New Car Wash USA Slated for Summer Ave.
Car Wash USA Express has filed a $1.8 million construction loan to build a car wash at 4349 Summer Ave., at the corner of Summer and Waring Road.
Operating locally as Car Wash USA Express 4349 LLC, the Byhalia-based company took out the loan May 16 through First State Bank.
The company bought the property in April for $650,000 from Aquality PMM Inc., and also financed the purchase with a $530,296 loan through First State Bank.
The 0.67-acre location formerly held a 4,296-square-foot Mr. Pride car wash, which was built in 1964. The Shelby County Assessor of Property’s 2008 appraisal of the property is $281,300.
Calls to Car Wash USA executives were not returned by press time, but the company has expanded its Memphis footprint recently. In April it bought an existing car wash at 161 Byhalia Road in Collierville, and in July, the company filed a construction loan for an express tunnel car wash at 3405 Austin Peay Highway.
Car Wash USA is a car wash supply company owned by Ray Holley, who also owns the company Car Wash Superstore.
For more about the company, see the March 17 edition of The Daily News at www.memphisdailynews.com.
Source: The Daily News Online & Chandler Reports
MPO to Discuss TIP Request by City
At today’s Memphis Metropolitan Planning Organization board meeting, members will discuss a Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) request by the city of Memphis. The city wants to amend the 2008-2011 TIP by adding a Safe Routes to School (SRTS) project at Frayser Elementary School totaling $250,000.
MPO board members also will consider requests from Shelby County and the city of Horn Lake to amend their four-year TIPs.
Shelby County wants to add a SRTS project at Highland Oaks Elementary School totaling $241,649. Horn Lake is seeking to add SRTS projects at Horn Lake Middle School and Horn Lake Elementary School. No cost has been given for the Horn Lake additions.
The meeting will begin at 1:30 p.m. at Central Station, 545 S. Main St.
House, Senate Concur On Open Records Bill
A measure that would overhaul Tennessee’s open records laws is headed to the governor for his consideration.
The bill was sent to Gov. Phil Bredesen on Tuesday after both chambers worked out differences in the legislation.
The measure would give records custodians no more than seven days to respond to open records requests or explain why they need more time. There is currently no deadline for responding to requests.
The legislation also puts the open records ombudsman position into law and requires that office to develop a reasonable fee schedule for charging for records requests that take longer than five hours to fulfill.
Running Pony Garners Numerous Media Awards
Memphis-area media production firm Running Pony Productions has won six Telly Awards, honors that are part of the national competition for film and video production that recognize outstanding work in those fields.
Running Pony won bronze awards for videos produced for FedEx Corp., Rhodes College, the University of Memphis Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law and the National Food Service Management Institute.
Other awards picked up by Running Pony include bronze Tellys for a video produced for FedEx by ad agency inferno and for a TV commercial produced along with CS2 advertising for the University of Memphis football team.
House Unanimously Approves Community-Based Care
A proposal that will allow the state to offer more home- and community-based care has passed the state House.
The House voted 97-0 to pass the bill championed by Gov. Phil Bredesen and sponsored by Rep. Dennis Ferguson, a Democrat from Harriman. The Senate must approve some small differences between its version and the House’s.
TennCare, the state expanded Medicaid program, currently spends almost all its annual $1.2 billion long-term care budget on nursing homes.
The legislation would begin the process of directing about half of those funds toward home-based care over the next decade. It also seeks to simplify the process for determining eligibility and for enrolling in home-based care programs.
St. Jude Receives Grant To Study Memory, Learning
The Department of Health and Human Services has awarded a $378,000 grant to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.
The grant recently was created for a mental health research project from the National Institute of Mental Health, a division of HHS. The funds were given to Dr. Stanislav S. Zakharenko, an assistant member of the St. Jude faculty in the Department of Developmental Neurobiology.
Zakharenko is studying many of the chemical foundations of learning and memory in the hippocampus, which is the part of the brain that controls short-term memory in mammals.
Tenn. Officials to Stop Highway Work Over Weekend
Tennessee Transportation Commissioner Gerald Nicely has cleared the highways of construction work for the Memorial Day weekend.
Nicely said roadwork will stop at noon Friday and not resume until the early morning hours Tuesday.
The American Automobile Association affiliate Auto Club South predicted car travel will be down slightly this holiday because of high fuel prices. Still, the group estimated more than 543,000 Tennesseans will drive at least 50 miles from home over the weekend.
The Tennessee Department of Transportation said lower speed limits will remain for construction zones because many have temporary lanes.
Lawmakers Work Without Pay On Scholarships, Budget
The state Senate and House are back at work trying to pass sweeping changes to the lottery scholarship program and the state budget.
But beginning Wednesday, lawmakers aren’t getting paid.
The Legislature is allowed 90 days of work in each two-year General Assembly session. Lawmakers can’t collect pay for any day worked beyond that, and their 90th day was Tuesday.
Lawmakers earn a salary of just more than $18,000 and can collect a $161 per diem during the 90 days to cover food and lodging.
Lawmakers have agreed to resolve the lottery bill before voting on the $27 billion budget. The state constitution requires lawmakers to approve a balanced budget each year.