Content Tagged 'The Bulldog'

Mayor A C Wharton is still weeks away from coming up with a plan to deal with the ongoing problems with the Memphis Police Department. One month ago the mayor said he was going to put a committee together to look into all the complaints, arrests and firings of police officers. It's been three and a half weeks since the mayor said he'd have the names in a couple of days, and he's still not ready.

A longtime trouble spot on Beale Street is back in trouble again. A man was shot inside Club Crave on Beale early Sunday morning. The victim will be ok, but there are no arrests and no suspects in this case. There are plenty of headaches for business people on Beale who are working hard to get rid of the image of Beale Street being a place where you can get a shot and a beer and then get shot.

Old folks vote. The seniors understand the importance of going to the polls. It’s a right they cherish and quite frankly, enjoy. This time, however, they weren’t greeted with open arms by the poll manager. Watch Video

Pam Hicks doesn’t believe much of anything people in the justice system tell her. Her son Stevie Branch was only eight years old when he and two of his pals were murdered in West Memphis, Arkansas almost twenty years ago. She wants police and prosecutors to let her see all the evidence they had gathered in the trials of Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin and Jesse Misskelley, who were convicted of the murders. Watch Video

The road leading toward merged city and county schools is a pot hole riddled trail filled with potential troubles. Now the head of the Memphis Teachers Association is angry the board hasn't considered their ideas about the merger. Watch Video

Construction on the Bass Pro superstore at the Pyramid arena is now running behind schedule. Mayor A C Wharton says the grand opening could be delayed a few months or so due to earthquake proofing the structure. Watch Video

A Memphis City Council member says the police should be praised and not bashed over the recent rash of bad cop arrests, 21 so far this year. Councilman Myron Lowery says one of the best kept secrets in all of these incidents is that the police have been policing themselves, and took immediate action. Still, Lowery and others say more should be done. Watch Video

The 'Sovereign Citizen' group is again creating waves in the Memphis area. Just this week a self-proclaimed member of the group was charged with trying to run over two police officers. Sovereign Citizens are now well known here because two members murdered two West Memphis police officers two years ago. Watch Video

The fight over one of the most controversial issues in Memphis is about to flare up again. City Councilman Lee Harris wants council members to amend a non-discrimination bill to include gender identity and expression for city employees.

MPD Director Toney Armstrong told the Memphis Rotary Club at a Tuesday luncheon that what is happening isn’t unusual in Memphis Police history. Watch Video

Not having to pay the fines or court costs for traffic tickets is one of the perks of living in Memphis, and it's a perk that’s not popular at Memphis City Hall. Watch Video

Rest time is over for the Unified Memphis City and Shelby County School Board. It’s busy time. Nothing can stop time, they know it, and they know that by August of 2013 they’ve got to have a merged unified school system ready to go. Watch Video

Keep your nose out of our business. That's the message to Mayor A C Wharton from the union that represents the Memphis Police Department. Watch Video

Two federal judges and one state judge ruled against the city when they were trying to get photo ID library cards accepted at the polls. The issue now boils down to just the constitutionality. The city wants an emergency hearing with the Tennessee Court of Appeals to issue an injunction. Watch Video

A federal judge has recessed a hearing on the constitutionality of municipal school districts in Shelby County for two weeks to give both sides time to consider testimony and take depositions of the last witness to take the stand. Watch Video

A Memphis woman says MLGW overcharged her big time and keeps doing it, leaving her with a utility bill more than $1,700. The problem is so bad the city council now wants answers. Watch Video

Let’s be honest. It’s hard to get excited about air cargo. But, Memphis rocks when it comes to air cargo. It’s because of all of those flights carrying packages and envelopes and knick knacks, by the way, that resulted in a big chunk of federal money coming to Memphis. Watch Video

Nobody likes tax hikes, and face it, people voting to raise their own taxes is a rare thing indeed. But in this case the argument is, think of the kids. Watch Video

There are some places in this world where juvenile justice systems are little more than places to train kids to be better thugs. Willie Herenton doesn’t think that’s true in Memphis, and he never wants it to be even close to being true. Watch Video

The battle to create suburban school districts in Shelby County began in federal court Tuesday. Watch Video

What has happened since our story has been sort of a modern day Pied Piper saga. Watch Video

In the last four years, 21 cops have been fired by the Memphis Police Department. The reasons for the terminations have never been released, but Memphis City Council members say most of those fired didn't have a college degree. Now council members are considering making the hiring requirements of the Memphis police the toughest in the state. Watch Video

Mayors of cities along the Mississippi River say the 'Old Muddy' has been the victim of neglect and Mother Nature. Watch Video

Memphis Mayor A C Wharton's battle with the police department shows no signs of ending. In round two of the feud, Wharton criticized the MPD about its refusal to release information about bad cops to the public. The Memphis Police Association, the union representing the city's officers, sees things differently. Watch Video

More than a thousand jobs are expected in the next couple of years when Mitsubishi and Electrolux open their factories. Those jobs won't mean a thing if people in Memphis aren't qualified for them. Watch Video

Judge Samuel Mays has made it clear that he’ll have no trouble tossing those election returns out, no matter how big of a landslide municipal school won by in the suburbs. Watch Video

He's now 0-2. Memphis City Schools Superintendent Dr. Kriner Cash did not get the job as Duval County, Florida school superintendent.

