Crime by The Memphis News

JULY 2-8, 2008, VOL . 1 , ISS UE 3

Cold Reality When it comes to the industrial real estate sector’s performance, it’s time to ditch the rose-tinted glasses. page 6

spin Cycle

Just Can’t hackett

Ultimate Attrition

FBI director Robert Mueller’s “Operation Malicious Mortgage” appears heavy on hype.

Former Mayor Dick Hackett joins Willie Herenton, shown here, in quest to quash charter amendment.

The local housing slump is showing up in the local Realtors Association’s membership roster.

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Crime is down, but what does that really mean? Page 17

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SAE House Sells For $600,000 The 6,880-square-foot Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity house at 3601 Midland Ave. near the University of Memphis campus has sold for $591,767. House Corp., Tennessee Sigma Chapter, Sigma Alpha Epsilon sold the property to In the Bonds LLC. The sale closed June 16, and no loan documents were recorded with the Shelby County Register at the time of sale. Built in 1999, the house sits on about one acre on the south side of Midland east of Brister Street. The Shelby County Assessor’s 2008 appraisal is $485,000. Sigma Alpha Epsilon’s Sigma Chapter was founded at the University of Memphis in 1953, according to the fraternity’s Web site. On an international level, SAE has more than 200 chapters in 48 states and Canada.

Muvico Closure Rumors Swirl Despite Denials Employees of the Muvico theater that occupies two floors of Downtown’s Peabody Place Entertainment and Retail Center are openly discussing among themselves and confirming to members of the public the long-rumored closure of the theater. As of press time, the word among some employees was that a closing date has not yet been set for the theater but that it will be closed this year. A Muvico corporate spokesman declined to comment on the closure.

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Parkway Buys Three Direct Tire Distributors Pa r k w ay P r o p e r t i e s L L C, w h o s e principal is Walter Mathis of Mathis Tire & Auto Service, has bought three Direct Tire Distributors tire stores for a combined $1.8 million. Parkway bought the stores – at 2615 Frayser Blvd., 5285 Pleasant View Road and 2516 Poplar Ave. – from Jeffrey L. Tyler and Carolyn J. Tyler. The company financed the purchase with a $1.6 million loan from Regions Bank, and both the sale and the loan closed June 12. Mathis now owns and operates eight Mathis Tire & Auto Service locations and the three Direct Tire Distributors. The Shelby County Assessor of Property’s 2008 appraisals are as follows: 2615 Frayser Blvd. – $294,100; 5285 Pleasant View Road – $744,300; and 2516 Poplar Ave. – $398,400. The Frayser Boulevard property was built in 1973 and is 9,138 square feet; the Pleasant View Road property was built in 1988 and is 27,000 square feet; and the Poplar Avenue property was built in 1920 and is 11,874 square feet. Parkway Properties LLC is not affiliated with Jackson, Miss.-based Parkway Properties Inc., a real estate investment trust (REIT) whose portfolio includes such office buildings as the Morgan Keegan Tower and Toyota Center.

RFP Issued For MED Mgmt. The Board of Shelby County Healthcare Corp. has authorized its strategic planning committee to issue a request for proposals to firms that would be able to provide extensive

transformation and interim management services for the Regional Medical Center at Memphis, which it oversees. Those services are to include a detailed plan for The MED that includes a financial strategy and the framework for a permanent management team. The RFP was issued June 19 to more than 20 firms nationwide. MED officials hope to execute a contract Sept. 1.

Applicants Line Up To Fill Court Vacancy The applicants to fill a vacancy on the state Supreme Court include an appeals judge who found the state’s tax on illegal drugs unconstitutional. The vacancy is being created by the Sept. 1 retirement of Tennessee Chief Justice William M. Barker. The state’s Judicial Selection Commission will conduct interviews, examine background checks of the candidates and then suggest three finalists for Gov. Phil Bredesen. Court of Appeals Judge Sharon G. Lee is one of the applicants. Last year she wrote the opinion in a decision that the state’s so-called “crack tax” is unconstitutional because it seeks to generate revenue from an illegal activity. The attorney general has appealed the case to the state Supreme Court. Other applicants include West Tennessee Claims Commissioner Nancy Miller-Herron and three attorneys in private practice: Paul Campbell III, John Westley McClarty and R. Culver Schmid.

THA Adopts Nonpayment Policy For Preventable Errors The Tennessee Hospital Association’s board of directors has approved a policy developed by a special THA task force that says state hospitals should not seek payment from patients or their insurance companies for care related to serious and adverse events. The new state policy includes the American Hospital Association’s basic principles for nonpayment, and identifies 11 specific serious and adverse events from the National Quality Forum’s list of 28 serious reportable events. The chosen events were selected based on the consensus that they generally are preventable and may indicate a hospital system error. The THA policy recommends Tennessee hospitals not seek payment for services solely related to care from the adverse events such as surgery on the wrong body part, surgery on the wrong patient, wrong surgical procedure or unintended retention of a foreign object, among others. The serious adverse event must meet the five criteria of being preventable, being within the control of the hospital, being the result of an action taken while in the hospital, resulting in significant harm to the patient and having been reviewed on a case-by-case basis, according to the THA.

Tenn. to Get New Specialty License Plates Gov. Phil Bredesen is allowing the latest batch of specialty license plates to become law without his signature. Bredesen, a Democrat, has long complained about the proliferation of

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specialty tags, urging lawmakers to rein in the number of plates available in Tennessee. “While the organizations referenced in this bill are no doubt worthy causes, I am allowing this bill to become law without my signature in light of the broader concerns I have expressed over the past several years,” Bredesen wrote to House Speaker Jimmy Naifeh in a letter released June 19. Bredesen in 2003 allowed a “Choose Life” tag to become law without his signature, expressing concerns over what he called “a dangerous slippery slope” of putting political messages on license plates. The anti-abortion plate became available three years later after surviving court challenges. Bredesen since has declined to sign dozens of new plate designs into law, but has stopped short of vetoing any of the proposals. The expansion of specialty plates has continued despite hopes that a 2006 overhaul of Tennessee’s dated standard plates would stem the tide. The old plates released in 2001 had featured the since-abandoned state slogan, “Tennessee sounds good to me.” Motorists currently can choose from about 130 different designs. This year lawmakers approved 23 potential new license plates; last year, it was 19. This year’s tag designs would include the National Rifle Association, the Tennessee Association of Realtors and the Appalachian quilt trail. Any new plate must get 1,000 preorders before it can go into production. The state’s specialty plates program began about two decades ago as a way to help fund the Tennessee Arts Commission, which receives 40 percent of the additional $35 the plates cost.

Court Decisions May Place Higher Costs On Business The U.S. Supreme Court issued two opinions in recent weeks siding with employees over the private sector, continuing a recent trend that runs counter to the court’s generally pro-business record. The rulings could make it easier for employees to win age discrimination cases, and also may encourage workers to challenge health and disability insurance claims in court that have been denied, business groups said. The cases “may lack sex appeal, but they have a huge impact on the national economy,” said Robin Conrad, executive vice president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s litigation arm. Some legal experts said the chamber’s concerns are a bit overblown, but the rulings do follow at least three other cases earlier this year in which the court has decided in favor of employees in workplace law disputes. The court has taken an unusually large number of workplace cases this year, and has surprised some observers by ruling in favor of workers. The court’s rulings last term overwhelmingly favored the private sector. The chamber did notch a win in a third case June 19, when the court struck down a California state law that prohibited companies from using government funds to influence union-organizing efforts. Still, Justice David Souter, in his majority opinion in the age discrimination case, acknowledged that the decision “makes it harder and costlier to defend” such lawsuits. But Souter said the court had to follow the law “the way Congress wrote it.”

That case, Meacham v. Knolls Atomic Power Laboratory, began when Knolls laid off 31 workers, 30 of whom were older than 40. Twenty-six of those employees sued Knolls, claiming the layoffs violated the federal Age Discrimination in Employment Act. The justices, in a 7-1 ruling, said when older workers are disproportionately affected by an employment decision, the employer bears the burden of explaining whether there was a reasonable explanation – other than age – for the company’s action. Placing the burden of proof on employers will prolong costly litigation in agediscrimination lawsuits, the chamber said in a friend of the court brief. In the employee benefits case, MetLife v. Glenn, the court ruled that insurance companies have a conflict of interest when they both administer health and disability benefit plans, and decide claims filed under the plans. Courts should consider that conflict when employees challenge decisions by plan administrators, the justices ruled.

FedEx Earns FAA Certification For Flight Safety System FedEx Express, a subsidiary of FedEx Corp., has received Federal Aviation Administration certification for a new aircraft avionic system that is claimed to improve situational awareness for pilots during takeoff and landing. The safety system is a combination of the Honeywell International “Head Up Display” technology and the infrared “Enhanced Flight Vision System” technology created by Elbit Systems of American Commercial Aviation-Kollsman Business Unit. FedEx Express is the first major commercial carrier in the airline industry to receive a Supplemental Type Certificate from the FAA for the system, and authorized its installation in the company’s fleet of Boeing MD-10 freighters. The company’s goal in using the flight safety system is to improve the level of flight security and safety by increasing pilots’ visibility during poor weather and darkness, a spokesperson said. When pilots activate the system, they can enhance their visibility in darkness, smoke, smog, haze and other weather hazards while simultaneously seeing important flight data.

St. Jude Gets Grant For Sickle Cell Research The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has awarded St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital a $1.1 million grant. The National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, a division of HHS, awarded the grant to support research into sickle cell disease headed by Dr. Russell E. Ware, chair of the Department of Hematology and the Lemuel Diggs Endowed Chair in Sickle Cell Disease at St. Jude. Sickle cell disease is a serious inherited blood disorder that most commonly affects people with origins in Africa, Latin America,

the Middle East or the Mediterranean. Since 1972, the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute has funded research efforts to improve the lives of individuals with sickle cell disease. It is most common in West and Central Africa, where as many as 25 percent of people have the sickle cell trait and 1 percent to 2 percent of all babies are born with a form of the disease. In the United States, about 1,000 babies are born with sickle cell disease each year. By contrast, in Nigeria, with a population about a third of the size of the U.S., between 45,000 and 90,000 babies are born with sickle cell disease every year.

Sedgwick Launches New Claims Services Memphis-based Sedgwick Claims Management Services Inc. has launched a claims administration unit for credit card and warranty claims services. Prospective clients for Sedgwick’s new services include banks, credit card companies and companies that issue credit cards and consumer warranties. In conjunction with the new unit, Sedgwick CMS has hired Brenda L. Lott as a vice president and director of financial sector specialty services. Lott will lead the new initiatives. She has more than 15 years of experience in the design, delivery and supervision of risk services for credit card programs and other specialized financial products. Sedgwick CMS, which, along with its affiliated companies, delivers cost-effective claims administration, medical management, risk consulting and other services, employs 6,200 people in 150 offices in the U.S. and Canada.

Handgun Permit Applications Skyrocket In Tennessee State Safety Department records show applications to carry concealed handguns more than tripled between 2006 and 2007. The Chattanooga Times Free Press has reported the number of Tennessee residents applying for permits to legally carry handguns skyrocketed from 237 in 2003 to 195,251 last year. Chattanooga-area gun shop owners say they aren’t sure why so many people are applying, but they say required handgun training classes are in demand. Course instructor Mark Haskins, who also heads Chattanooga’s SWAT team, said he’s taught a class every Saturday so far this year.

DA’s Office Shuffles Positions Shelby County District Attorney General Bill Gibbons has made new assignments for his top assistants. Under the front office shuffle, prosecutor Paul Hagerman will become special assistant for Organized Crime Prosecution. Those duties will include filing nuisance actions in court, which has become a major thrust of local anti-crime strategies. The nuisance closings have included several strip clubs as well as suspected drug and prostitution

havens. Hagerman will work with the police Organized Crime Unit. Prosecutor John Campbell will take the new job of helping draft anti-crime legislation for consideration by the Tennessee Legislature. In recent years, Gibbons, along with Memphis Police Director Larry Godwin and Shelby County Sheriff Mark Luttrell, has aggressively lobbied the legislature for laws that would mean longer jail sentences for violent crimes. Assistant District Attorney Bobby Carter’s duties as chief prosecutor of child abuse now will include directing training programs for teachers and other professionals who deal with children. Assistant District Attorney Theresa McCusker will become a division leader for cases being prosecuted in Criminal Court Division VI. And Assistant District Attorney Steve Jones will become legal adviser to the West Tennessee Violent Crime & Drug Task Force. He also will remain as prosecutor for the whitecollar crime unit.

S&P Upgrades Rating For Two MLGW Bonds Standard & Poor’s Rating Services has upgraded its credit rating for two Memphis Light, Gas and Water Division electric system bonds. S&P raised its long-term rating on the utility company’s $16.9 million of seniorlien electric system revenue bonds from AA to AA+. S&P’s standard long-term and underlying rating on MLGW’s $1.1 billion of junior-lien electric system revenue bonds was raised from AA- to AA+. S&P also assigned an AA+ standard long-term rating to MLGW’s $92.4 million subordinate lien electric system revenue and refunding bonds.

Consumer Confidence Skids More Than Expected U.S. consumer confidence fell unexpectedly sharply in June, sinking to its lowest level in more than 16 years, according to a private industry group. The report released last week also said the group’s reading of consumers’ expectations hit an all-time low as home prices tumbled while gasoline and food prices rose. The Conference Board’s consumer confidence index fell to 50.4 this month, the lowest since February 1992. The index dropped from 58.1 in May, a much steeper decline than economists expected. The consensus estimate of economists surveyed by Thomson/IFR was 56.5 for June. Inflation, political flux and job insecurity have created an “uncertainty more acute, perhaps, than any time since 9-11,” said William Hummer, chief economist at Wayne Hummer Investments. “I don’t think this can be purged immediately by an election or anything else,” he said. “I think it’s endemic, deep-rooted and likely to persist.” The reading, based on a survey of 5,000 representative U.S. households, suggests “the economy remains stuck in low gear,” said Lynn Franco, the Conference Board’s director of consumer research.

This report compiled by Rosalind Guy with contributions from reporters Bill Dries, Andy Meek and Eric Smith,research analyst Kate Simone, editorial assistant Rebekah Hearn and The Associated Press.

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CO N T E N T S JUNE 25-JULY 1, 2008 VOL. 1, ISSUE 2

7 President & CEO

PETER SCHUTT General Manager Emeritus

Roger That Although it continues being billed as “America’s Aerotropolis,” Memphis International Airport isn’t immune to larger industry woes.

ED RAINS Publisher

ERIC BARNES Executive Editor

DAVID YAWN Managing Editor

LINDSAY JONES

Small Haul May commercial sales in Shelby County decreased more than 75 percent from a year ago.

Senior Editor

LANCE ALLAN WIEDOWER Research Analyst

KATE SIMONE Senior Reporter

BILL DRIES Senior Reporter

ANDY MEEK

to: s r e t t e l Send orial@ edit news s i h p m theme m .co

In a Pinch The Center City Commission has OK’d a plan to help redevelop the part of Uptown occupied by the Pinch district.

Senior Reporter

ERIC SMITH Reporter

ROSALIND GUY Editorial Assistant

REBEKAH HEARN Lead Pressman

TOMMY COON Graphic Designer

BRAD JOHNSON Graphic Designer

JEN SIMMONS Graphic Designer

PHILIP THOMPSON Graphic Designer

Final Stretch The St. Jude Dream Home in Wolf River Ranch isn’t the only news coming from the development.

Good Behavior Mothers of the Nile works to keep at-risk youths from winding up in the court system.

KEVIN MASSEY Advertising Coordinator

SANDY YOUNGBLOOD

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Published by: THE DAILY NEWS PUBLISHING CO. 193 Jefferson Avenue Memphis, TN 38103 P.O. Box 3663 Memphis, TN 38173-0663 Tel: 901.523.1561 Fax: 901.526.5813 www.memphisdailynews.com The Daily News is a general interest newspaper covering business, law, government, and real estate and development throughout the Memphis metropolitan area. The Daily News, the successor of the Daily Record, The Daily Court Reporter, and The Daily Court News, was founded in 1886.

LINDSAY JONES Managing Editor A former reporter, feature writer and magazine editor, Jones has won several awards from the Tennessee Press Association and the Society of Professional Journalists. She is the proud mommy of a great little boy and five spoiled cats.

BILL DRIES Senior Reporter Dries, from Memphis, has been a reporter for more than 30 years. His career stops include The Commercial Appeal, WHBQ AM, WREC AM and WLYX FM 89 way back in the 1970s! He now covers legal issues and other news.

ANDY MEEK Senior Reporter Meek, from Memphis, covers politics, the business community and other news of general interest. He has won awards from the Tennessee Press Association and the Society of Professional Journalists.

ERIC SMITH Senior Reporter Smith covers real estate, financial services, and logistics and distribution. He grew up in Memphis and moved back in 2005 after spending seven years in Alaska, where he worked as a Web writer and sports reporter.

ROSALIND GUY Reporter Guy is an award-winning journalist who covers nonprofit organizations, small businesses and other news. When she’s not writing stellar stories, she’s taking care of her beautiful children – two boys and two girls.

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Outlook Not as Rosy For Industrial Real Estate By ERIC SMITH The Memphis News

We don’t reach everybody. Just a whole lot of somebodies.

PHOTO BY ERIC SMITH

The Memphis News readers are the high-powered leaders who shape the Memphis-area business and political landscape. They are self-empowered, influential, affluent, highly educated, politically informed, and have the resources – and the desire – to enjoy the finer things that life has to offer.

COULD BE A METAPHOR: The old ScanSource Inc. distribution center at 4100 Quest Way ranked as the fifth most lucrative industrial sale over the past 12 months by fetching $6.3 million from Kansas City Life Insurance Co. But the empty facility now mirrors the industrial sales market, which has been quiet of late after a few healthy years.

Industrial real estate in Shelby County borrowed a chapter from the residential market’s tale of woe by turning in a lackluster 12-month period. Like what’s happening with home sales, myriad factors ranging from tightened credit to frightened buyers have blended during the past year to drag down the industrial numbers, which long have been the county’s bread and butter. From June 2007 to May 2008, industrial real estate recorded just $205.9 million in sales, a 59.7 percent decline from $511.3 million the previous year, according to the latest data from real estate information company Chandler Reports, www.chandlerreports.com. Also, only 135 industrial properties sold in the past year at an average sales price of $1.5 million, down from the 176 industrial properties sold in the previous year at an average sales price of $2.9 million.

