Programs Work To Keep Talent In Memphis

VOL. 126 | NO. 192 | Monday, October 03, 2011

SPECIAL EMPHASIS Architects & Engineers

By MICHAEL WADDELL

Updated 2:55PM

Students interested in obtaining a degree in chemical, civil, electrical, computer and mechanical engineering have several local options thanks to programs offered at Christian Brothers University, Rhodes College and the University of Memphis.

In addition to preparing the local workforce for high-paying jobs, the schools also work to keep that knowledge base here in Memphis.

CBU offers undergraduate engineering programs in chemical, civil, electrical and mechanical engineering. This semester there are approximately 240 students participating in the engineering programs, and the school boasts a low student-faculty ration of 12 to 1.

Dr. Eric B. Welch, dean of CBU?s School of Engineering, said he believes the university works hard to educate its students while also benefiting the local economy. CBU features an internship program in which roughly 80 percent of its students obtain some local industry experience by the time they graduate.

?We work during the students? junior and senior years to place them with a variety of companies here in Memphis like Federal Express, Smith & Nephew and Cummings Diesel,? said Welch, who has been head of CBU?s School of Engineering for seven years. ?Engineering is a highly mobile profession. The starting salary for engineers is basically twice what it is for those with a general liberal arts degree.?

He explained that enrollment has slowly increased for the past several years, although this year things have been a bit slower due to the struggling economy.

?The economy is tight, and that tends to make it harder for people to think about college in general,? Welch said. ?Engineering nationwide is down dramatically from the mid-1980s. After the dot-com bust of 2000, computer and electrical science enrollment dropped considerably. But now those disciplines are on the way back up.?

CBU promotes its engineering program year-round with a variety of pre-college activities targeting high school and middle school students, including faculty speaker programs, workshops, laboratory tours, campus visits and high school engineering competitions. The next event will be a middle school workshop on Oct. 27 called ?Kick Stick: Simple Electric Currents.?

Although Rhodes College does not have an engineering school of its own, it works in tandem with several local universities to offer a cross-town dual degree program that includes three to four years of study at Rhodes followed by two years in the other university?s engineering program.

?We offer a dual bachelor?s program with Washington University in St. Louis, a dual bachelor?s program with CBU, and a B.S./M.S. program in biomedical engineering with the joint graduate program in biomedical engineering at the University of Memphis and the University of Tennessee,? said Dr. Ann Viano, the J. Lester Crain Professor of Physics at Rhodes who oversees the dual degree program.

The Washington University program has been part of the school?s offerings since the early 1970s, and the other two programs came online within the last eight years.

?We do not recruit, but the fact that we do have these programs causes some students considering careers in engineering to also consider a liberal arts college like Rhodes,? Viano said. ?Each student who expresses interest in the program receives personal advising and Washington University sends a representative from their program to visit once each year.?

The University of Memphis? Herff College of Engineering was established in 1965 and currently offers approximately 20 undergraduate and graduate engineering degrees.

The university?s recruitment efforts are paying off, as the college?s undergraduate enrollment increased 10 percent this year to 908 students, up from 820 in 2010.

The graduate program enrollment for 2011 is 156 students, down slightly from 184 last year. Class sizes average 20 to 35 students.

?We do direct recruitment at College Night held at the Agricenter,? said Dr. Deborah Hochstein, associate dean for Academic Affairs and Administration at the University of Memphis.

?We also participate in college fair events and site visits to physics classes in local high schools.?

The U of M also has several outreach programs for middle and high school students related directly to engineering.

The university offers National Science Foundation grants that help all STEM students (Science Technology Engineering Mathematics) with tutoring and scholarships, as well as a TRiO program that targets STEM majors who are the first generation to attend college along with minorities and students with disabilities that require assistance like tutoring, scholarships, computer labs, books, mentors and more.

Strong co-op and internship programs have resulted in more than 200 local companies hiring U of M engineering students while they were completing studies. Many of those students are offered full-time employment upon graduation.

Source: http://www.memphisdailynews.com/news/2011/oct/3/programs-work-to-keep-talent-in-memphis/

plumbing companies memphis plumbing services memphis

Greyhound Station Listed for $2.3M

VOL. 126 | NO. 192 | Monday, October 03, 2011

By Sarah Baker

Updated 3:52PM

The Greyhound Bus Station in Downtown Memphis has been listed for sale by CB Richard Ellis Memphis for $2.3 million.

The intercity bus transportation hub is at 203 Union Ave., directly across from AutoZone Park and near one of Downtown?s busiest intersections.

The property includes a 23,085-square-foot main building and a 12,000-square-foot storage building on 1.37 acres of land.

Dallas-based Greyhound Lines Inc. owns the property. The Shelby County Assessor of Property?s 2011 appraisal is $672,800.

Because of its location and adjacent vacant land, it is considered a prime development property, said CBRE?s vice president Patrick Burke, who is listing the property.

?Most of the interest that we?ve received so far has been for some type of redevelopment, Burke said. ?Retail and a potential hotel site have been two things that have been mentioned, but it?s not under contract at this point.?

The property figured prominently in a federal probe of the personal finances of former Memphis Mayor Willie Herenton toward the end of his tenure as mayor. Herenton had an option to buy the property. He sold it and made more than $90,000 on the deal through his private real estate firm.

It had been touted as one of several locations for a new convention center. Herenton floated the general idea of a new convention center and mentioned the area between the ballpark and the Beale Street district.

The idea was politically dead on arrival because of its multimillion-dollar price tag following a 2003 expansion of the existing Memphis Cook Convention Center for $100 million.

Nothing ever came of the investigation of Herenton?s finances.

For decades, other city and Downtown development leaders had tried to talk Greyhound officials into moving and opening the property for other development. That included plans to move the terminal to the renovated Central Station on South Main that never happened.

The tenant is due to be out at the end of October or beginning of November, Burke said.

Greyhound is slated to operate in MATA?s Airways Transit Center, still under construction near Memphis International Airport.

Source: http://www.memphisdailynews.com/news/2011/oct/3/greyhound-station-listed-for-23m/

hvac memphis memphis hvac

New staff leader aims to give Memphis Realtors tools for a tough market

The person just picked to lead the staff of the Memphis Area Association of Realtors is well schooled in the supply and demand of property.

Melanie Blakeney?s first job after she graduated from the University of Oklahoma was as director of the historical museum in Norman, Okla.

Of course, a focus of the Norman and Cleveland County Historical Museum was the Oklahoma Land Rush of 1889, when the government put 2 million acres up for grabs to those willing to settle the land.

In this economy, there?s hardly a rush for property as the 49-year-old Blakeney takes over the Realtors organization effective Dec. 1.

?The best thing we can do is ? do everything we can to be a resource for our members,? said the native of Lake Charles, La.

