Local cartoonist Greg Cravens created the Flyer‘s MLGW cover this week. Due to the fact that several folks have expressed a desire to have their own copy of Craven’s masterpiece, the enterprising artist is e-marketing the image.
Now you can wear your pride in our hometown political passion play on your chest, or put it on a coffee cup or an apron. Just don’t wear it when you go to pay your bill.
A joint caucus of state House and Senate Democrats, meeting in Nashville on Thursday, confirmed the appointment of Greg Duckett to succeed fellow Memphian Calvin Anderson, who is stepping down voluntarily, on the five-member state Election Commission. Duckett has been serving as chairman of the Shelby County Commission.
Early speculation features the name of interim state Senator Shea Flinn (whose name has been rumored for several other possibilities) as a possible successor to Duckett on the county body.
The lineup for the Beale Street Music Festival is out, and it’s a typical mix of regional roots acts, assorted big names from the ’70s-’90s, and a few contemporary stars.
For a festival that, two years ago, counted among its headliners Nelly, the Killers, Los Lonely Boys, and the Roots, it’s hard not to notice a diminishing presence of high-profile contemporary acts. This year’s contenders in that regard include neo-soul newbies John Legend and Corinne Bailey Rae on Sunday night, hard-rockers Hinder, also on Sunday, and alt-rock bands Wolfmother and Taking Back Sunday on Saturday.
Among the staples of yesteryear, the Allman Brothers Band, Steely Dan, and the Ohio Players will represent the ’70s, while the festival seems to have followed the lead of VH-1, transitioning from the “I Love the ’80s” acts that peppered last year’s lineup (Huey Lewis, Billy Idol) to more I Love the ’90s variety this year (Counting Crows, Barenaked Ladies, Papa Roach).
As for Memphis music, the city is well represented as always, from pioneers such as Jerry Lee Lewis and Bobby “Blue” Bland to soul-era stars Ann Peebles and The Bar-Kays to contemporary staples such as Three 6 Mafia and the North Mississippi Allstars.
This year’s Beale Street Music Festival Lineup:
Friday, May 4: The Allman Brothers Band, Three 6 Mafia, Koko Taylor, Gym Class Heroes, Gov’t Mule, Social Distortion, Richard Johnston, The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, Jerry Lee Lewis, Chevelle, Hubert Sumlin & Willie “Big Eyes” Smith, Plain White Ts, The Derek Trucks Band, North Mississippi Allstars, Popa Chubby.
Saturday, May 5: Steely Dan, Godsmack, George Thorogood, Bobby “Blue” Bland, The Bar-Kays, Wolfmother, The Ohio Players, Walter Trout & the Radicals, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Taking Back Sunday, Taj Mahal, Ryan Shaw, Kelley Hunt, Old Crow Medicine Show, Jack’s Mannequin, The John Butler Trio, Alvin Youngblood Hart, Eddie Floyd, Hawthorne Heights, Keller Williams, David “Honeyboy” Edwards, One Less Reason, The Duhks, Daddy Mack Blues Band.
Sunday, May 6: Counting Crows, John Legend, Hinder, Elvin Bishop, Barenaked Ladies, Corinne Bailey Rae, Daughtry, Tab Benoit, Guster, Edwin McCain, Project Pat, Backdoor Slam, Umphrey’s McGee, Ann Peebles, Papa Roach, Watermelon Slim, Billy Lee Riley, Egypt Central, The Lee Boys, James “Super Chikan” Johnson.
For more info, see MemphisinMay.org.
— Chris Herrington
It’s selection weekend for the NCAA basketball tournament, a time when “RPI” and “schedule strength” become a part of the nation’s vernacular. Local fans will be glued to their televisions Sunday to see where the Memphis Tigers land in the seeding process. Check out SI.com’s Seth Davis’ take on the inflated value we fans give the RPI, and what we should be examining.
Once you get the NCAA skinny, you can fill out your own bracket, available in next week’s issue of the Flyer, hitting the stands on Wednesday.
Anthony Reyes spent most of his last two summers in Memphis, as the top prospect in the St. Louis Cardinals’ farm system. Having sported a 6-1 record and 2.57 ERA in 2006, Reyes took a star turn for the parent club last fall, shutting down the Detroit Tigers in Game 1 of the World Series, a performance that propelled the Cardinals to their first world championship in 24 years.
As for this season, it’s the Cardinals starting rotation or bust for Reyes. Read about his progress.
Attorney Saul Belz, who is leading the independent investigation of MLGW, detailed his plan, and its progress for the Flyer.
City councilman Tom Marshall, in his capacity as chairman, and the city attorney’s office contacted Belz, a member of the Glankler Brown firm, on February 23rd to gauge his interest in conducting the investigation. Glankler Brown has a general contract with the city.
Belz and Oscar Carr met with Marshall February 26, and were officially engaged by the city the next day.
“We began conducting interviews on Friday 2nd of March and then again on Monday the 5th of March,” says Belz. “We have currently interviewed eight former or current MLGW employees at all levels—executive, and clerical, and people who were involved in handling the accounts in question.”
The investigation team has requested two sets of documents from MLGW, and will continue the interview process.
“We also intend to interview Mr. Lee. We’re going to contact Herman Morris, and see if he’ll let us interview him,” says Belz. “We’ll also contact the city council secretary to set up interviews with members of the MLGW committee, who have been involved with MLGW for the last five years.”
Carr has begun a trial in circuit court, so the investigators now include Belz, Jonathan Hancock, Don Hearn, and Kendra Tidwell. The team plans a quick resolution to the first phase of the investigation.
“We’re going to try to have something ready for the council on our factual conclusions at the next council meeting [March 20],” Belz says.
Belz explains that the second phase of the investigation may require more time.
