Author: Andy Meek

Categories
Food & Wine Food & Drink

A Little TLC

You’ve seen it a dozen times in movies and on TV: Two doctors are standing shoulder-to-shoulder in the food line of the hospital’s strictly functional, monochromatic cafeteria. As they slide their trays down the counter, pausing every so often to accept a plate of nondescript meat, something green, a carton of milk, and maybe a dish of Jell-O, they argue in sharp whispers: “Dammit, doctor, if you don’t operate, the patient will die.” Then one of them throws a handful of bills at the cashier and stomps off.

The scene above is a cliché that is becoming, well, a cliché. There may still be doctor dramas, but the sterile cafeteria with its forgettable food is being replaced in hospitals nationwide by something all-around more appealing, something like the Vines Cafe inside Baptist Memorial Hospital for Women.

The Vines Cafe, which opened in May 2001 along with the hospital, has artwork and outdoor seating. There are lots of windows that let the sun in and provide a view of a large fountain in the cafe’s courtyard.

According to Ralph Carmouche, director of food and nutrition services for the women’s hospital, “You’re seeing this trend of more upscale cafes in newer hospitals, because it’s easier for them to go ahead and build a new, nicer cafe than it would be for an older hospital to remake one.”

The Vines is open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner throughout the week and has rotating lunch and dinner menus with such items as chicken, ribs, and Southern fried catfish, greens, fried okra, and fried green tomatoes. In addition to food, the cafe offers a wide selection of exotic coffee blends, cappuccinos, and caffe mochas. There is also a candy stand and an ice cream area.

The cafe’s customers mostly include hospital employees, who, Carmouche admits, are a “captive audience.”

“After employees, of course,” says Carmouche, “we’ll see visitors and family members frequent the cafeteria, and we also sometimes allow patients to choose from the cafeteria menu as long as it doesn’t interfere with their prescribed diet.”

People from the surrounding community also frequent the cafe. “In fact, I know of one gentleman who told me he bypasses just about everything to come in and eat with us about once a day,” Carmouche says. “I also know of an elderly couple who comes in regularly for lunch. Those kinds of things are encouraging to me.”

Carmouche says the cafe also attracts visitors from Baptist’s corporate offices. “We really have good food that people enjoy and really good prices, and that’s what keeps people coming back, no matter who they are,” Carmouche says.

Carmouche has the figures to back up his claims. The cafe regularly sends out customer-satisfaction surveys, which average about 96 percent positive.

“When we do those, we survey everybody, both our outside and internal customers,” he says. “We always get a lot of comments and compliments.”

The Vines Cafe, 6225 Humphreys Boulevard, inside Baptist Memorial Hospital for Women, is open Monday through Friday for breakfast from 7 to 10 a.m., lunch from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., dinner from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Categories
Food & Wine Food & Drink

EYE ON THE PRIZE

Fondue, from the French word “to melt,” began in Switzerland as a clever way of using up hardened cheese. At the Melting Pot restaurant near Wolfchase Galleria, however, practicality isn’t really the point when a four-course meal can take up to four hours. The goal here is to be totally immersed in the experience, much like that piece of bread you’re dipping into a pot of aged cheddar.

The restaurant’s motto is “Dip into something different,” and the management team of Steve Evers and George Chaposky are passionate about its distinct personality. The music playing on any given night, for example, is tailored to the general age of the crowd. Customers who come later in the evening are likely to be greeted by a host or a manager offering to stay late and personally serve them. The restaurant’s other attractions include romantically dim, semiprivate booths and a quaint wine room with nearly 120 bottles.

The bottom line, says Chaposky, is that if customers aren’t impressed, “then we just haven’t done our job.”

“We’re not your average restaurant, and we want to leave an impression on people,” he says. “We want them to ask ‘What just happened?’ when they leave. We want them still talking about the experience days later.”

Though the Melting Pot’s Wolfchase location is roughly three years old, the restaurant was closed for about a year until Evers and Chaposky took over in September 2002. Evers, 50, is a former Nashville music-industry veteran, who came to Memphis from Nashville’s Melting Pot. Chaposky, 25, came from the Myrtle Beach Melting Pot and says the pair of managers has ambitious plans for their upscale eatery.