That means providing Realtors continuing education about the best financing options at a time when their clients are having a tough time getting home loans, about creative marketing at a time when sales are harder to come by, and maintaining a high-quality Multiple Listing Service and property-records system as a resource for Realtors.

Blakeney will succeed Jules Wade, who has been executive vice president of the local association since 1984.

Over the past dozen years, Blakeney has accumulated experience tackling several jobs within the association. She has been in charge of its technical services, its marketing and communications and its Commercial Council.

?She?s tremendously personable,? said Bayard Snowden, vice president of Colliers International/Memphis. He was president of the Realtors? Commercial Council in 2007.

He described Blakeney as engaging, diligent and capable.

?The kind of person that anyone would want working for them,? Snowden said. ?Working with real estate brokers is like herding cats. She just does a great job of making it happen.?

Blakeney moved to Memphis in 1999 when her husband, Jeff, accepted a job offer here. For the previous 10 years, she?d been president and CEO of the Lafayette (La.) Board of Realtors.

Before that, she led the Norman Board of Realtors as executive officer.

Steve Herbert, chief operating officer of Coldwell Banker Pelican Real Estate in Lafayette, worked closely with Blakeney in 1994 when he was president of the Realtors board there.

?Melanie was always positive, enthusiastic and very participative,? he said.

In 1994, the real estate industry was concerned about what the Internet would do to the industry, he said.

?There was a great fear at the time of losing a bunch of our membership, that the Internet was going to put Realtors out of business,? he recalled.

Blakeney instilled confidence by establishing contingency plans. ?But luckily, the fears never came true,? he said.

Now, the economy has done what the Internet did not. Membership at the Memphis Area Association of Realtors has dropped to 3,300 from a high of 5,400 in 2007.

The association?s staff of 15 understands the challenges Realtors have been facing, Blakeney said, adding their job is to provide stability and even comfort to the members.

Her immediate goals include having the organization be a strong advocate for policies that will strengthen home ownership.

For example, she?ll fight proposals to start requiring minimum down payments of 20 percent of a home?s cost.

?That would knock out so many potential home buyers,? Blakeney said.

Meanwhile, she accentuates the positive in tough times.

?Interest rates are so low that if you have a small amount for a down payment and talk to a Realtor, you can find a house,? Blakeney said. ?The opportunities are there for many folks to have home ownership.?

? Tom Bailey Jr.: (901) 529-2388

Source: http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2011/sep/27/resources-rush/?partner=RSS

plumbers in memphis tn germantown plumbing

Source: http://kwindur.tumblr.com/post/10772725579

memphis heating and air plumbing memphis tn

US Diplomats Tout Latin American Economies

VOL. 126 | NO. 191 | Friday, September 30, 2011

By Bill Dries

Updated 3:07PM

Two United States ambassadors to Latin American countries and the U.S. Deputy Chief of Mission to Brazil are on tour in a recession-torn U.S. touting the booming Latin American economies to U.S. businesses large and small.

The tour for the diplomatic party of three ? U.S. Ambassador to Peru Rose M. Likins, U.S. Ambassador to Chile Alejandro Wolf and U.S. Deputy Mission Chief to Brazil Todd C. Chapman ? began this week in Memphis with a luncheon hosted by FedEx Corp. and the Business Council for International Understanding.

The U.S. ambassadors to Colombia and Panama are on a similar tour in other cities.

Both legs are an effort by the Obama administration to increase U.S. exports to Latin America with a target of creating 2 million jobs in the U.S. economy through increased exports.

It?s also further evidence of the internationalization of the U.S. economy at a time when foreign markets have become the next frontier of both the largest corporations and the smaller businesses occupying a single office.

?To see all these planes coming in at the same time from around the world ? one coming in from Sao Paolo, Brazil ? is really very exciting,? Chapman said the morning after the group got an overnight tour of the FedEx Super Hub. ?Every time a plane takes off for an international destination from Memphis, they are creating jobs here in America.?

FedEx and Delta Air Lines Inc., the two major tenants of Memphis International Airport, are a vital part of the export effort, which includes not only goods but also services such as tourism.

While Delta has cut its capacity including regional flights at Memphis International Airport as well as its transatlantic service, it has expanded service to Latin American markets.

?In the decades of the ?90s and the 2000s, a lot of these countries had to get their economic houses in order,? Likins said. ?They had to make the big macroeconomic policy changes of responsible fiscal policy and good, open, competitive environments and opening to the world.?

In Peru?s case, the booming economy is driven by mineral commodities.

Wolf cites economic growth in the countries of an average of 6 percent.

?To see all these planes coming in at the same time from around the world ... is really very exciting. Every time a plane takes off for an international destination from Memphis, they are creating jobs here in America.?

?Todd C. Chapman
U.S. Deputy Mission Chief to Brazil

?We are all witnessing a boom in these economies, very robust growth ? and a growing middle class that is changing consumption habits,? Wolf said.

Middle class growth or its lack of growth is a similar issue in the rebuilding of the U.S. economy.

Chapman points to an estimated 40 million Brazilians who in the last decade have ?emerged from poverty? to the middle class.

?They begin to consume in a way that is very different,? Chapman said. ?You have a distinct driver to these economies which you didn?t have before, which is the middle class itself. They are building upon good decisions that they have made over a decade to build up their tax base, to promote market economies, to find new export markets as they internationalize their economies.?

In the last year and a half, U.S exports to Brazil expanded 52 percent, according to Chapman, bringing the U.S. trade surplus with Brazil to $15 billion.

In the Latin American economic boom, those markets have become more diverse, making personal relationships important in many cases for U.S. companies.

?You can have situations where you are required to have a partner. You can find situations where it is desirable and smart to have a partner. And you can have a situation where you don?t need a partner at all,? Wolf said. ?There?s no cookie-cutter approach anymore. You can?t simply look south and say, ?They speak Spanish or Portuguese.? Each market is different.?

Likins said the embassies often play the role of ?matchmakers.?

?Latin America ? culturally relationships are really important,? she said. ?It?s not about a legal transaction. You need to not look at it as a legal transaction. ? Latin Americans are looking for partners. They are looking for a long-term relationship.?

?These are three fairly developed markets,? Chapman said, as he pushed trade shows in the countries as a way for U.S. companies to both make contact and get a feel for the market itself. ?They have trade shows related to your product. ? You can go down and see the entire industry all in one fell swoop.?

Source: http://www.memphisdailynews.com/news/2011/sep/30/us-diplomats-tout-latin-american-economies/

plumber in memphis memphis air conditioning

US Diplomats Tout Latin American Economies

VOL. 126 | NO. 191 | Friday, September 30, 2011

By Bill Dries

Updated 3:07PM

Two United States ambassadors to Latin American countries and the U.S. Deputy Chief of Mission to Brazil are on tour in a recession-torn U.S. touting the booming Latin American economies to U.S. businesses large and small.

