Yasir Qadhi

Yasir Qadhi is one of the most influential Muslim clerics to lecture in English. He was born in Houston, Texas, and has studied in Saudi Arabia and at Yale. Because of his vast knowledge, he's been sought out by both high ranking counter-terrorism officials and young Muslims contemplating violence. He sat down with Eleanor Boudreau to talk about the sometimes fraught cultural position he navigates being Muslim and American. But first things first....

Yasir Qadhi On Being Muslim And American In Memphis

Memphis City Schools will consolidate with the Shelby County Schools two years from now, in September of 2013. The details of the merger will be decided by a newly formed transition team and a unified countywide school board, but the success of the new district depends on how parents react. From the playgrounds of Memphis, and the county outside it, Eleanor Boudreau reports.

Parents Mull Merged School District

By this time in 2013, the Memphis City Schools and the Shelby County Schools will be one. The new 23-member countywide school board and the 21-member transition team tasked with merging the systems met for the first time last night. Eleanor Boudreau was there in the crowd. She tells us what it was like.

Captains Of School Consolidation Meet For The First Time

Healthcare in the U.S. is uneven. It's pretty close to a coin toss whether a patient gets proper care. According to one study in the New England Journal of Medicine 55 percent of patients do and 45 percent don't. Now the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation is trying to do something about it. The initiative is called Care About Your Care. Eleanor Boudreau reports.

Initiative Tells Patients Quality Care Is Uneven--So Speak Up!

All appointments have now been made to a 23-member merged Shelby County school board and a 21-member transition team. The board, the transition team and a great deal else about the consolidation of Memphis and Shelby County Schools were settled on in federal court. This isn't the first time a court has gotten involved in education policy, but such cases are rare. Eleanor Boudreau reports.

A Rare Compromise: Memphis & Shelby County Schools' Court Settlement

Phyliss J. Anderson will be the first female chief to head up the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians, ousting the sitting Miko Beasley Denson with a sizable lead. Sandra Knispel of Mississippi Public Broadcasting reports.

Phyliss Anderson Becomes Female Mississippi Choctaw Chief

An investigation into Millington's government that excavated a massive amount of paper from city hall and the mayor's house, among other places, today progressed to actual excavation. The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation is digging a hole outside Transmission Doctors, a Millington auto shop. Eleanor Boudreau reports.

TBI Digging--Literally--In Millington

Cece DuBois is a renaissance woman. In a long and varied career, she's painted portraits, written songs, sung backup, and most recently, had her own interior design business. But a perfect storm of divorce, car accident, and recession left her in debt, barely able to keep her Murfreesboro home. Now, the 64-year-old has few prospects for making a living from her creative work.  From WPLN in Nashville, Cece Dubois explains how she survives by seeding ordinary moments with laughter.

Transitioned:  "Joy Is Its Own Thing"

All sides in the multi-party lawsuit over the consolidation of Memphis and Shelby County Schools have reached a tentative agreement. Eleanor Boudreau reports.

Agreement in Memphis And Shelby County School Consolidation Lawsuit

Tens of thousands of African-American farmers in Mississippi and across the U.S. are awaiting the ruling of a federal court to see if they'll be paid for decades of discrimination by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Daniel Cherry from Mississippi Public Broadcasting reports the court is expected to reach a final settlement in about a week.

Black Farmers' Class Action Settlement Near

WKNO-FM's Mid-South News Podcast with local news and commentaries from WKNO-FM: NPR for the Mid-South.

A last-minute hearing is scheduled for the "West Memphis 3" in Jonesboro tomorrow.  The men were convicted in the 1993 killings of three 8-year-old boys.  The convictions have been clouded by doubt and controversy.  Jonesboro Sun reporter George Jarod tells Michael Hibblen of member station KUAR in Little Rock that he expects something big to happen tomorrow.

"West Memphis 3" In Court Friday

Seven years ago, Alec Winter and his brother, both from Smithville, hung their shingle as a three-man building contractor. Then the housing bubble burst, and the era of building giant McMansions on spec was over. Winter and his brother never took those kinds of jobs. They prefer building things the old-fashioned way, doing all the work themselves.    From WPLN in Nashville, Alec Winter explains how being a jack-of-all-trades and living a simple life has helped him survive lean times.

