Is it embarrassing to be a member of the TNGOP right now?

Every member of the TNGOP that does not believe in this tactic of racial mudslinging should pull out of the TNGOP, and denounce any affiliation to them; that is unless, of course, you do believe that way.

It would seem to me that the TNGOP does not want to move forward, but backward. Backward to a time where narrow minded people could not accept someone was of a different race or religion. Is this the value of the “moral Tennessee GOP?”

I have lived in Blount County my entire life and rose up in a Southern Baptist Church of which I am still a member. And I can not say that I understand the mindset of a Tennessee Republican.

Blount County is one of the most Republican counties in the US of A, and gives much money to the TNGOP and the RNC. I would urge every Blount County Republican to rethink how you think America should be, and become a progressive member of a forward moving Democratic Party who is inclusive.

The surprise announcement (at the Tuesday Feb. 19 2008 TDOT meeting) of the necessity of the Southern Loop and Alcoa Parkway to make the PPE worth building got the attention of lots of people and the press Link...

The Southern Loop is a 26-mile beltway around Maryville and Alcoa.
Drivers heading south on 129 could get onto the Loop and continue west and south.

Five years ago CAPPE said the PPE wouldn't aid traffic congestion by itself because most drivers are going south on 129 and 411. At the time local officials said the Southern Loop 'would never be built.' But the Southern Loop is still in the Long Range Transportation Plan for our region. That plan is voted on by representatives of our local governments.

Even UT's Center for Transportation Research, in their review of TDOT's planning for the PPE, said more attention needed to be given to the terminus of the PPE on 321 and if the long term plan was to build the Southern Loop, that TDOT needed to study the impact of the entire beltway.

Now even TDOT is saying that the PPE will relieve traffic congestion ONLY if the Southern Loop AND Alcoa Parkway are built.

If our elected officials didn't know that the supposed benefits of the PPE require the Southern Loop, what else don't they know? What will the impacts of the Southern Loop and Alcoa Parkway be on our communities?

To read CAPPE's response to the Feb. 19 meeting, go to Link... or Link... and click on
"CAPPE’s response to Feb 19 2008 TDOT public meeting."

... eventually ...

Better git as many of them glass electric thingies on your roof, as soon as possible. Looks like we shoulda left all that Oil & Coal alone, undisturbed, under the ground--the cost is gettin' kinda tremendous.

Pssst ... that big brown smudge is still there, and it's still a growin.

Here's an embarrassing development for Tennessee.

Senator Obama as been "Husseined" by The Tennessee Republican Party.

Link...

Come on! Admit it! Who likes snow?

Just received this email from the secretary of the GMAC.

"The GMAC members are planning to have a public meeting at the Library on March 3rd at 6:30pm to present our findings to the public and would like to encourage each of you to attend for information prior to our reporting to you at your work session in March. We will cover things in much more detail at the Library because we will have more time." -J.C. Franklin, Secretary

Put on your calendars!

Has anyone noticed that the County Government Web site is not being updated to keep the public informed?

The agenda for the Planning Commission meeting scheduled for this Thursday, February 28, 2008 is not posted on the county web page. As a matter of fact the last agenda posted is for their meeting that was held in January of 2008.

Another interesting note, is that the latest agenda posted for the Board of Zoning Appeals is the meeting of December of 2007. Nothing for the month of January, or for February, of 2008.

Although notices for these monthly meetings are being posted in the legal section of our daily newspaper, as required by law, they fail to appear on the couty web pages.

That's what Joe Gallagher says. Commenting on the Children's home controversy, Joe says: "Pure and simple, the developers want the property for commercial use. The Mayor and Chamber (also Economic Development Board), as servants to the developers and bankers -- not the public -- are maneuvering to acquire the property."

He is also critical of the recent sale of the Highway Department property near Hamilton Crossing to the EDB for $3 million, who will in turn sell it to a Knoxville developer. Joe says "I wonder if $3-million is even close to the fair purchase price the County should receive. I believe the property should have been appraised by an independent firm with no ties to Blount County."

The History Channel is showing the program "Hillbilly : The Real Story" tonight.
If you sometimes have some trouble understanding the old time local folk around here be sure to watch this program 8-10 pm.
It is excellent I hear.