The tour for the diplomatic party of three ? U.S. Ambassador to Peru Rose M. Likins, U.S. Ambassador to Chile Alejandro Wolf and U.S. Deputy Mission Chief to Brazil Todd C. Chapman ? began this week in Memphis with a luncheon hosted by FedEx Corp. and the Business Council for International Understanding.

The U.S. ambassadors to Colombia and Panama are on a similar tour in other cities.

Both legs are an effort by the Obama administration to increase U.S. exports to Latin America with a target of creating 2 million jobs in the U.S. economy through increased exports.

It?s also further evidence of the internationalization of the U.S. economy at a time when foreign markets have become the next frontier of both the largest corporations and the smaller businesses occupying a single office.

?To see all these planes coming in at the same time from around the world ? one coming in from Sao Paolo, Brazil ? is really very exciting,? Chapman said the morning after the group got an overnight tour of the FedEx Super Hub. ?Every time a plane takes off for an international destination from Memphis, they are creating jobs here in America.?

FedEx and Delta Air Lines Inc., the two major tenants of Memphis International Airport, are a vital part of the export effort, which includes not only goods but also services such as tourism.

While Delta has cut its capacity including regional flights at Memphis International Airport as well as its transatlantic service, it has expanded service to Latin American markets.

?In the decades of the ?90s and the 2000s, a lot of these countries had to get their economic houses in order,? Likins said. ?They had to make the big macroeconomic policy changes of responsible fiscal policy and good, open, competitive environments and opening to the world.?

In Peru?s case, the booming economy is driven by mineral commodities.

Wolf cites economic growth in the countries of an average of 6 percent.

?To see all these planes coming in at the same time from around the world ... is really very exciting. Every time a plane takes off for an international destination from Memphis, they are creating jobs here in America.?

?Todd C. Chapman
U.S. Deputy Mission Chief to Brazil

?We are all witnessing a boom in these economies, very robust growth ? and a growing middle class that is changing consumption habits,? Wolf said.

Middle class growth or its lack of growth is a similar issue in the rebuilding of the U.S. economy.

Chapman points to an estimated 40 million Brazilians who in the last decade have ?emerged from poverty? to the middle class.

?They begin to consume in a way that is very different,? Chapman said. ?You have a distinct driver to these economies which you didn?t have before, which is the middle class itself. They are building upon good decisions that they have made over a decade to build up their tax base, to promote market economies, to find new export markets as they internationalize their economies.?

In the last year and a half, U.S exports to Brazil expanded 52 percent, according to Chapman, bringing the U.S. trade surplus with Brazil to $15 billion.

In the Latin American economic boom, those markets have become more diverse, making personal relationships important in many cases for U.S. companies.

?You can have situations where you are required to have a partner. You can find situations where it is desirable and smart to have a partner. And you can have a situation where you don?t need a partner at all,? Wolf said. ?There?s no cookie-cutter approach anymore. You can?t simply look south and say, ?They speak Spanish or Portuguese.? Each market is different.?

Likins said the embassies often play the role of ?matchmakers.?

?Latin America ? culturally relationships are really important,? she said. ?It?s not about a legal transaction. You need to not look at it as a legal transaction. ? Latin Americans are looking for partners. They are looking for a long-term relationship.?

?These are three fairly developed markets,? Chapman said, as he pushed trade shows in the countries as a way for U.S. companies to both make contact and get a feel for the market itself. ?They have trade shows related to your product. ? You can go down and see the entire industry all in one fell swoop.?

Source: http://www.memphisdailynews.com/news/2011/sep/30/us-diplomats-tout-latin-american-economies/

memphis plumbing services memphis plumbing

Wharton Makes Choices In Council Races

VOL. 126 | NO. 188 | Tuesday, September 27, 2011

By Bill Dries

Updated 10:32PM

Memphis Mayor A C Wharton Jr. has a ballot for the Memphis City Council races on the Oct. 6 ballot.

The ballot hit the streets this weekend, as the last full week of early voting began, with a set of Wharton endorsements in some but not all of the 13 council races on the ballot.

Wharton has endorsed challenger Rosalyn Nichols over incumbent Janis Fullilove in the Super District 8 Position 2 race, according to Deidre Malone of the Wharton campaign.

Wharton made no endorsement in the district 6 council race in which incumbent Edmund Ford Jr. is seeking re-election. Ford?s father, Edmund Ford Sr., is among those challenging Wharton in the race for mayor.

Wharton also decided to stay out of the Super District 9 Position 1 showdown between incumbent Kemp Conrad and challenge Paul Shaffer. The same municipal labor unions backing Shaffer are also backing the elder Ford in his challenge of Wharton.

Wharton picked University of Memphis Law School professor Lee Harris in the 14 candidate District 7 council race, the only council race without an incumbent seeking re-election.

Wharton made the decision to get involved in the council races after members of his campaign staff met three or four times to hammer out who they would recommend to him. Wharton accepted their recommendations.

Source: http://www.memphisdailynews.com/news/2011/sep/27/wharton-makes-choices-in-council-races/

plumbing services memphis plumbing services in memphis

Source: http://kwindur.blogspot.com/2011/09/wharton-makes-choices-in-council-races.html

heating and air memphis tn air conditioning repair memphis

Source: http://kwindur.blogspot.com/2011/09/wharton-makes-choices-in-council-races_28.html

plumbers memphis tn plumbers in memphis tn

New Memphis Animal Shelter to Open Mid-November

FAST FACTS:

• The Memphis Animal Shelter hopes to open its new facility by mid-November.
• The new shelter is 35,000 square feet, nearly three times the size of the current one.
• It has an in-house veterinarian clinic and an air quality control system.

(Memphis 09/28/2011) Deputy Director, LaSonya Hall, gave News Channel 3 a tour of the new Memphis Animal Shelter.

?We?re actually excited,? said Hall. ?This new animal shelter will provide us the amenities that many of the citizen?s desire in an animal shelter.?

The new shelter will open just two years after the Memphis animal shelter was raided for animal abuse. It?s a reputation the shelter has been trying to shake since.

?We are moving into a new facility, we are re-imaging the new shelter, we are encouraging community support and partnership,? said Hall. ?This is something we want the city to be proud of.?

Hall says the new shelter is more than three times the size of the current one. It has an in-house veterinarian clinic, an air quality control system, and new ways to clean that protect the animals.

---

Sign Up For ALERTS From Us

---

?We want to set the national standard in terms of animal shelters in the United States,? said Hall.

Green paws on the floor lead to the cat area where they'll be kept in, what the shelter calls, cat condos. They will be separated and sanitary.