Evers, for instance, is adamant that “the outside world should stop for customers” once they come in the door. He knows it’s a tall order, but Evers believes its success lies in treating customers like kings and providing them with feasts. “You know, there are so many different places in Memphis, we feel like we really have to do something different to pull customers our way,” he says.

That starts with the four-course meal that’s central to the Melting Pot’s drawing power. Dinner begins with a creamy selection of five gourmet cheeses and dipping sauces, bread, and vegetables. That’s followed by a choice of salads and entrÇes, including beef, boneless chicken, duck, lobster, and shrimp. Customers ordering the full dinner cook their own entrÇes in a pot of vegetable-based broth in the center of the table. Capping off the meal is a dessert course of fruits and cakes served with a hot chocolate fondue.

The meal comes with a $65 price tag per couple, but customers don’t have to get the entire package. Many, for example, drop by after a movie just for the cheese or dessert course.

Chaposky says that the restaurant is committed to being a “romantic yet fun” place to eat. That’s where his eye for top-notch service comes in. Already, he and Evers are awaiting the end of the year when Melting Pot franchise officials distribute awards for performance and service.

“The award we’re shooting for this year is called the Service Pot, and it’s the first year we’re eligible for it,” Chaposky says. “It’s a huge award for me. When I was in Myrtle Beach, our restaurant won the award seven years in a row.”

No mean feat, considering the prize is given to only one of the 70 restaurants in the franchise each year. Evers and Chaposky, though, are constantly scouring every aspect of the restaurant, looking for areas to shore up and improve customer service. “Here, our waiters are going to take the time to get to know you,” Chaposky says. “That’s why people come back to us. We treat them like they are the most important person in the city.”

When Chaposky left the Melting Pot in Myrtle Beach, he told them not to get comfortable with their winning streak. “Wherever I go,” he says, “the pot’s coming with me.”

He’s already got a spot picked out on the bar, at the front of the restaurant, for this year’s award.

The Melting Pot is open seven days a week. Monday through Thursday the restaurant is open from 5 to 10 p.m.; Friday, 5-11 p.m.; Saturday, 4:30-11 p.m.; and Sunday, 4:30-10:30 p.m. The last seating for a full dinner is an hour before closing.

Categories
Sports Sports Feature

“Canned Hunts”

Tennessee is among a growing number of states that offer the nation’s more than 10 million hunters a controversial way to pursue and kill trophy animals. The practice is known as “canned hunting” and has recently drawn a barrage of opposition from animal protection groups as well as the public.

Here’s how canned hunts work: After paying fees that can range from a few hundred dollars to more than $1,000, a hunter at a canned-hunt facility is allowed to kill animals, such as deer or pheasants, in an enclosed hunting area. The method, which animal advocates say often targets exotic animals, is practiced at six facilities in Tennessee and more than 1,000 facilities in 24 other states, according to the Humane Society of the United States.

The practice has drawn criticism at state and national levels. In 2002, the Maryland-based animal protection group the Fund for Animals issued a report scolding Tennessee, among other states, for what it termed were “overly-cruel” canned-hunt facilities. The hunting practice was also the subject of national media attention late last year after Vice President Dick Cheney visited a canned-hunt facility in Pennsylvania. According to a report by MSNBC, Cheney visited the Rolling Rock Club in Ligonier Township, Pennsylvania, where he and nine companions shot at 500 ringneck pheasants and killed 417 of them.

“Until things like this happen, most people usually remain unaware of the existence of canned hunts,” said Heidi Prescott, national director of the Fund for Animals.

The group’s 2002 report, which Prescott said would be updated soon, is a list of the top 10 states with “cruel” canned-hunt facilities. Prescott said that states on the group’s list have “the most number of canned hunts on the smallest acreage, and allow hunters to pursue exotic animals.”

In addition to Tennessee, states on the list are Texas, Michigan, Florida, Pennsylvania, Colorado, Ohio, Maine, Missouri, and Louisiana.

There are six canned-hunt facilities in Tennessee, according to the report, and two of them operate in the Mid-South: the Arrowhead Hunt Club in Whiteville and the Crockett Hunting Preserve in Gadsden. Phone calls to both facilities were not returned.

