Crop and Go

VOL. 126 | NO. 212 | Monday, October 31, 2011

By Bill Dries

Updated 3:00PM

Take agriculture machinery from the sugar cane and cotton industries.

Michael Gong of Delta BioRenewables shows a modular ethanol still during a field day program about harvesting, producing and processing sweet sorghum at a biorefinery in Whiteville.
(Photo: Lance Murphey)

Add genetics from cotton, corn and soybean seed companies. Mix with some proprietary technology built around what looks like a still and you have the recipe for the rise of sweet sorghum as an element in making biofuels.

In a field in Whiteville, about an hour away in Hardeman County, the stalks of sorghum are rising to about 12 feet after being planted in June by BioDimensions Inc. as the latest crop in a three-year experiment that will expand to 500 acres next year and go fully commercial in 2013.

BioDimensions, the parent of Delta BioRenewables, is a company with backing from the Memphis Bioworks Foundation in Memphis that blends urban and rural.

The companies were founded by Memphian Maury Radin, best known for his leadership of the Memphis-area Manpower Employment Services franchise, and Pete Nelson, a Hardeman County farmer turned author, researcher and consultant to businesses on the bio-based economy.

?We?ve been interested in alternative crops over the last 15 years,? Nelson said. ?What can we grow here to give farmers additional income and rotate with our current crops??

Radin also wanted to avoid contributing further to the commoditization of corn, in particular, or any other dominant food source as a biofuel source.

?Using corn to make fuel just didn?t work. Using soybeans to make diesel fuel, likewise didn?t work because you were using food and feed crops to make industrial products,? Radin said. ?That set up a conflict between food and feed and fuel.?

Sweet sorghum and the industrial inedible sugar it produces was the answer.

?Simple sugars can be used as the essential building blocks in a lot of different materials like green chemicals and plastics and just a number of different areas,? Radin said. ?In looking for crops that did not compete with food or feed, we came across sweet sorghum, which was kind of a niche crop. Usually it is for pancake syrup.?

With his contacts from his time as a farmer, Nelson approached Willie German Jr. in Whiteville.

?We did not gin cotton here anymore. We sold out to a bigger gin that had bigger warehouses,? German said. ?I didn?t want to grow just cotton anymore like we used to do. So when the corn and soybean prices started running and cotton prices were still low a lot of the smaller gins shut down and joined up with bigger gins.?

Sweet sorghum is harvested during a field day near the BioDimensions and Delta BioRenewables biorefinery in Whiteville.
(Photo: Lance Murphey)

German turned over a cotton gin he was using for storage and some acreage.

?Not for money but just because it?s something good that we all need to be concerned about,? he said. ?Our rural economies need these types of businesses in their areas. We need options because corns and beans won?t always be as high as they are now. Even now, cotton is coming back.?

But German?s neighbors have taken notice in the last three years, especially at the 12-foot stalks that grow without irrigation.

?They?ve seen how resilient this sorghum is,? he said after a long hot summer. ?This is the only thing, when you drive by, that?s not wilted down and dying in those hard days. It just kind of goes dormant and then it comes back to life again.?

The Advanced Rural Biorefinery and its product have two customers for now and a good part of what BioDimensions and Delta BioRenewables provide to them including their methods for preparing the syrup and other liquids are proprietary. There were some questions the staff declined to answer about the process during two field days in Whiteville earlier this month.

?A still would be the mountain term,? Michael Gong said as visitors eyed a large steel fermenter with a telltale coil.

Among those leading the walk through the refinery to see the process was Gillian Eggleston, lead scientist at the Southern Regional Research Center of the U.S. Department of Agriculture and a chemist who has worked and researched extensively in the U.S. sugarcane industry.

Program manager Randy Powell is a former vice president of performance chemicals manufacturing for Eastman Chemical Co. and has a Ph.D. in synthetic organic chemistry.

Powell agreed with one observer who called the Whiteville operation ?the world?s largest science fair project.? But Powell?s work has been in not only theory but the commercialization of biodiesel and fuel pellets during his time at Eastman.

?We?re going to see a wave of new products as petroleum prices go up,? he said during the second of the two field days this month that drew a group of 50 to the refinery and fields. ?This has huge potential for economic development in rural communities. Plants will have to be close to the fields.?

That is because the sugar produced with sorghum can begin to change almost immediately after it is harvested depending on weather conditions and temperature.

?A lot of the processing part comes from the sugar cane engineering,? Nelson said of the processes from other areas of agriculture. ?The genetics ? the seed ? is being borrowed from the same companies that developed traits for corn and cotton and soybeans. It?s all top of the line breeding now going into sweet sorghum. That?s a big difference from a decade ago. We?re getting very good varieties. ? The end users, unlike edible sugar, are these folks that are developing these proprietary microbes that are going into jet fuels, tires, all of these kinds of products.?

Source: http://kwindur.wordpress.com/2011/10/31/crop-and-go/

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Cybersecurity Importance Grows

VOL. 126 | NO. 212 | Monday, October 31, 2011

By Andy Meek

Updated 3:11PM

Anyone reading this article via the Internet is part of a crowd that?s 2.5 billion strong. That?s how many people are currently connected to the ?Net, according to cybersecurity authority Melissa Hathaway, who was in town Thursday to share with the Economic Club of Memphis her warnings about how fragile the world?s digital infrastructure is.

Famed bank robber Willie Sutton is said to have dryly noted that he robbed banks because that?s where the money is. Hathaway?s comments boiled down to the tech version of that idea: Cybercriminals are flocking to the Web, because that?s where the opportunity ? and often unsuspecting victims ? are.

?The largest problem is awareness,? said Hathaway, the president of Hathaway Global Strategies LLC who shares advice with the U.S. government, Interpol and other government agencies around the world. ?People don?t understand what the vulnerabilities might be.?

She piqued the audience?s interest early with the surprising statistic about how often people are clicking ?send? on digital correspondence. Of the 100 trillion emails last year, she pegged 89 percent as spam.

That?s a lot of clutter ? and potentially harmful, invasive and data-grabbing material ? floating through the Internet?s pipeline.

While she said that cybersecurity as an issue has gained international prominence over the last few years ? especially with a string of recent data breaches at entities like Citigroup, Sony, Epsilon and others ? she said there?s still a long way to go. And that the stakes are too high to leave that gap unaddressed.

For example, she said the energy industry is poised in her opinion to begin experiencing fraud like never before. That?s because of the increasing frequency with which energy companies are digitizing much of the customer experience like payment systems and with accounts that can be accessed via smart phones.

Hathaway was the Cyber Coordination Executive and Director of the Joint Interagency Cyber Task Force in the Office of the Director of National Intelligence during the last two years of the administration of President George W. Bush. From February to August 2009, she was the acting Senior Director for Cyberspace in the National Security Council for the administration of President Barack Obama.

In May 2009, Obama presented his blueprint of the Cyberspace Policy Review, and Hathaway then helped invigorate the Cybersecurity Office within the administration?s national security staff to begin the work called for in that blueprint.

At the end of her government service, Hathaway got the National Intelligence Reform medal in honor of her achievements.

Concerns about Internet and computer security pervade even her personal life. Hathaway said she has two children who are in the fifth and sixth grade. One of her children is required to bring a thumb drive to and from school.

?My network at home is secure, but I can?t be sure the school has a clean network,? she said.

Source: http://www.memphisdailynews.com/news/2011/oct/31/cybersecurity-importance-grows/

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Film Review: 'Senna' tells fascinating story of champion race car driver

Courtesy ESPN films

A scene from ?Senna,? a documentary about Brazilian Formula One racing champion Ayrton Senna.