?We have a new state of the art HVAC system so the quality of the air for the animals in this facility is much more improved, which will help to reduce disease in the animal population,? said Hall.

Blue paws on the floor lead the way to the dog kennels. The kennels have an access door for safe and easy cleaning as well as an automatic water drinking system. Hall says they're improvements to ways the shelter has struggled in the past.

?Our animals, that unfortunately make it to the shelter, are being cared for to the best of our ability,? said Hall.

There will be no more webcams at the new animal shelter.

That?s a request of the employees. The new shelter hopes to open mid-November. The shelter is offering a one-day, $10 adoption at the old shelter from 4p-7p on Thursday.

Source: http://www.wreg.com/news/wreg-new-memphis-animal-shelter-to-open-midnovember-20110928,0,4577171.story?track=rss

memphis hvac heating and air memphis

Options abound for reconstructing breasts

CHICAGO -- It had taken some years for Nicole McLean to embrace her God-given breasts, ample at size H cups. So when, at 39, she was diagnosed with stage 3 breast cancer and told, despite her adamant protests, that mastectomy was the best option, McLean never hesitated to pursue reconstruction.

For Barbara Kriss, a second breast cancer diagnosis three years after her first left her eager to do anything to prevent a third. So, at 57, she had both breasts removed -- and rather than put her body through any more surgery, she let her chest remain flat.

Deciding what to do about breasts post-mastectomy -- implants or natural tissue reconstruction, breast forms or nothing at all -- is among the most personal and emotional choices women make in the breast cancer battle.

Some doctors and advocates worry women don't know all of their options.

A survey last year by the nonprofit Cancer Support Community found that 40 percent of women didn't receive full information about reconstruction at the time of their breast cancer diagnosis.

"Losing a breast is like an amputation; women need to know that reconstruction is available for everyone," said Dr. Christopher Trahan, plastic surgeon at the Center for Restorative Breast Surgery in New Orleans. His practice sees many women who were inaccurately told they're not candidates for reconstruction.

Kriss, by contrast, feels that doctors push reconstruction for women to "feel whole" and don't acknowledge that breasts aren't so important to everyone. Kriss, of Miami, was eager to get back to her active lifestyle without further complications, so she asked her mastectomy surgeon to leave her breast-free chest as aesthetically pleasing as possible.

"I didn't find it very upsetting," Kriss said of seeing her symmetrical incisions post-mastectomy. Kriss, now 62, wears breast forms under her clothes and runs the nonprofit site breastfree.org to offer advice and prosthesis resources for women who choose not to reconstruct or want more time to think about it.

Federal law requires group health plans that cover mastectomy to also cover the cost of reconstruction, including surgery to balance an old breast with the new, as well as external breast prostheses. Deductibles and co-payments must be the same as those for other conditions covered by the plan.

Women choosing reconstruction have many options, though they may have to shop around to find doctors with expertise in more innovative procedures.

In addition to silicone implants, which are the most common reconstruction choice, doctors can create new breasts using living tissue from the abdominal region (called TRAM flaps) or upper back (called latissimus dorsi flaps), giving the new breast a live blood supply and much more natural look and feel than implants, Trahan said.

While natural tissue reconstruction is more invasive and entails longer recovery than implants on the front end, implants often require more surgery down the road: Half of women who get silicone gel implants for reconstruction have to get them removed 10 years later, according to the FDA, which also advises those with silicone implants to check for subtle tears every two years with an MRI. Implants also run the risk of capsular contracture, wherein the connective tissue overscars and can cause hardness and pain, and they are not advisable for women who must undergo radiation.

One of the most advanced natural tissue procedures is called DIEP, which uses extra tissue and fat without disturbing the muscles and therefore requires less recovery, Trahan said. Doctors can combine fat taken from the abdomen and hips to create a breast, which is helpful for thin women who don't have much fat to spare or those needing to match a very large breast, Trahan said.

On the implant end, a newer innovation is the adjustable saline implant, which is put in at the time of mastectomy and gradually injected with saline every week, during brief doctor's visits, until the correct breast size is achieved, said plastic surgeon Dr. Jeffrey Weinzweig. Adjustable implants eliminate the need for expanders, which are commonly required before having an implant inserted to gradually stretch the skin.

For McLean, who chronicles her experience on her blog, "My Fabulous Boobies" (fabulous-boobies.blogspot.com), getting a new breast was worth the long journey.

Because she required radiation post-mastectomy, McLean held off on reconstruction for 10 months, an "unbelievably difficult" period because the prosthesis she wore on her breastless side was smaller than her natural breast, and she was self-conscious about being lopsided.

Reconstruction, when the time came, was a 12-hour surgery for the TRAM procedure with an eight-week recovery at home. A few months later, McLean had her natural breast reduced to match the new one.

(McLean, now 42 and living in a suburb of Washington, has no sensation in her new breast and the scars remain. But she likes that she can wear a halter top if she chooses -- and a flatter tummy is a nice bonus.)

"It was the only thing that I thought would make me feel more normal after everything I had gone through," she said.

Women who opt not to reconstruct also have many options.

Breast forms come in different skin tones, with or without nipples, and the best are made of lightweight silicone to maximize comfort. Mastectomy bras, lingerie and swimsuits with pockets to hold breast forms are being made in increasingly attractive styles.

Source: http://kwindur.posterous.com/options-abound-for-reconstructing-breasts-2109

plumbing services in memphis plumbing service memphis

Wharton Makes Choices In Council Races

VOL. 126 | NO. 188 | Tuesday, September 27, 2011

By Bill Dries

Updated 10:32PM

Memphis Mayor A C Wharton Jr. has a ballot for the Memphis City Council races on the Oct. 6 ballot.

The ballot hit the streets this weekend, as the last full week of early voting began, with a set of Wharton endorsements in some but not all of the 13 council races on the ballot.

Wharton has endorsed challenger Rosalyn Nichols over incumbent Janis Fullilove in the Super District 8 Position 2 race, according to Deidre Malone of the Wharton campaign.

Wharton made no endorsement in the district 6 council race in which incumbent Edmund Ford Jr. is seeking re-election. Ford?s father, Edmund Ford Sr., is among those challenging Wharton in the race for mayor.

Wharton also decided to stay out of the Super District 9 Position 1 showdown between incumbent Kemp Conrad and challenge Paul Shaffer. The same municipal labor unions backing Shaffer are also backing the elder Ford in his challenge of Wharton.

Wharton picked University of Memphis Law School professor Lee Harris in the 14 candidate District 7 council race, the only council race without an incumbent seeking re-election.

Wharton made the decision to get involved in the council races after members of his campaign staff met three or four times to hammer out who they would recommend to him. Wharton accepted their recommendations.

