What are your predictions for Blount County for 2008?

Here's mine:

Blount County Mayor Jerry Cunningham will resign and open a sensitivity and anger management training school, and Judge W. Dale Young will step down from the bench and start an immigration law firm offering free services for "illegals".

Blount Today files this report on the recent audit of the Blount Co. Sheriff's Office. An excerpt:

There have been recriminations -- professional and personal - plus under-the-breath talk of political collusion and veiled references about whether there had been waste, abuse, even fraud involved in the disposal of the vehicles.

[..]

Bennett, Berrong and Cunningham all say this report, its recommendations and their implementation mean this controversy can be crossed off the list in its entirety.

“No further investigation,” Bennett said, “is warranted or planned.”

The article also quotes County Commissioner David Graham as saying there are attempts to paint him as a "follower of a Folts cult, and that’s not the case."

Folts has a cult?

The MDT looks back at some of the stories that have touched the lives of our readers.

Well, yes, those are some of the stories. Which ones do you believe the DT left off this list?

Interesting opinion today in the DT. It seems literacy is a problem for local residents also. Check out the title. LOL.

Lieracy Important for Immigrants as well as Local Residents

Link...

Seriously, uneducated immigrants often have little demand of their own language, making English that much harder to learn. I see this first hand almost every day. The educated person usually does not need to leave his country to provide for his family. Our huddled masses are mostly uneducated.

Link...

Moot. Moot. Moot. " No longer an issue "

One thing I have found very interesting is that the State seems to believe ( was told? ) that the Blount County Public Building Authority is going to be forced to shut its doors at some point.

A roundup at TennViews...

The property tax freeze for seniors authorized by Tennessee voters and enacted by Blount County last week has only been adopted in six other counties across the state.

Davidson, Wilson, Roane, Bradley, Knox, Hamblen and Blount are the only counties to enact the freeze so far.

According to the Tennessean, other counties are taking a wait-and-see approach, "because officials want to have all the details worked out first or because of concerns over future tax losses."

Blount County officials did their homework and asked the County Technical Assistance Service for guidance.

Commissioner Wendy Pitts Reeves explained her reasoning for coming around to support the freeze at her blog, and cites citizen input the deciding factor.

Commissioner Mike Walker discussed it at his blog, and posted a poll here at BlountViews that generated some discussion.

Hats off to Blount County officials for giving this serious consideration and for taking the lead in making this tax break available to Blount County seniors.

Seniors have until April 7th to apply. According to the Tennessean article, only 2,700 have applied in Davidson Co. and they expect about 6,000 out of a possible 12,000 who qualify. Wilson county officials say 337 have applied, although many more are eligible.

Commissioner Walker has a helpful guide on qualifying, and questions about some of the details.

Hopefully, county officials and the media will help get the word out to seniors who may be eligible. Wilson county officials are visiting senior centers to make presentations, which sounds like a good idea.

and it brings well wishes of hope, love and charity to the real Blount County A-list.

Yes, you know who you are. You are the ones who stand up and are counted. Those of you who don't say or think what is in it for me rather you ask how it will effect others. Week in and week out the real Blount County A-listers work to make not only Blount County but the world a better place- one person or one issue at a time. Perhaps the most amazing thing is that you simply do not realize the impact you can and do have on the lives of others.

I have had the privilege to see some of these effects first hand. So on behalf of those you all have helped in one way or another, I want to say a heart felt thank you and raise a glass of good cheer in your honor.

The Yellow Squares are Coal-Fired Steam Power Plants.

Remember that our prevailing Winds are essentially West to East. Weather patterns happening over Nashville, tend to wind up here in a few hours--so do airborne particulates. Notice where the center of the big brown smudge, on the following graphic, lies.

Question: Who here amoung us, can tell me that the Stewardship of this Planet, is someone else's responsibility--not mine, not yours? As we develop this County, should we set an example by raising or lowering our Electrical Demands on the System? Would it be better to put out more and more Street Lights and Security Lights, or throttle back on the ones we already have? 100 Watts here, 100 Watts there, eventually (IM not-so HO) when we dry up all the resevoirs, the population will decrease--rather dramatically, then we won't need Electricity or Security Lights at all--Folks don't live where there's no water. Should we continue on, with the attitude that, it's someone else's problem, and continue the Predatorial Path of Consumption?

