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Crowd control on Beale Street questioned after weekend damage

After damage and disorder took over Saturday night, many are wondering what can be done to control crowds on Beale.

MEMPHIS, TN- (WMC-TV) - Surveillance cameras rolled on the second incident of its kind in a matter of weeks on Beale Street. After damage and disorder took over Saturday night, many are wondering what can be done to control crowds on Beale.

"I feel safe. We walked pretty far too, eight or nine blocks to come down here," said tourist Jason Cross.

In town to watch the Grizzlies and the Spurs, Cross was on Beale in the afternoon before the game started and before the crowds filled the entertainment district. But on Saturday night some patrons described Beale Street as chaos as thousands hit downtown a Grizzlies game, a Red Birds game, the Sunset Symphony and even 600 people arriving on the American Queen.

What was described as a "stampede" by police resulted in a broken store window, people being knocked to the ground, and several disorderly conduct arrests.

Power restored to more than 1,000 downtown

MEMPHIS, TN- (WMC-TV) - MLGW restored power to at least 1,500 customers after a substation went out Tuesday morning.

More than 1,000 of those customers were downtown. There were also customers without power in Millington.

Copyright 2013 WMC-TV. All rights reserved.

FedExForum makes transition from Paul McCartney to Grizzlies game

It took hundreds of people to make that quick transition in such a short turnaround.

Memphis- (WMC-TV) - It is no easy task transforming FedExForum into the grindhouse, especially less than 24 after it is a world famous venue for Paul McCartney.

It took hundreds of people to make that quick transition in such a short turnaround.

Before the game buzzer begins, crews at FedExForum had a lot of work to do.

"We're a major city, major arena, and we can handle major events," said FedExForum Vice President of Arena Operations Eric Grainger.

An entire end of FedExForum was transformed to a stage supporting Sir Paul McCartney and his band Sunday.

That transition for the concert started early Sunday morning.

"The Paul McCartney crew with 18 semis of equipment and a whole day of production, sound checks, getting ready for the concert," said Grainger.

That stage, once again, turned into seating for Grizz spectators Monday.

The ESPN set is back in place, along with cameras galore.

Woman allegedly stabbed at Club 152 a day after reopening

A judge gave the club owners permission to open the doors Friday afternoon.

MEMPHIS, TN- (WMC-TV) - Just one day after a judge's decision to reopen a troubled club on Beale Street, a woman was allegedly slashed with a knife or a razor.

A judge gave the club owners permission to open the doors Friday afternoon.

Police continue to investigate the stabbing Monday, following the busy downtown weekend.

Two women reportedly got into a shoving match and slashed the other one's thigh.

The club was closed May 16 as a public nuisance.

It was reopened when the club agreed to do criminal background checks on all 106 employees.

Copyright 2013 WMC-TV. All rights reserved.

Fans flock to FedExForum for Paul McCartney

MEMPHIS, TN- (WMC-TV) - The last time Paul McCartney played in Memphis was 1993 at the Liberty Bowl. But Sunday night fans flocked to FedExForum for what might be their last chance to see one of the fab four.

A pre-concert party in the plaza welcomed Sir Paul back to Memphis for the first time in 20 years.

One family has made McCartney concerts a family tradition.

"So many of grew up either with The Beatles or The Beatles music," said Ronnie Crawford.

"It's history I mean, come on Beatles, how you can you get better than that," said fan Jeff Morvan. "I mean, he may never come to Memphis again. This could be the last time I get to see him in my lifetime.

History costs a lot more these days.

Ronnie Crawford paid $5 for his Beatles ticket in 1966. His ticket for Sunday night's concert cost $250.

Hours before the big show McCartney was tweeting from Graceland.

YOUR TURN: Family booted from hotel to make room for San Antonio Spurs

MEMPHIS, TN- (WMC-TV) - One Action News 5 story that really made people mad this week was the one about the Westin Hotel bouncing the family reunion with the long standing reservation in favor of the Spurs basketball team.

The family has been coming to Memphis for this reunion for six years and they made the hotel reservation last year. For our "Your Turn" segment, we chose a comment from Bob Benson. In his words:

"Now let me think this one through . . . NBA players who bring home checks in the $180,000 range every 2 weeks trying to find lodging with their unlimited resources versus a regular working family who made arrangements well in advance to spend some of their limited resources and time in our city hoping to have fun in our city reuniting with family. If I were a hotel manager, you can bet I would be capitalizing on this PR opportunity by giving the whole group free rooms."

Grizz must win 4 in a row against Spurs

MEMPHIS, TN- (WMC-TV) - What was already a big task at hand for the Memphis Grizzlies, is now a daunting one. Down 0-3 in the Western Conference Finals, the Grizzlies must win four straight against the San Antonio Spurs.

As FedExForum employees get the arena ready for Sunday's Paul McCartney concert, the Grizzlies know they have at least one more game at the Grindhouse to try and salvage something out of the NBA Western Conference Final Series, but they know it will not be easy.

The Spurs spotted Memphis a 29-13 lead in the first quarter, only to come back bit by bit, piece by piece, quarter by quarter. They finally caught Memphis in the 4th quarter and went into overtime.

Memphis shot 56 percent from the free throw line and had a chance to win the game going away ten of 18. That doomed the Grizz to defeat in game three.