Source: http://www.memphisdailynews.com/news/2011/sep/27/wharton-makes-choices-in-council-races/

plumbing services memphis plumbing services in memphis

Source: http://kwindur.blogspot.com/2011/09/wharton-makes-choices-in-council-races.html

heating and air memphis tn air conditioning repair memphis

Chisholm-Burns Named UTHSC Pharm School Dean

VOL. 126 | NO. 189 | Wednesday, September 28, 2011

By Aisling Maki

Updated 3:01PM

Dr. Marie Chisholm-Burns has been named dean of the College of Pharmacy at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center, making her the first African-American appointed to the position in the college?s 113-year history and only the second African-American to be named a dean in UTHSC history.

CHISHOLM-BURNS

?When I learned about the position opening, I thought, ?Wow, UT is a great, great place,? Chisholm-Burns said. ?I thought it was a place that I could see myself. It feels right.?

Chisholm-Burns will step into her new role as head of the college in the spring semester of the 2011-2012 academic year, replacing outgoing dean Dick Gourley, who will move to the Knoxville campus to head research projects.

?As we looked at replacing our longstanding and successful dean, Dick Gourley, we were looking for someone who had the ability, potential and track record to take us from a top 20 to a top 10 college of pharmacy,? said UTHSC chancellor Dr. Steve Schwab of the college, which ranks No. 16 out of 126 colleges of pharmacy in the country.

Chisholm-Burns will leave her current role as a professor and head of the Department of Pharmacy Practice and Science at the University of Arizona College of Pharmacy.

A nationally known investigator and educator, she built her reputation with expertise in improving health outcomes by novel methods of medication adherence and health care access.

In her new role, she will lead the UT College of Pharmacy statewide, including campus locations in Memphis and Knoxville and clinical training sites throughout Tennessee.

?I really want to make a difference in people?s lives ? in patient care, in the lives of the alumni, the lives of the students, and in our scholarship ? and bettering humankind and the wellbeing of people,? she said. ?That?s my biggest thing. I like to be part of a place that makes a big difference, and I want to build that with the people in Tennessee.?

Chisholm-Burns received her bachelor?s and pharmacy degrees at the University of Georgia, and a master?s of public health at Emory University.

She served as professor of Clinical and Administrative Pharmacy at the University of Georgia College of Pharmacy, and as professor of medicine at Georgia Health Sciences University in Augusta. While in Georgia, she founded, implemented and managed the statewide Medication Access Program.

She was then recruited to the University of Arizona in Tucson as professor and head of the Department of Pharmacy Practice and Science where she also was named a professor of pharmaceutical science in the College of Pharmacy, professor of surgery in the College of Medicine and professor in the College of Public Health.

During her tenure as department head, Chisholm-Burns presided over a three-fold increase in principal investigator grant funding and a six-fold increase in grant and contract funding, helping the Department of Pharmacy Practice and Science become one of the foremost Pharmacy Practice departments in the nation in the area of research.

?She really brings to us not only great educational skills, but great research skills,? Schwab said.

Her numerous awards include the Robert K. Chalmers Distinguished Pharmacy Educator Award from the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy, the Daniel B. Smith Practice Excellence Award from the American Pharmacists Association, and the Award of Excellence from the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists. Her scholarly work includes more than 240 publications and approximately $8 million in external funding as principal investigator from organizations such as the National Institutes of Health and several foundations.

Chisholm-Burns? UTHSC appointment comes about a month after the college unveiled its state-of-the-art, 183,000-square-foot College of Pharmacy building. The college was previously housed in six buildings on the sprawling, urban campus on Madison Avenue. The $70 million facility adds more than 1.4 million square feet of laboratory, research, education and business space in the heart of the Memphis Medical Center.

?I?m very happy to be in that new building,? Chisholm-Burns said. ?It?s going to change the environment. People being housed together certainly helps to foster relationships. However, it?s really the people under that roof that makes the place what it is, and that?s what I?m more excited about.?

Source: http://www.memphisdailynews.com/news/2011/sep/28/chisholm-burns-named-uthsc-pharm-school-dean/

air conditioning repair memphis memphis air conditioning repair

New staff leader aims to give Memphis Realtors tools for a tough market

The person just picked to lead the staff of the Memphis Area Association of Realtors is well schooled in the supply and demand of property.

Melanie Blakeney's first job after she graduated from the University of Oklahoma was as director of the historical museum in Norman, Okla.

Of course, a focus of the Norman and Cleveland County Historical Museum was the Oklahoma Land Rush of 1889, when the government put 2 million acres up for grabs to those willing to settle the land.

In this economy, there's hardly a rush for property as the 49-year-old Blakeney takes over the Realtors organization effective Dec. 1.

"The best thing we can do is ... do everything we can to be a resource for our members," said the native of Lake Charles, La.

That means providing Realtors continuing education about the best financing options at a time when their clients are having a tough time getting home loans, about creative marketing at a time when sales are harder to come by, and maintaining a high-quality Multiple Listing Service and property-records system as a resource for Realtors.

Blakeney will succeed Jules Wade, who has been executive vice president of the local association since 1984.

Over the past dozen years, Blakeney has accumulated experience tackling several jobs within the association. She has been in charge of its technical services, its marketing and communications and its Commercial Council.

"She's tremendously personable," said Bayard Snowden, vice president of Colliers International/Memphis. He was president of the Realtors' Commercial Council in 2007.

He described Blakeney as engaging, diligent and capable.

"The kind of person that anyone would want working for them," Snowden said. "Working with real estate brokers is like herding cats. She just does a great job of making it happen."

Blakeney moved to Memphis in 1999 when her husband, Jeff, accepted a job offer here. For the previous 10 years, she'd been president and CEO of the Lafayette (La.) Board of Realtors.

Before that, she led the Norman Board of Realtors as executive officer.

Steve Herbert, chief operating officer of Coldwell Banker Pelican Real Estate in Lafayette, worked closely with Blakeney in 1994 when he was president of the Realtors board there.

"Melanie was always positive, enthusiastic and very participative," he said.

In 1994, the real estate industry was concerned about what the Internet would do to the industry, he said.

"There was a great fear at the time of losing a bunch of our membership, that the Internet was going to put Realtors out of business," he recalled.

Blakeney instilled confidence by establishing contingency plans. "But luckily, the fears never came true," he said.

Now, the economy has done what the Internet did not. Membership at the Memphis Area Association of Realtors has dropped to 3,300 from a high of 5,400 in 2007.

The association's staff of 15 understands the challenges Realtors have been facing, Blakeney said, adding their job is to provide stability and even comfort to the members.

Her immediate goals include having the organization be a strong advocate for policies that will strengthen home ownership.

For example, she'll fight proposals to start requiring minimum down payments of 20 percent of a home's cost.

"That would knock out so many potential home buyers," Blakeney said.