However, an employee at a Nashville-area canned-hunt facility described the operation there in detail. Jerry Pistole, who works at the Cumberland Mountain Hunting Lodge, explained that hunters can buy a number of packages, one of which costs $1,080 and includes three nights’ lodging and two days of guided hunting of Russian wild boars. The lodge’s hunting area is enclosed by nearly eight miles of 8-foot-tall fence, Pistole said.

Facilities such as his typically shy away from identifying themselves as canned hunts, Prescott explained, adding that they usually prefer to advertise themselves as “hunting preserves” or “hunt clubs.”

Pistole defended the lodge’s fenced-in hunting ground and attempted to distance the lodge from comparisons with other canned-hunt facilities. “This is not like shooting fish in a barrel,” he said.

When asked to defend the lodge’s operation against criticism from the Fund for Animals, including charges that canned hunts are “inhumane,” Pistole replied, “It might seem that way if you had never been here and were an animal-rights person.”

Walter Cook, captive wildlife coordinator for the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency, also stopped short of comparing hunting preserves in Tennessee to canned-hunt facilities.

Unlike canned-hunt facilities in other states, Cook said, a typical hunting preserve in Tennessee includes up to 1,800 acres. At true canned-hunt facilities, Cook said hunting areas are more constricted and captive animals are usually killed in cages or immediately outside a cage.

“That just does not happen in Tennessee,” he said.

Cook did concede, however, that some animal advocates and hunters might interpret an unspecified number of the state’s hunting preserves as canned-hunt operations.

Kathy Simonetti, director of the Memphis Humane Society, said she has received multiple inquiries about the operation and legality of canned-hunt facilities. Wayne Pacelle, senior vice president of the Humane Society of the United States, blasted the practice in a New York Times op-ed last month.

“Canned hunting belongs in the same category as other forms of animal abuse, like cockfighting and bullfighting,” he wrote. “It’s hard on animals and easy on people — and it should be against the law.”

Categories
News News Feature

CITY BEAT

EIGHT IS ENOUGH

Nobody in the NBA can boast the experience, talent, variety of moves, diversity, and above all the depth of our Memphis Grizzlies.

Of course, we’re not talking about the team on the floor, which was 0-10 at this writing. We’re talking about the one on the bench, and behind it, and behind them, and up in the suites, and who knows where else.

The Memphis Grizzlies are the only team in pro sports with six– count ‘em, six– active or former pro head coaches plus two former college head coaches on the payroll. Average age: 62. In the corporate world, a company with eight aging CEOs in its organization might be called, dare we say it, top-heavy. Such an organization might be expected to produce actual results. Or trim payroll. But there is no world like the world of big time pro sports.

Quoting here from the 2002-2003 media guide: “The Memphis Grizzlies have an eye on building a successful future by carefully assembling one of the best collections of young talent in the NBA. Luckily for those young players, they play for an organization whose front office is one of the most experienced in the league.”

You can say that again. With the all-important player-to-coach ratio at 1.5 to 1, the Grizzlies are, as they say, loaded. There are decent-sized companies with fewer secretaries than the Grizzlies have coaches. Suburbs have smaller operating budgets than the combined coaching payroll. It’s a wonder there are enough clipboards to go around.

We’re the Sun City of NBA coaching. The next NBA coaches reunion might as well be in Memphis since so many of them are here already.

Now let’s get to the lineup.

At captain and starting at point guard, 69-year-old Hubie Brown. Younger than John Wooden, Joan Collins, and the Queen Mum. Older than Mick Jagger, Bill Russell, and the Amazing Kreskin. Still has great spring in his legs, range in his voice, can work the clipboard with either hand or even upside down, and will always beat the press corps off the dribble. Best of all, as white guy drawing Social Security, is “hip” to young black guys. Great moves, as shown by new $10 million multi-year contract. You’ve heard that the NBA is dead set on expanding its shrinking audience and tapping new markets? Well, viewership at the Lewis Senior Citizens Center is through the roof, and Depends is looking at buying a sponsorship.

At shooting guard, the immortal Jerry West. Sweetest jump shot ever, tenacious defender, averaged 27 ppg during his career. What would he average today with the bigger, faster, more athletic players? Probably only 20. But then he’s 64 years old.