Serious issues are popping up in connection with the trial over whether the Memphis suburban municipalities can legally start their own school systems. A scheduled two day hearing on the issue has been continued for two weeks; that delay will mess up a lot of other things. Watch Video

Thousands of Elvis fans are in Memphis to mark the 35th anniversary of the King's death. The candlelight vigil is Wednesday, and people will be lined up along Elvis Presley Boulevard, a street that's seen better days. Watch Video

Investigators from the state are in Memphis looking into all the problems in the August 2nd election. Elections Administrator Rich Holden just sent a letter to the state explaining what happened, but the chairman of the Shelby County Election Commission says that letter represents Holden's opinion, not the board's. Watch Video  |   Read Election Administrator Holden's Letter on Redistricting to the State (244.2KB)

The Shelby County Commission voted to stick behind a subpoena for the identities of those posting online comments on the Commercial Appeal website. Watch Video

Hidden cameras could help clean up Memphis. There are more than 150 illegal dumps around the city, and now one city council member wants to use video surveillance to catch folks in action. Watch Video

The man who says education saved him from the streets of Memphis and brought him to city hall says he wants to help kids in trouble. Watch Video

In two weeks the Memphis City Council is scheduled to vote on a plan where the city would get out of the inspections business by July of next year. Watch Video

Where is Shelby County Commissioner James Harvey? He's been getting a full salary for doing only half his work. Records show Commissioner Harvey hasn't attended a single county commission committee meeting this year. Watch Video

Fridays are special days in Court Square, the historic downtown Memphis park. They bring out the food trucks on Fridays. But just before the people showed up, the Shelby County Health Department had been there setting traps for the rats that live in the park. Watch Video

On schedule and no major problems; the Pyramid looks more and more like a Bass Pro Superstore every day. The shops aren't supposed to open until October 2013, but the Pyramid is rapidly changing. Watch Video

You’d swear in Memphis that old tires grew on trees. Every spring, it seems, is marked by the trash blooming in vacant lots all over the city. It’s a mess, and Memphis City Council member Lee Harris knows it. Watch Video

Joggers and others who use the back trails of Overton Park are being told to be careful. A Memphis man was mugged while walking through the old forest trails Sunday. Police were able to arrest two suspects by tracing the signal of the victim's cell phone. Despite the robbery, people are being encouraged to use the park more frequently. Watch Video

A new law that wipes out misdemeanor criminal records is clogging up the system at the Shelby County Criminal Justice Center. Watch Video

People can make a mistake, maybe even two or three. Memphis City Council member Janis Fullilove has made a bundle of mistakes. Watch Video

Shelby County Commissioners voted to override Mayor Mark Luttrell's veto of a sales tax increase to fund schools Monday, sending the issue to November's ballot for voters to decide. Watch Video

There were plenty of people celebrating on election night, once it became clear that the people of suburban Memphis wanted their municipalities to have their own school systems. Watch Video

City Attorney Herman Morris has a huge problem with the state law which says while expired drivers licenses from other states can be used for voter identification, a current Memphis Library Photo ID Card can’t. Watch Video

Memphis Police Association President Mike Williams might not be sending any Christmas cards to Mayor A C Wharton this year. Watch Video

For a police officer, the most important thing is to go home safe at the end of your shift. The demons that exist in Post Traumatic Stress Disorder however make that impossible. Watch Video

It costs a dollar and nine cents to get anything for a dollar in Shelby County. Pretty soon it could cost about a dollar and ten cents. If county voters approve a sales tax increase on the November ballot, then it’ll happen. Watch Video

The city will get out of the inspection business in July of next year. Some are hoping that Shelby County Government will man up when it comes to inspections and fighting smog. Fat chance, says the incoming Chairman of the County Commission. Watch Video

Obviously, the mayor says, the constitutionality question has to be answered. Mayor Luttrell however says the racial issue is one that has no place in the municipal schools fight because he says nobody has been able to convince him, or even show him that race has anything to do with the municipal school law. Watch Video

This is a story about not giving up. Most people in Memphis are fighters. They fight to make a buck, fight to survive in a city where crime seems around most corners, fight to get help when they feel they’re being ignored. Sue Bradley didn’t give up. Watch Video