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Age of Aquarius Most real estate brokers agreed a combination of reasons can be blamed for the drop-off, such as difficult lending guidelines, weary investors and institutional capital looking to other markets. But to understand fully the disparity between this year and last, it’s necessary to go back a few years and consider the long, scorching run that industrial sales have enjoyed of late, including the 179 sales totaling $342.5 million in 2005-2006. Joe Steffner, president of the Memphis office of Grubb & Ellis Co., said conditions during the mid-2000s and prior to last summer were ideal for the market, leading to rampant highdollar, high-profile deals. “It was just a matter of the stars aligning over the past several years with low cap rates and low interest rates,” Steffner said. “Buyers could make aggressive decisions because of low interest rates and sellers could make aggressive decisions because of low cap rates. You’ve got a combination there that makes everybody happy.” That happiness drove up activity, prompt-

ing owners to test the real estate waters and see what kind of price they could get for their properties. They found the answer in the rush of outside capital that arrived in droves. “Memphis was a good market for sales, and there are a lot of people who decided that they wanted to sell their portfolios, and they made those decisions over the past three to five years,” Steffner said. “There’s been a tremendous amount of transactions.” Slow going The transactions slowed with a vengeance after July 2007. Three of Shelby County’s top industrial sales in terms of dollar amount occurred before the end of July – before the impending credit crunch. Top sales from June 2007 to May 2008 were the Delta Point Business Park at 5605 Holmescrest Lane for $25.9 million (sold June 1, 2007); a distribution center at 5015 Citation Drive for $19.3 million (June 14, 2007); the Meritex Enterprises Inc. logistics facility at 4836 Hickory Hill Road for $16.1 million (Dec. 21); a light industrial warehouse at 6125 E. Shelby Drive for $13.5 million (July 20) and the old ScanSource Inc. facility at 4100 Quest Way for $6.3 million (Feb. 15). The first two sales were in Parkway Village’s 38118 ZIP code, which dominated Shelby County in industrial activity with 33 sales averaging $2.7 million (down from its previous marks of 51 sales averaging $5.2 million). And it was downhill from there. The Elvis Presley Boulevard ZIP of 38106 came in second with 12 sales averaging $439,083 and the Defense Depot ZIP of 38114 came in third with 10 sales averaging $311,339. Dick Faulk, a partner at Crump Commercial LLC, said the slowdown indicates the larger economic problems facing the country and Memphis. That sent ripple effects into such sectors as logistics, distribution, transportation – and real estate. “I don’t see anything grandiose going to happen in the market until there’s a stabilization of the oil situation, the housing situation and the financial situation,” Faulk said. “There’s too much

instability that’s going to create any kind of calm for any type of consumer confidence. Until consumer confidence comes back, the economy is just going to continue to chug along.” ‘One big advantage’ As lenders weigh their guidelines and investors weigh their decisions, the industrial activity in Memphis might continue to putter along. “What you have right now is a lot of retrenching and people trying to decide what kind of product they want and where they want to be,” Steffner said. “There’s a lot of evaluation going on in capital markets as well as investment markets and also for developers. They have to decide where they want to put their capital. It’s a big transition going on.” With the price of oil at record highs, Memphis’ distribution, logistics and industrial real estate sectors will continue to be negatively affected during this transition. But the city’s central location again could be its savior. “We have the ability to recover quicker than a lot of cities mainly because of who we are and in particular because of where we’re located,” Faulk said. “The one thing we do have because of our centralized location is the ability to get to parts of the country fairly rapidly. As fuel goes up, the distance becomes shorter shipping out of Memphis. That is one big advantage we have.” Bayard Snowden, broker at Colliers, Wilkinson & Snowden and immediate-past president of the Memphis Area Association of Realtors (MAAR) Commercial Council, noted that despite all the negativity swirling in industrial real estate circles, plenty of good deals exist for companies willing and able to swing a deal. And that brings another residential parallel to the industrial story, one whose ending is not yet scripted. “On commercial property sales for the users of a property like individual distributors in Memphis, as long as their business is solid, it is a good time to buy,” Snowden said. “Just like the residential brokers are saying, this is a good time to be a buyer.” n

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Wilder’s Farewell Letter Written In Usual Style BILL DRIES The Memphis News

NOT-SO-FRIENDLY SKIES: Passenger traffic is down at Memphis International Airport, reflecting widespread industry challenges, observers say.

Passengers Sue To Stop DeltaNorthwest Deal By PAUL ELIAS Associated Press Writer SAN FRANCISCO (AP) – A group of airline passengers sought to scuttle Delta Airlines Inc.’s proposed takeover of Northwest Airlines Corp., alleging in a federal lawsuit filed in recent days that the deal would result in an illegal monopoly. The passengers allege in the lawsuit filed in San Francisco that “higher ticket prices and diminished service” will result if federal regulators approve the deal. The two airlines announced April 14 that their combined “enterprise value” would be $17.7 billion, including both companies’ market values and their debt. The combined company, to be called Delta, would have the most flights worldwide, with 390 destinations in 67 countries. The lawsuit, filed by 28 passengers, alleges that after the deal Delta would have a monopolistic grip on the industry, controlling 24 percent of domestic flights – and that would reduce competition. “The potential for increased price-fixing, division of markets and other anticompetitive acts among the remaining airlines is significant,” the lawsuit alleges. Delta spokeswoman Betsy Talton called the proposed takeover of Northwest “proconsumer” and said it “is the most compelling way to build a strong, long-term airline.” Northwest spokeswoman Tammy Lee called the lawsuit “frivolous” and said that since the routes the two carriers’ flights overlap very little, few will be lost. “This actually promotes consumer choice, it doesn’t diminish it,” Lee said. Some lawmakers are concerned the combination and others that may follow will result in job cuts and higher ticket prices. Minnesota Congressman James Oberstar, a Democrat and chairman of the U.S. House Transportation committee, called this month on the U.S. Justice Department to reject the deal. Antitrust concerns have sunk such deals before. In 2001, an attempt to merge United Airlines and US Airways fell apart amid concerns the combined carrier would control too much of the Washington market and dominate several other key routes. Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. n

Airline Woes Land At Memphis International ERIC SMITH The Memphis News

said. “This is a major challenge, not only one The rising cost of oil has sparked volatil- that the airline industry is facing, but also one ity in the airline industry, resulting in lower that our country is facing. “We have long been an airport city, and we passenger and cargo traffic at Memphis International Airport for May, airport executives said at a Memphis-Shelby County Airport Authority monthly board meeting. Local passenger traffic declined 3.8 percent in May from the same month a year ago, according to the airport’s latest activity report. Memphis saw 979,311 domestic and international passengers during the month, down from more than 1 million in May 2007. Also, the average daily flights dropped slightly, from 289 to 287. – Larry Cox, Total cargo handled president of the Memphis-Shelby at Memphis International County Airport Authority board dipped 5.5 percent from the same month a year ago, from 726.2 million pounds of cargo in May are now ‘America’s Aerotropolis.’ We have a 2007 to 686.3 million pounds of cargo in May heightened interest in this issue.” Despite the monthly drop in traffic, year2008. The report of slower traffic activity comes to-date figures fared a little better. Total pason the heels of widespread turmoil in the air- senger traffic through the end of May was 4.38 line industry. Oil prices have sent passenger million passengers, a 0.7 percent increase over and cargo carriers reeling, evidenced by a the 4.35 million passengers through the end of reduction in flights nationwide and a recent May 2007. And though cargo was down year to date dire outlook by Memphis’ own FedEx Corp. – 3.43 billion pounds through the end of May The ripple effect could be disastrous. “Our industry is in jeopardy today, and it compared to 3.44 billion pounds through the affects the economy in a strong way,” airport end of May 2007 – the 0.2 percent dip wasn’t as president Larry Cox told the board, stressing steep as it was during the most recent month. Airport operating revenues, which include the importance of more domestic drilling for oil while searching for alternative forms aviation and non-aviation generators, were of energy as a savior. “In order to protect up 5.2 percent in May and 4.6 percent year the economy in Memphis, we need to get on to date. Scott Brockman, the airport’s executive those.” Board chairman Arnold Perl issued a vice president, told the board the airport’s similar warning about how crippled airlines financial picture is stable in spite of the greater would be disastrous for Memphis in the form economic conditions. But he warned that of fewer and more expensive flights. After all, Memphis International must continue along the airport is a $21.7 billion economic engine that path to weather the stormy conditions for the region, and its future viability – with ahead. “We have to be more prudent, we have to regard to jobs created directly or indirectly by be more focused, we have to be more deliberate the airport – in the balance. “This is not just a bump in the road,” Perl

“Our industry is in jeopardy today, and it affects the economy in a strong way. In order to protect the economy in Memphis, we need to get on those.”

Continued on page 21

After 44 years in the Tennessee Senate, John Wilder has penned a farewell letter that is a mix of the political and the existential. For years, Wilder has blended the two in speeches parsed by other political leaders in the state wary of Wilder’s power but often puzzled by his frequent references to “the cosmos.” The legislative session ended in late May and Wilder wrote his letter on May 27. But it was only mailed to newspaper editors across the state on June 17. “You know the truth that is in fact the cosmos,” Wilder wrote in the second paragraph. “All of it, organic and inorganic – negative and positive – constructive and destructive – a lie and the truth – love and hate – God and the devil. There is law in the cosmos.” LONG GAME OF CHESS Wilder, 86, called off his re-election bid to the rural West Tennessee district 86 seat this past March, a year after he was ousted as speaker of the Senate and lieutenant governor. Wilder held both leadership positions for 36 years and was one of the most powerful forces in Tennessee politics during that time. Republicans in the chamber banded together with Democratic state Sen. Rosalind Kurita in 2006 to elect Blountville Republican Ron Ramsey to the posts. “We need statesmen,” Wilder, of Mason, said in the letter as he referred to the vote. “We do not need 17 Republicans and one independent Democrat, Kurita, letting someone vote them (as a block). I feel bad about this statement, but it is the truth.” He described himself as a “Jeffersonian Democrat.” “I would not have been state senator and speaker of the Senate if it were not for the African-Americans and Independent Republicans,” he wrote. “Democrats made the most difference, but it would not have been enough because my district is 60 percent Republican.” Wilder held off attempts by fellow Democrats in the Senate to oust him from leadership in later years by appointing some Republicans to committee chairmanships. By contrast, state House Speaker Jimmy Naifeh, a Democrat, assigns committee chairmanships only to other Democrats. Wilder announced he would not be seeking re-election this past March on the Senate floor in remarks curiously void of any reference to “the cosmos.” “I wanted to be governor so bad in 1975, I could die,” Wilder said then in a reference to the Watergate era governor’s race won by Democrat Ray Blanton over Republican Lamar Alexander, who would win the 1978 governor’s race. Wilder said he didn’t run for governor because his late wife, Marcelle, told him, “I ain’t gonna live in that house that had them wine parties,” an apparent reference to the governor’s mansion. “So that ended that. But I would have been gone too quick,” Wilder told the Senate. The March speech also displayed some of Wilder’s talent for carefully chosen phrasing. “I’ve decided not to run for re-election,” Wilder said at one point and then talked more Continued on page 21

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JULY 2 -8, 20 0 8

May Commercial Sales Hype Surrounding Mortgage Fraud Case Drop 75 Percent

Consistent multifamily In other commercial figures from May, just nine commercial foreclosures were recorded, all of them duplexes. PHOTO BY ERIC SMITH

Take away the $16 million multifamily portfolio sold in a complicated deal that kept the properties out of bankruptcy and Shelby County’s commercial real estate activity in May was a picture of paltriness. Even with the combined sale of Autumnwood ($8.9 million) and Stonegate ($7.1 million) apartment complexes – sold by the Health, Educational and Housing Facility Board of Shelby County to New York-based White Eagle Property Group – the final tally for the month in terms of dollar amount was just $54.4 million. That marks a 75.5 percent decrease from the $220.6 million in May 2007 and a 12.7 percent decrease from the $62.4 million in April 2008. As for the number of commercial sales, May’s total of 69 was a 19.8 percent decline from 86 in May 2007 and an 8 percent decline from 75 in April 2008, according to the latest data from real estate information company Chandler Reports, www.chandlerreports.com. But the downward trend follows all of 2008. Shelby County registered 432 commercial sales through May 31, a 17.1 percent dropoff from the 521 in the same period of 2007. The pricing has been worse, as 2008 has seen just $414.1 million in terms of dollar amount, a 68 percent decline from $1.3 billion in the same

Germantown Road for $3.3 million. (Though other sales closed in May, only transactions that were deeded during the month were included in this report.) The top four sales were made to out-oftown entities, a sign that investment capital is still interested in Memphis. But Joe Steffner, president of the Memphis office of Grubb & Ellis Co., said that doesn’t happen as frequently as it once did because investors are refocusing their capital on larger cities, especially in industrial real estate. “What’s happened nationwide is the large markets – the home-run, top-five markets like Los Angeles, Chicago, Atlanta – were picked over several years ago,” Steffner said. “So investors started looking to the next five markets, which would include Memphis, and coming and buying here as their next choice. But as cap rates have gone up, the property in those top five markets has gone down in value and makes it more attractive to investors. So one scenario is they may not be as interested in Memphis now as they go back and see what’s available in those top five markets.”

TOP SELLER: The Autumnwood Apartments in Southeast Memphis sold for $8.9 million in May, the top sale in terms of dollar amount for the month.

period of 2007. “That all stems from the capital market crunch that started last summer,” said Blake Pera, senior vice president at CB Richard Ellis’ (CBRE) multifamily division. “There were a larger number of lenders out on the market for larger assets. Now, there’s still plenty of interested buyers and still plenty of capital; it’s just about finding the right fit.” A few headliners Not many buyers found the right fit in May, although a few made headlines with some high-dollar deals. The top five sellers for the month in terms of dollar amount were the Health, Educational and Housing Facility Board of Shelby County, which sold those apartments in Southeast Memphis and Raleigh for a combined $16 million; Catherine’s Inc., which sold a distribution center in Parkway Village for $5.3 million; Rynard Properties, which sold Ridgecrest Apartments in Frayser for $5 million; Germantown Inn and Suites LLC, which sold a Germantown hotel for $4.6 million; and Chrysler Realty Co. LLC, which sold a car dealership on North

There were 40 commercial mortgages made during the month, down from 58 in May 2007 but up from 34 in April 2008, according to Chandler Reports’ most recent Lender Analysis. Mortgages averaged $1.2 million and totaled $46.4 million for the month, which was down from May 2007’s average of $5.2 million and total of $303 million, but up from April 2008’s average of $653,227 and total of $22.2 million. The top five commercial lenders for the month in terms of dollar amount were U.S. Bank NA with two loans totaling $16.2 million; Wachovia Mortgage (three, $13.2 million); Magnolia Federal Bank for Savings (one, $3.5 million); First State Bank of Arkansas (three, 3.2 million); and Cadence Bank (one, $2 million). Whether the commercial market rebounds this year or next is anyone’s guess as the credit crunch persists. But multifamily should continue to lead the way, as it did in Shelby County last month (excluding vacant land) with nine sales. Continued on page 21

Appears Misleading ANDY MEEK The Memphis News AP PHOTO/ DENNIS COOK

By ERIC SMITH The Memphis News

BIG FISH:FBI director Robert Mueller, shown giving testimony before the U.S. Senate in March, recently announced the results of a three-month roundup of hundreds of people suspected of mortgage fraud violations and related crimes. Deputy U.S. Attorney General Mark Filip and FBI Director Robert Mueller recently convened a news conference in Washington to announce the results of a broad crackdown on people suspected of involvement in mortgage fraud and related crimes. Since March, more than 400 suspects have been indicted under the banner of that effort, dubbed “Operation Malicious Mortgage.” The numbers released in recent weeks at the national level as well as in local judicial districts such as West Tennessee offer a misleading summary of the results of that mortgage fraud operation. Sixty people were arrested June 18 alone in judicial districts across the country. Federal authorities in West Tennessee say two Memphis prosecutions are part of that larger federal operation even though they appear to have happened outside the period given for the larger probe. News of the arrests, indictments and pending cases was heralded as a positive sign that the federal government is working to restore confidence in the nation’s battered housing market. But a closer look at the numbers associated with “Operation Malicious Mortgage” reveals another byproduct of it. SMOKE ‘N’ MIRRORS Most of the numbers released around the country – as well as in Memphis – use different starting points, focus on different circumstances and represent different periods of time. The result is that the full outcome of what was presented as a federal hunt for mortgage fraud is almost impossible to determine. The news out of the Western District of Tennessee offers one example. The U.S. Department of Justice announced June 19 that more than 400 people across the country had been charged since March as part of “Operation Malicious Mortgage.” Federal authorities in Memphis then announced that afternoon that two Memphis prosecutions are considered part of that

operation. Fred Kratt was indicted in late 2005 in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Tennessee on charges of wire fraud, bank fraud, loan and credit application fraud and money laundering. Deborah Brown was indicted on charges of wire fraud in connection with real estate transactions. Ages and addresses for Kratt and Brown were unavailable. But Kratt, unlike the hundreds of people swept up over the last three months, was indicted almost three years ago. He was convicted during a December jury trial. Brown was charged in November and pleaded guilty in May. MAKING AN EXAMPLE Kratt and Brown thus were charged outside the three-month window – from March 1 to June 18 – during which federal officials last week said they rounded up and charged the more than 400 people. The reason Kratt and Brown appear to have been included by local officials in “Operation Malicious Mortgage” is that, while they weren’t charged like the others during the same period, they were either sentenced or pleaded guilty during the three-month span. “All the cases that make up Operation Malicious Mortgage date back in terms of investigative activity, and the national takedown reflects certain activities involving arrest, indictment and prosecution,” said George Bolds, spokesman for the FBI in Memphis. “But the operation itself could include cases that don’t necessarily have an arrest during that time period. “I think what they do, they’re having a national scope and they’re looking at it as an operation to address a national problem with mortgage fraud. And in that sense, this takedown where they go out and make a bunch of arrests is a way of describing a step in the process.” A FEDERAL CASE The Justice Department and FBI described their efforts June 19 in a way that seems to contradict that statement. In a joint news release, the two agencies said the people swept up in the federal dragnet were all identified, arrested and prosecuted during the last three months. The Memphis prosecutions include activity – specifically arrest and indictment – that occurred long before the nationwide roundup happened. A Justice Department representative directed questions about the apparent discrepancy to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Memphis. Mueller also told reporters the FBI obtained 321 indictments and criminal information in mortgage fraud-related investigations in 2007. Brown was one of the people indicted in 2007, when she was charged in Memphis in November. Yet she also was identified as part of Operation Malicious Mortgage, a fact that could be explained if she was counted twice. Leigh Anne Jordon, law enforcement Continued on page 21

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JULY 2 -8, 2 008

Ex-Mayor Hackett Helps quash Charter Amendment

Movers and shakers sit still for The Memphis News. PHOTO BY BIll DRIES

BiLL DRies The Memphis News

Our readers are the high-powered leaders who shape the local business and political landscape. We deliver insightful reporting and in-depth analysis that helps these leaders stay ahead of the curve. From financial and real estate news, to law and politics, our detailed coverage provides smart readers with smart news. Visit TheMemphisNews.com or call 683.NEWS. Or look for us on newsstands throughout the area. We think you’ll agree – there’s not a more powerful advertising vehicle for reaching the city’s professional community.

UNDeR The AVALANChe: Memphis Mayor Willie Herenton shows Charter Commission members a stack of city contracts he has to sign in an average workday. The commission considered but rejected on June 19 a charter change that would limit the mayor’s ability to approve contracts without City Council oversight. Scratch the proposed amendment to the Memphis charter that would require City Council approval of some contracts signed by the mayor. The Memphis Charter Commission took back its earlier decision in recent weeks to include such a proposal on the Nov. 4 ballot. The earlier move was rescinded after current Mayor Willie Herenton and former Mayor Dick Hackett told the group that requiring council approval of contracts over a certain dollar amount would needlessly complicate city government and make it more inefficient. Herenton and Hackett were invited to speak on the issue by the seven-member panel that is expected to finish its work in August. BOGGED DOWN The council oversight amendment was approved tentatively months ago without a dollar amount included. Charter Commissioner George Brown called for its reconsideration last month, saying it would undermine the strong mayor-council form of government the city of Memphis has had since 1968. Advocates of the contract oversight, including several City Council members, have said the city should have the same process as Shelby County government, which requires the Shelby County Board of Commissioners to approve contracts over a certain dollar amount. “In Memphis, the mayor is the sole contracting authority within policies, procedures and guidelines. There are no limitations. Thank God because decisions are made here,” Herenton said as Hackett sat a few feet away in a rare City Hall meeting of the city’s only two living mayors. “I hear you talk about the county. We don’t ever want to duplicate the county. Things get bogged down. We make decisions here.” Hackett said he and Herenton had not talked before the meeting and that he had the

same concerns Herenton had. “Are they going to read these things?” Hackett asked, referring to City Council review of city contracts. “If they’re going to read these things, or have someone read them, you’re creating another branch of government. Let me tell you, they are involved.” Hackett also questioned the political motive for the change. “I think part of this may be that there has been a demographic change,” he said. “And now that we have had a demographic change, we’re going to gut this mayor and make sure that the African-American community, who now is in office, will not have the same authority that previous administrations have had. … That’s what I’ve heard too.” Herenton outlined his process for signing contracts that already have been reviewed by four division directors in his administration. He told the Charter Commission that he typically doesn’t read the terms of most contracts. “You’re not going to read them all. You’re going to look and some numbers are going to get your attention. Six digits typically get my attention. You look at that in greater detail,” Herenton said. “When the mayor gets a contract, the decisions are virtually made. The perception is that somehow or another that mayor sits up there and he somehow controls contracts. The mayor is the last person to see it. It is a bottom-up process, not top down.” TENSION NOT NEW Contracting authority has been a source of tension between all four mayors and City Council members over the last 40 years. Council chairman Scott McCormick, also invited to speak to the Charter Commission, said the current system works well for “routine” contracts. But McCormick said that doesn’t include such far-reaching contracts as the lease of the Beale Street entertainment Continued on page 25

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New Plan Could Shape Uptown, Pinch Future ANDY MEEK The Memphis News

CREATING GUIDELINES As new single-family homes continue to sprout up in an area that once was occupied by public housing developments, the goal of the updated plan is to set a long-term course for residential and commercial development. Uptown has been at the center of more than $150 million in public and private investment since 2001, according to the CCC. And it’s because of the homes, apartments and commercial centers spawned by all the investment that city officials now have turned their attention to the neighborhood’s fringes. “Basically, this establishes guiding principles for development in the area,” said Andy Kitsinger, vice president of planning and development for the CCC. “It creates a framework for future development. It’s also advocating for connectivity of the neighborhood with the rest of Uptown and connecting Uptown to the waterfront itself.” Vacant parcels of untapped potential and tracts burdened with outdated zoning labels are a few of the items the revamped development plan seeks to address. The Uptown Community Redevelopment Plan will focus on the Pinch District to the south of Uptown and a roughly three-mile stretch of land that snakes along the Wolf River Harbor to the west of Uptown. “All the planning agencies, really, including the Riverfront Development Corp., have met and determined that all the property that was left out of the original Uptown zoning – it’s time for a master plan to be developed for

DAILY NEWS FILE PHOTO

The pace of development on the north end of Downtown Memphis, particularly in the neighborhood known as Uptown, has outgrown planning guidelines and a zoning framework for the area that are several years old. For city officials and planning agencies, that means it’s back to the drawing board. With that basic concept in mind, the Center City Commission has spearheaded the update of a long-range redevelopment plan focused on the 100-block Uptown neighborhood. The Center City Commission’s board of directors voted late last week on what’s officially being termed an Uptown Community Redevelopment Plan Update.