Documentaries are sometimes referred to as nonfiction films. In theory, they represent the cinematic equivalent of journalism, even if they?re experimental or highly subjective�? what Tom Wolfe called�?New Journalism.? They are constructed from research, interviews and reported if disputed facts, even if they are as stylized as a graphic novel or contain staged performances and recreations.

A current trend among documentarians is to withhold even basic information. These filmmakers prefer to let their footage speak for itself, and they offer little narration or text to place the material in context. This approach can sometimes turn precious, and trap the movie in a box, to be admired primarily by the cognoscenti.

A documentary about Brazilian Formula One racing driver Ayrton Senna, who won the world championship three times. The story is told through archival footage. Senna ?

Rating: PG-13 for some strong language and disturbing images

Length: 105 minutes

Released: August 12, 2011 NY/LA

Cast: Ayrton Senna, Alain Prost, Frank Williams, Ron Dennis, Viviane Senna

Director: Asif Kapadia

Writer: Manish Pandey

More info and showtimes�?

The very fine film�?Better Than Something: Jay Reatard? (which screens Nov. 5 at the Indie Memphis Film Festival) includes lots of candid footage of the late Memphis musician, but doesn?t address the circumstances of the tragic death that caused the movie to come into being; thus, it requires uninitiated but intrigued viewers to do their own research online after seeing the movie. Maybe that?s the point.

Sometimes, however, footage is almost all you need. A model of documentary storytelling efficiency constructed entirely from vintage film and videotape, with occasional voiceover comments and onscreen text to identify the year and location,�?Senna? chronicles the career of Brazilian Formula One racing champion Ayrton Senna, killed in 1994 at the age of 34 when his car hit a wall and a suspension shaft struck his head. According to the film, this was the only injury to his body.

Directed by Asif Kapadia for ESPN Films, the movie presents Senna as a�?genius? driver (he was a three-time Formula One champion by the time he was 31) who disdained the politics and money that influenced the sport. (His privileged background afforded him the luxury of claiming he was indifferent to the cash.) In vintage interview footage, Senna longs for the�?real racing? thrill he experienced as a teenager on the go-kart circuit, and says that when he?s behind the wheel he enters a place�?beyond my conscious understanding.? After one race, he reports:�?I visualized�? I saw God.?

In economically depressed and politically turbulent Brazil, the handsome Senna quickly became a national hero and pop idol. (?Isn?t he cute?? says the Brazilian TV superstar known as Xuxa, before she tattoos the driver?s face with lipsticky kisses.)

He is contrasted throughout the film with a less likable star, his rival, Alain Prost, a calculating and possibly even devious French driver. A four-time Formula One champion, Prost was known as�?the Professor? for his political gamesmanship and his ability to exploit the Grand Prix point system in ways that would allow him to be the year?s best driver without having to go all-out in every race. It?s surprising a dramatic film hasn?t been made yet about this rivalry; I could see Gael Garc?a Bernal as either driver.

I?ll be honest: I know even less about Formula One than I do about NASCAR, which is next to nothing. But�?Senna? kept me interested for its entire running time, which is a testimony not only to this particular speed racer?s real-life story but to Kapadia?s clean sense of narrative�? and to those many, many camera operators who apparently followed Senna everywhere he went, capturing the footage that made this documentary possible.

?Senna? is exclusively at Malco?s Ridgeway Four.

? John Beifuss: 529-2394

? 2011�Go Memphis. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Source: http://www.gomemphis.com/news/2011/oct/28/film-review-senna-tells-fascinating-story-champion/?partner=RSS&partner=RSS

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Source: http://kwindur.tumblr.com/post/12074882212

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As foreign investment shores up U.S. jobs, companies like Pemko part of new wave helping Memphis

Hard times faced Memphis door hardware maker Pemko when the building boom began fading in 2007, slicing away 2 million construction jobs nationwide.

Instead of slashing jobs, Pemko added designers and engineers.

What happened at the Southeast Memphis plant reflects a quiet trend in the United States.

Foreign investment has flowed in, and begun to help brace companies and communities.

While 10 percent of Pemko's workers were let go in the past three years, managers say the company, which employs about 165 people in the city, was probably saved from a bigger fall by its new owner.

Assa Abloy, a Swedish door hardware conglomerate, in 2007 bought Pemko and brought in more orders. Pemko soon turned out more parts on complex enclosures designed by Abloy for buildings throughout North America.

"Working with Assa Abloy forces us to be more innovative," said Helen Rose, Pemko brand manager. "We provide solutions for entire openings."

The Swedish buyout of Pemko, a manufacturer that opened in California in the 1950s, is part of a growing trend.

It's not only big foreign manufacturers such as Mitsubishi Electric and Electrolux coming to Memphis. Companies big and small are putting cash into the United States.

Last year, businesses based abroad spent an estimated $83 billion to buy manufacturers in the United States and build plants here, up from $51 billion a decade earlier, according to the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. Investments could accelerate.

President Barack Obama's new jobs initiative could lure massive flows of foreign investment -- as much as $1 trillion over the next few years, analysts guess.

"We've been focusing a lot on investment, but we really haven't had the kind of pro-active campaign that you see in other countries to attract investment," Robert Hormats, U.S. undersecretary of state for economic affairs, recently told Britain's Financial Times.

To draw in more capital, White House plans call for lower corporate taxes, innovation investment zones and visa and immigration reform.

While those measures could stall in Congress, the administration earlier this month took first steps to put the plan in place. It's called Select USA. American diplomats in 222 embassies throughout the world were instructed to urge companies to invest in the United States.

"We are updating our foreign policy priorities to include economics every step of the way," Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said in a recent speech at the Economic Club of New York.

Attracting foreign capital is nothing new. During the devastating 1982 recession, for instance, the Federal Reserve Board's policy of high interest rates brought in cash from investors throughout the world, setting off a boom on Wall Street.

Rather than retool U.S. industries, historians note, much of that cash was used into the 1990s to finance mergers and acquisitions of American companies.

This time, however, an inflow of foreign capital must rebuild the nation's industrial base, contends Clyde Prestowitz, a leading trade official in the 1980s administration of President Ronald Reagan.

Prestowitz, now head of the Economic Policy Institute, a Washington think tank, argues the United States cannot sustain its heavy level of imports. Americans must cut consumption and their standard of living to get by, he said, or scale back imports and make more goods here. Attracting foreign manufacturers is a way to boost U.S. production, he said.

Across Memphis and the Mid-South, foreign capital hasn't revived the slow economy, but it has quietly helped.

"I think in the case of Memphis, and even areas outside of it, there's been a wave of business investment in factories that will go a long way toward turning around pockets of the state," said economist Alex Miron, who studies Tennessee for the research firm Moody's Economy.com, of West Chester, Pa.

Foreign manufacturers have led the investment wave in Memphis and the region around it. For example:

Canadian papermaker Kruger Inc. earlier revamped its KTG USA plant in Memphis, adding 27 jobs.

KMA Manufacturing, part of the Japanese conglomerate Marubeni Group, has built a 40-employee Memphis steel service plant.

German pipe maker Wilhelm Schulz opened Schulz Xtruded Products, a 180-employee plant just outside metropolitan Memphis in Tunica, Miss.

In Northeast Mississippi, Japanese automaker Toyota is completing a car assembly plant slated to employ 2,000 at Blue Springs.