At center, Chuck Daly, 72. Two NBA championships with the Detroit Pistons, the fearsome Bad Boys. Gave it up when he conceded that “sooner or later, they stop listening to you.” Considered probably the best-dressed coach in the NBA. Advises team on haberdashery. Can still take it to the rack — the rack at Saks Fifth Avenue.

At small forward, Lionel Hollins. This promising youngster, just 49 years old, looks to have a great NBA future once he gets his AARP card and a couple more decades of experience under his belt. Free agent picked up in the offseason to provide depth at the crucial asistant to the assistant to the assistant to the assistant president and general manager spot. “The Kid” figures to get some pine time with the addition of Hubie Brown but could get the call if Griz fail to deliver on Heisley ultimatum of double-digit “Ws” by Memorial Day.

At power forward, Dick Versace, 62. Chuck Daly’s sidekick in Motown. Big cheese for the Indiana Pacers in 1989, then, like Hubie Brown, moved up to the big time, that being, of course, television analyst for TNT. His current duties include and and as well as .

Sixth man. Sidney Lowe, 43. Benched last week for being a poor shooter, lousy passer, weak rebounder, and pathetic defender as team got off to 0-8 start. But then what do you expect from a guy several pounds overweight and wearing a suit and tie and street shoes? Unlikely to see any more playing time this season, but goes in the books as winningest coach in Grizzlies’ history and gets a big assist in the Hubie Brown acquisition.

Bench Strength: You never know when a starter might run out of Suscatal. These fellas may not have been head coaches in the NBA but they know their way around the hardwood and can always be counted on to “step up” and fill out a foursome at the bridge table, the links, or the shuffleboard court.

Gene Bartow, 70, who prepped at Memphis State University just 30 years ago and refreshed his skills with the immortal Memphis Houn’ Dawgs in 2001, looks to get plenty of time replacing the fluid in the copy machine but can also answer the phones. Gary Colson, a 68-year-old veteran with a deadly two-handed set shot, lends support to starter Jerry West and is the odds-on favorite in the Hubie Brown lookalike contest.

There they are, sports fans. A total of $186,674,973 worth of talent. A combined 787,654 career victories, 89,996 playoff game appearances, and 62 grandchildren. And that’s despite losing several of their best years to WWII!

Like the media guide says, “Production is always the benchmark when we judge a winner.”

Anybody seen Dana Kirk?

Categories
News News Feature

FROM MY SEAT

ROUND TOWN BROWN

My first reaction when I heard that Hubie Brown had been hired as Sidney Lowe’s successor was the same as many in NBA-land: What in the name of Bernard King is going on here? A 69-year-old television analyst who hasn’t coached in 16 years to lead a Memphis Grizzlies squad that averages 24 years of age and includes exactly five player who have seen action in the playoffs? Put it this way: player’s shorts were a lot shorter the last time Hubie Brown held a clipboard. Salaries were lighter. You could find a game on TV once or twice a week. Heck, there were only 23 teams when the New York Knicks dismissed Brown 16 games into the 1986-87 season.

You know what? Hubie Brown is the perfect pick for this team. The 2002-03 Grizzlies are a team that need teaching more than they need coaching. Jerry West has called Brown a “wise man,” a coach with a mind for the game and how it should be played, particularly on the defensive end. He built a reputation during his first coaching life as a man who would not tolerate slackers, a coach who asked his players, first and foremost, to be on time and play all out. Brown’s approach may not ingratiate him with the likes of Jason Williams, Pau Gasol, and Stromile Swift. But so what? Sidney Lowe spent his time in Memphis trying to be a coach and friend to his players and look where it got him. Hubie Brown won’t give a bear claw what these kids think of him, as long as they play basketball the way he feels it should be played. And remember, Brown was the first NBA coach in New York for a burgeoning superstar named Patrick Ewing. If it worked for Ewing, it should work for Drew Gooden.

On a personal level, I’m thrilled Brown is coaching again because it means I don’t have to listen to him as a game analyst. He may, as West claims, know the game A to Z, but his recitations on the blocked-shot average of a team’s backup center, or the assist-to-turnover ratio of an Eastern Conference point guard when playing opponents from the Pacific Division grew tiresome. His obvious love and enthusiasm for professional basketball was often drowned in the crutch of statistics he carried with him before the camera. Perhaps a healthy dose of X’s and O’s will wake up a young Memphis team in need of some Basketball 101.