Just a thought, I wanted to Pass along, as we all sit cozy 'round the flashing bulbs, and strings of Christmas lights, burning all night long, for no one to see. The anticipatory gaze of our Children on this holy season, should give cause for reflection of our own Carbon footprints, and what we want to pass along to our children.

A TennViews "Jingle Bells" edition of the weekly sampling from some of Tennessee's best and brightest bloggers.

Robert Wilson has an article in today's Knoxville News Sentinel with more about Laverne Farmer's conservation gift:

Her family has owned the ground near Bethel Baptist Church in Townsend since the state of Tennessee was 28 years old. They got it in a land grant in 1824.

There's some interesting background and history of Lavern Farmer, her family and the land, once known as the "Vale of Tuckaleechee Cove."

Alcoa agrees to sell packaging and consumer businesses

Alcoa today announced it has agreed to sell its packaging and consumer businesses to New Zealand’s Rank Group Limited for $2.7 billion in cash. The transaction is expected to be completed by the end of the first quarter 2008.

The divisions include:

• Closure Systems International, plastic and aluminum packaging for beverage, food and personal care customers

• Consumer Products, Reynolds Wrap branded and private label foil

• Flexible Packaging, specialized packaging for pharmaceutical, food & beverage, tobacco and industrial markets

• Reynolds Food Packaging, stock and custom products for the foodservice, supermarket, food processor and agricultural markets

Alcoa says "these packaging businesses have approximately 10,000 employees in 22 countries around the world." The sale is seen as a move by Alcoa to focus on its core business.

According to the press release, Alcoa will continue to operate its flat-rolled aluminum sheet division here in Alcoa, TN. Alcoa's rolled sheet division is a leading provider of aluminum for beverage cans and employs about 1800 workers in the area. Alcoa recently announced a $22 million expansion of its recycling operations here.

(Ed. note: We checked the date of the press release and the source, and this is legit.)

Link...

Mrs. Farmer is a true inspiration and example of how Blount County land could be considered. She not only saw the beauty and use of her land, she decided she would unselfishly leave that view for the rest of us as well. Not to mention future generations.

Merry Christmas Blount County from Mrs. Laverne Farmer. If you see her, thank her.

Tancredo drops out!!!!! Is Thompson next??? We can only hope.

Link...

Today's Knoxville News Sentinel local section has an article about the recent dustups between the Maryville Daily Times and local officials

At issue are a handful of controversial decisions by The Daily Times during the past few months and the perception by County Mayor Jerry Cunningham, Maryville Mayor Joe Swann and Alcoa Mayor Don Mull that the newspaper's adherence to the standards of the newspaper profession had somehow loosened.

Read more at the link. BlountViews is mentioned.

The Maryville Daily Times reports the measure passed 12-9:

Commissioners David Ballard Jr., Tonya Burchfield, Ron French, David Graham, Brad Harrison, Mark Hasty, Scott Helton, Joe McCulley, Monica Murrell, Wendy Pitts Reeves, Steve Samples and Mike Walker voted yes. Commissioners Gary Farmer, Steve Hargis, John Keeble, Gerald Kirby, Holden Lail, Mike Lewis, Kenneth Melton, Bob Proffitt and Chairman Robert Ramsey voted no.

WATE report: Why people fake addresses to get kids in Maryville schools

Sure, everybody in East Tennessee knows that Maryville schools are some of the best. Alcoa's aren't far behind, and they have a diversity bonus. (We won't mention the Blount County school system.)

This is an interesting follow on to Elrod's previous discussion. As great as Maryville schools are, shouldn't we hold all of Blount County's schools to the same standard? And Knox County's?

And for that matter, shouldn't we hold every school system in the state to the same standard? Is being at the top of the list of the last place finishers any real accomplishment? In the current Tennessee and Blount Co. political environment, one might easily conclude "yes."

Anyway, somebody should do a "best practices" study to figure out why Maryville schools excel. Maybe the rest of Tennessee could learn from it.