Japanese manufacturer Mitsubishi Electric will put up a 275-employee plant in Memphis making electrical transformers.

Swedish appliance maker Electrolux plans a 1,240-employee Memphis factory.

That wave of investment has encouraged many Memphis companies.

"We expect we'll see some good orders for ourselves down the road with Electrolux," said Michael Gallagher, head of Centro Inc., a 60-employee Memphis supplier of industrial valves and other factory equipment.

More foreign companies are likely to locate not only in the Mid-South, but also across the United States, said John Daniels, co-author of the widely read college textbook "International Business: Environments and Operations."

Daniels, however, said he doubts the lower business taxes talked about in Washington will be much of a lure. The dollar's weak value abroad has helped cut the cost for many foreign companies putting operations in the United States. But the key attraction, he said, is close access to American buyers.

"If you believe the U.S. market is going to grow, you'll get foreign companies trying to locate near the market," said Daniels, a management professor at the University of Miami, in Florida.

That was the case at Assa Abloy.

"Being part of Assa Abloy helps us protect our business during good times and bad," said Helen Rose, the Pemko brand manager.

-- Ted Evanoff: (901) 529-2292

Source: http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2011/oct/30/foreign-investment-shores-up-us-jobs/?partner=RSS

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My Ride: Union City man's vehicles have miles of family history

Fred Hancock loves to talk about his vehicles. He owns a 2000 Corvette Coupe, 1989 Chevrolet Silverado truck, and 1991 Mercury Capri convertible. All three vehicles carry a piece of family history with their mileage. The Chevy belonged to Hancock's brother, Don Hancock, who passed away last year. The Mercury has been driven by both his daughters. As for the Corvette purchased in 2004 -- it's all his.

Make and model of your favorite car (full description): The 2000 Corvette Coupe, red exterior, gray and black interior, two tops (red and tinted), automatic, purchased in 2004 with only 24,000 miles that the original owner had on it and now only has 51,000 miles.

How many owners has your car(s) had: The Corvette has had two owners. I inherited the 1989 Chevy truck from my brother, who passed away last year; he was the original owner and the truck is all original with only 66,000 miles on it. The 1991 Mercury Capri convertible is also a one-owner family car as it was bought originally for my two daughters and has rotated between them and myself over the last 20 years. It currently only has 102,000 miles.

Do you compete in car shows: Yes, I have competed in a few.

What award are you are most proud of: The large trophy I won with the Corvette at the Soybean Festival at Martin, Tenn., in 2005.

Does your favorite car have its original exterior/interior: The Corvette and the Chevy truck have their original exterior and interior.

What advice would you give someone thinking of buying his first sports car: Decide on what you want and be patient to find the car of your dreams at the right price. I spent between three and four years finding the right Corvette for the money.

To be featured in My Ride, call (901) 529-5270 or e-mail Kim Odom at kodom@commercialappeal.com.

Source: http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2011/oct/30/my-ride-union-city-mans-vehicles-have-miles-of/?partner=RSS

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Women to Watch: Doctor's orders -- work hard, stick to science to find cures

Research to increase the cure rate for childhood leukemia brought Dr. Mary Relling to Memphis. Chair of the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Relling and her team make a difference in the lives of children on a daily basis.

"I'm a believer in evidence-based medicine," Relling said. "It tends to work in little increments over time -- nothing miraculous about it. Just hard work and sticking to science makes cure rates go up over time."

Photo by Brandon Dill
Buy this photo �

Dr. Mary Relling is the chair of the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.

The impetus of her research is the need to improve drug therapy for childhood leukemia by better understanding the myriad differences in how anti-cancer drugs work in each individual's body because of genetic factors. The long-term goal is to design individualized therapy regimens that will decrease the risk of adverse effects of drugs without compromising effectiveness.

Relling met her husband, St. Jude CEO Dr. William E. Evans because of their joint interest in pharmacogenetics. She was looking for a postdoctoral fellowship in the field, and a professor at the University of Utah gave her the following advice.

"There is only one place to go," Relling said, recalling the conversation. "You need to work with Bill Evans at St. Jude in Memphis. I drove to Memphis in 1985 with a U-Haul trailer."

The topography of Memphis was a huge change for Relling, a native of Phoenix, Ariz.

"My first impression of Memphis -- I couldn't see anything for the trees. It was very claustrophobic. I thought, 'I'm glad I'm only going to be here for two years. I would never live here.'"

But her colleagues at St. Jude and the ongoing research there won her over, as did the city that would be her home.

Relling is also a professor at the University of Tennessee in the colleges of medicine and pharmacy and an active member of the National Cancer Institute's Children's Oncology Group. Her lab was awarded an $8.6 million National Institutes of Health grant last year.

With you and your husband's careers so closely linked, what has been most gratifying about your work together?

Seeing research projects that we started over 20 years ago resulting in changes in therapy for patients. It's also fun to both try to learn new areas of science at the same time. We can help explain things to each other, and we tend to have similar questions about things.

How did the year you two spent doing research in Basel, Switzerland, enrich your life?

Professionally, it was the only time in my life when I would focus on just working in a lab. It was so much more relaxing to only work on laboratory research, without the extra responsibilities of involvement in clinical trials and patient care. However, it was also a good lesson that having clinical responsibilities made my work much more meaningful. Personally, I fell in love with France (Basel is near the border), renewed my French language skills a little, and we made some good friends in Europe who are still friends to this day.

How long did it take Memphis to grow on you?

Just a couple of years. I got used to the humidity and decided it was more physiologic than the desert.

What do you see happening in Memphis right now that excites you?

I am excited about the businesses opening Downtown -- One Commerce Square and Beale Street Landing. Maybe that will make chef Jose Gutierrez move back Downtown.

What is on your personal bucket list?

Taking my granddaughters to France and my husband on a river-rafting trip in Utah.

Mary V. Relling

Job: Member and Chair of the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.

First job: Working at a cafeteria in Phoenix.

Last book read: "Bel Canto" by Ann Patchett.

Folks would be surprised if they knew: Sometimes I practice dance steps in the elevator.

Source: http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2011/oct/30/women-to-watch-doctors-orders-work-hard-stick-to/?partner=RSS

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Two Injured in Drive-by Shooting

Oct 24

Eric Lipford eric.lipford@wreg.com

10:10 a.m. CDT, October 24, 2011

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (WREG-TV) Memphis Police are investigating a double drive-by shooting.

It happened just after 3:00 Monday morning near Lamar and American Way.

Police say a group of people inside an SUV had just left the Level 2 nightclub when their vehicle was sideswiped by a Nissan Maxima.

Shortly after the accident, someone inside the Maxima started shooting. Two people inside the SUV were hit. Both were taken to the MED, one of them in critical condition.

Police are still searching for the suspects and their vehicle at this time. Anyone with information should call Crime Stoppers at 528-CASH.

Stay with News Channel 3 and WREG.com throughout the day for further updates on this story.

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Source: http://www.wreg.com/news/wreg-lamar-driveby-shooting,0,315227.story?track=rss

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Source: http://kwindur.posterous.com/two-injured-in-drive-by-shooting

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Dead rise to center stage during weekend celebration

Kathleen Starita (Kstar Photography) / Courtesy of La Onda

Catrinas (glamorized skeletons) will mingle with the living at the day of the dead celebration on Saturday and Sunday at Memphis Brooks Museum of Art and the University of Memphis.

On American television, the association of "Day of the Dead" and Halloween weekend is usually a reference to a broadcast of director George Romero's 1985 zombie sequel.