BIG PLANS: The Center City Commission is taking another look at development guidelines in the Pinch District, where The Pyramid arena is set to become a Bass Pro store in the near future. Any changes would be incorporated into the surrounding Uptown neighborhood framework.

that property and have it be brought into the Uptown district,” Mary Baker, deputy director of the city-county Office of Planning and Development, told members of the Memphis City Council at a recent meeting. The reason city officials are re-examining the development potential in those two areas and working to incorporate them seamlessly into what’s happening in Uptown is twofold. First, the center of gravity Downtown could shift mightily once Bass Pro Shops takes ownership of The Pyramid arena, a deal that could be finalized in the near future. Second, the narrow stretch of land defined as the Wolf River Harbor Study Area was left out of the comprehensive rezoning of the Uptown area in 2001. The neighborhood’s growth since then has led to interest in tak-

ing another look at existing land uses along the Wolf River Harbor and possibly creating something like a public green space or walking trails. “That part was left out of the original rezoning because that was about the time the RDC was really getting going,” Kitsinger said. “And they felt that – they wanted to wait and see what happened with the recommendations from the riverfront master plan.” IN NEED OF CARE An executive summary of the CCC’s redevelopment plan for the Pinch and Wolf River areas describes an abundance of potential for infill development and the redevelopment of existing buildings in the Pinch. Terms of the Bass Pro deal include Bass

Pro building a store and other attractions inside The Pyramid, which is a landmark attraction of the Pinch District. About half a million people each year visit the Memphis Cook Convention Center, another attraction near the Pinch. One of the challenges to development in the area is 25 percent of its land parcels is comprised of vacant lots, parking lots or is home to vacant buildings, according to the CCC. In addition, the Pinch is replete with damaged sidewalks, some that are narrow and some that are obstructed by utility poles. Overhead Memphis Light, Gas and Water Division power lines put limits on new development – particularly building height – in parts of the Pinch. The redevelopment plan divides the Pinch into several sub-districts and includes a variety of development and infrastructure improvement recommendations. It is suggested, for example, that vacant land and parking lots along Front Street adjacent to The Pyramid could attract hotel and mixed-use developments with parking. Main Street, Front and Overton Avenue are intended to become the focus of pedestrian activity in the neighborhood, according to the plan. For that to occur, the updated guidelines recommend that restaurants and stores along those streets have wide sidewalks and be subject to eye-catching streetscape improvements. For the Wolf River Harbor area, the plan recommends mixed-use development along the harbor near The Pyramid, on parts of Front and along parts of Second Street. The possibility is raised that a public greenway could be developed to connect the Uptown neighborhood to the harbor. To provide more opportunities to access the waterfront, the plan recommends the development of east-west street connections. Westward street extensions are proposed for streets including Mill Avenue, Seventh Street, Keel Avenue and Saffarans Avenue. One thing the plan describes as requiring immediate attention is the prevention of litter from entering the harbor. With that in mind, the city of Memphis Public Works Division is in the midst of engineering a pollution control system to trap litter before it enters the harbor, according to the CCC. n

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JULY 2 -8, 2 008

Housing Slump Hits MAAR Membership Rolls PHOTO BY ERIC SMITH

ERIC SMITH The Memphis News

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ON THE DECLINE: Membership in the Memphis Area Association of Realtors dropped 8 percent in June compared to the same month a year ago.

Membership in the Memphis Area Association of Realtors (MAAR) declined 8 percent in June compared to the same month a year ago, a sign the housing slump finally is taking a toll on the area’s industry professionals. MAAR listed 4,880 registered members during the month, down from the 5,309 registered members in June 2007, according to the association’s most recent membership statistics. Members include Realtors (971), Realtor associates (3,699), institute affiliates (71), affiliates (135) and public service members (4). MAAR has averaged 4,950 members during the first six months of 2008, with membership numbers reaching a two-year low in April at 4,856 members. That barely surpassed the March 2006 membership total of 4,839. The lower numbers follow MAAR’s record year of 2007, which averaged 5,266 members each month and peaked with 5,406 members in August. That high mark came just a few months after the housing downturn began, and the subsequent eight months each saw dropoffs in membership. “When we hit 5,400, that was too many,” said Jules Wade, MAAR’s executive vice president. “The two to three years prior to last August, that period of time we were seeing 75, 80 people every month go through our new-member class. Now, it’s about 30 a month. We’ve not seen any indication that it’s going to change from that.” NOT SO EASY Another statistic that shows little sign of change is home sales. The latest MAAR figures reveal just 1,231 home sales for May, a 23.3 percent dip from the 1,605 home sales in May 2007. Year-todate sales are off 19.3 percent with 5,698 sales through May compared to 7,059 in the same period a year ago. Perhaps the sagging sales finally have worked as a deterrent for those thinking about starting a career. “Real estate is a much harder business than the typical consumer realizes,” Wade

said. “We’ve always felt that there are too many people coming in the business and that so many of them, after making the decision to come in, realize how difficult it is and they’re quickly out the door.” Not every company, of course, has seen the same level of attrition. Amy Chapman, broker/owner of Weichert, Realtors-Chapman & Associates, said she hasn’t lost any associates because of poor sales. “In our office, we are actually pretty steady,” she said. “We haven’t had any dropoffs due to the market or anything. Overall, the recruiting part, as far as new people coming into the business, has slowed down over the last couple of months. I’ve seen it slow down, but I would not say it’s stagnant.” Still, Chapman’s weekly career night soon will be changed to once a month. Granted, it’s more a nod toward summer holidays and vacations than the diminishing attendance, she said, but Chapman also admitted the numbers for the class have slipped in the past few months. “It has been a little bit slower,” she said. “We still have one or two attendees, but on average it used to be at least triple that.” WAY BACK UP? Crye-Leike Inc., the largest real estate company in the state and the fourth largest in the nation, has seen its real estate professional roster slide of late. The company’s Memphis metropolitan region employed 1,145 agents as of June 24, said director of public relations Mike Machak. That’s down from the 1,312 at the end of 2007 and also down from the 1,308 in June 2007. Landis Foy, managing broker for CryeLeike’s Quail Hollow office, still teaches a quarterly class called “Considering a Career in Real Estate.” It drew 20 to 25 people at the latest session a couple of months ago – half of the 40 that signed up in January. But Foy, a 37-year industry veteran, considers the number of agents as another real estate cycle that ebbs and flows in relation to the market. When sales rebound – as he Continued on page 25

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FOCUS real estate

Final Wolf River Ranch Piece in Sight With 34-Acre Sale More than 10 years after bulldozers first moved dirt in Colliervilleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Wolf River Ranch, the end is in sight for the residential portion of the 350-acre planned development as the final phase of homes nears completion. One of the final pieces for the entire Wolf River Ranch puzzle was put into place in recent weeks when Wolfby LP â&#x20AC;&#x201C; a partnership comprised of Terry Dan, Terry Pagliari, Billy Perry and Charles â&#x20AC;&#x153;Chuckâ&#x20AC;? Schadt â&#x20AC;&#x201C; bought roughly 34 acres of Wolf River Ranch land near the intersection of Wolf River Boulevard and Byhalia Road. Wolfby LP bought the land, which is zoned commercial, for $4 million from the Estate of James Hugh Kiersky, Glenn David Kiersky and John Edward Kiersky. The partnership financed the purchase with a $5 million loan from SunTrust Bank taken out June 16. It completes the land purchase agreement the developers made when they launched the ambitious subdivision years ago. â&#x20AC;&#x153;This is the final takedown,â&#x20AC;? Perry said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s the remaining portion of the whole tract.â&#x20AC;? Coming to a close Wolf River Ranch was developed by BCCTT LLC â&#x20AC;&#x201C; an entity owned by the four partners of Wolfby plus Charlie McCrory â&#x20AC;&#x201C; which contracted to buy all the parcels owned by the Kiersky estate. The first phase began in 1997 and evolved into a subdivision called Saddlebrook. Subsequent phases have begun in the past decade with homes built by Terry and Terry Inc., Southern Serenity Homes LLC, John Worley Jr. Builders

P H OTO BY ER IC SM IT H

By Eric Smith The Memphis News

IN THE MAKING: The St. Jude dream home in Wolf River Ranch isnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t the only news coming from the collierville subdivision. The developers have snatched the final piece of land in the tract, which is zoned for commercial use, and the only question now is what will become of the 34-acre parcel.

Inc., Hallmark Builders, Landon Homes LLC and Danny Tabrizi. Now, the residential component is all developed with the exception of Phase VI, which sits at the confluence of Shelton and Byhalia roads and Wolf River Boulevard. The final phase will bring 120-plus lots to the massive development. â&#x20AC;&#x153;That will be it,â&#x20AC;? Perry said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;There wonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t be any more residential after that.â&#x20AC;? And that leads to the next step of commercial development for the residents. Perry admitted that a soft housing market means the development of anything commercial could be

GERMANTOWN OFFICE

a ways off, as the developers weather the economic downturn. â&#x20AC;&#x153;With the market the way it is, we donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have an immediate need for that, so we will prepare it for future development, but weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re not really sure at this point,â&#x20AC;? Perry said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have any firm plans on where to go with it.â&#x20AC;? When it does, Perry said anything that goes up in the subdivision will complement the homes there and, of course, with Colliervilleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s codes. â&#x20AC;&#x153;This commercial more than likely will take on a residential flavor,â&#x20AC;? Perry said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re not

going to see any high rises or anything like that in that area. I guess you could do office or some kind of retail. If you looked at the corner of Houston Levee Road and Wolf River, you could get a little taste of what might be there.â&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Bright spotâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Wolf River Ranch made headlines of late with the St. Jude Dream Home giveaway, which took place June 22. The 4,000-square-foot home was built by Southern Serenity Homes LLC, one of six builders in the subdivision. The proceeds of the drawing benefited St. Jude Childrenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Research Hospital. As for commercial developments in Wolf River Ranch to accompany the homes Southern Serenity and others have built there, Kevin Yoon, office manager for Southern Serenity, said he has a clearer idea of what wonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t work rather than what will. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Nobody wants to have a gas station on the corner in front of their neighborhood. They donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t want a business that has 200 parking spots â&#x20AC;&#x201C; thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s not attractive,â&#x20AC;? he said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Maybe some smaller retail shops â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 1,800-square-foot boutiques that only have four or five parking spots per retail site. Collierville is going to be very stringent on the architectural detail, the landscaping package as far as trying to keep it from being an eyesore from 100 feet away.â&#x20AC;? Still, Yoon said he believes when the time is right, the developers of Wolf River Ranch will bring something successful to the subdivision as Continued on page 21

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R E A L E STAT E R EC A P

Founders of Grand Events Sell Company’s Warehouse 5983 Macon Cove Memphis, TN 38134 permit Amount: $16.8 Million project Cost: $21.7 million permit Date: Applied June 2008 Completion: Aug. 4, 2009 Owner: Tennessee Board of Regents Tenant: Southwest Tennessee Community College Architect: Looney Ricks Kiss Architects Inc. Contractor: Inman Construction Corp. Details: Southwest Tennessee Community College has filed a permit application with the city-county Department of Construction Code Enforcement to build a two-story, 106,000-square-foot academic building on its 110-acre Macon Cove campus near the Interstate 40 and 240 junction. The groundbreaking is scheduled for Wednesday at 11 a.m. The building will include 36 classrooms, 13 laboratories, 50 offices, a presentation theater and a faculty lounge. The new facility replaces two 40-year-old buildings. “We’ve had several buildings that were outdated, and the maintenance on them was really, really high,” said Brenda Rayner, associate director of advertising and media relations for the college. “Several years ago we got on the new building list for TBR (Tennessee Board of Regents) and we were approved to go ahead and replace two buildings that were outdated and antiquated.” The targeted completion date of Aug. 4, 2009, means the building will be ready for the fall semester of the 2009-2010 school year.

3347 pearson Road Memphis, TN 38118 sale Amount: $2.5 Million

10103 Raleigh-LaGrange Road eads, TN 38028 permit Amount: $20.5 Million

555 s. perkins Road extended Memphis, TN 38117 Loan Amount: $5.2 Million

sale Date: June 13, 2008

project Cost: $20 million

Loan Date: June 6, 2008

Buyer: Schwarz Properties LLC

permit Date: Applied June 2008

Maturity Date: N/A

seller: Hoyt Mark White and John Stanley White

Completion: August 2009

Borrower: 555 Perkins LLC

Owner: Briarcrest Christian School

Lender: U.S. Bank NA

Tenant: Briarcrest Christian School

Details: The owners of the old Oak Hall property have secured construction financing to complete a renovation of the 54,265-squarefoot office building just south of the intersection of Poplar Avenue and Perkins Road Extended. The building will be renamed First Capital Center after its anchor tenant, Germantown-based First Capital Bank. The bank is taking 6,000 square feet of the first floor for a branch. The principals of 555 Perkins LLC are Glen Bascom Jr., Glen Bascom Sr. and Chris Montesi. Rick Wood of Financial Federal Savings Bank helped the ownership group secure the loan, and Joe Steffner of Grubb & Ellis will handle leasing for about 45,000 square feet.

Loan Amount: $2.1 million

Grand Events

EVENTS

Loan Date: June 12, 2008 Maturity Date: N/A

Architect: Fleming/Associates/Architects PC

Lender: BankTennessee

Contractor: Linkous Construction Co. Inc.

Details: Asheboro, N.C.-based Schwarz Properties LLC has bought the 130,925-squarefoot warehouse that houses Grand Events and Party Rentals, which now will lease the space. Schwarz Properties bought the building from brothers Mark and Stan White, who founded Grand Events and Party Rentals. The deal also included an assignment of rents on the property, which will continue to be headquarters for Grand Events and Party Rentals, although the company is being rebranded next month as Classic Party Rentals. (Los Angeles-based Classic Party Rentals is a network of event planners that acquired Grand Events last year.) Built in 1965, the warehouse has undergone interior and exterior improvements, said the company’s general manager Stan White. The property includes warehouse, office and showroom space. The Shelby County Assessor of Property’s 2008 appraisal is $1.7 million. Selling the property to Schwarz won’t change much, he said. “Me and my brother owned the property for several years, and we just sold the property to a new landlord,” White said. “This doesn’t affect our business at all. I was landlord and general manager of the business, and I chose not to be landlord anymore. Now I’m just general manager of the business leasing this space now.”

Details: Briarcrest Christian School has filed a permit application with the city-county Department of Construction Code Enforcement to build a 151,000-square-foot elementary and middle school. It will be adjacent to Briarcrest’s high school, which opened in 2003. The school last year announced plans to close its East Memphis location at 6000 Briarcrest Ave. and consolidate its administrative offices and PreK-8 classes at the new site. Briarcrest’s campus includes 96 acres off Raleigh-LaGrange Road, south of Walnut Grove Road. Having all grades in one location will be convenient for students and their parents, said Briarcrest’s interim president Mark Merrill. “Most of our students are from Germantown, Collierville, Cordova and Eads,” he said. “This project will provide a ‘one-stop-shop’ for students from 3 years old through 12th grade that is closer to most of our Briarcrest families. This moves us to the center of our bull’s-eye where our current families are.” The new school will accommodate approximately 900 students and is slated to open in time for the 2009-2010 school year. Briarcrest is a private, non-denominational Christian school with an enrollment of 1,670 students in grades PreK-12.

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FOCUS L AW & THE COURTS

Organization Keeps Kids Out of Courts By REBEKAH HEARN The Memphis News Mothers of the NILE has a mission to “reduce the number of children who come into contact with the juvenile justice system.” Founded in Memphis in 2003, MOTN is a program within the National Institute for Law and Equity (NILE). It acts as the advocacy and programmatic component of NILE, which conducts research on inequities in the legal system. While it started out as a small network of women, the nonprofit organization now boasts about 100 members. MOTN hosts programs and advocates for at-risk youths who have a statistically high chance of being on the wrong side of the law at least once. The organization looks to defeat the phenomenon by reaching out to children, and especially their parents and guardians, who are in a prime position to help prevent the high rate of juvenile criminalization and incarceration. ADVOCATING FOR YOUTH MOTN disseminates information and encourages people into action. “We take on advocacy roles, basically to try to decrease the number of juveniles in the juvenile justice system,” said Joanitha Barnes, vice chair of the organization’s board. In the organization’s early months, MOTN members sat in on juvenile court hearings and observed the way the system worked. “I remember the feedback (from the court sessions) that people … were just really shocked and almost appalled at what they found, how children were treated once they went to court, and the inequities there,” Howell said. “So that’s one of our big motivating factors.” MOTN is comprised of a variety of women from different backgrounds, from business professionals to stay-at-home mothers. “We are also in the process of recruiting more young people to come to the table with us and have a voice in what is being advocated on their behalf,” said Sondra Howell, chairwoman of the board. As part of its “Mother’s Day Dinner” last month, one of the statistics shared with the attendees was attributed to the Children Defense Fund’s America’s Cradle to Prison Pipeline publication, which said black boys born in 2001 have a one in three lifetime risk of ending up in the justice system. Latino boys born in 2001 have a one in six lifetime risk of the same fate. Statistics can be shocking, but behind each number is an individual. “Especially with that particular statistic, you have to look at not only that the statistic exists (and) what creates it; you have to look at this one child as a whole,” Barnes said. “What is this child’s family like? Are the child’s parents incarcerated, and if so, how long have they been incarcerated? It’s very systemic.” Many other factors, including parents’ education, play roles in causing these numbers, she said.