As for the naysaysers, who would you have take Lowe’s kicked-clawed-and-scratched seat? This is a time when all the Jerry West fans need to have faith in their wizard. Once the NBA season begins, the best coaches — we must presume — already have jobs. Same goes for the top names at the college level. West had a difficult task here, made an unconventional choice, and still managed to find someone with the reputation for teaching and discipline that his Grizzlies so sorely need. Say what you will about the other talking hoop-heads out there — Danny Ainge, John Thompson, Mike Fratello — Hubie Brown comes closest to the prototype for a developing team’s instructor/guardian. So what if he’s 69 and looks 10 years older?

Stromile Swift was 7 years old the last time his new coach was at the helm of an NBA franchise. Pau Gasol was 6 and Drew Gooden was 5. These three players, combined, have four years of NCAA experience. All three are immensely talented but have yet to taste winning on the professional level. They need a teacher, a father-figure (grandfather figure?) as their careers blossom. When they tipped off against Minnesota last Friday night in The Pyramid, they had their man.

Categories
Music Music Features

TWO MUCH

h4>Demolition

Ryan Adams

(Lost Highway)

Rise

Kim Richey

(Lost Highway)

It seems like everything you read these days about Ryan Adams centers on his tortured cowboy-poet image rather than his actual talents — and that’s a shame. Adams has a lot more to offer the world than a rumpled Western shirt and a haircut that cries out for a little attention.

Adams is a fine, emotional vocalist and an ace songwriter. Last year’s Gold was so convincing and consistent over its 76-minute span that it made one wonder if Adams was even capable of penning a bad tune. Maybe not. The story goes that, during the frenetic making of Gold, Adams assembled enough material to fill four CDs –the 13 “demos” collected here are part of the leftovers. But labeling these songs “demos” is a little misleading: Fans will find that this is just the latest Ryan Adams album, full of songs as well-crafted as anything on Gold. After listening to this mostly acoustic set of tunes, it’s tempting to cast Adams in his own unique mold — that of a trouble-making purveyor of traditionalism. But you don’t have to be a country-music fan to appreciate Demolition.

Like Adams, Kim Richey is one of a small group of recording artists who may end up saving country music, and, like Adams (and Lucinda Williams and Willie Nelson and the crew behind O Brother, Where Art Thou?), she records for renegade Nashville label Lost Highway. This coterie of musicians is doing some amazing things to the country genre these days — turning it upside down, inside out, and redefining its former backwoods boundaries. As a result, the music sounds as good as it ever has: simple, fresh, and, most importantly, honest.

Rise is Richey’s fourth major-label release and her first for Lost Highway. The record kicks off with “Girl in a Car,” a song that conjures up images of some restless romantic driving down the two lanes of heartache. The lyrics here, as on so many Richey vignettes, are delivered in the voice of someone clinging in vain to some drifting memory.

Richey’s unique songwriting gift lies in taking simple lyrics and turning them into beautiful songs, but producer Bill Bottrell’s heavy-handed imprint keeps the record from being an unqualified success. Rather than leave Richey’s beautifully spare, acoustic arrangements alone, he infuses much of the album with enough studio trickery to keep any teenager happy and make any country purist shudder. The album loses something, especially on tracks where Richey shares a songwriting credit with Bottrell. Richey sounds like she’s singing someone else’s songs.

Overall, though, Richey’s songs are so sharp that the spotty production is forgivable. Hopefully, next time around, she’ll find a producer talented enough to let her music stand by itself, and she’ll realize what few country artists ever do and what every self-respecting folkie has known all along: In any art, especially songwriting, the only voice you ever need is your own. —

Grades: Demolition: A-; Rise: B+

Categories
Politics Politics Beat Blog

MEANWHILE, BACK IN L.A…

The New Republic‘s Ryan Lizza (11/25) writes, “Many House Democrats complain that” Harold Ford Jr. “hasn’t done much to prove his leadership.