I'm guessing it has less to do with Maryville's four-time consecutive state championship football program (which is pretty impressive) and more to do with parents who are involved in their kid's education.

What's in the Maryville water that makes parents and kids and teachers make Maryville schools so great? Do the higher expectations create higher self-fulfilling expectations? Is there a progressive Maryville College influence? Is it the Daily Times? Denso? Does it have something to do with a town still small enough to pay attention to important stuff like education yet big enough to have a budget to fund it?

What do y'all think?

Happy Birthday to you!
Happy Birthday to you!

Happpppyyyyy Birrrrrrrrrrrrrthday dear you know who you are...

Happy Birthday to you!

Link...

and many, many more pal.

Josh Flory at the KNS says GreenBank announced more non-performing loans and their shares were hammered:

Shares of Green Bankshares, the parent company of GreenBank, plunged Thursday after the company revised its fourth quarter earnings estimate and withdrew full-year 2008 guidance because of "credit quality concerns related to the deterioration in residential real estate loans primarily located in its urban markets."

Planning Commissioner Rick Brownlie, a really terrific guy and one of the bright spots on our planning commission, has initiated a very neat search utilizing the Daily Times: Link...

They want to base their study on one conducted recently from Sevier County (shudder): Link...

“To begin protecting these important resources, one must first identify specific publicly accessible places from which the views of these hillside and ridges are enjoyed. Such places normally include scenic highways, walking trails, scenic lookouts, parks, historic sites and buildings, and canoe and kayak routes.”

So, what views are important to you? Take a few moments and e-mail your thoughts to editor@thedailytimes.com or mail them to Scenic Views, The Daily Times, P.O. Box 9740, Maryville, TN 37803. The suggestions will be provided to the Planning Commission for informational purposes. A top 10 list of most suggested views will be also be published in The Daily Times.

I guess they include these instructions to save "Overlook at Montvale" the ole Ruby Tuesday treatment:

If you have strong feelings about any individual developments in Blount County, feel free to write a letter to the editor.

Just reading the words "Sevier County" in the context of "conservation" makes my blood pressure shoot up:

A guiding principle of the Sevier County study, which can be found online at Link..., was that hillside development should not be completely prohibited. One of the most important recommendations is the principle that all development should be secondary to the surroundings.

I support what they are trying to accomplish. Let's have our own "contest" in parallel. Who wants to start?

Here is an analysis that shows the Senior Tax Freeze is likely to save money for the rest of us. See Link...

If the Blount County Planning Commission wants to regulate ridge-top and hillside development to protect scenic sections of the county, the first step is deciding what’s worth protecting.

Link...

I don't think any of it should be protected. They should set a limit on height. If they "protect" areas, they will just be protecting the current development of Berrong and Slater (Overlook) and the future development of Alexander and Beall (3 Sisters). Let them deal with what the rest of us have been dealing with the past two decades.

To protect anything at this point, would just be protecting their ass-ets.

What do you think?

Link...

Blount judge criticized for turning person away

I am frankly disgusted and embarrassed to be a Blount County resident. As I read the quote of Young in that story, he had admitted turning away a person seeking redress in his court

Accordingly, he is unfit for the bench and certainly unfit for the support of officeholders who also take an oath to uphold the Constitution. That oath is obviously not worth the paper it is written on in Blount County.

Good golly, go read the whole LTTE. The Blount County GOP will have to hold the next pro judge / anti free press rally in Knoxville.

There is an interesting game of finger pointing going on over in Knox County. Seems like I remember something going on here in Blount County about bonus payments from overtime accounts.

I wonder if the Pellissippi Parkway Extension controversy prompted this?

It is the holidays and Medic says they are short of blood. They usually become short this time of year.
I gave yesterday (Dec 17) when I stumbled into the bloodmobile here in Maryville.

Here is the link to the Bloodmobile schedule:
http://medicblood.com/img/schedule.pdf
It appears they update it every few weeks.

Forrest (Holiday Giving, the gift of life) Erickson

If doctors found a way to cure amnesia and/or Alzheimer's, but could only bring back one lifelong strain of taught memories, what would you choose between religion and education?