ADDRESSING TRUANCY ISSUES One of the largest problems that MOTN addresses is truancy. The group began The Parent Partner Program, a truancy intervention initiative that goes straight to the parents. “(Truancy) can criminalize a child for a non-criminal offense,” Howell said. “If a child is picked up, and if you take that child to the police station, then they have what we call a criminal record.” Howell said many children, especially those of the middle-school ages of 11 to 13, often are truant for “very, very legitimate reasons.” “Some kids don’t have the right uniforms; some children have to stay home and babysit siblings, or mommy and daddy are ill,” Howell said. Though some at-risk children are missing school for good reasons, Howell said that’s not the whole picture. “I’m not saying there’s not a group of kids who are causing havoc, but I think if we look at why they are causing that havoc, I think we’ll find that a lot of that can be resolved,” she said. MOTN focuses not on the child alone, but on the factors in the child’s life. “We wanted to try to see a more realistic and tangible result by working with the parents,” Barnes said. Many of MOTN’s members have jobs working with children. For example, Barnes works for Memphis Area Community Solutions, an agency that handles case management for Families First. But working with parents of children who were deemed truant by the school system has proven a success, as the results of MOTN’s most recent six-week Parent Partner Program shows. Before the implementation of the program, according to MOTN, a group of 10 students whose parents participated had an aggregate of 46 all-day unexcused absences. After the program ended, no student had an unexcused absence. COMMUNITY GATHERINGS MOTN hosts a bimonthly Lunchtime Learning Series, bringing in various professionals who deal specifically with young children. “One of our biggest topics was on mothers raising boys, which was a two-part session,” Howell said. The meetings are open to the public and are held in various locations around Memphis. In 2006, MOTN held its first Juvenile Justice Summit, where people were separated into groups representing different societal groups. MOTN asked everyone to implement some of the solutions they identified. A yet-to-be-scheduled second summit will reveal the results. “This year, that’s one of our priorities is to get our template together for the second part,” Howell said. “The hope is that we’ll bring all the participants together Continued on page 26

Center City Commission 2008 Annual Luncheon

E N Tam E R- 1:15 C IY T COMMISSIO Thursday, July 10, 2008 C 11:30 pm The Peabody Hotel Grand Ballroom

Keynote Speaker

Maurice Cox

National Endowment for the Arts Director of Design Limited seating RSVP by July 3 by completing the online registration form at downtownmemphis.com $55 per person $500 per table of 10 In addition to his role as NEA’s Director of Design, Maurice Cox is an Associate Professor of Architecture at the University of Virginia School of Architecture and is a 2004-05 recipient of the Loeb Fellowship at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design. He recently completed eight years on the Charlottesville (VA) City Council with the last two years as the city’s mayor. As mayor, professor, and noted urbanist, he was widely recognized as the principal urban designer of his city. His reputation as a design leader and innovator led to his being featured in Fast Company as one of America’s “20 Masters of Design;” on CBS news magazine “60 Minutes;” in the documentary film This Black Soil; and in the New York Times, Washington Post, and Architecture Magazine -- all for his ground-breaking use of design as a catalyst for social change.

Generously made possible by:

Askew Nixon Ferguson Architects The Memphis Regional Design Center For more info, visit downtownmemphis.com or call 901.575.0546

save the date

AIA Memphis

Dining By Design 2008 save the date

a chapter of the American Institute of Architects www.aiamemphis.org

Saturday August 23, 2008 7:00 - 10:00 pm premiere Cotton Row residence in historic Downtown Memphis

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FOCUS GOVERNMENT

questions Remain Unanswered in Ford-Lee Case By ANDY MeeK The Memphis News With a federal corruption case pending against him, Joseph Lee walked into the office of Kendall Investigations in Knoxville and met with former FBI special agent Kendall Shull. It was Oct. 16, 2007, and Lee – the former president and CEO of Memphis Light, Gas and Water Division – was there in an effort to clear his name. He had traveled to Knoxville to take a polygraph test at Shull’s office. Lee’s attorney, Robert Spence, said last week he had planned to somehow publicize the results of the polygraph – which Lee passed – to defend his client against federal bribery charges. But he never got the chance. Prosecutors last Tuesday dropped their case against Lee and former Memphis City Councilman Edmund Ford Sr. The two men were indicted in July in a federal corruption probe that alleged they were part of a favorswapping scheme. Memphis Mayor Willie Herenton said at a press conference Thursday he believed prosecutors dropped the case against Ford and Lee to focus on an investigation and possible indictment of the mayor. Read more about Herenton’s remarks at www.memphisdailynews.com. TRIAL By ORDEAL Lee stood accused of allowing Ford to rack up some $16,000 in unpaid bills to the utility company. The leniency was allegedly in return for Ford’s support of Lee’s selection by the council in 2004 as head of MLGW, among other things. Ford was acquitted by a jury in a separate corruption case in May. About a week or so after the former councilman was acquitted is when prosecutors first tipped their hand about a possible dismissal of the case against Ford and Lee. In the first case against Ford, prosecutors at least had undercover videotape shot by Joe Cooper, a former member of the Shelby County Board of Commissioners. Cooper recorded encounters with Ford during which he paid the former councilman cash supplied by the FBI allegedly to secure Ford’s vote for a billboard zoning case. There has been no indication that prosecutors had similar recordings in the case against Ford and Lee. Most of what they apparently did have was unpaid bills – unpaid bills that eventually g o t p a i d . Fo r d p a i d o f f h i s d e b t to the utility company in March 2007, a few months before he was indicted with Lee. Spence told The Daily News that prosecutors first brought up the idea of dropping the case in a series of phone conversations a few weeks ago. “He’s obviously ecstatic about the case being dismissed,” Spence said, referring to Lee. “But he’s certainly conflicted emotionally. His reputation has been tarnished by the events that led up to the indictment and then including the indictment. He is happy and somewhat angered by this ordeal.” Prosecutors are not publicly addressing their motives for dropping the case. The only reason given in the motion to dismiss

the indictment is that it is “in the interest of justice.” AN IRON CURTAIN The MLGW case traveled a long, complicated and highly publicized path over the past year. And the result of Lee’s polygraph makes at least one thing clear: The full picture of a scandal that put Memphis in the national spotlight is not likely to be known. The polygraph test offers one reason. It was administered by Shull, who was the former polygraph supervisor for the FBI. He asked the former MLGW head just two questions. The first question: “Did you ever have an agreement or understanding of any kind with Edmund Ford regarding his utility accounts?” The second question: “Did you and Edmund Ford at any time have an agreement or understanding of any kind regarding leniency of his utility accounts?” Lee’s answer to both questions was “No.” Based on details of his polygraph report, the test found no deception in Lee’s responses. That’s one of three results the test would have shown – either “No deception indicated,” “Deception indicated” or “No opinion.” Polygraph results generally are inadmissible in court. But the results may have been part of the reasoning last month behind Spence’s public statement that he felt he had a sound basis to file a motion to dismiss the charges against Lee. SOME INSIGHT At least one television news report last week about the dismissal of the case against Lee and Ford mentioned Lee’s polygraph. What was not mentioned is another prominent public figure to whom Shull administered a polygraph and who reportedly passed the test: former Atlanta Mayor Bill Campbell. Shull administered a polygraph exam to Campbell in 2004, when Campbell was facing his own public corruption indictment. Campbell passed that test, according to news accounts from that time. But the test only focused on corruption charges in the indictment against Campbell. And even though Campbell and Lee passed the lie detector test given by Shull, they did not meet the same fate. A jury went on to find Campbell guilty in 2006 of the charges in his indictment that concerned filing false tax returns and underreporting income. Whether the defense Lee would have presented would have been materially stronger is a matter of speculation. ‘PUT UP OR SHUT UP’ Outside the Downtown federal building in May – the same week Ford was acquitted in the first corruption case – Spence did not indicate that discussions with prosecutors about a dismissal had begun. After a status hearing in the case that day, Lee’s attorney spoke mainly about his impending August trial date. Spence said he had reviewed “thousands and thousands” of documents from the utility Continued on page 26

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BLUFF CITY BLUES

By Bill Dries The Memphis News

Even though crime is down, it still plays in to our sense of safety – and plays on fears

ere’s a brainteaser: How do you tell someone who was robbed a week or a month ago that they should vote for you because crime is down and you’ve helped bring it down? It’s a trick question. Someone who has been a crime victim doesn’t care that the statistics show crime is down. They are one of the statistics. Crime also is an issue that can’t be ignored and plays by its own rules. Ask Memphis Mayor Willie Herenton, who was criticized last year for a lack of concern about this issue because he didn’t show up at press conferences where police would tout their latest advances against crime. Herenton has never liked attending such press conferences even in off election years because he has said he regards it as a form of grandstanding when he had little to do with whatever charges are being filed in a particular case. But when Herenton reacted to criticism and did start coming to the events in the last months of his re-election campaign, he was criticized for – wait for it – grandstanding. willie herenton Someone who is a victim of crime, from a slashed tire to next of kin of a murder victim, doesn’t want to hear crime is down even if it is, because for them it’s not and it’s very, very personal. SAFE? HOW SAFE? That said, crime in Memphis is down. Memphis Police Department figures put it at around 8 percent lower overall from this time last year. Even the FBI’s new preliminary annual uniform crime report shows smaller decreases in violent and property crimes for Memphis from 2006 to 2007. Attempts to reconcile the two sets of sometimes conflicting statistics more specifically represents an annual exercise in just how the keeping of statistics can defy useful analysis. The MPD and the FBI differ on how they categorize certain crimes. Past disagreements have centered on whether multiple victims of the same robber at the same time count as one robbery or multiple robberies. It’s come after wrenching changes in police philosophy that have changed the numbers but have not made significant inroads yet on the more crucial follow-up to the crime brainteaser. Do you feel safer? To the degree that crime patterns and places have been disrupted, it has meant crime has moved into other parts of the city. That in turn has made citizens in those areas feel less secure than they once did. Crime and safety can’t be considered separately. They are linked, but they are also different. Herenton caused scarcely a ripple recently when he told a Leadership Memphis group at City Hall that he carries a

gun in addition to having a police bodyguard. “I go to the gas station, I got my pistol,” Herenton said. “We live in a violent culture. You’ve got to learn to practice safety.” But safety is like beauty. It’s in the eye of the beholder. Herenton has been known to approach cars with blaring rap music at gas stations and, once the driver recognizes him, pointedly ask the person to turn it down. Herenton also remains almost fatalistic about crime. He no longer asks neighborhood groups, “What do you want me to do? I can’t put a police officer on every corner.” But he will tell them that most violent crimes are committed by and against people who know each other. Short of keeping the suspect in the March Lester Street murders, who is the brother of one of the victims, in prison longer, Herenton told the Leadership Memphis group there wasn’t much that could have been done to prevent what happened. “How can you prevent that from occurring? You’re not going to stop it,” he said. The shooting was a horrendous crime – the worst mass killing in the modern history of the city. But what happened outside the house as six people were dying inside speaks to how safe the rest of us feel. The University of Memphis criminology professor behind the Memphis Police Department’s focus on statistics is alarmed by what happened outside and

eND OF AN epiCeNTeR: April’s closing of a suspected drug and gang house in Frayser came after months of complaints from nearby residents and business owners. Memphis police made numerous undercover drug buys at the house, served several search warrants there in the last year and even investigated the murder of a gang member at the house that remains unsolved.

PHOTO BY BIl l DRIES

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ReAChiNG OUT: Memphis Police Director Larry Godwin, right, has built relationships with community groups such as the Frayser Development Corp., headed by Steve Lockwood, by emphasizing rapid police response to complaints and using oﬃcers to close businesses and houses cited as nuisances under state law by the Shelby CountyDistrict Attorney General’s oﬃce. He’s put less emphasis on the traditional police gospel of urging citizens to join neighborhood watches.

P H OTO BYBIl l DR IES

No Parole In Federal System Talmadge Garner, 34, of 4024 Hermitage Drive, was arrested September for forging a signature on a check in a Collierville store for a $205 pair of shoes. He had been sentenced in 2003 to a year and a day in prison on federal forgery charges, and the latest bogus check had violated terms of his supervised release. U.S. District Court Judge Bernice Donald sentenced Garner to a year and nine months in prison. And he got eight months from U.S. District Judge Hardy Mays for violating his supervised release in another case with the $205 shoes. The sentences are to run concurrently. “When you finish this sentence, I hope you will choose liberty and law-abiding conduct,” Donald told Garner as he stood with his head down at a podium with his attorney. “You just have to choose where you want to live. … We’re getting crowded but we can always make room for one more.” In the federal court system there is no parole. That’s the kind of sentencing Memphis Police Director Larry Godwin and Shelby County District Attorney General Bill Gibbons would like to see in local courts under state law. “We’ve got violent criminals that need to be incarcerated and we need to admit that. We have career criminals, whether we like it or not, that need to be incarcerated. I again challenge the Tennessee Legislature to make a difference,” Godwin said. “The governor needs to make sure that Tennessee is safe. … If (offenders) had to do 85 percent of their time, I promise you that 10 years from now, when I’m not here, you’ll say he was right. The prison population is down. Crime is down.” Parole was abolished under a 1980s sentencing reform act passed by Congress. Someone sentenced in U.S. District Court will serve at least 85 percent of the sentence. The remaining 15 percent is waived for good behavior – if an inmate has no rules infractions during their time behind bars.

around the rental house at 722 Lester in Binghampton. “People heard the shots fired. Why did no one call the police?” Dr. Richard Janikowski of the University of Memphis asked during a community-wide service for the victims nine days later at Mississippi Boulevard Christian Church. “We need a commitment … to intervene when we see misbehavior. You can do that.” GOOD COP, BAD COP That wasn’t the first reaction Barbara Brown had when it became apparent her day care center in Frayser was next to a rooming house that became what Memphis Police Director Larry Godwin later described as a “gang safe house.” “It was 24 hours,” Brown said of the house with a large garage in the back on North Watkins Street near Frayser Boulevard. “What really grieved me so bad was it was like a pit stop. They’d come through every five to 10 minutes, like a hamburger stand. It was very dangerous.” Police served three search warrants on the house. Undercover officers bought crack there 11 times in a month. And Jeremy Richardson, whom police identified as a Gangster Disciple, was shot and killed in back of the house in January in a murder that remains unsolved. Larry Godwin “They would steal anything they could,” Brown said of those who came to the house to buy drugs. “We had to leave as early as possible.” She didn’t even like to drive by the house. Godwin said it wasn’t a matter of citizens tolerating the behavior or turning a blind eye to it. They were very much aware of and opposed to what was happening. “They knew what was going on but they couldn’t do anything about it. They shouldn’t have to. We will,” he said the day after police and prosecutors from the District Attorney General’s office cut the power to the house, padlocked the doors, boarded up the windows with plywood and served court papers on the owner, declaring it a public nuisance. The owner is Frank Holland, a longtime Frayser businessman regarded by some as Frayser’s unofficial mayor. The section of North Watkins where the house stands has a plaque noting a street named CHK THIS in Holland’s honor. When police shut down the boarding house in April, Annette Thomas was the only person they found inside. Thomas lived in a room with the No. 5 scrawled on the door in magic marker and roaches pouring from walls, cabinets and floors every time there was a loud bang. She was paying $500 a month, mostly from a Social Security disability check. The undercover cops who found her pooled their own money to move her into a better apartment and even donated some furniture for her new place. Thomas played tour guide for Godwin and reporters as Holland prepared to begin the first in a series of appearances in environmental court.

Bill Gibbons

SEARCHES AND SEIZURES The public nuisance law has become a key part of anti-crime efforts. District Attorney General Bill Gibbons began using it six years ago against nightclubs and strip clubs with a history of violence, drug arrests or prostitution busts. He since has included motels, apartment complexes and homes – abandoned or occupied – in the court actions that come with padlocks and press conferences. The owners of the properties are often allowed to reopen after they agree in court to take steps to discourage or reduce crime on

their property. But in several cases, Gibbons has moved for permanent closure of the businesses with the property inside auctioned off. There have been so many court actions that the District Attorney’s office Web site (www.scdag.com) now includes an index of them. Gibbons used another state law in April to seize the cars of men who allegedly patronized “prostitutes” who turned out to be undercover police officers working two sections of Lamar Avenue on either side of Interstate 240. The 64 men were cited for misdemeanor patronizing prostitutes. But about 40 of them also had their cars seized under a state law that allows the seizures and possible forfeiture. Godwin was adamant that the tactics were necessary and overdue given the number of complaints his department gets from homeowners in neighborhoods where prostitutes work openly. “All this breeds something else,” Godwin said. “You think about the johns that are robbed. You think about the pimps that are behind the prostitutes. Do I think it’s excessive? I say seize every dad-gummed vehicle and keep them, do whatever we’ve got to do. We need to send a message of what they are doing to the little girls, what they are doing to somebody’s daughter and what is happening out there.” The day after the press conference in which several dozen seized cars were on display with the initials OCU – Organized Crime Unit – scrawled in white marker on the windshields, Gibbons said his office was flooded with calls from neighborhood groups asking for the same type of operation in their areas. Two days later, Gibbons and Godwin went public with another undercover prostitution sting targeting suspected pimps and prostitutes.

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LEADING, NOT FOLLOWING The Lester Street service was organized by a dozen of the city’s clerics after a discussion some of them had at the home of Temple Israel Rabbi Micah Greenstein. Two of the 12, Mississippi Boulevard Pastor Frank Thomas and First Baptist Church Pastor Keith Norman, were helping mobilize support for the three children critically wounded in the attack. “We looked at those guys and said, ‘How can we help?’ They were dealing hands-on with the problems,” said Craig Strickland, pastor of Hope Presbyterian Church in Cordova. “We decided to have a community-wide service, not only to grieve the loss of life from Lester Street … but to grieve the loss of life, period, and to say we’re not going to take this anymore.” The 12 leaders filled Thomas’ church with members of their congregations nine days after the bodies of six people – two children and four adults – were discovered in the rental house along with three critically injured children. It was a decidedly nonpolitical gathering. No political leaders spoke, although Strickland said they would have been welcome to attend as any other citizen was. “It wasn’t intended to be a political event. It was intended to be a faith-based community event. … I think all 12 of us share a common belief that the problem of crime in the city and the problem of perceived lack of safety in the city won’t be solved in the political arena,” Strickland said as he emphasized that was not a hit on politicians. “It will be solved when the citizens of Memphis step up. It should not have to be elected officials that make that happen. Where is the faith-based community? We should be leading instead of following.”

KNEE-JERK INVOLVEMENT That is easier said than done. Every year a violent crime in Memphis becomes a rallying point for the latest call to action. Many of those who react are citizens who previously haven’t been a part of the political process beyond voting. It is a rapid, inyour-face introduction to Memphis politics at PHOTO BY BIl l DRIES the worst possible time in anyone’s life. Concerned and grieving Memphians have marched, wept, met, given money and committed themselves to betterment over the years. They’ve done so in the name of slain as well as gravely wounded cheerleaders, infants, children buying candy at the corner store, empty nesters out walking the dog before turning in for the night, the neighborhood grandmother, high school football stars, inspiring school teachers and beloved brothers and sisters who have strayed into wrong places at wrong times but who deserved a better fate. When two men robbed and then raped a woman last year in her Chickasaw Gardens home as they held her son at gunpoint in another room, her concerned neighbors became part of that experience. The group held meetings, went to City Hall, held more meetings, went back to City Hall and from there to the Tennessee Legislature in Nashville and held more meetings. And they also were introduced to the competitive world of anti-crime groups. Because the newcomers were wealthy

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BiRD’s-eYe View: Shown is a workstation at the Real Time Crime Center. Memphis Police Director Larry Godwin said the center runs 24 hours a day, although with a skeleton crew owing to the department’s shortage of officers overall.

and influential Memphians, there was a clamor. Established anti-crime groups showed up at a gathering the Chickasaw Gardens group set up outside City Hall. The anti-crime groups positioned their banners for maximum camera time. Someone not with the neighborhood group wanted to end with a prayer, but the Chickasaw Gardens group ended the gathering without it, not certain whether the prayer would be appropriately ecumenical. Some thought the group should have been more critical of Herenton’s absence the first time they came to City Hall. But group leaders talked with Herenton and several assured him that his initial absence wasn’t an issue for them. Herenton said his absence didn’t mean he wasn’t concerned. PERSISTENCE, PERSISTENCE The political scrum was a jarring experience for some of those in the Chickasaw Gardens group. The groups that sometimes coexist and sometimes compete for grant dollars range from efforts that enlist former gang members to lecture children on the evils of gangs to an effort whose focus

is getting children wearing baggy pants to pull them up. “I’m not sure creating another program is the answer. Not that we don’t need more programs,” said Strickland. “You can’t have too much effort in this area, but it would mean so much more if everybody in the city just said, ‘We’re going to start watching our neighbor’s driveway.’ It’s not rocket science.” The Rev. Dwight Montgomery, head of the local chapter of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, makes no apologies for being aggressive in trying to ally his efforts with the Chickasaw Gardens group. “I commend them for coming together to stand up for what happened. But I have not since heard from them. What we need to do is be consistent and persistent. And not just be reactionary because of what happened in our neighborhood or down the street, but what happens on a continuous basis in this community,” he said. “There is a lack of being persistent. People react to what has happened in their neighborhood instead of being visionary and com-

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The Survivor Works His Plan

LOTs OF JOhNs: These are some of the more than 60 sets of mugs shots from the April prostitution crackdown on Lamar Avenue in which police also seized the cars of the suspected johns. PHOTO BY BIl l DRIES

ing together for constant action in the community.” He also acknowledged that Memphians react differently to such horrific events. “The people in Chickasaw Gardens should have reacted. They did react,” he said. “But when it happens, to be quite frank, in most of the African-American communities, the reaction is not the same. … By the same token, none of the reactions are as they should be. There should be a consistent effort instead of a reaction.” SLOW GOING Stevie Moore, founder of the anticrime group Freedom From Unnecessary Violence, said he would like to see that same reaction in black neighborhoods bedeviled by crime. Moore’s strategy is to go into neighborhoods as soon as possible after a violent crime and seek to rally people there to lower their tolerance of it. It’s dangerous work and Moore became dedicated to it following the violent death of his son. “We as the black community should be rallying and marching every day of the week,” he said. “These are young people who are killing and dieing. … If we don’t get mad about it, why do we expect law enforcement and everybody else to get so intensified and mad about this situation? We hate to say it, but this is a black problem.” Montgomery is a veteran of the politics of grass roots and community groups. In the early 1970s, he founded the Coalition of Black Youth, which later changed its name to the Coalition of Benevolent Youth. He’s also a former Memphis Housing Authority board chairman. He’s worked hard to breathe life into the Memphis SCLC chapter with attempts at gang summits, weekend sessions painting over gang graffiti in various communities. But he says the government and private corporate support to fund such efforts has been “moving like frozen molasses in the wintertime.” He also started a gang hotline two years ago that proved to be short-lived.