In Mexico and in Hispanic communities in Memphis and elsewhere, however, the day of the dead -- el dia de los muertos -- is a holiday that honors the souls and memory of departed loved ones.

Traditionally celebrated in connection with the Catholic holy day of All Saints' Day (Nov. 1), the candy skulls, capering catrinas (glamorized skeletons) and elegant ofrendas (decorated altars) of el dia de los muertos manifest themselves Saturday and Sunday in free events at the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art and the University of Memphis Art and Communication Building.

Saturday, the Brooks Museum hosts a wide range of lively Day of the Dead activities, to complement the student-created ofrendas on display in the Education Gallery.

And Sunday, Latin dance, music and theater performances take place at the U of M, in connection with a weekend display of elaborate community-created ofrendas.

Karleen Gardner, curator of education at the Brooks, said the museum has hosted some sort of Day of the Dead event for more than 10 years, but interest has increased greatly in the past few years.

"With the growing Latino population, we are really trying to engage a new audience and a growing audience, as well as to educate the rest of the community," she said.

"We're going to have a lot of skull faces," said Rafael Figueroa of Danza Azteca Quetzacoatl de Memphis, a troupe scheduled to perform at both locations.

Named for the feathered serpent god, Quetzalcoatl, Danza Azteca aspires to re-create the traditional dance and music of the Aztec people who dominated Mexico and much of Central America from the 14th to the 16th centuries, before the arrival of the Spaniards.

This weekend's dances will offer a dramatic sort of pantomime, to represent the weird figures that might greet a new soul as it crosses from the world of the living into the land of the dead.

The 14 Danza Azteca members perform in mostly handmade costumes that are as authentic as possible, Figueroa said. But the authenticity has limits: Because parrots and other exotic bird species are endangered, dyed duck feathers are used instead of the naturally colorful feathers the Aztecs preferred.

Seeds -- nature's beads -- are strung and worn by the performers, so when the dancers shake, "they sound like rattlesnakes," Figueroa said.

Despite the ubiquity of spooky skeletons in Day of the Dead celebrations, the events are family-friendly. Figueroa -- a political cartoonist for La Prensa Latina, the local Spanish-language newspaper -- said the festivities introduce Hispanic young people to traditions that otherwise might be forgotten, while reinforcing ideas of cultural identity for adults.

But the celebrations also expose Latin arts and traditions to the African-American and European-American communities that make up the majority of the Mid-South's population. About 52,000 Hispanics live in Shelby County, according to Washington's Pew Hispanic Center.

"We have a mission to display our culture and heritage to the people here," said Figueroa, 37, a native of Cuernavaca, Mexico, who has lived in Memphis 14 years. "We are not only construction workers."

--------------------

Dia de los Muertos: Day of the Dead Community Celebration

Admission is free to all events.

Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, Overton Park

All events are on Saturday:

10 a.m.-1 p.m.: Hands-on art-making, including "sugar skull" face-painting; animated film screenings; music from Mariachi Guadalajara.

10:30 a.m. and noon: Bilingual performances from Cazateatro, starring Calavera Catrina.

11 a.m.-1 p.m.: Drop-in workshop on papel picado, the art of cutting and perforating paper.

1 p.m.: Dance performance featuring Danza Azteca Quetzalcoatl.

University of Memphis Art and Communication Building, 3715 Central

11 a.m.-5 p.m., Saturday and Sunday: Display of ofrendas (altars decorated to honor and please returning souls).

1-5 p.m. Sunday: Performances by Cazateatro, Las Palomas Mariachi Band and Danza Azteca.

--------------------

? 2011 Go Memphis. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Source: http://www.gomemphis.com/news/2011/oct/27/dead-rise-to-center-stage-during-weekend/?partner=RSS&partner=RSS

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Source: http://kwindur.blogspot.com/2011/10/dead-rise-to-center-stage-during.html

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Film Review: 'Senna' tells fascinating story of champion race car driver

Courtesy ESPN films

A scene from "Senna," a documentary about Brazilian Formula One racing champion Ayrton Senna.

Documentaries are sometimes referred to as nonfiction films. In theory, they represent the cinematic equivalent of journalism, even if they?re experimental or highly subjective ? what Tom Wolfe called ?New Journalism.? They are constructed from research, interviews and reported if disputed facts, even if they are as stylized as a graphic novel or contain staged performances and recreations.

A current trend among documentarians is to withhold even basic information. These filmmakers prefer to let their footage speak for itself, and they offer little narration or text to place the material in context. This approach can sometimes turn precious, and trap the movie in a box, to be admired primarily by the cognoscenti.

A documentary about Brazilian Formula One racing driver Ayrton Senna, who won the world championship three times. The story is told through archival footage. Senna ...

Rating: PG-13 for some strong language and disturbing images

Length: 105 minutes

Released: August 12, 2011 NY/LA

Cast: Ayrton Senna, Alain Prost, Frank Williams, Ron Dennis, Viviane Senna

Director: Asif Kapadia

Writer: Manish Pandey

More info and showtimes �

The very fine film ?Better Than Something: Jay Reatard? (which screens Nov. 5 at the Indie Memphis Film Festival) includes lots of candid footage of the late Memphis musician, but doesn?t address the circumstances of the tragic death that caused the movie to come into being; thus, it requires uninitiated but intrigued viewers to do their own research online after seeing the movie. Maybe that?s the point.

Sometimes, however, footage is almost all you need. A model of documentary storytelling efficiency constructed entirely from vintage film and videotape, with occasional voiceover comments and onscreen text to identify the year and location, ?Senna? chronicles the career of Brazilian Formula One racing champion Ayrton Senna, killed in 1994 at the age of 34 when his car hit a wall and a suspension shaft struck his head. According to the film, this was the only injury to his body.

Directed by Asif Kapadia for ESPN Films, the movie presents Senna as a ?genius? driver (he was a three-time Formula One champion by the time he was 31) who disdained the politics and money that influenced the sport. (His privileged background afforded him the luxury of claiming he was indifferent to the cash.) In vintage interview footage, Senna longs for the ?real racing? thrill he experienced as a teenager on the go-kart circuit, and says that when he?s behind the wheel he enters a place ?beyond my conscious understanding.? After one race, he reports: ?I visualized ? I saw God.?

In economically depressed and politically turbulent Brazil, the handsome Senna quickly became a national hero and pop idol. (?Isn?t he cute?? says the Brazilian TV superstar known as Xuxa, before she tattoos the driver?s face with lipsticky kisses.)

He is contrasted throughout the film with a less likable star, his rival, Alain Prost, a calculating and possibly even devious French driver. A four-time Formula One champion, Prost was known as ?the Professor? for his political gamesmanship and his ability to exploit the Grand Prix point system in ways that would allow him to be the year?s best driver without having to go all-out in every race. It?s surprising a dramatic film hasn?t been made yet about this rivalry; I could see Gael Garc�a Bernal as either driver.

I?ll be honest: I know even less about Formula One than I do about NASCAR, which is next to nothing. But ?Senna? kept me interested for its entire running time, which is a testimony not only to this particular speed racer?s real-life story but to Kapadia?s clean sense of narrative ? and to those many, many camera operators who apparently followed Senna everywhere he went, capturing the footage that made this documentary possible.

?Senna? is exclusively at Malco?s Ridgeway Four.

? John Beifuss: 529-2394

� 2011 Go Memphis. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Source: http://www.gomemphis.com/news/2011/oct/28/film-review-senna-tells-fascinating-story-champion/?partner=RSS&partner=RSS

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15-year-old boy accused of posing as law enforcement official

A 15-year-old boy using smart phone applications has been charged with posing as a captain with the Shelby County Sheriff's Office or a Memphis police officer to steal credit and debit card information, according to the Shelby County Sheriff's Office.