Seven years ago, Alec Winter and his brother, both from Smithville, hung their shingle as a three-man building contractor. Then the housing bubble burst, and the era of building giant McMansions on spec was over. Winter and his brother never took those kinds of jobs. They prefer building things the old-fashioned way, doing all the work themselves.  <br/><br/>  From WPLN in Nashville, Alec Winter explains how being a jack-of-all-trades and living a simple life has helped him survive lean times.

Transitioned: "Older Ways of Doing Things"

A process for natural gas drilling known as hydraulic fracturing is rife with controversy. People from Pennsylvania to Wyoming complain it taints groundwater and causes health problems.  Hydraulic fracturing is also taking place in Tennessee, but the results are far different. With environmental groups on one side and gas drillers on the other, it can be tough to get reliable information. Brandon Hollingsworth takes a closer look at hydraulic fracturing, or "fracking."

A process for natural gas drilling known as hydraulic fracturing is rife with controversy. People from Pennsylvania to Wyoming complain it taints groundwater and causes health problems.<br/><br/>  Hydraulic fracturing is also taking place in Tennessee, but the results are far different. With environmental groups on one side and gas drillers on the other, it can be tough to get reliable information. Brandon Hollingsworth takes a closer look at hydraulic fracturing, or "fracking."

Environmentalists Question Hydraulic Fracturing In East Tennessee

Transitioned. Laid off. Terminated. No matter what you call it, losing a job is painful and terrifying. And in 2009, it happened to Rachel Agee. She was a new homeowner when she was fired from her employment law firm in February. Now, two years later Agee is still adrift and facing foreclosure. From WPLN in Nashville, Rachel Agee tells her story.

Transitioned:  Nobody Can Survive Without Back-up

A big day for Memphis students--it's the first day of school and Judge Samuel Mays has made his ruling in a lawsuit over the consolidation of Memphis City Schools and Shelby County Schools. Bill Dries of the Memphis Daily News told Eleanor Boudreau what the judge said.

Judge Rules On School Consolidation

The Shelby County District Attorney's Office and the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation are pouring over a sea of papers they pulled from government offices, private businesses, and residences in Millington. The size and scope of the raids point to a massive investigation into government corruption in the small town. Eleanor Boudreau spent a day in Millington and brings us this report.

Corruption Investigation In Millington - Informant Says Mayor Has Gambling Debts

The Memphis City Council has made more official a funding deal they worked out with Memphis City Schools in order to get school open on time. Parents, breathe easy, school is still slated to start August 8th. As Eleanor Boudreau reports the remaining controversy centered around whether the council would pay the schools 68 million dollars or 78 million.

Memphis City Council Funds Schools

The ballot for the October 6th Memphis municipal elections is set, but not without controversy. This year the city council had to redraw its district lines based on the 2010 Census and the way they did that has some would-be candidates crying foul! Eleanor Boudreau talked to Senior Reporter Bill Dries of the Memphis Daily News about why the would-be candidates are protesting.

Memphis Election Hard On Heels Of Redistricting Has Would-Be Candidates Crying Foul

Memphis parents can breathe a circumspect sigh of relief. It looks like the Memphis school board and the city council have worked out a deal that will get schools open, as scheduled, August 8th. The school board had voted not to open schools until the city council gave them 55 million dollars. But the school board rescinded that vote in a special meeting Tuesday night, asking instead for just a few conditions from the city council. Eleanor Boudreau reports.

Circumspect Deal To Get Memphis Schools Open On Time

Foreclosures in Shelby County have decreased. In the past year, the number of newspaper notices announcing that a borrower is in default plummeted by a whopping 21 percent, and other foreclosure indicators dropped, too. Reporter Andy Meek has been covering the foreclosure crisis for the Memphis Daily News. He looked at the latest numbers with Eleanor Boudreau and, he says, they aren't quite as good as they sound.

Foreclosures Down, But That's Not As Good As It Sounds

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