“Hundreds of young people called saying they want to come out of the gangs. Now, quite naturally, you have to have alternatives. So, we go to the crime summit, we listen because these young persons were not at the table. We then have three gang peace summits. We bring gang leaders to the church on three different occasions. We document what they say that is needed to help them and then we take those recommendations to the city officials and to the corporate community. Here we are in 2008,” he said with frustration at the lack of continued funding for the hotline. “We’re not talking about criminals, but persons who were in the gangs but didn’t really ever get arrested. Now they want to make the right choices. We have been pushing this since 2006.” WHEN EGOS COLLIDE The Memphis Police Department denied the existence of gangs in the city until the late 1980s. When asked about gang problems at town hall meetings, Police Director James Ivy would declare there were no gangs in Memphis. There wasn’t even a space on police reports to indicate a suspect also was a gang member. Ivy oversaw a police force skeptical of efforts such as community policing. But he saw the need to attend community forums. Standard police response to virtually any question or complaint at such forums then was to tell the citizens to join neighborhood watch. If Ivy was pressed further about crime problems and why police weren’t doing anything about it, he would warn those at the meeting that police might be working undercover in the area at that very moment. Godwin, by contrast, is touting a restructured neighborhood watch program. The old setup, he said, involved a citizen hierarchy that filtered complaints too much. In other words, it became political. “It totally failed … a lot of arguing, a lot of egos,” Godwin told City Council. Continued on page 30

At four years and 10 months as Memphis police director, Larry Godwin has now lasted longer than any of the other five police directors appointed by Mayor Willie Herenton – three months longer than Walter Winfrey, the previous record holder. Two years into the gig, the city saw a spike in crime, specifically in the number of homicides. The spike prompted Godwin to scrap most of the strategies he had been using as well as programs left over from previous police directors. He ended partnerships with the Shelby County Sheriff’s Department, such as the Metro DUI unit and the Metro Gang Unit, insisting they were too hamstrung by the same political foibles he had seen early in his career when he worked in such units. “The Memphis Police Department stands ready to consolidate,” he said in December at a meeting of a task force considering ways to consolidate the two departments. “But I’ll tell you it needs one heartbeat. I’ve been in these units. I know what it’s like to be in these units. The problem comes when you butt heads and one agency wants to give perks to another agency. And it’s customary on one side and it’s not customary on another. You lose focus.” He met in 2005 with his commanders, District Attorney General Bill Gibbons and then-U.S. Attorney David Kustoff. “I said the way we’re policing has got to change,” Godwin said. “It’s not working. Crime’s going up. You’re telling me we’re saturating this area but we’re not getting the job done. We’ve got to change the way we are policing. I want a plan.” Godwin’s staff came back to him with a pilot program that used crime statistics Dr. Richard Janikowski, a criminology professor, had been watching for years at the University of Memphis. Godwin had his doubts but agreed to the name – Blue CRUSH – and had it trademarked. And he even listened patiently as they explained that crush was capitalized because it stood for “crime reduction using statistical history.” ”I said, ‘I like it. It won’t amount to anything, but I like it,’” Godwin recalled two and a half years later. BIG PAYLOAD The first Blue CRUSH roundup was Aug. 25, 2005, with 67 arrests. Godwin was more impressed with the reduction in crime shown in the areas where the first Blue CRUSH efforts were targeted. “Every pilot program we did showed a reduction of anywhere from 67 to 87 percent,” he said. The city recently was awarded a $1 million grant for a federal “Safeways” program to focus on Hickory Hill apartment complexes after making the case that, statistically, many of the complexes are crime hot spots. “Those complexes have become magnets for tenants from displaced public housing developments. But they’ve also become incredibly high-concentration crime areas, particularly for violent crime,” Janikowski told City Council members. “In certain complexes, those complexes, for example, are responsible for 50 percent of the homicides in a particular patrol area, 75 percent of the robberies, 65 percent of the burglaries and 70 percent of the aggravated assaults.” The assertion that one-time public housing residents displaced by the demolition of many of the city’s public housing projects are behind a shift in crime to other parts of the city is one that the city’s Housing and Community Development director Robert Lipscomb has emphatically denied. The displaced residents live in private rental housing with their rent subsidized under HUD’s Section Eight program. The one-time public housing projects previously demolished are being redeveloped as mixed-income housing developments with some public housing and some market-value housing as well as a mix of rental and home ownership. For new homeowners moving into what used to be the Hurt Village housing project and is now Uptown, the transition to a neighborhood that was a crime hot spot has been a challenge, as well as for police.

CONNECT THESE DOTS The concept of putting more cops and more patrols in crime hot spots isn’t a new one. Some criminologists call it “cops on the dots” – as in putting cops in an area that is a dot or a pin on the map – to signify an upturn in crime statistics. And like other police departments in major American cities, Memphis police brass have their version of ComStat meetings, regular reviews of crime statistics and trends by areas in which the brass must account for why the numbers are up or down in certain categories in their areas. They started as monthly meetings. They are now weekly. Godwin sat in on ComStat meetings held by New York City police as the Blue CRUSH program was fine-tuned. And he didn’t always care for the tone. Such analysis of crime data is so common that the ComStat meeting is becoming a part of television series of the police procedural variety. The HBO show “The Wire” presented a particularly grim depiction of such meetings, including a plot line in which one precinct commander sets up a drug enforcement free zone monitored by cops to make his crime figures go down. Godwin wasn’t familiar with the show but had seen methods he described as “Monday morning quarterbacking.” “That is not what I’m about. What we are about is don’t try to paint a picture that’s untrue. Don’t go up there and try to make excuses for why things are as they are. Give us your plan. Tell us your plan. Tell us why it didn’t work. … Tell us what your plan is for next week,” he said. “The chiefs will ask those hard questions and if they catch (subordinates) in something, they are going to put them on the spot. … I don’t try to belittle anyone. But I do hold them accountable. I expect them to be accountable. … You can be aggressive, but you be respectful and you be tactical in the way you do it.” THE FUTURE IS NOW About the time Blue CRUSH debuted, Godwin and his staff members traveled to Manhattan to look over that city’s methods for fighting crime. They also toured what was called the Real Time Crime Center, a space crammed with technology and plenty of cables attaching the cameras to computers to databases and back again. Godwin didn’t want a knockoff or a gimmick. He wanted a genuine application of the technology of cameras, police records available on personal data assistants (PDAs) every patrol officer now carries and some artificial intelligence in computer software. He raised the curtain in April on the Memphis Real Time Crime Center. At an undisclosed Midtown location, Godwin spoke as a set of panels rose electronically to reveal the glass wall of the $3 million RTCC that went into operation in June. It cost less to build than New York’s $12 million center, and half the funding for the Memphis center came from grants, but Godwin and his resident technology expert, Lt. Ken Shackleford, claim the Memphis center can do more than New York’s operation. It’s a wall of video screens attached to dozens of cameras, both permanent and mobile. That’s the flashy part. The workstations also allow the police officers staffing it to give officers in the field data about calls in the area where they are working. They can get a picture of a suspect on their PDAs. “You see 21 desks out there ... and we’re only going to utilize 10 of those and that’s not at a given time. We’ll use around three or four at a time,” Godwin said. “I would love to have a staff of six on each shift. But we don’t have the manpower to do that right now. We’re going to be able to do enough to keep the officers informed, get them real-time information.”

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FOCUS FINANCIAl SERVICES

hedge Fund Collapse Leaves Mark on Memphis By ANDY MeeK The Memphis News recommended by CSG. The suit against CSG was filed in December in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Tennessee, according to The Daily News Online, www.memphisdailynews.com. Consulting Services Group LLC is the only named defendant in the suit. One of the funds CSG recommended the trustees of the UT Medical Group pension plan invest in was a Bayou fund. The trustees invested $1.6 million of the pension plan’s assets with Bayou Fund LLC in 2002, according to the lawsuit. Another $400,000 was invested in 2003. “From its inception, however, Bayou was a massive financial sham and fraud and, on information and belief, was never a profitable enterprise,” according to the lawsuit. “Rather, it was a Ponzi scheme in which Bayou’s principals lost or embezzled monies invested with Bayou and replaced those monies with other monies coming into Bayou from new investors.” Various discovery matters and procedural items will be worked out in the lawsuit against CSG through the rest of this year and 2009, according to the court docket in the case. A jury trial has been set to begin Jan. 19, 2010, before U.S. District Judge Hardy Mays in Memphis. Attorneys representing both sides in the dispute declined to discuss the matter. “Regarding Consulting Services Group, we can’t really comment on pending litigation,” said Chad Graddy, an attorney with Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz PC. He represents UT Medical Group in the case. Shea Wellford, an attorney with Martin, Tate, Morrow & Marston PC representing CSG, similarly declined comment.

airline Woes

mortgage fraud

Continued from page7

Continued from page8

“I do think this is a warning shot that says, ‘Hey,look,thisisabigdeal.Thisisafederalcrime.’”

coordinator for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Tennessee, said no current charges were brought in West Tennessee from March through June as a result of “Operation Malicious Mortgage.” The numbers released at the national level reflect arrests and charges brought during that period. “I think this is probably a shot across the bow,” said Corky Neale, research director for the RISE Foundation (Responsibility, Initiative, Solutions and Empowerment). “But we don’t know very much detail. We don’t know where they all rest in the mortgage process. Whether or not these were brokers, whether there was collusion between brokers and real estate agents or whether or not these were investment bankers.

NONE TOO SPECIFIC At the June 19 news conference, Mueller said some of the numbers related to the investigations, indictments and convictions in the operation had been consolidated. But he did not elaborate on what that meant for the more than 400 people the agencies say were charged between March and June. The numbers released by some of the other judicial districts in the wake of Operation Malicious Mortgage, meanwhile, present only indictments that occurred during the three-month span. A Nashville couple was indicted in recent weeks for wire and bank fraud. The office of Edward Yarbrough, the U.S. Attorney in Nashville for the Middle District

Wilder’s fareWell

bill that would have given a new lease on life to the “Tennessee Plan.” It is the plan under which state appeals court judges are elected by statewide yes/no retention votes after appointment to the bench by the governor. Wilder’s move to the floor was rejected and the plan is now in a yearlong phase-out unless legislation is introduced in the next year to renew it or change the selection process. Wilder favored the Tennessee Plan. “Why? Because a judge who does not know the truth of the cosmos does not know what’s right,” Wilder wrote, asking and answering his own question. “The Tennessee Plan takes politics out of the court. They don’t have trial lawyers giving them the $5 million it takes to run a statewide campaign.” Calls to Wilder’s offices in Nashville and Mason were not returned. n

in how we handle our finances,” Brockman said. At the meeting, the board awarded contracts to eight companies for a variety of design, equipment and construction projects. The largest dollar amount was a $14.2 million bid by APAC-Tennessee Inc. to perform work on Phase II of the airport’s air cargo ramp. n

CommerCial sales drop Continued from page 8

An out-of-town company even announced plans recently to buy Colonial Grand at Shelby Farms for $41 million, which would rank near the top dollar amount so far this year. “From start to finish of the year, I would expect multifamily to be one of the most consistent performers in terms of interest and trading volume,” Pera said. “There seems to be more interest from capital and more available debt options.” n

Wolf riVer ranCh Continued from page 12

they have with every residential phase. “That’s one of our favorite subdivisions, and we’re excited about our past success there the last couple of months and looking forward to it continuing even after the St. Jude house is auctioned off,” Yoon said. And as BCCTT begins to wrap things up, Perry said Wolf River Ranch has performed well from beginning to end. He expects the addition of commercial to follow suit. “This project is a bright spot,” Perry said. “We’re fortunate to have it.” n

Continued from page 7

about his motivation for running for office. At the end of the speech, Wilder returned to the original point, saying, “Now, if I don’t change my mind, that’s what I’m going to do.” Wilder added no such escape clauses in his letter. “When I lost my speaker’s race, I had been there for 36 years – longer than anybody else,” Wilder wrote. “It may have been too long. Nobody in my banks has been president for that long, until they were almost 90 years old.” LAST-DITCH EFFORT Wilder’s last act on the last day of the 2008 session was to attempt to bring to the floor a

MORE MEMPHIS DOTS There are other Memphis connections to the Bayou hedge fund collapse, which is still the subject of a large bankruptcy case in U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York. The Christian Brothers High School Endowment at 5900 Walnut Grove Road, for example, is another entity that invested in Bayou funds. CSG has not been a party to any of the criminal action that has been taken against Bayou and its executives. The Memphis firm has cooperated in various hearings and other court matters in the Bayou bankruptcy case and by September, for example, had turned over more than 57,000 documents to the bankruptcy estate. Several CSG executives also were deposed in the bankruptcy case. Another issue raised in the CSG lawsuit, meanwhile, is the allegation by UTMG that the There are other Memphis connections to the Bayou hedge fund collapse, which is still the subject of a large bankruptcy case in U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York. The Christian Brothers High School Endowment at 5900 Walnut Grove Road, for example, is another entity that invested in Bayou funds. CSG has not been a party to any of the criminal action that has been taken against Bayou and its executives. The Memphis firm has cooperated in various hearings and other court matters in the Bayou bankruptcy case and by September, for example, had turned over more than 57,000 documents to the bankruptcy estate.

A P PH OTO / A DA M ROUNTR E E

“I don’t think I’m going to comment on it, as it’s ongoing litigation,” she said.

A hedge fund manager convicted of swindling $450 million from investors and who had been sentenced earlier this year for his actions was supposed to report to prison in Massachusetts recently. But Samuel Israel III, one of the founders of the Connecticut-based Bayou Group, never showed up. Instead, news accounts over the last several days have turned up a bizarre set of facts related to his disappearance, which federal investigators first thought meant Israel had killed himself. His car was found abandoned with the keys still in the ignition on a bridge overlooking the Hudson River, according to a New York Times account. The words “Suicide is Painless” were scrawled on the car’s dusty hood, according to various reports. That’s the title of the theme song for the TV show “M*A*S*H.” Over the last several days, investigators have come to believe Israel is still alive and reportedly switched their focus from recovering a body to catching a fugitive. An abandoned car is not the only thing left in Israel’s wake. A small chapter in the saga of the spectacular collapse of the Bayou hedge fund enterprise is playing out in Memphis. The pension plan trustees for UT Medical Group Inc. in Memphis have filed a federal lawsuit against a Memphis firm, Consulting Services Group, to recover investment losses that allegedly were the result of “breaches of fiduciary duty, including self-dealing, committed by CSG,” according to the lawsuit. ‘SHAM AND FRAUD’ The losses came about through investments UTMG made in the hedge fund enterprise set up by Israel, investments the group said were

FUGiTiVe: Federal authorities say Samuel Israel III, a co-founder of the Bayou hedge fund enterprise, is on the run. The fund, which collapsed several years ago, has a connection to local investors.

Several CSG executives also were deposed in the bankruptcy case. Another issue raised in the CSG lawsuit, meanwhile, is the allegation by UTMG that the Memphis firm and Bayou executives agreed that CSG would be paid a percentage of the assets CSG raised for investment in Bayou funds. CSG denies that allegation. The Memphis connections to the Bayou hedge fund saga are one example of the way the scandal is continuing to play out in ways both large and small. The U.S. Marshals Service last week issued a “Wanted” poster for Israel. At the bottom it says he is considered armed and dangerous. n

of Tennessee, announced that federal grand jury indictment as part of the nationwide crackdown on mortgage fraud. By comparison, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Jackson, Miss., announced that “Operation Malicious Mortgage” nabbed 11 people in the Southern District of Mississippi. Those 11 people either were charged, pleaded guilty or sentenced between March 1 and June 18. Bolds said he could not speak to why the three-month period was chosen to describe the investigations at the national level. “Clearly, if you’re going out arresting people, you have done some investigative activity,” Bolds said. “These are cases that don’t develop in a week or a month or whatever. They take a fair amount of time to get to the point where you’re going to indict someone or where you’re going to arrest someone.” n

Exerpts from John Wilder’s letter to Tennessee editors: “You know the truth that is in fact the cosmos. All of it, organic and inorganic – negative and positive – constructive and destructive – a lie and the truth – love and hate – God and the devil. There is law in the cosmos.” “We need statesmen. We do not need 17 Republicans and one independent Democrat, Kurita, letting someone vote them (as a block). I feel bad about this statement, but it is the truth.” “When I lost my speaker’s race, I had been there for 36 years – longer than anybody else. It may have been too long. Nobody in my banks has been president for that long, until they were almost 90 years old.”

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SMALL BUSINESS SPOTLIGHT

Reputation, Experience Help Tom Martin’s Inc. Thrive Downtown REBEKAH HEARN The Memphis News P H OTO BY R EBEK AH H EAR N

the subsequent riots in 1968. More businesses began to move east. Tom Martin’s Inc. has sat on the Martin also considered a move, corner of South Third Street and G.E. but decided against it, something Patterson Avenue since 1960, where he said turned out to be the right Tom Martin Sr. opened it. decision. Tom Martin’s is an auto body repair “When they started the big shop that fixes anything from major push to … (invest) in Downtown wrecks to small dents, scratches, conand Mud Island, the South Bluffs, vertible tops and interiors, as well as and then the new bridge, it turned minor mechanical work. Its Downtown Downtown into a little bit of a location, combined with its rich history, residential area,” he said. means current owner Tom Martin Jr. is The transformation began in lucky enough to have an established clithe early 1980s, just a few years ent base, thanks to help from the family after Martin took over the shop, and what he said are quality employees and has continued through today. who get the job done right. “It was kind of a transitional period of any type of business Family matters Downtown, just going from the Repairing vehicles is nothing new center of the city to strictly just a to the Martin family. In 1898, Martin’s Downtown,” Martin said. grandfather, Austin Martin, was busy Having the same location and operating a buggy repair business. name for so long, Martin said he When automobiles started to redoesn’t do much advertising – his place buggies, he switched to auto HARD AT WORK: Body technicians Terrance Joyner, left, and his father, Barry Joyner, work to re-assemble a truck that clientele consists of mostly repeat body repair. was repaired at Tom Martin’s. customers or referrals. “My father was one of 13 children,” agement in 1977 when his father had a stroke, Despite the recent Tom Martin Jr. said. “The original family busi“We’ve fortunately causing Martin to come home to take over economic downturn, ness wasn’t going to feed everybody, so the stayed fairly the business. Martin’s business flow brothers started going their separate ways. In constant, and one Martin’s mother also was active in the hasn’t been affected. 1960, my dad broke off from the original family family business, as was his aunt; so despite his “We’ve fortunately business and opened up here.” (reason) is just youth and inexperience, he had help as he esstayed fairly constant, Martin was a sophomore at Mississippi because we’ve been tablished himself as the shop’s new owner. and one (reason) is just State University majoring in business manbecause we’ve been here here for so long, and for so long, and the Martin the Martin name is name is very synonymous very synonymous with with auto body repair and quality work,” he said. auto body repair and

quality work.” – Tom Martin Jr.