The ninth grader was charged with the felonies of theft of services, theft of property and unauthorized use of a credit card, according to a media release issued by sheriff's office spokesman Chip Washington. He also was charged with criminal impersonation, a misdemeanor.

Taken to Juvenile Court, the boy's identity was not released.

The boy posed as a fictitious Capt. Tyrone Banks and launched the scam on Sept. 10, according to the sheriff's office. He used a smart phone application to look up personal information of potential victims in Memphis and Shelby County.

He claimed the victims' card number had been stolen and that he needed to verify them. He was able to give the first four digits of one bank's cards and asked the victims to give him the rest.

To add to his credibility, he used a police scanner smart phone application to run the sound of police calls in the background while phoning his victims.

Stolen card information was used to order pizza, a total of about $500 worth, several times. For $715, a bus tour company took the young suspect and several friends to Laser Quest. A house party, including DJ, cost $800.

Another $874 stolen was used to pay a utility bill for a friend's mother, officials said.

An investigation by Memphis police and sheriff's deputies led to his arrest on Thursday, according to the sheriff's office. Four witnesses who provided services for the house party identified the 15-year-old as their customer.

Source: http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2011/oct/28/15-year-old-boy-accused-posing-law-enforcement-off/?partner=RSS

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Dining Review: Comfort food, homey atmosphere at Stone Soup

Photo by Mark Weber, Photos by Mark Weber/The Commercial Appeal // Buy this photo

The grilled mushroom with spinach, tomato and mozzarella cheese sammie is among the comfort foods served at Cooper-Young's newest restaurant, Stone Soup Caf�. Below is the restaurant's namesake Stone Soup.

A more cheerful and relaxed place to dine than Stone Soup Caf� could only be the home of family or a great friend with a knack for brewing a good cup o' joe.

This new addition to the Cooper-Young restaurant lineup is open for breakfast and lunch only, coming to life not long after some of its neighbors are just cooling off from the night before.

It makes a nice start to the day, whether your day begins with an early morning breakfast or a bit later with a nice lunch.

October 25, 2011 - The Stone Soup from Cooper Young's newest restaurant Stone Soup Caf� . (Mark Weber/The Commercial Appeal)

Stone Soup Caf� is located inside a renovated house in Cooper-Young and serves breakfast and lunch in a cozy, welcoming environment.

Our first meal was lunch, which we enjoyed on a sunny, crisp fall day. We were warmly greeted by several people as we made our way to a table in a side room, full of sunlight and happy chatter from other diners.

I'd looked at the menu online and thought the price for the cup of most of the soups was a bit high at almost $6. I asked our server about the amount so I could order accordingly, and she pointed to a diner's large bowl of chili and told me that was a cup. It was actually two cups, as I discovered later when I weighed a to-go order at home. The cup is a full 16 ounces, so order knowing you'll get plenty to eat.

The Stone Soup is, of course, a bit of everything, though it's served sans stone. The legend of stone soup is that hungry travelers boil a pot of water with a stone in it, and villagers are coaxed into adding a little something -- a carrot, a potato, an onion or whatnot -- until a pot of nourishing soup is created and shared by all.

At our caf�, sausage, ground beef, red beans, carrots, onions and tomatoes make a hearty bowl of goodness. It's topped with a dollop of sour cream and sprinkled with a few sliced black olives. The only thing it's missing, like a few of the other items we tried, is the right amount of salt.

Cooked tomatoes and potatoes both taste flat when not properly salted, and even as we try to cut back on sodium in these health-conscious times, these two foods demand a liberal hand. However, it's always better to undersalt than to oversalt, and a shaker at the table gave the soup the lift it needed.

The mashed potatoes that came with the meat loaf needed a sprinkle, too, though they were otherwise an excellent dense, skins-in version. And the meat loaf had a deep flavor, but I found it a bit too tightly packed and too meaty. I like to see some vegetables, and this was more along the lines of a tasty, huge meat ball than a meat loaf.

Red beans and rice were creamy, in the typical New Orleans style, with a split and grilled link of smoked sausage on top. Both the red beans, ordered as a meal and not a soup, and the meat loaf came with a simple but fresh salad. The soup came with house-baked peasant bread and a few squares of slightly sweet but mighty tasty cornbread.

The chili, which is not available every day, was hearty and well-seasoned, though it could easily take more heat; ask for hot sauce if you want it. The pimiento cheese is among the top in town, made with sharp cheeses and big pieces of pimiento, bound with just enough mayonnaise to hold it together. On toasted homemade bread with tomato and lettuce, this is a real treat.

There was no room for dessert, but had we known what we were missing, we would have better planned.

When we returned for a late breakfast on a gloomy, rainy Sunday, the restaurant was as welcoming as a warm fire on a cold night. There was little sunshine to filter in the windows, but we felt cozy and calm, sipping on coffee, grabbing bits of conversation and watching the faithful as they trickled out of church services across the street. (What is it about this place? Of course, a restaurant in a renovated house is almost always nice, but this one is particularly homey.)

The 2 eggs plus 2 brought two perfectly cooked over- easy eggs, grits, a big biscuit and two slices of spicy sage sausage, which I chose instead of bacon. Just to try it, I ordered a single pancake on the side and was shocked to see that it was enormous -- plate-size and fluffy, to boot. Even if I'd ordered that for my meal, I couldn't have eaten it. Parents allowing their children to satisfy a sweet tooth couldn't ask for a better bargain at $2.49.

The Western omelet was a standard example, full of cheese, ham, pepper and onions.

The back room of the house is a market where homemade desserts and breads and a few local goods such as honey are sold. You can order dessert to eat in, or you can pick something up on the way out. We were told by the general manager not to miss the banana pudding cheesecake, and we took his advice.

Wow. This tastes exactly how you would imagine the offspring of excellent banana pudding and perfect cheesecake to taste. There is a slight tang to the cheesecake layers, which resounds off the sweet custard of the pudding, which melds with the lush slices of banana, and it all is complemented by the crumbly graham cracker crust. Decadent.

Stone Soup Caf� offers a bit of outdoor seating in front and in back. There's a parking lot, too, so don't worry about having to find a place on the street, and co-owner Sharron Johnson said that First Congo allows parking in its lot. Johnson, who owns Stone Soup Caf� with Emily Bishop, was the co-owner of another popular Cooper-Young eatery, Buns on the Run. After it closed, she went to the Trolley Stop for a while and to another restaurant before they found the house in Cooper-Young and started renovations. Surely residents are happy to have a new neighbor, and the rest of us have yet another reason to make the trip for a good meal.

-- Jennifer Biggs: (901) 529-5223

--------------------

Stone Soup Cafe

Food:

Service:

Atmosphere:

Address: 993 S. Cooper

Telephone: (901) 922-5314.

Hours: Tuesday through Saturday, 7 a.m.-3 p.m. (breakfast until 11 a.m., except on Saturday, when it's served until close); Sunday 9 a.m.-3 p.m., when breakfast and brunch specials are available all day. Lunch service begins at 11 a.m. all days.

Reviewer's choices: Pimiento cheese sandwich ($6.89 with chips and pickle); chili ($5.89 for a 16-ounce "cup" with bread); stone soup ($5.89 for a 16-ounce "cup" with bread); banana pudding cheesecake ($6). Be sure to check the Facebook page for daily specials.