Meanwhile, she accentuates the positive in tough times.

"Interest rates are so low that if you have a small amount for a down payment and talk to a Realtor, you can find a house," Blakeney said. "The opportunities are there for many folks to have home ownership."

-- Tom Bailey Jr.: (901) 529-2388

Source: http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2011/sep/27/resources-rush/?partner=RSS

plumbers in memphis tn germantown plumbing

Be Prepared

VOL. 126 | NO. 187 | Monday, September 26, 2011

By Andy Meek

Updated 3:11PM

In remarks to the National Press Club in Washington earlier this month, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani singled out two people in his administration as being largely responsible for helping him make it through a day that started like any other day in 2001 but changed the course of the nation?s history before it was over.

Richard Sheirer, former director of New York?s Emergency Management, stands with a Girl Scouts troop after speaking at the Children?s Museum of Memphis as a guest of the Lipscomb Pitts Breakfast Club.?
(Photo: Lance Murphey)

One of those two people ? Richard Sheirer, the city?s former commissioner of Emergency Management ? helped take charge of the massive cleanup and recovery effort in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. New York Magazine described him as the ?Man Behind the Mayor,? and he came to Memphis a few days ago as a guest of the Lipscomb Pitts Breakfast Club in part to underscore September as National Preparedness Month.

?It?s so nice to hear a Southern accent,? he said with his thick New York brogue to his audience at a reception at the Children?s Museum of Memphis Thursday, Sept. 22.

His message of the day was simple. Be prepared. Have a plan.

Homes can be damaged by fire. Earthquakes can strike. Terrorists can knock down buildings, killing thousands and wounding a city.

Sheirer stressed to keep a ?go bag? at the ready and filled with basic necessities, identification, prescription and insurance paperwork ? all the must-haves for everyday life.

On the disaster preparedness side, he had some suggestions about key ingredients for the official response. The decision makers should betogether, face-to-face or at least close to it, mapping the response.

?No battle of the badges. No turf wars,? he said. ?Catastrophe knows no turf.?

Sheirer said the events of Sept. 11, 2001, came at a point in his life when he was expecting to retire and ?do something less taxing.? He recalled what he said were three Mexican firefighters who?d driven up to the city for more than 50 hours in a rickety bus, eager to help.

?Those are the kinds of things that never escape your mind,? he said.

Jan Young, executive director of The Assisi Foundation of Memphis Inc., preceeded Sheirer?s remarks with a moment of silence and a respectful word of thanks to ?the finest of Memphis and Shelby County? who, like the first responders on Sept. 11, 2001, go to work on every ordinary day like they did, not always knowing what will be around the corner.

Source: http://www.memphisdailynews.com/news/2011/sep/26/be-prepared/

plumbers in memphis tn germantown plumbing

Source: http://kwindur.blogspot.com/2011/09/be-prepared.html

plumbing memphis memphis plumber

Wharton Makes Choices In Council Races

VOL. 126 | NO. 188 | Tuesday, September 27, 2011

By Bill Dries

Updated 10:32PM

Memphis Mayor A C Wharton Jr. has a ballot for the Memphis City Council races on the Oct. 6 ballot.

The ballot hit the streets this weekend, as the last full week of early voting began, with a set of Wharton endorsements in some but not all of the 13 council races on the ballot.

Wharton has endorsed challenger Rosalyn Nichols over incumbent Janis Fullilove in the Super District 8 Position 2 race, according to Deidre Malone of the Wharton campaign.

Wharton made no endorsement in the district 6 council race in which incumbent Edmund Ford Jr. is seeking re-election. Ford?s father, Edmund Ford Sr., is among those challenging Wharton in the race for mayor.

Wharton also decided to stay out of the Super District 9 Position 1 showdown between incumbent Kemp Conrad and challenge Paul Shaffer. The same municipal labor unions backing Shaffer are also backing the elder Ford in his challenge of Wharton.

Wharton picked University of Memphis Law School professor Lee Harris in the 14 candidate District 7 council race, the only council race without an incumbent seeking re-election.

Wharton made the decision to get involved in the council races after members of his campaign staff met three or four times to hammer out who they would recommend to him. Wharton accepted their recommendations.

Source: http://www.memphisdailynews.com/news/2011/sep/27/wharton-makes-choices-in-council-races/

plumbing services memphis plumbing services in memphis

Layout blinds make late moves a snap when hunting waterfowl

Portable blinds are lightweight and easy to carry, just in case you need to move quickly during an early-morning hunt.

During a late-season Arkansas duck hunt last January, Stephen Pitt and two fellow hunters realized just a few minutes after daylight that they should have set up their decoy spread about 100 yards further into the rice field they were hunting.

"We had done some scouting the day before, and we set up our spread where we thought the ducks would be feeding that next morning," said Pitt, an avid duck hunter and pro-staffer for Memphis-based Avery Outdoors. "But we saw pretty quickly that we were off by at least 50-100 yards."

Back in the days when duck hunters only used stationary pits and blinds, Pitt and his friends could have only sat and watched as the ducks stayed just beyond their reach.

But they were using portable layout blinds. So they picked up their entire operation and moved where the action was.

"We were using Avery Finisher Blinds," said Pitt, an Olive Branch resident, whose father Pat is a famed waterfowl taxidermist and outfitter. "Each man just grabbed his own blind. We each grabbed a few decoys, and we moved everything in just a few minutes. Being mobile allowed us all to kill a limit that day when we might have missed out all together if we were hunting from a stationary blind or pit."

That's the beauty of the portable hunting blind -- and it's probably why the blinds seem to be growing more popular every season, even among traditionalists who have resisted using them for years.

For more than a century, waterfowl hunters were limited to three basic types of hunting.

They could hunt from permanent stationary blinds, which were like miniature tree houses built strategically on the edges of good hunting property. They could hunt from pits, which were little more than holes dug in strategic hunting locations. Or they could hide among the trees in a flooded swamp, standing waist-deep in cold water.

Those age-old methods have their good points, and they're all still popular today. But if the ducks aren't frequenting those particular locations, hunters are simply out of luck.

Portable blinds help hunters break many of the age-old ties associated with the more permanent options.

"If you're dealing with a drought situation, portable blinds can be a lifesaver," said Bill Cooksey, a Bartlett resident and communications specialist for Avery Outdoors. "In a year when we don't get a whole lot of rain, the best hunting on your property might not be right around the blinds and pits that have always been good in the past. Having a portable blind allows you to go where you need to go."

Many of the portable layout blinds on the market today look like sophisticate camouflaged sleeping bags. They're light and easy to carry. They're easy to assemble and disassemble, but still plenty spacious for a hunter in the field.

Avery has a wide selection portable blinds, including the popular Finisher, which collapses to a compact size of only 42 inches long and seven inches tall. The company also makes a popular blind called the Migrator and a waterproof case for portable blinds known as the Neotub.

