Memphis, TN - Memphis Mayor Willie Herenton called a news conference at 3 Thursday afternoon to announce that he has recently learned he is the father of a 4-month-old baby boy. Herenton would not disclose the identity of the [white] mother.

Herenton said he has retained the services of a family law attorney.

Herenton is not married, and refused to comment further on his personal life.

Here is the news release:

Mayor Willie W. Herenton's Official Statement

Today, I am disclosing a matter in my personal life. I recently learned that I am the father of a child by an individual who I had a relationship with. I am looking forward to assuming the privileges and responsibility of parenting.

While this matter involves my private life and not my public life, I wanted to disclose it. I respectfully request that the media respect the privacy of all individuals involved.

I will make no further statements on this personal issue. Any questions regarding this matter should be referred to my attorney Mitchell Moskovitz.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) - Mayor Willie Herenton sent a letter to television stations saying he won't tolerate the harassment he says he's been subjected to lately.

The fourth-term mayor, known for his combative and confident style, sent the letter Jan. 14 after he said an anchor made contact with him.

"It is regrettable that I find it necessary to advise the various media organizations of the increasing unprofessionalism exhibited by some of its employees," Herenton wrote.

Herenton said the incident involved WPTY-TV anchor Cameron Harper. The mayor said Harper made physical contact with him and had to be restrained. Herenton said he could have filed an assault complaint.

Harper was questioning Herenton about the beleaguered city schools system when the mayor dismissed the question and started to walk away.

"He was rude and way off base," Herenton said. Then he said Harper "put his hand on my arm, I would say grabbed my arm."

WPTY news director Jim Turpin denied that Harper grabbed Herenton and called the mayor's letter a "disguise" to avoid answering questions.

"If there was any contact at all, it was incidental and unintentional," Turpin said in a statement.

WMC-TV aired video showing Herenton glance at his arm before telling Harper, "Don't put your hands on me. Please, don't do that. No, don't touch me. You're way off base."

Harper is stopped by security, but protests and says he can ask questions. Off camera, the mayor, a 6-foot-6 former boxer, is heard saying, "for him to put his hands on me - I'm going to drop him."

Herenton said reporters have a right to ask questions, "but if you come to me and I say I'm not going to give an interview on this topic or I have no comment ... you do not have the right to continue to follow, to badger or sometimes to obstruct my movements. That's harassment." +++++

State Sen. Ford threatens to sue for defamation

The Associated Press
Jan 28 2005

NASHVILLE - State Sen. John Ford, already before a judge over a child support dispute, threatened Thursday to haul a state GOP leader into court for implying the Democrat doesn't live in his Memphis district.

Ford has testified in Juvenile Court that
*he lives part time in two homes with two different women as part of his case fighting
*a third woman's claim for higher child support payments. News coverage of Ford's testimony prompted state GOP Chairman Bob Davis to ask state officials if Ford is meeting residency requirements for holding a Senate seat.

Ford dismissed Davis' charge as a ''scurrilous attack on my integrity.'' The Memphis Democrat also said he might sue Davis for defamation of character if the attack continues.

''He is doing this for no other reason than to drag my name through the mud,'' Ford told The Associated Press in a telephone interview. ''Anyone who impugns my name is subject to a lawsuit.''

Davis said earlier he had a duty to raise the question to Attorney General Paul Summers.

''My job as party chairman is to seek answers when it appears that there's a possibility a Democrat is not legally serving in their state House or Senate seat,'' Davis told The Commercial Appeal newspaper. ''We'll get the response back from the good general and if we need to file an inquiry with the Senate Ethics Committee, that's what I'll do.

''I simply want to know: Is Senator Ford abiding by state election laws and, if he isn't, what steps need to be taken to file a formal legal inquiry?''

Ford said Davis could have easily answered the question himself by looking at past decisions on the matter, the Tennessee Constitution and Senate rules.

For instance, Ford said a senator that lives in a county that has multiple senate districts, such as his, only needs to live in the right county.

''I would suggest he be careful on what he says, for if he goes too far he may subject himself to a lawsuit from me on this matter for defamation of character,'' Ford said. ''And I am serious about that.''

Ford has been in the news for a court fight with a former girlfriend who is seeking an increase to the $500-a-month child support she receives from the senator for a 10-year-old girl he fathered.

Ford has been relying on a new state law - which he sponsored and guided through the General Assembly - that says court-ordered child support increases can be offset with proof the noncustodial parent is supporting other children.

That's when Ford said that he spends some days with ex-wife Tamara Mitchell-Ford and the three children they had together. On others, he stays with his longtime girlfriend, Connie Mathews, and their two children.

Neither of those homes is in Senate District 29 that Ford has represented since 1975.

Ford said he stated in the court proceedings only that he spent time at the two homes, not that he necessarily lived at either one.

''You can have many residences, but only one domicile,'' Ford said, noting lawmakers often get a Nashville residence during the legislative session. ''I may have some someplace else, I'm not saying.''

Democrats said the exact rules for residency midterm may be unclear, and charged the GOP with making a politically driven attack.

''We have a new statewide Republican president and this is his opportunity to jump on John Ford,'' said Democratic Leader Sen. Jim Kyle of Memphis.

Summers issued an opinion last July on residency issues.

In it, he says only the Senate may determine whether to expel an individual for moving out of his district during a term.

Summers wrote that the constitution requires a senator to be a ''qualified voter'' of the district throughout the senator's term.

''We think a court would conclude that, in order to qualify as a candidate for the Senate, an individual must be a qualified voter - and therefore a resident - of the district, at the latest, on the day of the election,'' Summers wrote.

Ford was last up for election in 2002 and will be up again in 2006. His voter registration lists the address of N.J. Ford & Sons Funeral Parlor, his family's business that is within his sprawling District 29.

Ford belongs to a prominent mulatto political family in Memphis that includes his brother, former congressman Harold Ford Sr., his nephew U.S. Rep. Harold Ford Jr. and several local elected officials.