Alcohol: None; take your own wine for $10 corkage.

Star Ratings

Poor: Zero stars

Good: One star

Very Good: Two stars

Excellent: Three stars

Extraordinary: Four stars

--------------------

� 2011 Go Memphis. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Source: http://www.gomemphis.com/news/2011/oct/27/dining-review-comfort-food-homey-atmosphere/?partner=RSS&partner=RSS

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Dead rise to center stage during weekend celebration

Kathleen Starita (Kstar Photography) / Courtesy of La Onda

Catrinas (glamorized skeletons) will mingle with the living at the day of the dead celebration on Saturday and Sunday at Memphis Brooks Museum of Art and the University of Memphis.

On American television, the association of "Day of the Dead" and Halloween weekend is usually a reference to a broadcast of director George Romero's 1985 zombie sequel.

In Mexico and in Hispanic communities in Memphis and elsewhere, however, the day of the dead -- el dia de los muertos -- is a holiday that honors the souls and memory of departed loved ones.

Traditionally celebrated in connection with the Catholic holy day of All Saints' Day (Nov. 1), the candy skulls, capering catrinas (glamorized skeletons) and elegant ofrendas (decorated altars) of el dia de los muertos manifest themselves Saturday and Sunday in free events at the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art and the University of Memphis Art and Communication Building.

Saturday, the Brooks Museum hosts a wide range of lively Day of the Dead activities, to complement the student-created ofrendas on display in the Education Gallery.

And Sunday, Latin dance, music and theater performances take place at the U of M, in connection with a weekend display of elaborate community-created ofrendas.

Karleen Gardner, curator of education at the Brooks, said the museum has hosted some sort of Day of the Dead event for more than 10 years, but interest has increased greatly in the past few years.

"With the growing Latino population, we are really trying to engage a new audience and a growing audience, as well as to educate the rest of the community," she said.

"We're going to have a lot of skull faces," said Rafael Figueroa of Danza Azteca Quetzacoatl de Memphis, a troupe scheduled to perform at both locations.

Named for the feathered serpent god, Quetzalcoatl, Danza Azteca aspires to re-create the traditional dance and music of the Aztec people who dominated Mexico and much of Central America from the 14th to the 16th centuries, before the arrival of the Spaniards.

This weekend's dances will offer a dramatic sort of pantomime, to represent the weird figures that might greet a new soul as it crosses from the world of the living into the land of the dead.

The 14 Danza Azteca members perform in mostly handmade costumes that are as authentic as possible, Figueroa said. But the authenticity has limits: Because parrots and other exotic bird species are endangered, dyed duck feathers are used instead of the naturally colorful feathers the Aztecs preferred.

Seeds -- nature's beads -- are strung and worn by the performers, so when the dancers shake, "they sound like rattlesnakes," Figueroa said.

Despite the ubiquity of spooky skeletons in Day of the Dead celebrations, the events are family-friendly. Figueroa -- a political cartoonist for La Prensa Latina, the local Spanish-language newspaper -- said the festivities introduce Hispanic young people to traditions that otherwise might be forgotten, while reinforcing ideas of cultural identity for adults.

But the celebrations also expose Latin arts and traditions to the African-American and European-American communities that make up the majority of the Mid-South's population. About 52,000 Hispanics live in Shelby County, according to Washington's Pew Hispanic Center.

"We have a mission to display our culture and heritage to the people here," said Figueroa, 37, a native of Cuernavaca, Mexico, who has lived in Memphis 14 years. "We are not only construction workers."

--------------------

Dia de los Muertos: Day of the Dead Community Celebration

Admission is free to all events.

Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, Overton Park

All events are on Saturday:

10 a.m.-1 p.m.: Hands-on art-making, including "sugar skull" face-painting; animated film screenings; music from Mariachi Guadalajara.

10:30 a.m. and noon: Bilingual performances from Cazateatro, starring Calavera Catrina.

11 a.m.-1 p.m.: Drop-in workshop on papel picado, the art of cutting and perforating paper.

1 p.m.: Dance performance featuring Danza Azteca Quetzalcoatl.

University of Memphis Art and Communication Building, 3715 Central

11 a.m.-5 p.m., Saturday and Sunday: Display of ofrendas (altars decorated to honor and please returning souls).

1-5 p.m. Sunday: Performances by Cazateatro, Las Palomas Mariachi Band and Danza Azteca.

--------------------

� 2011 Go Memphis. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Source: http://www.gomemphis.com/news/2011/oct/27/dead-rise-to-center-stage-during-weekend/?partner=RSS&partner=RSS

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Because I Said So: Camping trip is fun for great indoorsmen

My 10-year-old son enjoys the occasional slice of toast for breakfast. I recently had to stop him at breakfast when we were down to our last. "Don't take that bread, Joshua, I need that for lunches," I said. And then I watched, aghast, as he turned and tossed the slice back into the pantry on top of the bread bag. We had a talk about that.

I tell you this, not to embarrass him. Not only. But I want you to understand that, though he may at times live like an animal, he is not so wild, and I want you to understand my trepidation when it was time for our first Boy Scout camping trip last weekend. He was very excited about the trip in the weeks leading up to it. Joshua, however, is the great indoorsman. He appreciates his sofa and his iPod and his remote control. He's fond of his bedroom with its four solid walls and soft mattress.

And he comes by it honestly. I haven't been camping in 15 years.

The first basic need a father wants to provide for his child is shelter and, to this end, I did what our forefathers must have done when they set off for the untamed western territories, I put a notice on Facebook that I needed to borrow a two-man tent.

Tent in hand, I wanted to make sure I could set it up all by myself. Not that Joshua would be unwilling to help but, well, you remember the bread in the pantry?

Having set it up in the backyard the day before our trip, I called him out to see where he'd be spending the following night. His reaction: "Where's the rest of it?" He got his sarcasm badge.

And thus we were off to brave the elements, shoot BB guns and bow-and-arrows, to sit around a campfire and face a night outdoors with temps in the 40s. All within sight of the warm glow of Tunica, within a croupier's reach of a casino buffet.

It was fun. We unplugged for a night and read by lantern, talked and learned a bit about each other. We learned that we share a gene that sits comfortably on a bend in the helix of our DNA, a gene that appreciates a warm bed and food within reach, fully enclosed bathrooms and central heat and air. Joshua and I are cut from the same cloth, and that cloth is not a lightweight and breathable, waterproof polyester with a 1500mm polyurethane coating.

We'll go camping again, I'm sure of it. We even discussed it there in our sleeping bags with only our noses peeking from the zippered opening. I like to get away. I think we both do. We enjoy the scenery of leaves at the height of autumn and breathing the clean country air. I know Joshua likes to burn things in a campfire. Who doesn't?

But we also enjoyed breakfast that next morning after breaking camp and finding our way back to the city. Back to the heart of Memphis and a table for two at Brother Juniper's, where the coffee was drip, the air was warm and Joshua finally got that slice of toast he'd been after.

Richard J. Alley is the father of two boys and two girls. Read more from him at uurrff.blogspot.com. Become a fan of "Because I Said So" on Facebook: facebook.com/alleygreenberg.

Source: http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2011/oct/27/camping-trip-is-fun-for-great-indoorsmen/?partner=RSS

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Megan Murphy: Apple crisp sweet treat with nutritious side

Sometimes you want something sweet, but you don?t want to make a huge batch of a dessert that stays around and tempts you for days.

But having just a small serving of a sweet treat helps satisfy my sweet craving without too much residual effect. That is what initially drew me to this recipe.