“…Before announcing his candidacy for minority leader last Friday, Ford had made no effort to climb the greasy pole of the Democratic caucus. He has never served as a ranking member of a committee or subcommittee. Until now, he’d never even run for a House leadership slot. He is not known as someone who has mastered the legislative or parliamentary process, and he doesn’t have any great policy achievements

“Outside of his home state of Tennessee, he has done little of the fund-raising and campaigning that win aspiring leaders favor with fellow members. Again and again, his critics and even admirers ask the same question: ‘What has he done?’ His last spat with the party establishment came when his friend Al Gore invited him to deliver the keynote address to the Democratic National Convention. As usual, the media wrote laudatory profiles about the 30-year-old, black, Southern New Democrat who represented the future of the party.

“Behind the scenes, however, Gore’s aides were not as praiseworthy. They complained that he was a headache to work with. They were disappointed with his initial version of the speech, but, when they dispatched writers to fix it, Ford dug in his heels. É

“Gore’s senior aides were so frustrated that they actually bumped the keynote address out of its prime-time slot. (Months later, they learned that Ford had relied on Republican media consultant Frank Luntz to shape the speech.)”

Categories
Sports Sports Feature

HUBIE’S GRIZ IN NEAR-MISS AGAINST MINNESOTA, 99-95

In his first game as an NBA coach since 1986, Hubie Brown discovered that players still have to hit shots down the stretch.

The Memphis Grizzlies made just one field goal in the final three minutes and remained the league’s only winless team with a 99-95 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves at The Pyramid.

“What hurts are the breakdowns,” Brown said. “Am I upset? I’m upset because the game is close and the only time we did not cover the three all night was at the end.”

Memphis still had a chance to tie after Wally Szczerbiak made 1-of-2 free throws with 21 seconds left, but Jason Williams missed an off-balance three-pointer and rookie Drew Gooden missed a follow shot before teammate Pau Gasol knocked the ball out of bounds.

Kendall Gill iced it with a free throw at the other end with three seconds left.

“When you run the stuff and the go-to guys don’t get the ball, the wrong guy shoots the ball,” Brown said of Williams’ shot.

Gasol was held under 10 points for the first time this season, scoring four on 2-of-8 shooting. His eight boards helped the Grizzlies outrebound an opponent for the first time, but it was not enough to win Brown’s debut in Memphis.

“We’ll be OK,” Memphis forward Lorenzen Wright said. “We’ve got a new coach and things will change. We are going to be a winning team, for sure.”

The Grizzlies were unable to stop Szczerbiak and Kevin Garnett down the stretch. The dangerous duo scored 10 of Minnesota’s 11 points after Gooden put Memphis up 91-88 with three minutes left.

“We executed our plays and we played as a team down the stretch,” Garnett said.

Garnett led all scorers with 28 points and Szczerbiak added 22.

Rookie Gordan Giricek led the Grizzlies with 25 points, his best performance since scoring 29 on opening night.

“We are playing very different,” said Giricek, a Croatian. “We have more energy. (Brown) seems like a European coach.”

Sidney Lowe resigned Tuesday as Grizzlies coach.

Gill and Rasho Nesterovic each had 12 points and seven rebounds for the Timberwolves, who shot nearly 51 percent (39-of-77) while keeping New Orleans under 40 percent (35-of-89).

The Grizzlies won the battle on the boards, 50-38, and got 18 points and eight rebounds from Gooden.

Categories
News News Feature

TRASH VS,. TREASURE

Using your front lawn as an art gallery could lead to time spent in Environmental Court if your neighbors aren’t happy. At least that’s the case with Robert “Prince Mongo” Hodges.

Hodges has been in and out of court lately regarding his collection of mannequin heads, toilet seats, plastic lawn chairs, and other assorted objects that once adorned his front yard at the corner of Colonial and Park. On September 30th, Environmental Court judge Larry Potter ordered Hodges to clean up, and he moved the collection to the backyard. Code-enforcement officers claimed he’d only rearranged the mess, and on October 28th, Hodges was found in contempt of court. An appeal of the contempt order is pending.

According to The Commercial Appeal, Hodges called his collection “art” but neighbors complained that it was a public nuisance. City code-enforcement manager Johnie McKay said anything that disturbs neighbors, whether it’s art or not, can be considered a violation of the housing code.

