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Middle Tennessee State continues to struggle on the gridiron but the Blue Raider's basketball season is off to a good start. 

(Story by student reporter Scott Henry)

A new liquor store ordinance in Memphis and one in the works for Jackson could serve as models for a state statute.

State Rep. Jimmy Eldridge, a Jackson Republican, is drafting a similar bill to present to the upcoming General Assembly.

The measures ban anyone under 21 from entering liquor stores without a parent, legal guardian or spouse.

Jackson liquor store owner Bob Lindsey tells The Commercial Appeal that store owners frequently see teenagers in their stores, pointing out to older friends what to buy for them.

A Middle Tennessean will join Danny Glover, Cicely Tyson and several other celebrities when they pick up awards tomorrow at the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis.

The 2011 National Freedom Awards are being presented this year to civil rights pioneers in several fields, including education, sports, the arts, and activism.

Special awards for what the museum calls “icons” of the American civil rights movement will also be presented.  The museum’s Gwen Harmon says Middle Tennessee’s John Seigenthaler will be among seven Icon recipients.

 Music media guru Ian Rogers was in Murfreesboro last night to give a presentation at Middle Tennessee State University.

 The CEO and founder of Topspin, talked about launching his music media career, the music industry, and what it takes to succeed.

Rogers built his first online community during the early 1990s while running a fan site for the music group, "The Beastie Boys."

Now, 20 years later, he runs the leading direct-to-consumer marketing and retail software outlet for recording artists.

Since 2008, Topspin has grown to service more than 4000 artists.

The Albert Gore Research Center at Middle Tennessee State University is conducting a veteran’s oral history project in cooperation with the Library of Congress.

The Center has interviewed several hundred Middle Tennessee vets to date and has 50 more on a list waiting to be interviewed.

Center Director, Dr. Jim Williams, says it’s important to get the stories of older vets recorded quickly. He notes statistics indicating that World War II vets are now dying at a rate of 6,000 per day.

Tennessee Senator Lamar Alexander is part of a bi-partisan push to require online retailers to collect state sales taxes.

The group of ten senators announced yesterday that they will introduce a bill that would let states that adopt the same administrative procedure for collecting taxes to be able to require online sellers to collect those taxes

Online auction company eBay opposes the bill, saying that requiring small vendors to collect sales tax for states around the country would be an unfair burden.