“We were retained not only to draw factual conclusions, but also to try to give some suggestions in the event that we found that there were certain procedures that hadn’t been followed properly,” he says. “We have advised the council that while we thought that we could get them a result on our factual conclusions, the portion of the report that dealt with future policy changes… would probably take a little longer.”
Belz has been recognized as a leading business attorney, specializing in commercial litigation.
— Preston Lauterbach
Host of “A Prairie Home Companion” and author Garrison Keillor will give a performance titled “An Evening with Garrison Keillor” Sunday, March 11, at 8 pm in the Cannon Center for the Performing Arts.
Keillor will read several stories from his collections about Lake Wobegon, sing a couple of his favorite songs, and answer audience questions about his work and A Prairie Home Companion.
Tickets for the event are now on sale at the Cannon Center box office and on line.
Tickets are 68.75, $53.75, $46.25 & $38.75. Cannon Center Box Office Hours are Monday thru Friday Noon to 5 pm and on the day of the show from Noon until 8 p.m.
If Jerry West is looking to bolster the Grizzlies’ roster for that all-important stretch run to attain the NBA’s worst record and get the first draft pick … well, we hear Dennis Rodman is still available.
Here he is at a recent social function. Even with his new look, he could still probably out-rebound Stromile.
And attendance would definitely perk up. Just sayin’.
(Hat tip to Tony Jones)
During the month of March, the Hard Rock Cafe will be presenting a series of concerts that will not only showcase new talent but also help musicians affected by Hurricane Katrina.
The series, “March on Stage” will feature new, emerging acts. All proceeds will go to Music Rising, which was founded by U2’s the Edge to help replace the instruments lost by Gulf Coast musicians during Hurricane Katrina.
On Friday, singer/songerwriter Toby Lightman will perform, along with Danish performer Teitur.
Tickets for the concert are $10.
Memphians might remember Bud Cummins as the federal prosecutor who came over from Little Rock two years ago to try the strange case of former Shelby County Medical Examiner Dr. O. C. Smith.
This week Cummins is in the national news on another strange case – the case of the fired federal prosecutors who were deemed replaceable by the U.S. Justice Department under President Bush. Under subpoena, Cummins and five other former prosecutors testified Tuesday before House and Senate committees in Washington.
In an exclusive interview with the Flyer Wednesday, Cummins talked about the “painful process.” A lifelong Republican, he served as U.S. Attorney in Little Rock for five years, until he was notified last June that he was being replaced.
“This is the kind of thing you convince yourself only happens in the other party,” he said. “But the truth is, from time to time it is no longer a question of party, it is just a question of right or wrong.”
Cummins said he was not questioning the right of the president and attorney general to replace federal prosecutors, but he resents the way it was done.
“The way they chose to implement the decisions was incompetent,” he said. “The way they have attempted to defend themselves to Congress has been unfair to some of the individuals involved.”
According to a story in Wednesday’s Washington Post, Cummins told House and Senate committees investigating the firings of six United States attorneys last year that “a senior Justice Department official warned him on February 20th that the fired prosecutors should remain quiet about their dismissals.” Cummins reportedly said he was warned that administration officials would “pull their gloves off and offer public criticisms to defend their actions more fully.”
In response to the appearance of Cummins and the five other fired prosecutors, all of whom were subpoenaed by Congress to testify, a Justice Department spokesman said they were disgruntled former employees who were “grandstanding before Congress.”
That hardly describes Cummins, however. According to the Post, administration officials have admitted that he was asked to resign solely to provide a job to a former aide to Bush adviser Karl Rove.
Cummins told the Flyer that the heavy-handedness will create an impression of political interference that will be hard to combat.
“Once you lose your credibility, people start second-guessing every decision you make,” he said.
He added that he is grateful to President Bush for the opportunity to be a U.S. Attorney and “not critical at all for him giving someone else that opportunity. That is the nature of the job. You can be up there throwing strikes but if the manager takes the ball from you that is the way it goes. Ultimately it’s the manager’s call.”
Cummins returned to his home in Little Rock Wednesday afternoon, declining interview requests from CNN and “Hard Ball,” among others. He said he plans to do some consulting for a biofuels company.
As a prosecutor, Cummins tried some of his own cases. In 2005, he and a colleague got a hung jury in the Smith case, on which Memphis prosecutors recused themselves because of their working relationship with Smith. Smith was accused of staging a bizarre incident in which he was found bound with barbed wire and a homemade bomb outside his office.
The government elected not to retry the case, although Cummins said he was prepared to do so. Cummins showed guts in trying the case, which some members of the Memphis Police Department and the Shelby County District Attorney General’s office tried to sweep under the rug or discredit.
At trial, Cummins had to overcome several witnesses who were protecting Smith, whose lawyers claimed he was attacked and bound by a lone assailant. Smith did not take the stand.
In another interview with the Flyer in 2005, Cummins defended Bush and the U.S. attorney general as “absolutely intolerant of prosecutors engaging in political activity of any kind. If you can’t leave politics at the door, you shouldn’t come here or you won’t last.”
At the time of that interview, the U.S. attorney’s job for the Western District of Tennessee was open due to the resignation of Terry Harris, who took a job with FedEx. The position was filled with the appointment of David Kustoff, a Bush political ally and former head of the Shelby County Republican Party.
The firing of Cummins also raises questions about the Justice Department’s approach to domestic terrorism cases. If Smith is to be believed, two years after 9/11, a public official (Smith) and a public building (the medical examiner’s office) in Memphis were targeted for bombings by someone who remains at large. The Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms called the case its top priority.
But the FBI and federal prosecutors in Memphis are making no effort to look for Smith’s “attacker” even though last year the Memphis office prosecuted a rural West Tennessee man, Van Crocker, for making threats to bomb government buildings.