Owner, Tom Martin’s Inc.

The staff in 1977 was, as Martin described it, “old World War II, Depression-era-type men.” “They were very hard-working,” he said. “They’d come to work, clock in (and) immediately go to their job. There was no slacking off.” But that hard-working, experienced group of men was aging. When Martin began searching for new employees, his mother and aunt helped him make tough decisions. “It was a hard transition, because I wasn’t sure what I was supposed to be looking for as far as labor, and we had got some guys who were what I considered less than ideal,” he said. “I was fortunate enough that … (my mother and aunt) could spot people, and they knew what to look for. “They’d pull me aside and say, ‘I don’t know about that guy, you might want to pass on him,’ or ‘This is the guy you want to get.’ So there were some growing pains.” Downtown transformation Since the 1960s, Martin has watched Downtown change and grow, from the renovation of The Peabody hotel to the construction of FedExForum. “Originally, when my father opened here, Downtown was the center; Union Avenue used to be auto row, basically,” Martin said. “So all the businesses were Downtown, and it was a really good location.” But the atmosphere changed after the shooting of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and

On down the line Martin has three sons, ages 6, 8 and 10, but he said he’s not planning to turn the shop over to one of them in the future. “I really think, because of what I read, I don’t know there’s going to be a collision repair business 20 years from now,” Martin said. “The cars of the future are going to have sensors and technology. If you’re going through a red light and you just don’t see the light, well, your car won’t let you go through that light; it won’t let you back into people.” While he does believe paint shops still will exist, collision repair could change drastically in the coming years. “By the time (my oldest child) is ready to get into the working world, I think collision shops will be well on their way out,” he said. Martin spends his spare time with his boys. He coaches them in baseball and basketball, takes them to Grizzlies and Redbirds games and to Pickwick Lake. All three sons and Martin are self-described “sports nuts.” “I just love to be with my boys, trying to teach them and trying to be involved with them,” Martin said. n

Tom Martin’s inc. Founder: Tom Martin Sr. Opened: 1960 Phone: 525-7406 E-mail: 540 S. Third St.

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FOCUS Logistics & Distribution

Con-way Freight Grows As Industry Shrinks ERIC SMITH The Memphis News quarter, 935 trucking companies went out of business, the most in any single quarter since the third quarter of 2001, according to data provided by Tavio Headley, staff economist for Arlington, Va.-based American Trucking Associations (ATA). The reason for the recent attrition is simple: Diesel fuel for many carriers is now their biggest expense, and as the price escalates, it’s driving some companies out of business. “It’s having a significant impact on our industry,” Headley said. Leeke admitted that for Con-way Freight Nationwide and growing to endure another 25 years, it will need to adA lot has changed at Con-way Freight dress the fuel situation both internally and and in the trucking industry in the past 25 externally. years, noted Chuck Leeke, the Memphis “The economy, the fuel situation and service center manager who has been with what we’re doing with emissions are big issues that have to be stepped up and thought about to a political standpoint of where we’re going and where our fuel is going to come from,” he said. “We have to get involved because we consume a lot of fuel.” One way is mandating a lower speed for Con-way Freight’s trucks. For each mile per hour a truck travels faster than 65, its fuel PARTY TIME: The local Con-way Freight operation at 3955 E. Shelby economy decreases by Drive bustles around the clock, except for Saturday evenings. one-tenth of a mile per gallon, according to ATA figures. With that in mind, Con-way Freight has the company for 16 years. Leeke talked about set an even more efficient standard than ATA’s the evolution – and expansion – of Con-way recommended 65 mph. Freight’s local outfit. “We govern our trucks to 62 miles per “When I started 16 years ago, we sold about six or seven states and that was it,” Leeke said. hour,” Leeke said. “We’ve found that the fuel “Now, we’re nationwide including Canada, efficiency and emissions are reduced at that Mexico, Puerto Rico. It’s quite a growth from point. Right now, it’s the right thing to do.” that standpoint.” That growth can be seen in the company’s NUMBERS CRUNCH Con-way Freight has found another right local footprint, which grew extensively when Con-way Freight moved its operations from a thing to do in light of the nationwide driver 14-acre spot on Carrier Street near Interstate shortage, which is expected to grow worse in 240 and Millbranch Road to about 98 acres on the coming years. “We circumvent that a little bit by the fact East Shelby Drive, near Getwell Road. Also, the company has grown from 35 that we have a driver school here in Memphis, employees to more than 250, from 70 doors at Leeke said. “ We take 21-year-olds who do not its loading dock to 216 and from 58 company- have their CDL (commercial driver’s license) owned trucks to 78. Con-way Freight now or their endorsement or those that have rehandles about 2 million pounds of freight cently acquired their CDL and don’t have 12 months experience.” each day. Con-way Freight then grooms the aspirOne advantage, as Leeke pointed out, is that the company is in exactly the right city for ing drivers to learn the entire LTL business, from working the dock to driving the truck. enjoying such brisk business. “Memphis is a distribution city,” he said. Leeke said it instills loyalty in the employees, “There’s a lot of freight coming out of Mem- something that will become more crucial movphis, and there’s a lot of truckload freight ing forward. “One of the key things is drivers,” he said. coming into Memphis.” “In the next five to 10 years, they’re predicting looking at a shortage of a couple hundred FUEL FRONT AND CENTER Con-way Freight’s longevity in the busi- thousand drivers. We’re facing capacity issues ness is impressive, as trucking companies have right now, but it’s going to be more so in the been failing at a record pace in 2008. In the first years to come.” n P HOTO BY E R IC SM IT H

At a time when trucking companies are reeling because of fuel-price increases and driver shortages, the local Con-way Freight operation is shifting into a higher gear and adapting to a tumultuous industry. The Ann Arbor, Mich.-based company has its third-largest regional center in Memphis, and this year Con-way is celebrating the 25th anniversary of its less-than-truckload operations, which involves the movement of smaller cargo loads.

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Not everyone who reads The Memphis News is successful.

Not yet, anyway.

Visit TheM emph isNew s.com or call 683.N E WS

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M E M P H I S L AW TA L K

Rainey Kizer Firm, Reviere Ready for Downtown Move me if I would be interested in doing that, and I started it. State Farm had a lot of success, and a lot of other insurance companies seemed to follow suit. So it sort of carved out a niche that I don’t know was by design as much as just result. But the other areas, such as the professional liability stuff, just developed in terms of business opportunities that came. I like that kind of work; I like that combination of work.

By REBEKAH HEARN The Memphis News Russell “Rusty” Reviere is moving Downtown. Well, sort of. His firm, Rainey, Kizer, Reviere & Bell PLC, where he is a member, has offices in Jackson, Tenn., and East Memphis. But over the next couple of weeks, the firm will open a new office in the Morgan Keegan Tower Downtown, which will replace its East Memphis location. Reviere’s practice focuses on bad faith and insurance fraud, insurance coverage, and defense of professional liability claims and complex litigation. He is a certified civil trial specialist by the Tennessee Commission on Continuing Legal Education and by the National Board of Trial Advocacy, and also is a member of several organizations, including The Defense Research Institute and the International Association of Defense Counsel. Reviere also was selected by his peers for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America in the area of insurance law.

Russell “Rusty” Reviere Position: Member Firm: Rainey, Kizer, Reviere & Bell PLC Basics: The firm will open a Downtown office in early July.

“You’re ultimately going to be measured by the quality of the work that you do, and the quality of the person doing it.” Q: Talk about the new Downtown office. A: We have been in Memphis for five years out east. Probably the biggest part of my practice has been in Memphis, as well as others in my firm, so it was sort of a natural progression that we open another office in Memphis. That (new) office will have five attorneys, and I’m in and out as well. You’re more part of the legal world

Charter Amendment Continued from pagE 9

district by the city that was signed in 1982 by interim Mayor Wallace Madewell following the resignation of Hackett’s predecessor, Wyeth Chandler. “That was a contract where we had an interim mayor who entered into an agreement that was a 50-year agreement and spoke for the city without any input from the public or the council,” McCormick said. “In a sense the council is somewhat held accountable for contracts that we have no say in.” The city currently is working out the terms of two other agreements that could have a similar impact – the proposed development of The Pyramid by Bass Pro Shops and redevelopment of the Mid-South Fairgrounds by Fair Ground LLC.

Housing Slump Continued from pagE 11

said he believes they’re about to do – so will the ranks of Realtors. “To me, it’s all relative,” Foy said. “I’m

when you’re Downtown and in the community there. We’re very excited about it, and we’ve got some great lawyers that are going to be there.

We’d (Rainey Kizer) already been working with State Farm, and that goes all the way back to the early 1980s and mid-’80s. At that point … insurance companies felt like they couldn’t fight successfully the problems of insurance fraud, primarily arson. So State Farm developed a pilot program in Tennessee and Kentucky where they designated lawyers to specialize in that order and also trained adjusters. It just proved to be very successful. There’s the sense of fighting a real problem, a societal problem. I’ve heard estimates as much as 50 percent of every premium dollar for homeowners and property insurance goes to insurance fraud. It’s a real problem that we all pay for, so I like the feeling that we’re hopefully doing something to fight that problem, and it’s certainly been very successful. Q: How did you get involved with the International Association of Arson Investigators?

tions often as well. So we find that it’s sometimes very cooperative but separate, truly independent investigations. These organizations, like the International Association, are designed to bring those folks together. Q: What, if anything, would you change about the practice of law? A: I would encourage more civility and more professionalism. It’s adversarial, but it’s adversarial with respect for what the other lawyer is doing. I am happy to go to dinner at night with a lawyer that I’ve knocked heads with during the day. In fact, I was in a case in Memphis years ago, where … a couple of the other lawyers were both gourmet cooks, and they would pick restaurants and we would all go to dinner at night. We got to be great friends, but absolutely represented our clients fully in every respect. To me, that’s an example of how we can do our jobs without making it petty and personal. You’re ultimately going to be measured by the quality of the work that you do, and the quality of the person doing it. It’s not going to be about your win and loss record, or how big your bank account balance is. Q: Are there any cases, either historical or current, that you wished you could have been counsel on?

A: It’s partly (that) I fell into that. State Farm was starting a program a long time ago fighting insurance fraud. They asked

A: Well, it was a natural result of the type of work I was doing. You start to associate with groups that had similar motives, whether they be insurance or law enforcement or fire officials who have the same type motivation; we work separately but cooperatively with law enforcement and fire officials who are doing investiga-

A: I’ve never gotten to argue a case before the U.S. Supreme Court, and for people who do litigation and appellate work, that’s obviously the ultimate. Having been in a case where I would have had the opportunity to argue – and hopefully still may – before the U.S. Supreme Court, would be something I would love to do. But I’ve got a long way to go yet, I’m not going to quit; so I still may get that chance. n

“I know the plan is that whatever their master plan is, it will be brought to the council. But is it being brought to the council as a courtesy or is it being brought to the council as a requirement?” McCormick asked. “I would think something as important as the fairgrounds … does require the input not only from the public but from the elected representatives of the public.” Charter Commission chairman Myron Lowery, who also is a City Council member, told Herenton that having the same procedure for city and county government could help pave the way for local government consolidation. It’s a political goal Herenton long has advocated and which Lowery also favors. But Herenton said any government consolidation should be built around the structure of city government. “County government and city government

are different as day and night. … They don’t have the vast array of divisions and complexities that we have here in city government. The biggest challenges that they have there are the jail and hospitals,” Herenton said. “The county is very narrowly structured.” Herenton used a phrase Hackett, as well as Chandler, had used to refer to the mayor’s authority. He called the mayor the city’s “sole contracting authority.” But Rhodes College political science professor Stephen Wirls, an adviser to the Charter Commission, said it’s not a phrase that is in the existing city charter despite its popularity. And he said some remnants of the previous charter’s commission form of government remain. “It says that what was in the old charter simply carries over. The problem with that statement is that the only power the old

charter gives the mayor is the power to sign contracts. That’s it,” Wirls said. “The problem is that the home rule charter didn’t clearly get rid of the parts of the old charter, which gave City Council contract powers and limited the mayor’s participation to basically signing the contract and not necessarily even negotiating the contract.” He suggested language that at least makes it clearer who has the authority even if it remains with the mayor’s office exclusively. City Attorney Elbert Jefferson disagreed. The charter that introduced the mayor-council form of government starting in 1968 replaced the old commission form of government in his opinion. “If the old charter is different, it’s gone,” Jefferson said. “There is no confusion.” The Charter Commission is set to meet again 3 p.m. July 10 at City Hall. n

convinced we’re on the way back up.” Even if sales do turn around, Wade said it’s OK for membership to stay low. Although MAAR derives annual dues from its members, the viability of the profession is a balancing act that has skewed toward over-

saturation and could use more reduction. Sales commissions are split among agents, so some attrition – keeping only the most dedicated, committed agents – wouldn’t be a bad thing for the industry in these tight times.

“Unlike most trade associations that thrive on large membership growth, we think it’s healthy when the numbers start coming down,” Wade said. “It’s healthy for the industry. The industry can’t support 5,400 people, even in boom times.” n

Q: What led you to bad faith and insurance fraud?

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M E M P H I S S TA N D O U T

Tom Lee Remembered for Heroism, Influence For a few minutes recently, one of the more complex political discussions in Memphis was put on hold by a simple story from 1925. The Memphis City Council chambers was filled to near capacity with teachers and parents gathered by Memphis City Schools leaders to protest the council’s decision to cut funding to the system. But for about 10 minutes the focus was on the heroism of a man 85 years ago who had little if any formal education and who saved 32 people from certain death in the Mississippi River even though he couldn’t swim. The U.S. Coast Guard honored Tom Lee, who died of cancer in 1952, with the Coast Guard Certificate of Valor. Nearly two dozen descendants of Lee, from Memphis and the Atlanta area, accepted the honor. They then watched as Lee received a standing ovation from those who came to City Hall for the events of here and now. “One life is what we all hope to be able to save in our time. For Tom Lee to do 32 in one night is absolutely remarkable,” local U.S. Coast Guard Commander Patrick Maguire said. “It’s been very well-recognized locally and now he’s been nationally recognized as well.” SILENT AND SOLO MISSION Lee pulled 32 people from the Mississippi River south of Memphis on May 8, 1925, when the steamboat they were on capsized in the swift river current. Lee saw the boat, M.E. Norman, begin to shift and then flip as he was traveling back to Memphis on a smaller boat called Zev. He turned the Zev around and began picking people out of the river. He made two or three trips to the shore to drop off those he rescued and even built a fire for the survivors. Seventeen victims swam to safety without Lee’s help and 23 others died. Those on the Norman were civil engineers and their families who were on an outing as part of a convention of engineers being held in Memphis. Many of the Memphians on board were among the city’s most prominent citizens. Lee could not swim and after the rescue modestly gave some of the credit to the people he helped. He referred to them as “the sensiblest drowning folk I ever saw.” Those Lee rescued remembered him not saying a word as he pulled them out of the water and onto his small wooden boat. By the next day, the rescue had begun its life as the city’s best-known river story. Lee

out of Court Continued FROM page 15

to look at how they practically used their suggestions.” Howell said part of the problem is that people will do what’s necessary to make it. “It’s called survival,” she said. “I’m going to feed my kids, no matter what I have to do. But the fact is, if there’s no one at home encouraging you or driving you, then you can’t expect a child who was never taught any better or who never had other role models

had been an anonymous 39-year-old laborer when he saw the M.E. Norman capsize. By the next morning when he ended his overnight vigil cruising the river for more survivors, he was a hero. Eight days after the rescue, Lee was in the White House Rose Garden shaking hands with the president of the United States, Calvin Coolidge. The Engineers’ Club of Memphis bought Lee a house in North Memphis and set up a bank account to pay the taxes on it and provide for Lee and his wife. Lee was hired by the city as a sanitation worker. The impact on the future when 32 lives are saved is incalculable, said Terry Watts, a great-great-nephew of Lee. “It’s an individual who’s color-blind. He doesn’t think. He reacts. … Look at generations that go on because of it,” he said. Watts and other family members are planning a family picnic to include the descendants of Lee as well as the descendants of those who survived because of his heroism. GENERATIONS TOUCHED Consider that one of those noticed by Lee floating in the river was a young woman in a bright yellow dress. Later, the woman would say she was convinced that it was the bright color that caught Lee’s eye as she floated helplessly in the swift river current. That woman was Margaret Oates, later to become the wife of Hugo Dixon. Together, the couple became two of the city’s most visible philanthropists and patrons of the arts. When they died in 1974, their East Memphis home and grounds became the Dixon Gallery and Gardens. Maguire submitted Lee’s name for the overdue honor after a casual discussion about Memphis history with Coast Guard Lt. Gerald Thornton. The casual discussion led Thornton to find out more about a black man who went from nearly complete anonymity to an acclaim that was both unprecedented yet still bound by racial attitudes of the time. “He was one of the first African-Americans hired by the city. … There’s a lot of things I didn’t know about,” Thornton said. Lee’s descendants have kept the story alive over the past 80 years. Charmeal Alexander, Lee’s great-great-niece, especially was persistent in her quest for a new monument in Tom Lee Park that would include his image and negate the wording on the 1953 obelisk that proclaimed Lee a “very worthy Negro.” She came from the Atlanta area, where she

present to do any better.” However, the cycle is one that MOTN is aiming to break. “I don’t think people who are living in poverty or who would be susceptible to the system have the resources they need, or don’t know about them,” Barnes said. “There aren’t a lot of people telling them ‘Hey, these people are hiring,’ or ‘Go here.’ “There is, I think, a disconnect between resources and information and helping this one in three child not be a victim of this.” n

P H OTO S BY BILL DR IES

By BILL DRIES The Memphis News

HERO CELEBRATED: Charmeal Alexander, center, Tom Lee’s great-great-niece, recently with other family members accepted honors from Memphis City Council member Barbara Swearengen Ware.

now lives, for the Coast Guard honor. But the park was her first stop, as it usually is whenever she is in town. “Every time we come here we go to the park and whoever is in the park my husband and I will tell them the story,” Alexander said. Honoring Lee also has been a way for Alexander to honor her father, Herbert Neely, who began the effort in the 1980s but died before the recent recognition including the new monument. “Just because they’re gone, their spirit is still here,” Alexander said. “To have their

Ford-Lee Continued FROM page 16

company over the past year and guessed a trial would last two or three weeks. “But we’re going to go right at them,” Spence said of federal prosecutors. “We’re going to ask them to put up or shut up. We’re still looking for what the government has that led them to believe a crime was committed.” With Ford’s acquittal in May and this week’s dismissal against Ford and Lee, federal prosecutors now have effectively lost two local corruption cases in a row. But prosecutors in the U.S. Attorney’s office for West Tennessee are moving on – in more ways than one.

dream come true through you, how much more glory can you receive after that? That’s really what counts in my heart, just to make sure that my father’s dream is actually living on.” The Coast Guard honor is the latest in a series for Lee. The new monument was dedicated in 2006. Mansfield Street, in the Klondike section of North Memphis, where he and his wife lived after the 1925 rescue, also has had an honorary name change. And Ballet Memphis debuted an original work in 2004 based on the river rescue. n

Assistant U.S. Attorney Tom Colthurst, one of the local prosecutors who tried Ford’s first case, is leaving the West Tennessee office this month to work in the U.S. Attorney’s office in San Jose, Calif. Larry Laurenzi, the other main prosecutor and familiar courtroom presence during Ford’s first case, is now the acting U.S. Attorney for West Tennessee and because of that likely will not have the same direct role in the courtroom. His shift into the position of acting U.S. Attorney was the result of David Kustoff resigning in March as U.S. Attorney for West Tennessee. n

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MEMPHIS NEWSMAKERS

Crye Named Finalist for Entrepreneur of Year HAROlD CRYE

F e AT U R e D N e w s M A K e R

Harold Crye, Crye-Leike Realtors’ chief executive oﬃcer and co-founder, is a ﬁnalist for the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award in Alabama, Georgia and Tennessee. Regional award winners will be eligible for consideration in the Entrepreneur of the Year 2008 national program. Crye, along with Dick Leike, established Crye-Leike Realtors in 1977. Today, Crye-Leike is the nation’s fourth-largest real estate company.