The Neotub allows hunters to use portable blinds in water up to eight inches deep without getting wet.

Other popular blinds on the market include the GooseTrap layout blind, an 11-pound blind with a thick foam seat, a wide backrest, a removable gun flap, vegetation straps and a waterproof polyester ground bag for cover-up.

Final Approach's Eliminator Sport Utility Blind collapses to 36 inches wide by 25 inches long for easy transport in the field. The SUB has a rust-free aluminum frame, a waterproof floor, side-flagging ports and padded rests for your head and gun. It measures just 85 inches long, 36 inches wide and 18 inches high.

Almost all of the blinds have easy-opening flaps that allow hunters to stay completely concealed until it's time to start firing. Though they're available in numerous camo patterns, it's still necessary to add a little natural camouflage to them from time to time.

"A lot of times we'll take a rake into the field with us to rake up rice stubble that we use for extra camouflage," Pitt said. "You definitely want to make sure that you blend in with your surroundings."

Pitt said the portable blinds are especially good during the latter part of the season when many ducks have become "educated," and thus leery of the more permanent sites.

"When ducks have flown over the same spread of 200 decoys again and again, they get shy sometimes," Pitt said. "A lot of times when we get to that point, two or three of us will set up in layout blinds with a smaller decoy spread -- just something they haven't seen a whole lot. That can make a big difference."

Cooksey said layout blinds can even sometimes eliminate the need for water.

"I've been amazed by the number of people who have started having dry-field hunts," Cooksey said. "That was something nobody would have dreamed of doing 10 to 15 years ago. But I know people now who will get out in the middle of a dry field with two or three layout blinds and a few spinners -- and they kill a lot of ducks that way."

Whether you're hunting a dry rice field or a field with six inches of water, the portable blinds on today's market offer a different kind of hunting experience.

"I always say it's a very exciting and effective way to hunt," said Tom Fulgham, chief communications officer with Memphis-based Ducks Unlimited. "You have to use a little more patience and judgment sometimes when you're hunting from those kinds of blinds. But if you play your cards right, the action usually happens right on top of you -- and that makes for a great experience."

PORTABLE HUNTING BLINDS

A recent article on the web site operated by Memphis-based Ducks Unlimited listed several quality portable waterfowl hunting blinds. Here's a few of the blinds that were highlighted and the web sites you can visit for more information on them:

Avery Migrator-2 Ground Blind: averyoutdoors.com

Aero Outdoors Maximus Blind: aerooutdoors.com

Final Approach Eliminator Sport Utility Blind: fabrand.com

Tanglefree Layout Blind: tanglefree.com

GooseTrap Layout Blind: goosetrap.com

Source: http://kwindur.posterous.com/layout-blinds-make-late-moves-a-snap-when-hun

hvac memphis tn memphis heating and air conditioning

Be Prepared

VOL. 126 | NO. 187 | Monday, September 26, 2011

By Andy Meek

Updated 3:11PM

In remarks to the National Press Club in Washington earlier this month, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani singled out two people in his administration as being largely responsible for helping him make it through a day that started like any other day in 2001 but changed the course of the nation?s history before it was over.

Richard Sheirer, former director of New York?s Emergency Management, stands with a Girl Scouts troop after speaking at the Children?s Museum of Memphis as a guest of the Lipscomb Pitts Breakfast Club.�
(Photo: Lance Murphey)

One of those two people ? Richard Sheirer, the city?s former commissioner of Emergency Management ? helped take charge of the massive cleanup and recovery effort in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. New York Magazine described him as the ?Man Behind the Mayor,? and he came to Memphis a few days ago as a guest of the Lipscomb Pitts Breakfast Club in part to underscore September as National Preparedness Month.

?It?s so nice to hear a Southern accent,? he said with his thick New York brogue to his audience at a reception at the Children?s Museum of Memphis Thursday, Sept. 22.

His message of the day was simple. Be prepared. Have a plan.

Homes can be damaged by fire. Earthquakes can strike. Terrorists can knock down buildings, killing thousands and wounding a city.

Sheirer stressed to keep a ?go bag? at the ready and filled with basic necessities, identification, prescription and insurance paperwork ? all the must-haves for everyday life.

On the disaster preparedness side, he had some suggestions about key ingredients for the official response. The decision makers should betogether, face-to-face or at least close to it, mapping the response.

?No battle of the badges. No turf wars,? he said. ?Catastrophe knows no turf.?

Sheirer said the events of Sept. 11, 2001, came at a point in his life when he was expecting to retire and ?do something less taxing.? He recalled what he said were three Mexican firefighters who?d driven up to the city for more than 50 hours in a rickety bus, eager to help.

?Those are the kinds of things that never escape your mind,? he said.

Jan Young, executive director of The Assisi Foundation of Memphis Inc., preceeded Sheirer?s remarks with a moment of silence and a respectful word of thanks to ?the finest of Memphis and Shelby County? who, like the first responders on Sept. 11, 2001, go to work on every ordinary day like they did, not always knowing what will be around the corner.

Source: http://www.memphisdailynews.com/news/2011/sep/26/be-prepared/

plumbers in memphis tn germantown plumbing

Capitol Hill briefing looks at high rate of infant mortality in Memphis

WASHINGTON�? Memphis and Shelby County?s high rate of infant mortality was a focus of a Capitol Hill briefing today that also looked at maternal mortality, pre-conception health and the budget pressures confronting public health programs.

It was in part a reprise of a September 2009 event at the National Press Club where the documentary film�?Crisis in the Crib? by Tonya Lewis Lee, Spike Lee?s wife, made its Washington debut. Lee, who spoke at today?s event and heads up the�?Healthy Baby Begins with You? campaign, looked at Shelby County?s disproportionate rate of infant mortality in the film and now travels the country drawing attention to it.

Lee said the country is�?health illiterate? and that women need to know to be healthy before they conceive. As another expert on the panel, Dr. Richard N. Waldman, an obstetrician, pointed out,�?it?s becoming culturally acceptable to be very, very heavy,? but obesity makes for difficult pregnancies and raises the rate of Caesarian sections.

U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen, D-Tenn., told the moving story of his sister, Rosemary, who died shortly after she was born in 1946, to draw attention to the devastation such deaths have on parents and families. His district contains ZIP Code 38108 in North Memphis where 31 of 1,000 babies don?t reach their first birthdays, or almost five times the national rate.

His recent visit to Rwanda to study infant mortality, he said, reminded him of parts of his Memphis district, adding,�?that?s an indictment of the United States of America.?

