Venezuela observed 208 years of independence from Spain on July 5, but people there weren't setting off fireworks. Instead, they feared they might hear gunshots. 

Mild inaccuracies mark the play. To which I say, so what?

The appointment of Katharine Schaffzin as dean of the University of Memphis School of Law counters discouraging national trends. Memphis Law and the community are cultivating a place where women who are lawyers get access to leadership roles.

Our abundant existing rail infrastructure could provide key routes in a future light-rail service. A light-rail line connecting the airport to Downtown would make Memphis more attractive as a tourist destination and bring more business conventions and sporting events.

The fates of a Holiday Inn-turned-Hotel Indigo and the empty Sterick Building are a study in the contrasts that define the city.

When Americans vote, speak up, pray (or not), take risks, petition, stand up for the least and the last in society, and do all of this non-violently, that is when America is at her best. 

African-Americans were not about to just show up at all-white public schools and trust that they would be accepted. It required the power of the federal courts – and in some instances the muscle of the federal government – to force change.   

I watched how my dad welcomed people, how his affable, generous approach set people at ease and made them feel included and accepted. I wanted to be just like him.

A smart inmate told me there are two types of criminals: those who embrace anti-social behavior, and those who struggle with it. With these changes in how we do our job – from arrest to sentence – we are better positioned to use our jail/prison/docket space on the former and find alternative solutions for the latter.

Joe Biden recently suggested maintaining civil relations with even the most difficult people is important to accomplish anything in Washington. The problem? He chose as an example ardent segregationist James O. Eastland, who represented Mississippi in the Senate from 1942 to 1978. 

As Memphis in May and Memphis River Parks Partnership negotiate a plan for the park on the Mississippi, city residents should recall other Memphis projects born in conflict.

There is no excusing the murderer who took Glenn Cofield’s life or Brandon Webber’s self-destruction. There is also no excuse in the richest nation on Earth for the poverty and despair our policies produce, and the pressure that puts on law enforcement and support systems.

As former Memphis mayors Dick Hackett and A C Wharton can attest, the top city job requires political skill in the face of bad news or calamity.

Our grandchild, born June 10, is part of the flow of the Mississippi where my father's ashes are, and the stream in upstate New York where my brother Frank's ashes are. Just as every one of us is an individual, every one of us is part of something larger, connected in ways large and small, and always to place.

District Attorney John Champion is not serving as a P.R. spokesman for the U.S. Marshals Service or any other law enforcement agency. He is speaking out for the Hernando shooting victim, whose ordeal has mostly gotten lost amid the violent unrest, the finger pointing and vigils that occurred after Brandon Webber was killed.

Here's a collection of 13 terrific innovations in our language, plus a longer list of major annoyances in contemporary use.

Currently, just over 50% of children are ready when they enter kindergarten and only about a quarter of third-graders in Shelby County Schools are reading on grade level. That means half of Shelby County students are already behind before they even get started.

A review of weather statistics, electricity usage and health records for the past 50 years shows that Memphians are increasingly paying more for electricity, and experiencing more emergency department visits and deaths due to heat. 

If you’re lucky enough to have a pool – even a kiddie pool – this playlist should provide the perfect accompaniment for an afternoon lounge in your floaties.

Photographers, along with reporters, hovered over the veterans like they were the newest rock group. Both men and women were crying, cameras clicked with non-stop flashing, and young children hugged our heroes.

Local data from pre-K this year shows the effectiveness of high-quality early childhood programs. Eighty-five percent of the 7,800 children who attended finished the year "ready for kindergarten," and more likely to read on grade level in third grade. 

In a social media post, Webber shares his original rap song “Fly High Kerr-Dulea,” about the shooting death of his childhood friend.

Almost as if by a magnetic force, residents were drawn to Ms. Jean. The few gifts she would accept – a hamburger, a blanket, a bag of cherries – were small. But the gift she gave was enormous: She activated compassion and drew her neighborhood closer together.

He was 13 years older, the blond guy in the living room reading books and blowing smoke rings, off to college when I was 5, married and off to the Iowa Writers’ Workshop when I was 12. 

Children with fathers are less likely to repeat a grade, more likely to get A's and more likely to enjoy school.