The Knoxville paper, remarking on a Blount Co. judicial election, says "...once elected, judges are mandated to put aside political alliances and allegiance to campaign contributors as they do their job."

We couldn't agree more.

Which is why we are happy to learn that Judge Mike Meares refuses to accept campaign contributions from lawyers because he believes justice should not be "for sale."

In fact, Judge Meares is part of a growing nationwide movement for judicial campaign finance reform, led by former U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor who is campaigning for massive changes to the way judges get elected.

You can read more about it in a press release after the jump...

Thank goodness the Knoxville News Sentinel is on the job, exposing folks in Blount Co. to serious questions about the operation of Blount Co. Courts.

This article today notes several things that someone should be looking in to:

Circuit Court clerk ... Hatcher says cannot - reconcile concurrently with records at the Administrative Office of the Courts in Nashville.

...a public perception that our local judiciary was corrupted, that lawyers are not being truthful, and that judges have manipulated the rules...

...virtually unprecedented...

...sinister operations are under way to subvert Meares' election prospects...

...Meares ... a man who is trying to rise above a tawdry election fight but who is being persecuted by those who do not want their network tinkered with.

Keep after this, KNS. The people need to know more.

At TennViews...

MDT has a breaking news item that says Sea Ray employees will be furloughed for the month of July.

Uh, that breaking news is almost two weeks old. Today's breaking news about Sea Ray is much worse.

In related breaking news, Alcoa is not making a hostile takeover bid for Alcan.

Until 10:00PM

The City of Alcoa knows how to put on a show.

Freedom Fest at Springbrook Park, Springbrook Pool, and the Duck Pond at Springbrook.

There will be activities for children (rock climbing wall, moonwalk, turbo slide, obstacle walk, and much more) and teens (laser tag, water wars, mechanical bull, and more).

There will be craft vendors, lots of food, and music, music, music (Crista Lynn, Pistol Creek Catch of the Day, Pair of Jacks, and Smooth Groove).

The finale is the fantastic fireworks display.

Check out the details.

Springbrook Park is off Hunt Road in the City of Alcoa, off of Alcoa Highway.

The meeting will be held in the Commission Chambers of the Municipal Building at 223 Associates Blvd., off of Hall Road (off of Alcoa Hwy.).

The Knoxville News Sentinel says plaintiff's attorney did not follow procedures.

The latest roundup at TennViews...

Lost dog 2 years old male deer Chihuahua. brown very skinny brown eyes. Ross is his name.he went missing from Daisy estates mobile home park on temple rd.
He is part of the family and there will be a reward for his safe return.please contact Lisa 386-6712

Lost dog 2 years old male deer Chihuahua. brown very skinny brown eyes. Ross is his name.he went missing from Daisy estates mobile home park on temple rd.
He is part of the family and there will be a reward for his safe return.please contact Lisa 386-6712

The latest Blount Co. GOP dispatch to the Knoxville News Sentinel is puzzling. Judge Young sounds like he's running for something. I thought the race was between Meares and Duggan?

Joe Gallagher writes:

Democrats: We have an excellent chance to elect Judge Mike Meares to the Blount County Circuit Court. To reach this achievement, we need to continue our effort to promote awareness of Mike Meares, bolster his image as a popular and effective Judge and to advertise August 7 as an election date that matters.

With those goals in mind, I have taken the initiative of ordering 100 T-Shirts with the message, "MIKE IS RIGHT. VOTE AUGUST 7TH."

On the backside, it says, "ELECT JUDGE MEARES. VOTE AUGUST 7TH."

So far, approx 40 Democrats and friends of Mike Meares have purchased a T-Shirt at $10. Any profit which may accrue from the sale of the Mike Meares T-Shirts will be donated to Mike's campaign fund. However, the primary goal is to advertise that "MIKE IS RIGHT" for refusing to accept campaign contributions from attorneys; for striving to keep politics out of the Blount County Courts and for dedicating his position to bring EQUAL JUSTICE TO ALL.

Mike Meares is doing a wonderful job as Circuit Court Judge. He deserves to be elected on August 7 and will be if we manage to get out the vote. I invite you to contact me to purchase a MIKE IS RIGHT T-SHIRT and then to wear it - let your friends and neighbors know that you support Mike Meares.

Call me (Joe) at 865-983-4557 and I will arrange to deliver a T-Shirt to you. Also, there is a supply in a variety of sizes at the Meares' Headquarters on High Street.

Make a fashion statement: support Judge Meares!

A reader alerts us that Blount County Circuit Court Clerk Tom Hatcher will appear before Blount County Judge Mike Meares on Wednesday afternoon at 1:30 p.m. to discuss discrepancies in statistical court reporting between Blount County and the State of Tennessee.

Hatcher reportedly provided erroneous information to Blount County Judge W. Dale Young, which was later used in a letter to the editor published in a local newspaper. The letter to the editor, dated April 27 from Young, charged that there was a significant "backlog" of cases before Judge Mike Meares. Later, it was discovered that some of those cases had been closed but, according to Hatcher, were "lost in the mail."

Should be interesting.

Related

Remote Area Medical is holding a free clinic expedition at Heritage Middle High School on July 12th and 13th. Free medical, dental, and vision services will be provided. Turnout is heavy for these events, which start around 6AM. Some people arrive the night before and camp out.

For more information about Remote Area Medical, visit their website.

See also: KnoxViews discussion re. RAM, a 60 Minutes feature about a January RAM expedition in Knoxville, and the "Third World emergency." This is a national disgrace, but Remote Area Medical is doing what they can.

It may not be too late!

AnimalWorks will be holding its 4th Annual Golf Tournament at Royal Oaks Country Club on Saturday, June 14, 2008.