Does anyone know what this article is about? It seems mostly devoid of information.

Parkway Update

Found a medium sized brown and white mixed breed (possibly boxer/beagle) in Townsend with orange collar that reads Kenneth Palmer and a phone number that no longer works. He's a very sweet dog and we would like to see him returned home.

My primary question about this measure is whether it will make it harder or easier for concerned citizens to successfully request things be added to the agenda of the official monthly commission meeting. Certainly, more votes will be needed to advance something forward, but perhaps there's some other benefit to a "Work Session" structure.

Commissioner Walker, could you offer any insight on how this might benefit the citizens, or what specific concerns you had motivated you to make this motion?

From the minutes of the Intergovernmental Committee:

Mike Walker made a motion to dissolve the Intergovernmental Committee, the Public Service Committee, and the Beer Board and to have one committee meeting comprised of the whole commission per month and the commission meeting only. Monika Murrell seconded the motion. A voice vote was taken with Chairman Farmer declaring the motion to have passed.

Last night, WVLT reported the controversy stirred up when the Children's Home board didn't immediately acquiesce to the Mayor's desire for them to share their property with other organizations: Link...

It will be discussed and the problem hopefully corrected in tonight's commission meeting. There's a ton of info in the commission packet about this starting on page 75/Item L4 of Link.... While the change to the charter, the primary intent of which was to add more board members, wasn't brought before the county commission, it looks to me like each of the additional new board members was actually approved by the county commission.

And it sure sounds like the Mayor is questioning his predecessor's authority to sign over the deed for the land without resolution of the county commission. But you'll see in the packet that there was a motion, a second, and a vote of the commission to do so. It wasn't like she signed over something that they didn't intend for her to. And Roy Crawford's signature is right along beside hers. He's as trustworthy as they come.

I would hate to see the county commission exploit the Children's Home on a technicality, when really, they could just bring it up to snuff instead. I've been on a number of boards and I understand the need, sometimes, to infuse them with more energy in the form of more warm bodies. I realize that this property has increased in value exponentially, given its location relative to Hamilton and Hunter Crossing Shopping areas, but this is just not reason enough to back out on a deal that the Children's Home participated in in good faith. Let's do the right thing.

New laws that punish employers for hiring illegal immigrants seem to be doing what a border fence will never do.
At my place of employment, where we have legal contract workers from Mexico, we are seeing droves of people coming in looking for work. They are coming in groups of up to 10 and 12 people at a time, three or four times a day.
They have been let go from their former jobs because they cannot provide papers that are legit. We have never seen this many come to look for work, some as far away as Morristown. Of course we must tell them the same as everyone else. No legal papers, no job.
It is sad to see but I do agree this is a better and more humane way to discourage illegal immigration than a border fence across Indian lands and such.
These folks will leave Tennessee and seek work in other states where no such laws are in place, or return to their native country.
Still it is sad to see the desperation in their eyes, but we can do nothing but abide by the law.
It will be interesting to see how this affects businesses in the future when there is no cheap labor to make money off of.

As noted by Commissioner Walker below, the ordinance submitted to County Commission in 2004 has the following:

Section 9. General criteria, sub-section S:

S. Vegetative buffer. An undisturbed vegetative buffer of a minimum of twenty-five (25) feet (as measured from the top-of-bank) shall be maintained adjacent to all free-flowing state waters. For bodies of water such as ponds, lakes, etc., an undisturbed vegetative barrier of at least twenty-five (25) feet shall be maintained.

Do I recall correctly that the new ordinance will have only a 5 foot buffer (reduced from 60 in the initial draft)? If so, is the County going backwards in terms of water quality regulations?

I have ran across a resolution that was passed in 2004 that has some of the same verbage as the resolution that is to be considered on tomorrow night's commission agenda, review it if you have a opportunity and give some feed back.

Maryville Daily Times

More than 500 people packed the auditorium at Heritage High School Tuesday evening for a public meeting on the proposed extension of the Pellissippi Parkway.

Knoxville News Sentinel

Supporters and opponents of the proposed Pellissippi Parkway Extension jammed the auditorium at Heritage High School Tuesday night for a public hearing on one of the most contentious issues facing Blount County.