DR. GIANCARlO MARI

MARTHA FONDREN

MICHAEl CARDWEll

PAUl VOlPE

By Rebekah hearn The Memphis News

Dr. Giancarlo Mari has been named chief of Maternal Fetal Medicine and director of the Maternal Fetal Institute at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center and UT Medical Group Inc. Mari is board-certified in OB/ GYN and MFM and is a professor of OB/GYN at UTHSC.

a 2008 James H. Kruger “First in Class” Award at the annual meeting of GAMA International, a financial services organization. Shoemaker Financial is a member of the Securian Financial Network, which nominated Shoemaker for the “First in Class” Award for overall achievement in 2007.

Michael G. Ramsey has joined Wyatt, Tarrant & Combs LLP as a partner in the firm’s Real Estate and Construction Service team. Ramsey was recognized as one of the top 10 San Diego real estate transactional lawyers of 2007 for his work with the San Diego-based firm Luce, Forward, Hamilton & Scripps LLP. He is a member of the Tennessee and California Bar Associations.

Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz PC has been named among the “Top 100 Law Firms for Diversity” and the “Top 100 Law Firms for Women” by Multicultural Law, a magazine focused on diversity in the legal profession.

Dr. Robert Ferry Jr. has been appointed chief of the University of Tennessee Health Science Center and the St. Jude Division of Pediatric Endocrinology and Diabetes in the College of Medicine. Ferry has more than a decade of experience in pediatric research and child advocacy. He chaired the Associates Council for the Endocrine Society from 2000 to 2003. Michael Cardwell has joined Weichert, Realtors-Chapman & Associates as marketing coordinator. Cardwell previously worked as an operations analyst for Cummins Mid-South. He holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from the University of Memphis and currently is enrolled in the U of M’s master’s of business administration program. Jim Shoemaker, president of Shoemaker Financial in Memphis and Nashville, has received

The University of Memphis Loewenberg School of Nursing Alumni Chapter has honored two graduates, Dr. Sam Maceri and Dr. Betty Sue McGarvey, with its Outstanding Alumni Award. Maceri has been a registered nurse for more than 30 years and is the director of education and support for Patient Care Services at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. McGarvey is president of the Baptist College of Health Sciences, where she served on the initial planning team that helped establish the college in 1995. Martha Fondren has joined Grant and Co. as director of sales and marketing. Fondren has 18 years of experience in sales and marketing. Previously, she worked for Reeves Williams Builders as vice president of sales and marketing. Chandler Erlich was recently awarded three bronze Telly Awards for television work it did for Memphis-based International

Paper Co., which featured IP’s commitment to sustainability and diversity. The bronze Tellys were in the categories of “Use of Animation,” “Institutional/Corporate Image” and “Promotional/Branding.” The Carlisle Corp. has announced several promotions. Murl Jones has been promoted to vice president of area operations for the Triad Division of Wendelta Inc., a subsidiary of Carlisle Corp. Paul Volpe has been promoted to vice president of finance. Don Nichols has been promoted to vice president of real estate and development. Chance Carlisle has been promoted to vice president of strategic initiatives. Barbara Anderson has been promoted to vice president of human resources. archer>malmo recently received four merit and one first-place award at the National Agri-Marketing Association national competition. The agency received the awards on behalf of agricultural client Valent U.S.A. Corp. W. David King has been hired as chief financial officer, general counsel and secretary at Sovereign Rehabilitation. King is a certified public accountant and most recently served as an associate attorney at Farris Mathews Branan Bobango Hellen & Dunlap PLC. Dr. Mathew Ninan has been appointed chief of the new division of surgical oncology in the Department of Surgery at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center. Ninan is a board-certified cardiothoracic surgeon. n

The Memphis News addresses the topics that matter most to local executives and professionals, and delivers prioritized information in a format that provides both fast-takeaway n e w s a n d more in-dept h features.

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Sweet the

Exquisite

desserterie

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Naumcheff Lives the Sweet Life With Offbeat Desserterie By JONAThAN DeViN Special to The Memphis News

hef Paula Naumcheff, owner of Sweet the Exquisite Desserterie, says the love of cooking descends throughout her family, though it took a while to catch up with her. Her father and grandfather owned and operated their own restaurants in southern Florida and Michigan, respectively, and after a stint in medical sales, she decided to follow in their footsteps. “I always wanted to learn to cook,” she said, adding “ you can’t ever win at a game you hate, so if you love something, do it.” So the self-taught chef and native of Huntsville, Ala., set up shop last September in a newly renovated bay at 938 S.Cooper St. – just a stone’s throw from the intersection of Cooper and Young Avenue. She made a splash with her debut at the 2007 Cooper-Young Festival and has been busy ever since. EVERyTHING IN BETWEEN Naumcheff’s Web site describes Sweet as “a hybrid dessert bar, coffee bar, savory food bistro, martini and wine bar, late-night hangout, a sophisticated yet playful place to linger and relax” – with emphasis on “hybrid.” “I don’t want it to be so much trendy, but longstanding and viable,” she said. To that end, she’s designed her menu with much more than a person might guess from the restaurant’s name alone. Yes, there are fine desserts – so many the glass display case bears fingerprints of ogling children and adults alike. Among Sweet’s signatures is the grand pistachio cake, a towering layer cake slathered with a cloud of minty green frosting and chopped nuts. The pistachio flavoring delves nicely into the cake’s natural sweetness, making it a quiet alternative to the more raucous chocolate cupcakes, brownie sundaes and flourless cakes. Be warned: Cakes are served in large, filling portions at Sweet. For those who enjoy even simpler confections, the cookie dough cheesecake is a must. The perfect cheesecake is substantial enough that it can stand at room temperature without melting, but light enough that it doesn’t sit like a rock in your stomach for hours afterward. Naumcheff’s cheesecake gets thumbs up on both counts and is a real treat with a cup of her Indian coffee.

The tiramisu, a dessert item imperfected by scores of restaurants in Memphis, also is surprisingly light considering the size of portion served. Naumcheff uses just the right amount of cream and rum to keep the dish sweet and satisfying, but not overpowering, as it easily could be. UNDER THE CHEF’S HAT Naumcheff said one of her favorite desserts to make is her tres leches, the Spanish “three milk cake” served in some Mexican restaurants. Perfecting it for Sweet was a matter of pride for her and her family. “There was just a lot of really bad tres leches in South Florida,” she said, although she has nothing to worry about. Her tres leches is strong in texture, flavor and consistency. For those who would actually like some lunch with their dessert, Sweet offers a handful of simple, tasty, savory entrees, mostly sandwiches and salads. The Monte Cristo smoked chicken sandwich with barbecue sauce and Zack’s burger are all served on panini bread in hubcap-sized, silver dishes with their accompanying sides. Naumcheff wins the award for best presentation of french fries, which come in a 12-inch, cone-shaped wire basket. The clever Macedonian salad, a combination of chilled cucumbers, artichoke hearts, olives, feta cheese, tomatoes and red onion in champagne vinaigrette, works great as a side dish or as a standalone overture to a healthy heaping of crusty baklava. The shrimp bisque, too, is excellent. Naumcheff said she hopes to amuse her customers as well as she feeds them and to that end, she has started an apparently successful weekly Wednesday night “Drink and Decorate” event in which patrons choose one of her 12 original martini creations and then adorn the glass with paint pens. The paint doesn’t require firing like ceramics, so cocktail sippers can take their glasses home with them or leave them for a weekly judging. “It’s communal and cool,” Naumcheff said. “Everyone’s got that little artist inside of them that needs to get out.” Likewise, everyone has a little sweet tooth that needs to get out. When that happens, Sweet is hard to beat. n

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COVER STORY Continued FROM page 20

The cops leading the precincts are now more heavily involved. Belonging to a gang is not a crime in and of itself. But gang summits are controversial affairs that are at odds with police efforts, which have included attempts to infiltrate the gangs. Godwin hasn’t hesitated to stand in front of gang houses and declare that police will not show any respect for what the gangs want to claim as their turf. Montgomery isn’t asking for such a concession. But he and others say the civic discussion about crime has to be broad enough to talk about rehabilitating offenders when they are released from prison. “We have to make sure to stop the revolving door when young persons are incarcerated. They are not rehabilitated. They come out,” he said. “They can’t find a job so they go back.” Keith Norman, pastor of First Baptist Church on Broad, who led the efforts to help the survivors of the Lester Street murders, agreed. “I would imagine … that a lot of crime stems from the economic downturn that we are experiencing. If we can develop local initiatives that will at least give people an opportunity for hope, a job and opportunity, that might well solve some of the crime problems,” he said. Gangs are responsible for “a disproportionate amount of the violence and crime in our community,” Janikowski said. But in telling those at the Lester Street memorial service that, he also cautioned against “demonizing our youth.” “A child does not wake up one morning and decide, ‘I want to be a gang banger’ or ‘I can’t wait to rob someone.’ When it happens, it is the culmination of a process that has gone on for a long, long time. It is rooted in our families, our schools and our neighborhoods,” he said. BEACON IN THE DARKNESS Norman hosts a quarterly meeting of church pastors in the Binghampton area to talk about crime concerns. At the meeting before the Lester Street murders, the pastors had little

Q&A

to say about reaching out to gang members or rehabilitation. They wanted more police patrols and less gang activity. Norman said it is an indication that safety concerns and perceptions are still in play. “I think crime involves strategic planning. It requires planning and resources. Making people feel safe is to address those issues and to reveal that there is a plan and there is a way to combat the issue,” Norman said. “I think when you don’t address the issue or when we do not proactively deal with our problems, that’s when people begin to feel unsafe. … It’s that lack of direction that I think makes people feel unsafe.” City school board member Sharon Webb, who also is a minister, sought to assure those at the meeting that the city school system was dealing with gang problems in the wake of three gun-related incidents on school campuses in two weeks this past February. Godwin, who was at the meeting, challenged Webb with rumors that some students were able to pay school administrators to get around the school system’s requirement that they wear uniforms. Webb said the color red was banned from clothing at Mitchell High School, one of two schools where a student was shot on campus. “I’d check that,” Godwin shot back. “The agenda for solutions must be open for inclusion from all aspects of the community – the faith community, the political community, the intellectual community, etc.,” Norman said. “It does not have to be an agenda driven by one particular community or one particular group. When we learn to allow all of our ideas to coexist we’ll conquer our problems. However, when there’s only room for one smart person in the room, that’s when we have a problem. We have to have open-minded thinking and we have to resolve that one person doesn’t have to have all of the answers.” CRIME AND PUNISHMENT State Rep. John DeBerry, D-Memphis, said he’s been criticized for sponsoring legislation in Nashville that would end parole in Tennessee for

some violent crimes. Although a Democrat, DeBerry reflects a conservative view on crime in Memphis that crosses party lines based on that most powerful political force – personal experience. “A few years ago in the ’70s, I had a cousin. His name was Benjamin,” DeBerry said in March at a crime summit at FedExForum. “Benjamin was working his way through medical school. He was a hard-working young man. He was working in a convenience store in the daytime and going to medical school. “Someone walked into the store and demanded money and they shot Benjamin between the eyes. And Benjamin fell dead right there behind that counter. The young man that shot him, I knew the family, I found out eventually. But the fact of the matter is, my cousin lost his life in the prime of his life because a crook brought a gun to the crime.” But DeBerry acknowledges there is criticism from some black political leaders for the push for longer prison sentences in a corrections system that already houses thousands of black men in disproportionate numbers. “Crooks don’t bring guns to crimes just to decorate and make themselves look tough and look good. They bring guns to crimes to ensure the success of the crime,” he said. “For too long we’ve been so concerned about the criminals and not concerned about the citizens who are hurt by crime. … Benjamin was as black as I am and I’ve been black for some time. It is not racial.” PEACE OF THE CITY Shelby County District Attorney General Bill Gibbons has taken the Chickasaw Gardens group and other families and friends of crime victims to Nashville as part of what is now a regular excursion to the capital to push for the package of bills that involve longer prison sentences for violent offenses in which guns are used. “I don’t think any legislator reads their e-mail,” Gibbons told a group of around 200 people at a February forum sponsored by the Jewish women’s group Hadassah at the Jewish Community Center in East Memphis.

Gibbons said legislative aides probably take care of the e-mail. So he suggested those going to Nashville should go for a face-to-face meeting with legislators. Gibbons and Godwin have had a tougher time with the Bredesen administration. Gov. Phil Bredesen has said he is concerned more jail time will overcrowd state prisons and drive up costs. There is also the risk of a return to federal court control of prisons. Godwin said he believes it would only be a short-term increase in the prison population followed by a decrease with the prospect of more jail time serving as a crime deterrent. Moore was among those at the JCC meeting to make his case for his program and offer the services of Freedom From Unnecessary Violence to anyone who thought it might help. His predicament was that he had been to many meetings like the one that night. He had seen the resolve of the newly committed and then watched most of them slowly fade away. “What are we going to do while we wait for the legislation to get passed?” he said as he greeted others in the crowd he’s seen at similar meetings. “We are sitting here like kids at home saying, ‘Mom and Dad, take care of this.’ If you won’t tell what you see, how can you help in the process? … We have to get out of the blame mode.” Norman understands the frustration that can be the result of Memphians living in different worlds when it comes to crime. But Memphians who don’t feel safe live in the neighborhoods with the worst crime problems and the neighborhoods that see few if any crime problems. “I know that there will always be a sense of people thinking, ‘It doesn’t touch me.’ When we understand what community really means, we understand that there’s no hiding place where anybody can go to be disconnected from the problems that we have,” Norman said before referring to the Bible’s book of Jeremiah. “‘You have to seek the peace of the city, for therein lies the peace of all.’” n police officers are necessary right now, and while more officers is not the only answer to crime, if deployed scientifically, those increased numbers can make a real dent in crime.

live, work and enjoy ourselves, but the biggest threat is a continuation of parents abandoning their responsibility to raise their children to live in a civil and democratic society, allowing bedrock values to erode and disappear and to not get themselves involved right in the middle of their children’s lives – the gangster ethos, the wrong role models, pervasive and gratuitous violence masquerading as entertainment and the availability of firearms reflect a lethal formula for social disaster.

making sure that Memphis’ renaissance is not derailed by crime, fear or the perception of a lack of public safety.

TMN: What’s the biggest threat to area citizens’ sense of safety right now?

TMN: On the Crime Commission’s Web site, you refer to the quote, “If we cannot be safe, we cannot be anything …” On a scale of one to 10, with one being the worst and 10 being the best, where do you feel Memphis stands in being “anything”?

Heidingsfield: The biggest threat is allowing fear to immobilize our choices about where we

Heidingsfield: We are in the 5-10 range and working tirelessly to work our way up the scale,

Heidingsfield: Blue CRUSH is very real and works; the Real Time Crime Center rivals anything I have seen in the U.S. and around the world and will bundle the information and data that police officers need to be as effective as humanly possible. Kudos to the Memphis Police Department and the University of Memphis for their creation; the Crime Commission can verify that at least some 200 or so additional

Heidingsfield: We have moved from an exclusively research role to a position in the justice system where we can provide both strategic planning capacity to any criminal justice system agency and develop public policy responses to justice and crime-related issues. Why is that important? Because research alone does not alter the public safety landscape. It is the transformation of research and national best practices into adoptable, local public policy and the advocacy to ensure that adoption, which can ultimately make a difference in how safe we are. n

Guest Commentary

sion, then they are being tyrannized. Although effective policing is an essential component of any strategy to reduce crime, by itself it will not in the long run make us a truly safer society. This requires a coordinated approach addressing the plethora of risk factors that lead to high levels of crime. Operation Safe Community, part of Memphis Fast Forward, represents a collaborative partnership among public and private entities to tackle these issues. Our greatest challenge as a community is to resist oversimplifying the issue of crime and criminal behavior. There is no simple answer as

to why someone commits a crime or how we can prevent it. Understanding why requires substantial effort, particularly of the reasons that underlie crime. I have often warned against “demonizing our youth” because doing so distorts our understanding of crime and can mislead us in our quest to prevent crime in the long term. Study after study has demonstrated that children who become adult offenders are not born as criminals. Most are born into poverty and dysfunctional families. Many suffer mental, physical and emotional abuse and are often surrounded by violence in their households

and communities. Of course, not all children growing up in these circumstances turn to crime; the interplay of these factors will vary from child to child, as will the occurrence of intervening events such as the availability of a mentor. Our understanding of the impact a child’s early years have on future behavior is critical for implementation of policies and programs that ensure positive and healthy development for all our children. So not only is early intervention right, but smart. So is targeted police work when crime manifests itself despite social efforts. n

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aggressive prosecution strategies for the worst of offenses, lower prosecutorial caseloads and increases in prosecutor numbers and relentless public service advertisement campaigns against crime; in the long term it is our decisions about jail capacity, re-entry programs and juvenile interdiction programs that will tell the tale of where we end up. And the sustained success of Operation Safe Community, embracing all of these strategies and more, is the single best barometer by which to judge our progress and our future.

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into fragile neighborhoods has resulted in neighborhood deterioration in parts of our city. This question has driven much of my academic interest in criminal justice. Human rights involve a balance – ensuring individual freedom while ensuring social order. Absent social order, individuals are not free. If they cannot safely walk the streets of their community, sit on their front porches or live in their homes without fear of a home inva-

TMN: We’ve heard all the talk about MPD’s Blue CRUSH initiative, the Real Time Crime Center and Mayor Willie Herenton’s goal of putting about 500 more police officers on the streets. How much of the information out there about these programs and ideas is substantive – and how much is hype?

TMN: What is the Crime Commission’s primary goal at the moment? How has it changed from previous goals?

