• Memphis Fire Department remembers fallen firefighters

    Jim Weber / The Commercial Appeal via AP

    Memphis firefighter Fredrick Edwards salutes the memorial wall at the Fire Museum of Memphis as he and fellow firefighters leave a rose for each of the 53 Memphis, Tenn. firefighters killed in the line of duty during the annual September 11th Fire Services Memorial program.

    Jim Weber / The Commercial Appeal via AP

    Memphis firefighter David Schlauch helps refold a giant American flag after the annual Fire Services Memorial in Memphis.

    Jim Weber / The Commercial Appeal via AP

    Memphis firefighter Kenneth Brown rolls up flags before the start of a short parade with Memphis first responders during the annual Fire Services Memorial at the Fire Museum of Memphis on Tuesday.

    The Memphis Fire Department has been honoring their fallen comrades during an annual memorial service for a long time, but after the events of Sept. 11, 2001 they now hold their remembrances on that historic date.

    "We’ve always had a memorial for those fallen firefighters, who throughout the history of the department gave their lives in service to the city of Memphis," Lt. Wayne Cooke of the Memphis Fire Department told the Memphis Daily Mail. "After 9/11, we wanted to make sure we honored those who gave their lives in the line of duty on that day.

    In other parts of the country, thousands gathered in New York, suburban Washington and rural Pennsylvania to mark the 11th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks.

    Slideshow: Marking the 11th anniversary of 9/11

    Ceremonies at World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and Shanksville, Pa. mark 11 years since the attacks.

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  • Musicians pull out the stops at weekend music festivals in Memphis, New Orleans

    Jim Weber / The Commercial Appeal via AP

    Claudio Sanchez, frontman for the rock band Coheed and Cambria, plays a few bars with his face during his performance at the Beale Street Music Festival, May 6, in Memphis, Tenn. The weather cooperated for a third straight day as crowds gathered to watch Coheed and Cambria and other acts like Bush, Herbie Hancock, and Wiz Khalifa.

    Gerald Herbert / AP

    Kermit Ruffins performs at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival in New Orleans, La., May 6.

     

  • Hundreds gather to mark the 44th anniversary of the assassination of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.

    David Goldman / AP

    Southern Christian Leadership Conference member Jeremy Ponds bows his head during a moment of prayer at the gravesite of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. on April in Atlanta.

    Julio Cortez / AP

    Elgie Hayes holds a sign during a rally in remembrance of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. on April 4 in Newark, N.J.

    Julio Cortez / AP

    A rally in Newark, N.J.

    The Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated on April 4 1968 on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tenn. Events are being held in Memphis and other cities to mark the anniversary of his death, including a candelight vigil at the new Martin Luther King Jr. National Memorial, which opened last summer in Washington D.C.

    David Goldman / AP

    Kate Lafayette, center, sings along during a ceremony in memory of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.on April 4 in Atlanta.

    David Goldman / AP

    An eternal flame burns at the gravesite of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. as the public gathers for a ceremony marking the 44th anniversary of his assassination on April 4 in Atlanta.

    Read about more rallies to remember Rev. King and Trayvon Martin

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  • Mike Brown / The Commercial Appeal via AP

    St. Jude patient Zane Rimes, 5, giggles with delight as he is dipped upside down by family friend Judy St. Louis while exploring the Memphis Botanic Gardens in Memphis, Tenn. on the first day of spring.

    More than a typical spring day

    The day was special for five-year-old Zane Rimes not because it was the first day of spring but because he was not exhibiting symptoms of his leukemia, said his mother, Maranda. Zane has been getting treated at St. Jude Hospital in Memphis for more than a year, but today he was able to run, play and be a regular 5-year-old kid.

  • Rhodes College students teach the 'music of Memphis' to local students

    Jim Weber / The Commercial Appeal via AP

    Sixth grader Kenyatta Davis, 11, rests her head on her guitar as she learns a new chord from Rhodes College music student Stephanie Milazzo during a meeting of the Cypress Guitar Club, Jan. 24, 2012, at Cypress Middle School in Memphis, Tenn.

    By Robert Hood

    Rhodes College faculty member, John Bass, says the Cypress Guitar Club is an afterschool program sponsored by the Mike Curb Institute for Music, an endowed institute at Rhodes College whose mission is to research, preserve, and promote the music of Memphis and the surrounding region. The institute gives students the opportunity to interact with Memphis music in a variety of ways, from research and archival work, to performing and outreach opportunities, which the guitar club is an example of.

    Jim Weber / The Commercial Appeal via AP

    Sixth graders learn a new song on Jan. 24, 2012 at Cypress Middle School. The music club has more than doubled in size since it started last year by Rhodes College faculty member John Bass, who along with two assistants, teaches the after school program twice a week.

