VOL. 131 | NO. 192 | Monday, September 26, 2016

Green Party's Stein to Campaign in Memphis

Green Party presidential candidate Dr. Jill Stein will campaign in Memphis next week.

Stein has scheduled a rally Monday, Oct. 3, at Amurica Studios, 410 N. Cleveland St.

The rally organized by the Green Party of Shelby County is the first appearance in the city by a presidential contender of the general election campaign season. It comes two weeks and two days before the early voting period opens in Tennessee in advance of the Nov. 8 Election Day.

Stein is scheduled to hold a similar event at 7 that evening in Oxford, Mississippi.

A Facebook post about the Oxford event describes it as a student town hall forum with details beyond the date still being worked out.

The Green Party ticket of Stein, a physician and environmental activist, and her vice presidential running mate, Ajamu Baraka, is one of seven tickets on the Tennessee ballot for president.

The Democratic and Republican tickets are the only tickets with a party label. Stein and Baraka, along with the remaining five tickets, are listed as independent candidates.

– Bill Dries

Stevenson Returning as Grizzlies PA Announcer

The Memphis Grizzlies are bringing back former Grizzlies public address announcer John Paul Stevenson as the team’s interim public address announcer for the 2016-17 season, beginning with the Monday, Oct. 3, preseason game vs. Orlando.

Stevenson last served as the team’s full-time public address announcer from 2001 to 2006 before spending the last 10 seasons with the Houston Rockets. While in Houston, Stevenson also served as the public address announcer for the 2013 NBA All-Star Game.

This summer the Grizzlies severed ties with PA announcer Rick Trotter, who is facing four counts that he photographed women without their consent and will have a court appearance in October.

– Don Wade

UTHSC Professor Awarded $3.4M in Grants

Dr. Subhash Chauhan, a professor in the Departments of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Pathology in the University of Tennessee Health Science Center Colleges of Pharmacy and Medicine, has received two grants totaling $3.4 million to develop targeted nanomedicine for pancreatic cancer.

Chauhan and his research team are in the process of developing new and innovative nanotherapeutic options to combat the disease. His projects, titled “Targeted Nanotherapy for Pancreatic Cancer” and “Development of Targeted Nanotechnology Platform for Pancreatic Cancer,” are funded by the National Cancer Institute, part of the National Institutes of Health. Each grant totals $1.7 million, and will be distributed over five years.

– Andy Meek

Grizzlies, Indie Memphis Team Up to Help Filmmakers

The Memphis Grizzlies and Indie Memphis has joined forces to award five cash grants of $3,000 each for short films to be produced about the female Grizzlies experience, with the five winning films to premiere at the 2017 Indie Memphis Film Festival.

The initiative is designed to help filmmakers in getting their short film from the page, into production and onto the screen.

Filmmakers from around the world are eligible to enter by the Nov. 15 application deadline and will be notified of the results on Dec. 16. Projects will be evaluated on their creativity, artistic merit, innovative storytelling and visual ingenuity.

Finalists will be chosen by staff of the Memphis Grizzlies and Indie Memphis. A three-member jury of film and media experts Craig Brewer, Rachel Smith and Pat Mitchell Worley will then decide the winners.

– Andy Meek

Shelby County Unemployment Rate Dips in August

Shelby County’s preliminary unemployment rate was 5.7 percent in August, down a point from the 6.7 percent rate in August 2015 but up slightly from July’s revised rate of 5.6 percent, according to new figures from the state Department of Labor and Workforce Development.

The rate within the city of Memphis was a little higher – 6.3 percent – but still lower than the 7.4 percent rate a year ago.

Statewide, August’s preliminary rate came in at 4.4 percent, down from 5.6 percent in August 2015. U.S. unemployment was 4.9 percent, a slight drop from 5.1 percent a year earlier.

Across Tennessee, the unemployment rate increased in 58 counties, decreased in 26 counties and stayed the same in 11. Williamson County reported the lowest rate (3.7 percent), while Hancock County reported the highest (8 percent).

– Daily News staff