An apple crisp is a nice fall dessert that makes a satisfying ending to a simple dinner. Today?s version can be quickly put together, and will make your kitchen smell like autumn.

Apples are high in fiber, which helps decrease constipation. Fiber also promotes fullness, which can help you eat less overall.

Another health component of apples is its provision of flavonoids. Flavonoids are phytochemicals found predominantly in fruits and vegetables. One particular type of flavonoid in apples is quercetin, which research shows to be helpful in lowering the risk of some types of cancer. Other flavonoids seem to help improve the function of blood vessels, lowering heart disease risk. In a large study of post-menopausal women reported in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, women with higher levels of flavonoids in their blood were less likely to die from cardiovascular disease.

There are so many types of apples available. Some are sweeter, some are tart, others are especially crisp. Today?s recipe can be made with just about any type of apple. You can even cut all the ingredients in half to make one serving.

If you prefer not to use a sweetener, add a bit more brown sugar. Of if you want to use a brown sugar substitute in addition to the sweetener, I think it would work as well.

While cooking a mixture like this in the microwave doesn?t really give you a crisp topping, it does still taste good, and it is faster than waiting for a traditional apple crisp to cook in a regular oven for 45 minutes or so.

You can have this cooking in your microwave while you clean up the kitchen after dinner, and it will be ready by the time you are finished.

You can top it with whipped topping as suggested, or add a dollop of vanilla yogurt instead. Or eat it plain. It?s the perfect amount to satisfy your sweet tooth without any leftovers to tempt you.

Megan Murphy is a Tennessee-licensed registered dietitian and associate professor of nutrition at Southwest Tennessee Community College. Call 277-3062, fax 529-2787, e-mail Meganmyrd@aol.com

Microwave ?Baked? Apple Crisp

2 medium apples, peeled, cored and sliced

1 tbsp. light or whipped butter

1 tbsp. brown sugar

1 tsp. stevia, Splenda or low-calorie sweetener of choice (or more, depending on desired sweetness)

1/3 cup quick oats

1 tsp. cinnamon

� tsp. allspice

Optional: light whipped topping

Arrange the apple slices along the bottom of a microwave-safe dish or plate and set aside. In a small bowl, stir and mash the remaining ingredients (except whipped topping) together with a fork until crumbly. Sprinkle this crumble over the apple slices.

Cover the bowl or plate with a microwave-safe cover or with plastic wrap that you have pierced with a fork a few times. Microwave 5-7 minutes, or until the apples are soft and can be easily pierced with a knife.

Serve warm, with a tablespoon or two of whipped topping if desired.

Makes 2 servings. Per serving: 207 calories, 5 g fat, 3 g saturated fat, 8 mg cholesterol, 40 g carbohydrates, 6 g fiber, 2 g protein, 36 mg sodium.

Source: dashingdish.com

Source: http://kwindur.wordpress.com/2011/10/25/megan-murphy-apple-crisp-sweet-treat-with-nutritious-side-2/

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School Board Takes Steps Back, Forward

VOL. 126 | NO. 210 | Thursday, October 27, 2011

By Bill Dries

Updated 2:53PM

The two public school systems in Shelby County used the same team to evaluate charter school applications this week in the first joint proposal the Memphis City and Shelby County School systems have brought to the board for approval.

But the small move toward a full consolidation that is to come in August 2013 was countered Tuesday, Oct. 25, by a half-hour debate over setting the agenda for the first regular business meeting since the countywide school board took office Oct. 3 and approving the minutes of meetings of the once separate schools boards before October.

And the board then spent another half hour debating what it should call itself.

?It has taken us one hour to approve the minutes and decide what to call ourselves,? board member Joe Clayton said after fellow board member Patrice Robinson delayed action on her resolution to call the body the ?Unified Shelby County School Board.?

?We need to identify for the public and for ourselves what we are,? Robinson argued. ?We need to name it something.?

Attorneys for the still separate school systems governed by a single board agreed that there might be legal implications surrounding contracts that they want to discuss with the board.

Board member Kenneth Whalum Jr. said the proposed name was ?unnecessarily redundant.?

?We?re Shelby County Schools now,? said board member Mike Wissman, who was among those who argued such an action might conflict with the work of a separate transition planning commission. ?That?s what the judge ordered. ? I don?t see why we are making an issue of this.?

?It has taken us one hour to approve the minutes and decide what to call ourselves.?

?Joe Clayton
School Board member, expressing frustration with the lengthy start to this week?s countywide school board meeting

Some members of one of the former boards felt like they shouldn?t vote on approving the minutes of meetings they weren?t a part of. The feeling was mutual by members of the other board. So, only the former MCS board members voted to approve the minutes of their meetings before October and only the former SCS board members voted to approve the minutes of their pre-October meetings.

The other seven new members appointed by the Shelby County Commission did not

participate in what could mark the last votes of each of the old school boards.

As the full board approved two KIPP Academy charter school applications and rejected 20 others, including a set by former mayor and MCS superintendent Willie Herenton, some board members expressed concern about the fiscal impact on the school systems if the number of charter schools continues to grow.

But discussion by some on the board last week about seeking state approval for a moratorium on new charter schools until the August 2013 consolidation of the two school systems never translated into a proposal.

Board vice chairman Jeff Warren was still urging those concerned about the fiscal impact of charter schools to contact legislators.

?Let us get through this (consolidation) before we have to approve extra charters,? he said in his pitch.

In Memphis on Monday, Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam questioned such a move.

?I?m not sure I understand the two-year delay. From what I understand now, I would not be in favor of that,? Haslam said. ?Charter schools have been accepted by the General Assembly. It?s going to be part of the answer for education in Tennessee. Not the entire answer, but part of the answer. And I?m not sure right now why we kind of freeze out a piece of that.?

Charter school proponents argue that the charter schools are part of both public school systems.

?Charter schools are a part of the equation,? board member Kevin Woods said after the vote. ?This is not a personal vendetta against the charter school system.?

But others on the board voicing an opinion this week make a distinction about the flow of public money to those schools versus public funding for conventional schools in each school system.

?I?m really concerned about approving too many dollars going out of the system,? board member David Reaves said. ?I?m concerned about the long-term prospect.?

?Where will the point come when there is a financial detriment?? asked board member Betty Mallott. ?We do know that we face some financial hardship.?

Some also expressed concern about state legislation that could take the decision on charter schools out of the hands of local school boards across the state.

The legislature has already lifted the cap on the number of charter schools permitted in the state. The cap was done away with a year after the legislature raised the number of charter schools to 90.

?We have a legislative battle on our hands now,? said board member Martavius Jones.

Source: http://www.memphisdailynews.com/news/2011/oct/27/school-board-takes-steps-back-forward/

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Proposal calls for cutting in half lottery scholarships for some students

NASHVILLE ? State policymakers examined a plan today that would cut in half the $4,000 per year Hope Scholarship at four-year colleges and universities for students who achieve only one of the two eligibility criteria ? either a 21 on the ACT college entrance exam or a 3.0 high school grade-point average ? but not both.

The proposal was presented to the state Senate Lottery Stabilization Task Force today as another option for closing an $18 million-a-year deficit in what the scholarship program now costs and what the Tennessee Lottery generates for the program. But the task force won?t make its recommendation until next month, and nothing will be final until the state legislature approves the changes during its 2012 session.