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EVENTS BUSINESS Talk Shoppe will meet Wednesday from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. at the Better Business Bureau of the Mid-South, 3693 Tyndale Drive. The topic is “Top to Bottom: How to Do Real Estate Evictions” with attorney Craig Beard of Gotten, Wilson, Savory & Beard PLLC. This event is free and open to the public. For more information, call Jo Garner at 759-7808. The Public Relations Society of America’s local chapter will present “The Aftermath: How Union University Responded to a Campus-Destroying Tornado” July 9 at 11:45 a.m. at the Holiday InnUniversity of Memphis, 3700 Central Ave. The event is free for PRSA members, $25 for nonmembers and $15 for students. Potential attendees may register online at www.prsamemphis.org or contact Jamie Coggins at 754-9035 or jamieprsa@bellsouth.net. The Tennessee Department of Revenue will host its next free bimonthly new-business workshop July 10 from 9 a.m. to noon at the Renaissance Training Center, 555 Beale St. The workshop is free and designed to help people unfamiliar with business tax issues. Registration is available at www.tennessee.gov or by calling 213-1400. The Memphis Chapter of the International Association of Administrative Professionals will meet July 14 at 6 p.m. at the Holiday Inn Select East at Interstate 240 and Poplar Avenue. The cost is $20. For reservations, contact Dianne Cordaro at 287-6009 or cordarod@lebonheur.org. The Sales & Marketing Society of the Mid-South will host a seminar titled “Up the Loyalty Ladder: Attracting, Keeping and Multiplying Customers for Greater Bottom Line Profit” July 24 from 8:30 a.m. to noon at the Junior Achievement office, 307 Madison Ave. The cost is $79 for SMS members and $99 for nonmembers. Call 435-0424 to reserve your seat. G O V E R N M E NT The Shelby County Administration Homeland Security Ad Hoc Committee will meet Wednesday at 10 a.m. in

the fourth floor conference room of the Shelby County Administration Building, 160 N. Main St. For more information, call Chief Administrator Steve Summerall at 545-4301. The Center City Commission’s Design Review Board will meet Wednesday at 5 p.m. in the CCC conference room at 114 N. Main St. For more information, contact Dawn Vinson at 575-0555 or vinson@ downtownmemphis.com. The Center City Commission’s annual luncheon will be held July 10 at 11:30 a.m. in The Peabody hotel’s Grand Ballroom at 149 Union Ave. Nearly 700 community leaders are expected to attend the networking event. LEGAL The Memphis Bar Association will hold a 2008 Legislative Update Tuesday from 4 p.m. to 5 p.m. at the MBA office, 80 Monroe Ave., Suite 220. The same day, the MBA also is hosting a continuing legal education seminar titled “Trial Techniques, Effective Cross-Examination and the Visual Courtroom” from 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Call 527-3573 for more information or register online at www.memphisbar.org. The Art of Conscious Living Classes with Dr. Herb Smith will be held July 10 from 5:30 p.m. to 7:15 p.m. at the Rhodes Meeman Center for Lifelong Learning at Rhodes College. The Memphis Bar Association’s Wellness committee, Access to Justice committee and Rhodes College have joined with Smith to offer the class, which will run every Thursday night for eight consecutive weeks. The class is limited to 15 participants and will be offered on a first-come, first-served basis. Continuing legal education credit is available. Call Lesia Beach at the MBA at 527-3573 to reserve your spot. C O M M U N ITY The Memphis Rotary Club’s fifth annual Bobby Dunavant Public Servant Awards will be held July 9 at 11:45 a.m. in the Grand Ballroom of The Peabody hotel, 149 Union Ave. Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour will be the keynote speaker. The awards recognize distinguished

work by public servants from Memphis and Shelby County. Two public servants will be honored – one elected official and one nonelected public employee. Tickets to the luncheon are $35 per person or $300 for 10-person tables. For reservations, call 737-8411 or e-mail lmhughes@bellsouth.net. The Children’s Museum of Memphis will hold “CMOM Family Nights” beginning Thursday and every Thursday night in July at the museum, 2525 Central Ave. The museum will remain open until 8 p.m. and parents are encouraged to bring their children after work. Concessions will be available and a family movie will be shown in the Malco 4 Kids at 6:15 p.m. The Fayette County Animal Rescue has been ordered to shut down by Fayette County government. As a result, many animals will need homes, and FCAR will host an adoption event Saturday at PetSmart at Wolfchase Galleria. All animals come spayed/neutered, vaccinated and microchipped, and the adoption fee is $95. For more information, call FCAR at 854-2565, e-mail fayettefcar@hotmail.com or visit www.fayettefcar.com. The Memphis Botanic Garden will host a Brown Bag Lunch and Learn July 9 at noon at the MBG, 750 Cherry Road. Eric Bridges, natural resource supervisor for the Lakeland Planning and Development Department, will speak about Sustainable Urban Forestry. Bring your lunch or enjoy a box lunch from Fratelli’s. Cost is $5 for nonmembers. Members are free. For more information, call 636-4100. The Memphis Botanic Garden will host a “Japanese Garden Candlelight Tour” July 10 from 7:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the MBG, 750 Cherry Road. In the Visitors Center, pre-tour cultural activites will be held including a Shibui kimono display, Japanese tea ceremony, calligraphy fans and more. At 7:45 p.m., members of the Ikebana International, Bamboo Chapter, will lead tours of the Saijaku-en (Japanese Garden of Tranquility) and share stories of Japanese folklore and garden symbolism. For more information, call 636-4110. The City of Germantown Parks and Recreation

Service will host a basketball camp July 14-18 from 9 a.m. to noon each day. The camp is for children ages 6 to 13 and the fee is $150. Campers will learn the fundamentals of basketball from Memphis Grizzlies staff, and all campers will receive two tickets to a Grizzlies home game and other Grizzlies items. Registration is available at the Parks and Recreation office, 2276 West St. in Germantown. For more information, contact Kevin Weaver at 757-7379 or kweaver@germantown-tn.gov. The Parks and Recreation Service also will hold a baseball camp July 21 to 24 from 9 a.m. to noon each day. The camp is for children ages 7 to 14 and the fee is $150. Campers will learn the fundamentals of baseball and will receive individual and group instruction through drills and games by the University of Memphis baseball coaching staff and players.

Colitis Music City Walk and Festival will be held July 24 from 4 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at Shelby Farms Park & Conservancy. Take Steps is the nation’s largest event dedicated to finding a cure for digestive diseases. For more information, call Nicole or Drew at 615-356-0444 or visit www.cctakesteps.org.

The Breast Cancer Eradication Initiative (Pink Ribbon Open) is accepting grant requests until its July 18 deadline. Interested parties should submit a cover letter and a grant request form, which is available at www. pinkribbonopen.org, to the Breast Cancer Eradication Initiative, P.O. Box 382886, Germantown, TN 38183-2886. For more information, contact Deborah Brasfield at 652-7517 or dtbrasfield@comcast. net.

Girls Inc. of Memphis is holding its annual summer camp through July 25 for girls between ages 6 and 18. The program is being offered at six of the Girls Inc. centers throughout the Memphis area. For more information, call Iris Scott at 523-0217 or visit www. girlsincmemphis.org.

The Children’s Museum of Memphis will host its first Hispanic Fiesta July 19 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the museum, 3030 Central Ave. Attendees may participate in the Mexican Hat Dance and Macarena, take a swing at a piñata, play limbo or Pass the Sombrero. The event is free for CMOM members and $9 for nonmembers, including museum admission. For details, visit www. cmom.com or call 458-2678. The Church Health Center will offer “Commit to Quit,” a six-week course in smoking cessation, at its Hope & Healing center, 1115 Union Ave. at Interstate 240. The start date is July 24 at 5 p.m. The course is open to Hope & Healing members and CHC patients, and nonmembers pay $60. To sign up, call Sheila Kernan at 259-4673, Ext. 1604, or visit www.churchhealthcenter.org. Take Steps for Crohn’s &

The Children’s Museum of Memphis is hosting the traveling exhibit “Curious George: Let’s Get Curious!” through Sept. 28 at the museum, 2525 Central Ave. The exhibit introduces children to Curious George’s world and leads visitors through an interactive math, science and engineeringbased “adventure.” Admission is $7 for children ages 1 to 12 and senior citizens, $8 for adults and free for museum members and children younger than 1. For more information, call the museum at 458-2678 or visit www.cmom.com.

TH E A RT S The following events are scheduled at the Dixon Gallery and Gardens: - A Lunch & Learn Wednesday from noon to 1 p.m. at the Dixon, 4339 Park Ave. The topic will be “The Modern Imprint,” with artist Richard Gamble, who will show how the interaction between printmaking, photography and a new method of painting shaped the vision of a rapidly changing modern Europe. For more information, call the Dixon at 761-5252. - A Lunch & Learn July 9 from noon to 1 p.m., 4339 Park Ave. The title of the lunch is “The Cut Edge: Reflector of Light” with Randle Witherington, who will present a historical background and discuss the origins of cut and etched glass. For more information, call the Dixon at 761-5252. - A Lunch & Learn July 16 from noon to 1 p.m., 4339 Park Ave. The topic will be “James

McNeill Whistler and Mary Cassatt: Two American Geniuses of French Printmaking” with Kevin Sharp, who will discuss the two American expatriates. For more information, call the Dixon at 761-5252. - “Passport to Paris Family Day” July 19 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Dixon, 4339 Park Ave. The gallery’s exhibit, “Passport to Paris: Nineteenth Century French Prints,” will be opened to the public for free, along with hands-on activities, story time, music and refreshments. For more information, call the Dixon at 761-5252. - Icelandic artist Steinunn Thorarinsdottir’s installation, “Horizons,” through Aug. 31, 4339 Park Ave. The exhibit consists of 10 cast-iron, life-size figures standing amid the gardens. Playhouse – POTS@ TheWorks Series will begin running “String of Pearls” by Michele Lowe from July 11 through Aug. 3, Thursdays through Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. at TheatreWorks, 2085 Monroe Ave. For information and reservations, call 726-4656. The 2008 Snap! Grand Finale: EvoSOULution will be held July 12 at The Cannon Center for the Performing Arts, 255 N. Main St. The event is being billed as a “thrilling musical exploration of soul music’s history.” Tickets range from $7 to $15 and are on sale at the Stax Museum of American Soul Music’s gift shop, 926 E. McLemore Ave. Visit www.staxmusicacademy. org to learn more. Earth, Wind & Fire: Live at the Garden Concert Series will be held July 19 at 7 p.m. at the Memphis Botanic Garden, 750 Cherry Road. For tickets, contact Ticketmaster at 525-1515, online at www.ticketmaster.com, or in person at local Schnuck’s stores or at the box office at MBG. For more information, call 636-4107. The Memphis Brooks Museum of Art’s exhibit, “The Prints of Andy Warhol (From A to B and Back Again)” is on view through Sept. 7 at the museum, 1934 Poplar Ave. The exhibit offers an overview of the artist’s career through the prints he created from the 1960s to the 1980s. For more information, call the museum at 544-6208.

There is not a more high-impact, cost-effective way to reach Memphis-area movers and shakers than advertising in The Memphis News. Call: Don Fancher 528-5283 or Patricia McKinney 528-5271.

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McCarrens “breaks” Natalie Higdon’s knee.

Story & photos by JONATHAN DEVIN Special to The Memphis News

he two things most people remember about William Shakespeare’s masterpiece “Romeo and Juliet” are the star-struck lovers’ passion and the feverishness of the violence between their families. Imagine, though, that instead of bloodthirsty sword duels, Shakespeare had simply written the fiery Tybalt and Mercutio shouting insults at each other. Wouldn’t be the same, would it? Stage fight choreographer Henry McDaniel said theatrical combat brings a strong level of reality to the innate conflict of a play, without which the plot might be difficult to believe. “All plays revolve around some level of conflict, and sometimes you can’t accurately reflect the level of a conflict without a fight,” he said.

It’s a wonder I’m still alive,” he said. McDaniel’s father, however, forbade him to major in theater, but in his junior year at Harding University in Arkansas, McDaniel switched from psychology to theater and communications after his father died. He went on to earn a master’s degree in theater and education. He then spent three years living and teaching in Florence, Italy, before returning to his native Tennessee, but he never lost his love of staging fights. “I remember the first time I got applause, and I thought, ‘Wow, I could really get into this,’” he said.

Let’s get physical At Harding, McDaniel had the opportunity to portray the violence-ridden role of Dr. Faust in Christopher Marlowe’s “Doctor Faustus,” which led him and some friends to adapt the entire play into one long demonstration of fight Put ’em up McDaniel, who currently works as director techniques. Later he began studying martial of student life for the Memphis College of Art, arts, fencing, and took formal workshops in grew up in theater, developing his skills as a combat with theater professionals Michael Sokoloff and Susan Chrietberg, whom he described as the “yin and yang” of theatrical aggression. “Michael is a real take-it-like-a-man “The first impression you type of aggressor, and Susan is the most get of that character is a harmonious individual I’ve ever met,” visual impression. If the he said. audience doesn’t buy the Safety is obviously an important factor in choreographing combat, but McDaniel character visually, then sees overall physicality as an essential for you’ll have a much harder good performances. time getting into the “For a character, the first thing I’m goworld of the play.” ing to think about is ‘how does this person react to the world ?” he said. “The first impression you get of that character is a -Henry McDaniel visual impression. If the audience doesn’t Fight choreographer buy the character visually, then you’ll have a much harder time getting into the world of fight choreographer along the way. Now he the play.” Also, he noted that when actors and direcgets calls to coach actors in various productions tors begin rehearsing a play, they usually start across Memphis. “My father taught theater at a university, with the “blocking,” the physical movements so I grew up going straight from school to the of the actors around the stage, before they costume shop, or the set, or wherever, climbing concentrate on memorizing lines. When it’s time to add the elements of a ropes and playing with dangerous power tools.

Henry McDaniel’s students, Melissa Briggs and Don McCarrens, demonstrate a stomach punch.

fight, McDaniel follows the same process in his coaching. First, he reads the script and compares his own interpretation of the fight scenes to the director’s vision. “I want to know why you want a fight in a particular place: What purpose does it serve? I know what the script says, but what do you think is the objective you’re communicating to the audience?” he said. Second, he learns about the costumes, props and other factors that might hinder an actor’s movement. Finally, he spends time helping the actors feel comfortable with the action. He noted that some actors are naturally sweet human beings who feel bad about striking someone even when it is done without pain. Others have trouble creating voluntary movements that appear to be involuntary reactions. “With each hit, the burden is on the victim to carry the brunt of the reaction and express the proper amount of pain,” he said. “The biggest challenge is making sure that the fight reflects the truth of the moment.” Defining moments The big factor in creating a moment of truth is the “nap”– the sound of skin striking skin that occurs when someone hits another person. For example, McDaniel can teach an actor how to throw a stomach punch painlessly by opening the fist at the last second, slapping the victim’s stomach with the back of the fingers to create the nap, then closing the fist again before withdrawing. The victim then follows with a loud grunt of air forced out of the diaphragm and buckles at the waist. “And what does the audience care about in a fight scene? Pain,” he said. “They want to know how much pain the actor is in. Then they decide how much emotion to invest in what happened. But if the intention doesn’t match the outcome, it comes across as comedy.” Theatre lore has it that in the first production of Shakespeare’s “Macbeth,” a sword accidentally flew off-stage into the audience, killing a man. But with proper control, precision, and training McDaniel said violence can be quite the art form. n

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Crime is a Beast on the Prowl: MPD, Others, Its Faithful Pursuers would say especially in Memphis.) Although we can’t give crime a single identity – a face – we do know a few things about it. It lives among us. It causes fear, real and imagined. Third and most important, the fear crime causes exercises a great deal of influence over the choices we make as everyday citizens. Fear is a powerful adversary. And a powerful motivator. So while strategies such as the Memphis Police Department’s Blue CRUSH have told us a great deal about where crime lives – Hickory Hill apartment complexes appear to be one of its top b r e e d i n g g r o u n d s l a te l y – a n d h av e helped officials saturate those areas with “cops on the dots,” have they done anything to lessen our fear? The urge we get to glance over our shoulders in dark parking lots? The way we hesitate to visit certain ZIP codes, even in daylight?

Q? A.

Mike Heidingsfield is president and CEO of the Memphis Shelby Crime Commission. He recently accepted a position as assistant Seargent at arms for homeland security in the U.S. Senate. He will be sworn in Aug.7. TMN: From your vantage point as head of the local crime commission, what do you see as Memphis’ greatest strength in fighting crime? What about the city’s greatest weakness? Heidingsfield: Our greatest strength is the passion and commitment of so many community leaders in Memphis and Shelby County. Our greatest challenge is overcoming the endemic social and economic factors that sometimes seem intractable and are directly linked to crime (e.g. poverty, unemployment, work force development, secondary education). TMN: What’s the issue you deal with most on a daily basis? Heidingsfield: The question of “Where is crime worst?” is posed to us on an almost daily basis as are near-daily media inquiries about the rationale or explanations behind the most violent of crimes, including murder, aggravated robberies, carjackings and sexual assaults; and then there are the continuous requests to compare Memphis’ crime picture with that of other U.S. cities. TMN: Recent reports have stated the overall crime rate in Memphis is down between 6 percent and 8 percent. What’s your response to that? Heidingsfield: The reports of a decline in crime since our baseline in 2006 (established through Operation Safe Community) is accurate and legitimate. I think the immediate credit goes to Operation Blue CRUSH in particular and data-driven policing in

general, and a resurgence of public service advertisements aimed directly at the offender population. TMN: How much has the push toward statistical analysis of crime hot spots changed the crime-fighting landscape in metro Memphis? How effective is it compared to other methods?

The answer, very simply, is no, though organizations such as the Memphis Police Department insist crime has diminished in the past couple of years. The most recent numbers show crime is down about 8 percent. Reason to celebrate, right? Not necessarily. The truth is, it’s a big leap from an abstract concept such as percentage changes to the reality of feeling safe. Without the perception of safety – let alone the real thing – it’s not difficult to understand why fear and suspicion seethe just below the surface of community life. In his commentary below, criminology guru Richard Janikowski calls the phenomenon “tyranny.” It’s not the tyranny of the politically oppressed, but the feeling that causes people to lock themselves inside or move away, something city and county government have been contending with for many years now.

So if we know anything about crime, we know it’s a moving target that does not respect street names or neighborhood boundaries. If we know anything about fear, we know it has a mind of its own – a mind that misses nothing. If we know anything about ourselves, we know this: Nobody ever wants to feel vulnerable or powerless. No one wants to be forced to run from an ambiguous enemy without a face. But run we will, if need be, to wherever we can find that elusive feeling of safety. So while organizations such as MPD, Memphis Tomorrow and others are to be commended for their continuous efforts to target crime and its hot spots, it amounts to another set of song lyrics, this one from The Eagles: “They stab it with their steely knives, but they just can’t kill the beast.” Not yet, anyway. Perhaps never. n

Early Intervention Not Only Way to Reduce Crime Dr. Richard Janikowski is an associate professor in the Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology at the University of Memphis. With the help of his research associates, Janikowski has provided the impetus behind the Memphis Police Department’s Blue CRUSH and other crime-fighting strategies.

By DR. RICHARD JANIKOWSKI Special to The Memphis News

Guest Commentary

n singer-songwriter Joan Osborne’s 1995 hit, “One of Us,” she asks the simple yet profound question, “If God had a face, what would it look like?” Similarly, if crime had a face, what would it look like? Would it be sly-browed and shiftye yed ? Wou ld it mo ve w i t h s l o u che d shoulders – or slouched pants? Would it slink along in dark corners after nightfall? Would it frown and snarl, or would it smirk with cold, silent menace behind a flawless mask? Could you look in its eyes and see anything but your own reflection staring back? Or would those eyes be vacant, black, fathomless things? Would they be roiling, troubled – or a blank void? The truth is, crime has many faces. It has any number of aliases. It has as many degrees of severity as criminals have imaginations, even in Memphis. (Some

Heidingsfield: I think a strong, consistent targeting of career offenders and the most predatory of criminals and successfully locking them up, in combination with the data-driven policing we discussed above, are the short-term answer to lower violent crime rates; in the mid-term, we must also rely on

“Nothing works! There is nothing law enforcement can do about crime unless we address all the social issues that cause people to commit crime.” For too many years, this became a mantra of academics and even people in law enforcement. However, during the past two decades, innovations in policing and prosecution have demonstrated that crime, including violent crime, can be substantially reduced and communities made safer. Adoption of problem-oriented policing, hot-spot policing, directed patrol, vertical prosecution (one prosecutor or prosecution group per case) and enforcement and prosecution efforts targeting repeat offenders have been shown to be effective. The Memphis Police Department’s Blue CRUSH strategy incorporates these approaches to addressing crime along with new technology (for example, the new Real Time Crime Center) with resulting declines in violent crime and problems since 2006. However, Blue CRUSH is often misunderstood; it is not a specific initiative, program or tactic, but instead represents a fundamental change in the way the police department conducts business – in other words, adoption of a business model involving accountability, responsibility and, in the end, increased credibility. As with any process involving organizational change, it doesn’t happen overnight but requires substantial effort over a prolonged period. Research in the business community suggests organizational change can take from three to five years. It is not easy and requires dedicated leadership and commitment from managers and employees. Under director Larry Godwin’s leadership, MPD decided to travel down this difficult road and already is producing demonstrable results. However, this is not to imply that addressing crime is solely the responsibility of the police or that in the long term – unless we are willing to continue to build ever more expensive jails and prisons – law enforcement alone can “solve” crime. Crime may simply be endemic to the human condition; no matter what we do, or wish we could do, a certain level of criminal activity will always exist in any society. As such, a critical question becomes: Can we develop policies and strategies, while not eliminating crime, to control the amount and level of harm crime causes while preserving a free society? As a recent story in Atlantic Monthly magazine about housing and crime – “American Murder Mystery” –illustrates, social policy affects crime. Simply moving people from public housing without providing transitional support services

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Heidingsfield: “Cops on the dots” or the deployment of police resources against identified and confirmed hot spots for serious crime has made a measurable difference and it is the key to the future, not only here in Memphis and Shelby County but across the U.S. as well. That is not to say that calls for service will go unanswered, but just to reemphasize that law enforcement resources are precious (not to mention expensive) commodities and we must allocate them scientifically against a workload that we have measured. [That includes average time spent on calls, response times to calls and other duties.] TMN: Based on what you’ve experienced to date, what do you think the future holds for various levels of local crime in the long term? Up? Down? Cyclical?

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