Dr. Garth N. Graham director of the Office of Minority Health at the Department of Health and Human Services, who teaches at Harvard?s medical school, said the disparities between birth outcomes for black and white children remain persistent and aren?t exclusively an issue of socioeconomic factors. Babies of African American women with college degrees have higher mortality rate than babies of women with only high school diplomas.

Waldman, of Syracuse, N.Y., and a past president of the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, advocated both a bill that Cohen has introduced that would collect detailed health information on both mothers and babies on birth certificates and greater use by states of death certificates with a box to check if a woman had been pregnant within a year of death in order to give researchers accurate data on rates of maternal death.

Brent M. Ewig, director of public policy for the Association of Maternal and Child Health Programs, said public health officials are often�?typecast as whiners,? but that the budget cuts affecting public health should be a big concern for all.

Ewig said some dispute whether 45 other countries have better one-year survival rates than the United States,�?we?re not doing as well as we should.? He said even excellent access to prenatal care for seven or eight months does not make up for a lifetime of poor nutrition and poor health.

Despite the growing awareness of the problem, Ewig noted that a Senate appropriations committee this week cut funding to a 76-year-old program that funnels money to the states to deal with prenatal care while 43,000 public health workers have lost their jobs in the current downturn.

Source: http://kwindur.tumblr.com/post/10562838621

plumbing services in memphis plumbing service memphis

Six Shot In Beale Parking Lot; One By Police

Stephanie Scurlock

1:14 p.m. CDT, September 25, 2011

• FAST FACTS:
• POLICE SHOOT WOMAN ON BEALE AFTER SHE POINTS GUN AT THEM
• TOTAL OF SIX SHOT IN PARKING LOT OUTSIDE BEALE STREET CLUB
• CARS OF CLUB PATRONS HAVE HEAVY DAMAGE FROM GUNFIRE
• (Memphis 09/25/2011) � Six people are shot in a Beale Street parking lot. Three were transported in critical condition, two in non-critical. A sixth person, shot by police, was also transported in critical condition. The shootings happened in the area of Beale and Fourth Street behind a club, Crave. The business opened about a month ago in the building once occupied by the Plush Club.
• "We came out and they just got to shooting and the police pulled up. They got to shooting back with them," said club patron, Jonathan Hurdle.
• Offices got the call about 3 a.m. of shots being fired behind Crave. When they arrived they saw a woman firing shots. Police say they ordered her to drop the gun and she pointed it at them. That's when the officers shot her.
• "They were fighting over here and some girl had a gun and everybody started shooting. Wow, that's messed up," said Ron Tunstall, club patron.
• The 380 Beale address is no stranger to violence. It housed the old Plush Club which was shut down as a public nuisance because of the crime.
• While this shooting happened outside of the club it left a bad taste in the mouths of those who attended last night. Some say they won't be coming back. It was not the kind of atmosphere the new owners say they didn't want. The On Your Side Investigators found a man identifying himself as an owner talking about the club just weeks before it opened.
• He said, "We`re going to provide a nice lavish, secure atmosphere where you can have fun. We come here to celebrate life. That`s it."
• College student, Jonathan Hurdle, is one of those who doesn't want to come back.
• Hurdle said, "This is my first time coming down here since the Plush and it's a bad experience. I'll never come back."
• Others also have reservations after looking at the bullet holes that littered some of the cars.
• Pointing to the three bullet holes in his SUV Tunstall said, "I hope the city going to pay for this. The police did that. "
• He added, "They were the ones shooting from the street."
• He's worried about who's paying his repair bill. Janet Jones who brought her daughter back to the parking lot Sunday to pick up her car thought about something else.
• Jones said, "To see that bullet in there I just thank God they weren't in the midst of it. I don't even know what happened."
• Two of the five injured in the shootings were transported to the hospital in critical condition. Three were non-critical. The woman shot by police was transported in critical condition.
• News Channel 3 will continue to monitor this developing story. Officers involved in the shooting of the woman are routinely relieved of duty with pay pending an investigation.

---

Sign Up For ALERTS From Us

---

Source: http://www.wreg.com/news/wreg-beale-street-shooting-story,0,7312823.story?track=rss

memphis air conditioning memphis heating

Capitol Hill briefing looks at high rate of infant mortality in Memphis

WASHINGTON�? Memphis and Shelby County?s high rate of infant mortality was a focus of a Capitol Hill briefing today that also looked at maternal mortality, pre-conception health and the budget pressures confronting public health programs.

It was in part a reprise of a September 2009 event at the National Press Club where the documentary film�?Crisis in the Crib? by Tonya Lewis Lee, Spike Lee?s wife, made its Washington debut. Lee, who spoke at today?s event and heads up the�?Healthy Baby Begins with You? campaign, looked at Shelby County?s disproportionate rate of infant mortality in the film and now travels the country drawing attention to it.

Lee said the country is�?health illiterate? and that women need to know to be healthy before they conceive. As another expert on the panel, Dr. Richard N. Waldman, an obstetrician, pointed out,�?it?s becoming culturally acceptable to be very, very heavy,? but obesity makes for difficult pregnancies and raises the rate of Caesarian sections.

U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen, D-Tenn., told the moving story of his sister, Rosemary, who died shortly after she was born in 1946, to draw attention to the devastation such deaths have on parents and families. His district contains ZIP Code 38108 in North Memphis where 31 of 1,000 babies don?t reach their first birthdays, or almost five times the national rate.

His recent visit to Rwanda to study infant mortality, he said, reminded him of parts of his Memphis district, adding,�?that?s an indictment of the United States of America.?

Dr. Garth N. Graham director of the Office of Minority Health at the Department of Health and Human Services, who teaches at Harvard?s medical school, said the disparities between birth outcomes for black and white children remain persistent and aren?t exclusively an issue of socioeconomic factors. Babies of African American women with college degrees have higher mortality rate than babies of women with only high school diplomas.

Waldman, of Syracuse, N.Y., and a past president of the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, advocated both a bill that Cohen has introduced that would collect detailed health information on both mothers and babies on birth certificates and greater use by states of death certificates with a box to check if a woman had been pregnant within a year of death in order to give researchers accurate data on rates of maternal death.

Brent M. Ewig, director of public policy for the Association of Maternal and Child Health Programs, said public health officials are often�?typecast as whiners,? but that the budget cuts affecting public health should be a big concern for all.

Ewig said some dispute whether 45 other countries have better one-year survival rates than the United States,�?we?re not doing as well as we should.? He said even excellent access to prenatal care for seven or eight months does not make up for a lifetime of poor nutrition and poor health.

Despite the growing awareness of the problem, Ewig noted that a Senate appropriations committee this week cut funding to a 76-year-old program that funnels money to the states to deal with prenatal care while 43,000 public health workers have lost their jobs in the current downturn.

Source: http://kwindur.tumblr.com/post/10562838621

germantown heating and air conditioning air conditioning repair memphis tn