“Anytime there’s an interference where one individual causes another individual not to enjoy their home, you are in violation,” said McKay.

Several weeks ago, Hodges hosted a “Zambodian Art Festival” and splattered paint over the exterior of his house. The paint could not be challenged in court due to the lack of a graffiti ordinance in the city.

According to tax-assessor records, the property actually belongs to Michael Hodges, Mongo’s brother. McKay said that Michael was sent a notice regarding the violation, but since he resides out-of-state, the city is virtually powerless to do anything about it.

In June, the Flyer reported that Hodges was in compliance with the Building Department of Code Enforcement, but code inspectors for the Environmental Court have tried to prove that the property was a public nuisance

Hodges’ lawyer, Johnny Rasberry, claims the only reason neighbors complain is because of the location. He said he thinks a similar situation in a less prestigious neighborhood wouldn’t warrant any complaints.

Categories
Politics Politics Beat Blog

POLITICS

FORD FALLS FAR SHORT

In the end, the main race wasn’t even close. U.S. Rep. Harold Ford Jr. (D-Memphis), suffered the first real adversity of his political career — losing the vote for House minority leader 177-29 to California congresswoman Nancy Pelosi, a party liberal whom he had characterized as the custodian of old ideas rejected in last week’s national elections.

The enormity of the secret-ballot vote suggests that Ford’s House Democratic colleagues thought otherwise — or perhaps merely adjudged his bid for high national power to be too soon attempted and too imperfectly conceived. Though clearly the twelfth-hour withdrawal from the race of Ohio Rep. Marcy Kaptur (who had made an eleventh-hour entrance that seemed helpful to Ford) was a factor, so no doubt was an apparent lack of enthusiasm among Democrats for Ford’s espousal of a “centrism” embracing further tax cuts and supportive of President Bush on Iraq and other issues.

In any case, the final tally was wildly off the mark of the Ford camp’s advance predictions (61 votes claimed as of Wednesday afternoon). And the 32-year-old 9th District congressman’s rapid climb upward has surely been reversed somewhat, though the degree to which hard feelings persist remains to be seen.

Meanwhile, House Democrats did get at least one rousing horse race. Rep. Robert Menendez (NJ) defeated Rosa DeLauro (CT) for Dem caucus chair, becoming the “top ranking Hispanic in Congressional history.” The vote was 104-103 (Roll Call Daily).

Here — from The Hotline — was how, on the eve of his expected defeat, some of the state and national press speculated on Ford’s political future:

Ford Looking to a Bigger Stage?

Rep. Harold Ford Jr. (D-TN), when asked how many votes he has: “I’m not going to play that game. We’re not playing pledges and publishing of names. But I do know there’s one vote count that matters. On November 5, Democrats lost again” (“Press & Buchanan,” MSNBC, 11/13).

Chattanooga Times Free Press‘ Sher reports, “A group of moderate-to-conservative” House Dems on 11/13 “rallied” to support Ford. At a 11/13 presser featuring Stenholm and “nearly a dozen” other Blue Dog Dems, Ford said: “I feel good about the direction we’re headed.” Ford “declined to say” how many Dems are supporting his bid, or how many Blue Dogs are supporting him (11/14).

Fox News Channel‘s Cameron reports: “Ford had hoped to balance his support from the more conservative Blue Dogs with the endorsement of the left-leaning Congressional Black Caucus but at the last minute he had to indefinitely postpone his appearance with them. No precise word on why but it seemed less a sign of weakness of Ford’s candidacy than it is a sign of strength of Pelosi’s” (“Special Report,” 11/13). Meanwhile, the DLC is “promoting” Ford, “though they doubted he had much of a chance” (Washington Times, 11/14).

Washington Post‘s VandeHei, on Ford’s leadership bid: “I think it’s more about him then the party. This is a guy with big ambitions. He’d like to either run for governor or Senate. He wants to get out there. By coming out and challenging Pelosi he got a lot of national attention. On the other hand, he also embodies a lot of the frustration that’s inside this caucus. They don’t want liberals from the two coasts running the party when they know that elections are won in between.” More VandeHei: “Ford’s next move is to fall back into a rank and file member and then bidding his time so he can run for something else down the road” (“Capital Report,” CNBC, 11/13).