Currently in Tennessee, high school graduates who make either 21 on the ACT or have a 3.0 high school GPA qualify for the base $4,000 per year Hope Scholarship at four-year institutions in Tennessee and $2,000 at two-year schools. The policy option presented to the task force this afternoon would require students to achieve both standards to qualify for the full base $4,000 scholarship at four-year schools.

Students who achieve only one of the two standards would receive only $2,000 per year at either four- or two-year schools, but they could start earning the $4,000 grant starting with their third year of college provided they have met the current retention standards for the program during their first two years of college.

That change, officials said, would ?incentivize? students who don?t achieve both standards to attend their first two years at a community college where data indicates they will have a better chance of academic success ? and then transfer to a four-year school to pursue baccalaureate degrees. When fully implemented, it would save the lottery program about $17 million a year.

But the sentiment was not unanimous. David Gregory, an administrator with the Tennessee Board of Regents, said data indicates the change would ?disproportionately affect African-American? students and low-income students.

Statistics presented with the policy option indicated that 23 percent of the students who would receive a reduced award would be black, 65 percent would be white and the remaining 12 percent would be students of other races, and 44 percent of students who would receive a reduced award would be from households with adjusted gross incomes of under $60,000.

If lawmakers ultimately adopt the plan, they would also have to decide when it would go into affect. As presented today, it would go into effect for students entering college either in the fall of 2013 or 2014 ? or students who are currently 10th or 11th graders. If that is approved, it would depart from the legislature?s previous discussions that focused on delaying any tightening of the scholarship program for all current high school students, who are already building academic credentials based on the current requirements.

The proposal, drafted by the Tennessee Higher Education Commission staff at the request of the Senate task force, appeared to gain support among members of the task force, which will meet again in November for further discussions and to decide on its recommendations to the full legislature.

?I think it gained some traction but there are still some question to be answered,? said Sen. Dolores Gresham, R-Somerville, the chairman of the task force and of the Senate Education Committee.

At its initial meeting in late August, the task force reviewed a number of other options for changes, including imposing income ceilings on eligibility. But the panel appears to be narrowing its focus to the option discussed today and with looking at ways to increase lottery revenue, including allowing lottery purchases with debit cards, as 34 of the 44 states with lotteries allow. Tennessee requires all lottery tickets to be purchased with cash only.

Despite the annual deficits, the scholarship program has enough money in reserves built up in the early years of the lottery to keep the program solvent until at least 2024, the task force was told at its first meeting.

Source: http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2011/oct/26/proposal-calls-cutting-half-lottery-scholarships-s/?partner=RSS

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Two Shootings in Two Weeks Near High School Football Stadium

Oct 24

Daniel Hight Two Shootings in Two Weeks Near High School Football Stadium

10:23 p.m. CDT, October 22, 2011

FAST FACTS:

• There have been two shootings in two weeks close to a high school football stadium.
• Luckily, no one has been struck by any bullets.
• People wonder if the shootings are a result of heated rivlaries.

?Daniel.Hight@WREG.com

(Memphis 10/22/11) People are shocked that there have been two shootings in two weeks in close proximity to the Raleigh-Egypt High school football stadium.

The Memphis Police Department says shots were fired outside the stadium during East High's bout with Craigmont High Friday night. Two weeks ago gunfire rang out after a game in the same area. Luckily, no one was hit in either shooting.

?It?s hard to watch a game and dodge bullets at the same time,? said Maurice Wooten, Sr.

He says he'll often pull up a chair and watch the game from his nearby apartment. Wooten believes the shootings could be a result of intense rivalries, but police say they have not found a shooter in either instance.

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Sign Up For ALERTS From Us

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Friday night's game wasn't even halfway over when it was stopped by police. They cleared the stadium and the area. Wooten says police made the right decision in order to keep people safe.

The called-off game has post-season implications for both teams. The MIAA will decide on Monday whether or not to reschedule the game.

Source: http://www.wreg.com/news/wreg-two-shootings-in-two-weeks-near-high-school-football-stadium-20111022,0,1744765.story?track=rss

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Source: http://kwindur.posterous.com/two-shootings-in-two-weeks-near-high-school-f

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That's a wrap

Photo by Carol Borchardt

A few basic Asian ingredients, available at any supermarket, are used in each of the components of these Chicken Lettuce Wraps with Cucumber Relish.

Instead of takeout or going out, a lovely Asian-inspired meal can be as close as your pantry.

These light, delicious wraps contain basic Asian ingredients found at any supermarket, so it's easy to always have them on hand.

Using reduced-sodium soy sauce and tamari makes your Asian cooking more healthful by cutting the sodium level almost in half. Rice vinegar is smooth and mild and is commonly available as unseasoned or seasoned with salt and sugar. I prefer unseasoned rice vinegar so I can season to taste.

Some other basic Asian ingredients to keep in your pantry include black bean sauce, hoisin sauce, sesame oil, sesame seeds and Shaoxing cooking wine or dry sherry.

When you have extra fresh ginger, peel and coarsely chop it, then puree it with a small amount of water in a food processor to make a paste. Freeze in 1 to 2 tablespoon portions in snack-size zipper-top bags to always have fresh ginger ready to go.

These wraps are also delicious with tofu, shrimp or very thinly sliced beef.

-- Carol Borchardt owns A Thought For Food Personal Chef Service. She creates custom meals for clients in their homes. Find out more at athoughtforfood.com.

Chicken Lettuce Wraps with Cucumber Relish

Cucumber relish

1 medium English cucumber

3 scallions, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced diagonally

� cup chopped fresh cilantro

2 tbsp. unseasoned rice vinegar

1 tbsp. canola oil

1 tbsp. sugar

Salt and black pepper to taste

Dipping sauce

1/2 cup reduced-sodium soy sauce or tamari

2 tbsp. unseasoned rice vinegar

� tsp. chili garlic sauce, or to taste

2 tsp. dark brown sugar

2 cloves garlic, minced

� tsp. grated fresh ginger

Stir-fry sauce

� cup reduced-sodium soy sauce or tamari

2 tbsp. oyster sauce

2 tbsp. dark brown sugar, or to taste

1 tbsp. unseasoned rice vinegar

1 tsp. grated fresh ginger

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 tbsp. corn starch

Filling

1 tbsp. canola oil

2 boneless skinless chicken breast halves, cut into �-inch pieces

1 can (8-oz.) diced water chestnuts, drained

4 scallions, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced diagonally

1 medium head Boston lettuce, separated into leaves (3 to 4 leaves per person)

2 cups hot cooked brown rice, seasoned with salt, pepper and a little unseasoned rice vinegar

Black sesame seeds for garnish (optional)

For cucumber relish: Peel approximately half of the cucumber, leaving strips of the peel all the way around. Quarter the cucumber lengthwise and remove the seeds. Thinly slice the cucumber on the diagonal. Combine the cucumber and remaining relish ingredients in a small bowl and set aside. Stir the relish occasionally while completing the remaining steps.

For dipping sauce: Combine all ingredients in bowl and set aside.

For stir-fry sauce: Combine all ingredients in a bowl and set aside.

For filling: Heat oil over medium-high heat in a saut� pan or wok. Add the diced chicken and cook 3 to 4 minutes, stirring often, until cooked through and no longer pink. Add the stir-fry sauce and water chestnuts. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer until thickened. Stir in scallions.

To serve: Arrange lettuce, chicken, relish and rice on separate plates or on a platter. Garnish with black sesame seeds if desired. Allow each diner to assemble individual wraps, taking some of each item as desired. Drizzle each wrap with some of the dipping sauce.

Source: http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2011/oct/26/thats-a-wrap/?partner=RSS

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