in the nation in the number of drivers who drive while text messaging, according to a new national survey of almost 5,000 cell phone users. Thirty-eight percent of Tennessee drivers admitted to driving while texting. Only South Carolina, at 40 percent, was higher. N...

Beating the Odds -- Houston Student and Family Overcome Life's Setbacks for Hard-Earned Diploma

The odds of Matt Caulk graduating from high school were always slim. Learning disabilities limited the number of classes he took per year. His lessons were communicated by sign language through an interpreter. Class work took him nearly three times as long to comprehend and complete.

Trimmed Budget Could Cut County Income -- Officials Propose to Axe Revenue-Producing Positions

Shelby County elected officials presented county commissioners with slimmed-down budget requests on Wednesday, with some warning the cuts could hurt the county's bottom line. Elected officials - including the sheriff, register, assessor, trustee, county clerk and court clerks - were asked by County Mayor A C Wharton's administration to whittle department budgets by 5.3 percent.