WBIR

A standing-room-only crowd of several hundred people flooded Heritage High School's auditorium Tuesday night for the latest details on a proposed Pellissippi Parkway expansion project.

Sounds like Southern Loop reared its ugly head again last night. Here's the proposed route, for any newcomers on the scene: (Link...)

If you did not get to ask your question or submit your comment last night, here is the person to contact at TDOT:

Michael W. Russell, P.E.
TDOT
7345 Region Lane
Knoxville, TN 37914

or

P.O. Box 58
Knoxville, TN 37901

Phone: 865.594.2334
Email: Mike.Russell@state.tn.us

The Pellissippi Parkway Extension is a done deal. The heads of the five families (Blount Co. Mayor, Maryville Mayor, Maryville City Manager, Alcoa Mayor, and Alcoa City Manager) all support it. A massive Chamber of Commerce turnout arrived in Mercedes Benz and wool suits to support it. They are well organized, and shouted down the "antis" at several points.

We're here, will try to live blog if battery and broadband connections hold up and I can work this keyboard all scrunched over.

A reader emailed to ask how his daughter who is attending school in Tennessee should go about registering to vote here.

As long as a student has a Tennessee address all he or she needs to do is register with the election commission in the county of his/her residence. Students or anyone else must register at least 30 days before the election in which they plan to vote.

More info after the jump...

Please plan to attend and speak at the TDOT meeting tomorrow, Tuesday Feb. 19, from 5-7pm at Heritage High School. Postings to Blountviews do not get counted in TDOT's tally! Also send a letter expressing your concerns to TDOT before the deadline (March 10). The address is:

Project Comments
Tennessee Department of Transportation
Suite 700, James K. Polk Building
505 Deaderick Street
Nashville, TN 37243-0332

The Daily Times' editorial Sunday advocating the completion of the Pellissippi Parkway once again resorts to several Big Lies: "A lot of taxpayer money has, we think, been wasted in continued restudying the route just to please a small group of the county's 120,000 residents who oppose and seek to block it for personal reasons."

Actually the "restudying" is being done to please a federal judge who ruled that the initial "study" did not meet the requirements of the law.

The assertion that opponents are acting "for personal reasons" is also inaccurate and based on the same blind devotion to the highway that allows public officials to be in favor of it without knowing what effects it will actually have on the county. By far the majority of opponents of the highway do NOT live in or near its path.

And of course many of the people in favor of the road say they want it because it will make it easier for them to get to work. I guess that is not a "personal" reason. Nor, I guess, is it "personal" for developers and pavers and people who bought land near the first proposed route to favor its being built.

Opponents of the PPE have been very careful to tell the truth and ask for data. Supporters, on the other hand, seem to have different standards.

If I had any faith in county government, it would definitely have been shaken by this article:

A life left in ashes: Woman loses home, faith in government after fire

The county burned this woman's house and business down (an approximately $230K value)and will only reimburse her $100K. How is this protective of her constitutional right to seek full remedy? Can the government really come in, burn you out, and then reimburse you only a small percentage of your loss?

In January, Ridings was notified that due to the Tennessee Governmental Tort Liability Act, which caps property damage claims at $100,000, she would only receive $100,000 from the county for her home.

Nevermind that she had received two earlier offers of more than $100K. But:

Stallions (who heads up the county Risk Management Dept.) also said he was advised by attorneys not to discuss the two prior offers made to Ridings that exceeded the $100,000 cap.

Alrighty, then. Just so long as we don't talk about it.

Until recently, Ridings did not have an attorney, but she has now retained Costner & Greene of Maryville.

You go, girl. A brief Google session revealed that a number of other states have ruled that these caps are unconstitutional.

We met up with lots of really nice folks who came out to support Judge Mike Meares at the grand opening of his campaign headquarters today, and there was some great food, too.

Brandon Cook, Judge Meares' campaign coordinator, estimated somewhere between 200 and 400 people had been through between 10AM and 1PM today. Local media was there, too.

A few more snapshots after the jump...

We stopped by the local convenience store to get a Krispy Kreme donut and they were all out. Went to another nearby store that usually has them, and no luck there either.

I was starting to wonder where a fellow is supposed to get a donut around here, when the Mrs. suddenly remembered:

RICHY KREME!