    “It is a service opportunity for us and a way for us to work directly with the city in which we reside through music,” said Bass.

    Cypress Middle School is one of Rhodes’ Learning Corridor Schools, and has historically been a school with many challenges. The Commercial Appeal reports that the school received failing grades in reading, math, social studies and science on the Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program tests in 2010 and 2011.

    There are 12 students enrolled in the guitar club. There is no fee for joining, but membership is determined by the administration of Cypress based on their interest in music, grades, attendance, and behavior. Guitars are provided to the students free of charge and were acquired through a grant written by the Cypress band director.

    “We have several very talented students who are progressing at a very high level,” said Bass.

    The club performed twice at Cypress school assemblies last semester and is scheduled to perform at Rhodes and in the community this term. In addition, one of the senior members of the club performed solo at a presentation at Rhodes last May and served as a junior counselor at a music camp hosted by the college last July.

    Bass says, “It is a program we are proud of, and think it highlights our institutional goals of not only providing a first-rate liberal arts education for our students, but also helping them to engage with the community and become better citizens.”

    Rhodes has been ranked as the #1 Most Service Oriented School in the Nation by Newsweek for the past 2 years.

     

    The Commercial Appeal in Memphis reports:

    A 2009 study published in the journal Psychology of Music found that elementary-school children exposed to a multi-year program of music tuition displayed superior cognitive performance in certain reading skills compared with their non-musically trained peers.

    Rhodes mathematics major and guitar tutor Will Lang, 21, said the work has given him a greater appreciation for teaching. One of his pupils, Cedric Wells, 12, said learning guitar was harder than he had expected, but he wants to stick with it and play during this year's school talent show.

  • Martin Luther King honored across U.S.

    Mike Brown / The Commercial Appeal via AP

    Marchers parade down Second Street during the annual Martin Luther King Day parade through downtown Memphis, Tenn. Monday, Jan. 16.

    Takaaki Iwabu / The News & Observer via AP

    Andrew Boudreaux, 10, leads the procession of the annual Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial March in Raleigh, N.C., Jan. 16.

    Ben Earp / The Star via AP

    Participants make their way along a sidewalk during the Martin Luther King Jr. Unity March in Shelby, N.C.

    Nick de la Torre / /Houston Chronicle AP

    Candi Flora, a historian wearing actual irons from the days of slavery, raises her arms during the 34th Annual "Original" Dr. Martin Luther King Birthday Parade and Celebration in Houston.

    Eduardo Munoz / Reuters

    Occupy Wall Street members march during a candlelight vigil to honor Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. in New York.

    By Jon Sweeney, NBC News

  • Jeff Roberson / AP

    Floodwater is seen inside a building Monday, May 9, 2011, in Memphis, Tenn. Memphis residents are waiting for the Mississippi River to reach its peak expected as early as Monday night as the river rises near its highest level ever in Memphis, flooding pockets of low-lying neighborhoods.

    Photographer describes covering the floods in Memphis

    Associated Press photographer Jeff Roberson said about making this picture:

    I’ve been covering floods for The Associated Press for nearly 20 years, and I’ve spent the last two weeks following the latest one down the Mississippi River. You’re looking at one of the latest stops in my journey, a building in Memphis with two signs outside: “Peaches Bar” and “For rent.” I took this picture through a window — really, the hole where a window used to be — while standing in thigh-deep water. The routine was pretty typical for flood coverage: Make sure my tetanus shot is up to date (it is), grab the go pack I keep in the attic, drive to the edge of the water, put on chest waders and walk into the floodwaters, very slowly, being careful not to step into a manhole or off the end of a submerged ledge. If you can call any of that typical.

  • Long-forgotten photos and other documents on MLK’s killer are released

    Shelby County Register's office / AP

    In this 1968 photo released Wednesday, March 30, 2011 by the Shelby County Register's office, authorities escort James Earl Ray to the Shelby County, Memphis, Tenn. jail.

    AP reports
    MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Long-forgotten photos that show James Earl Ray being brought to jail after his arrest for assassinating Martin Luther King Jr. were unveiled Wednesday to commemorate the 43rd anniversary of the civil rights leader's death.

    Dozens of black-and-white photos, along with letters Ray wrote from jail and other documents, were found a few years ago among old county records in a warehouse in east Memphis, Shelby County Register Tom Leatherwood said. A few photos were posted on The Commercial Appeal's website to accompany a story published Wednesday, and Leatherwood later made the rest available on a county website.

    See the full story here.

    Shelby County Register's office / AP

    Sheriff William N. Morris Jr., second from left, and deputies process James Earl Ray after his arrest.

    Shelby County Register's office / AP

    James Earl Ray is seen in the Shelby County Jail after his arrest.