AnimalWorks is a Low Cost Spay and Neuter Organization, and the only NO KILL Animal Shelter in Blount County.

This tournament flyer will provide contact details and other specifics.

The Raven Society Lily Benefit Event

For the donation of your choice (minimum $1.50 per lily suggested) you can choose from thousands of hardy, gorgeous lilies that last for decades with little or no care! Your donations will support The Raven Society which works to preserve and promote the rural, natural and historic beauty of Blount County through education and political action.

When: June 14 and 21, 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 pm

Where: 1530 McIlvaine Drive, Maryville, TN (only 3 minutes from Blount Hospital)

Go west past Blount Memorial Hospital on 321. Turn right on Tuckaleechee at Smith's Mortuary. Drive up the hill then turn right on Locha Poka Drive .3 mile straight up into the driveway at the top of the hill. The lilies are in the back field.

How many times do you run over the Blount Today in your driveway before you finally go out, pick it up, and throw it in the trash?

Heh. Just kidding.

But seriously, would it kill them to put it in my custom-built newspaper box? The Knoxville News Sentinel, Maryville Daily Times, and Sunday New York Times don't seem to have a problem finding it.

The Blount GOP appears to have the Knoxville News Sentinel's Blount County stringer on their fax speed dial, given the number of dispatches about Judge Meares lately. And apparently, Judge Meares either a) doesn't have a sympathetic ear in the media, or b) is less concerned about the political spin cycle and more concerned about doing his job.

I don't speak for Judge Meares, and I don't pretend to know what he's thinking. But reading between the slanted lines of recent reporting, anyone paying attention might conclude that:

• His opponent's handlers, who include prominent local Republicans, a sitting Republican judge, and lawyers simultaneously representing the county's top GOP official and the local newspaper, have made various unfounded accusations against Judge Meares in print and in letters to the editor, not to mention floating an unsubstantiated "whisper campaign" in the Knoxville paper, and…

• Judge Meares has probably tried (just surmising here) to talk to these people directly to resolve any concerns about the operation of Blount Co. courts and has most likely run into a brick wall because they won't return his calls, and…

• Judge Meares, believing it incumbent upon himself as an officer of the court who is sworn to uphold his duties and protect the integrity of the court he serves (just surmising here, again), took what some might consider drastic action to get answers about whether the procedures and rules are being followed and whether in fact rules about making the rules are being followed.

As reward for trying to actually do his job when no one else will, Judge Meares has now been accused of playing politics from the bench.

This is "swiftboating," pure and simple. It's an attempt to twist a candidate's virtues into political liabilities for purposes of winning an election at any cost. The irony is that it's being done by people who value desperate partisan politics over virtue and the public trust.

Personally, I don't think selection of Tennessee's local judiciary should be determined by partisan elections. Or maybe even elections at all. But that's neither here nor there, because it is what it is and here we are.

I also think that Judge Meares' opponent is probably a good guy, and maybe even marginally qualified for Circuit Court Judge. But I wonder if he really wants to get dragged down into all this partisan mudslinging at the hands of his handlers.

My guess is that both candidates would rather run on their records and let voters decide who is more qualified and more experienced. Informed voters who look past partisan politics and media spin should be able to come to their own conclusions.

The only thing I would add is that Judge Meares has repeatedly said there's no place for politics in the courtroom. His opponent, however, is running ads in the local paper saying that he's the "Republican candidate" and that people in the community "share his values."

Maybe I missed something in high school civics class, but the only values anyone should care about regarding judges charged with dispensing "equal justice for all" are a) upholding the Constitutions of the State of Tennessee and the United States of America as they are sworn to do, b) having an extensive knowledge of the law and its application, and c) ensuring that everyone appearing in their court gets a fair trial. Are there some other "values" I'm missing? Surely the Blount GOP is not suggesting that local judges should be "legislating from the bench" in deference to the political whims of the electorate?

And as far as any controversy surrounding accurate reporting of case dispositions, I would only add that the "explanations" offered by the County Court Clerk, an elected Republican who has been involved in a number of controversies, are laughable.

Blount Co. voters ought to be asking about all these mistakes and inefficiencies and scandals and politics that plague our Blount Co. courts, where judges are just trying to come to work and do their jobs every day free from political influence and interference. Voters should also be asking who has what agenda and who is more credible, instead of who is the Democrat and who is the Republican. And more important, they should be asking themselves whose values they really share.

Once again, I do not speak for Judge Meares, and have had little contact with him or his campaign other than meeting him at a few campaign events and knowing one of his campaign people who I trust and respect. In fact, his campaign didn't reply to my email regarding questions about all this. I take that as a sign that Judge Meares is busy being a judge, as opposed to getting dragged down into local partisan politics and the mud being slung by the Blount GOP.

We miss our dog. Last seen 3 days ago. Very friendly and shy. Answers by the name of Jake. He had a collar with tags/contact when he disappeared.
Mostly golden, round body with short, skinny legs.

CASH REWARD! Answers to the name of Jake. Maybe around the Eagleton area. Had a collar with contact info when he disappeared several days ago. He is a small dog and very shy. If you have any info please email me. Thank you.

Highway chief tries four-day week to cut fuel costs

"It's going pretty well," Dunlap said. "It is saving us roughly some $3,500 to $4,000 a day in fuel."

Some things seem obvious. Especially once someone else gets creative and thinks of them first.

Lost two dogs on Sunday June 1st. One is a brown MIN PIN & she answers to COCO. The other is a male SCOTTISH TERRIER and he answers to BART.

Knoxville News Sentinel

Ceramaspeed Inc., a Blount County maker of control systems for various heating equipment, announced today it will be laying off 70 workers between July 4 and Dec. 26.

[..]

To remain competitive, the company is shifting production to one of its plants in Monterrey, Mexico, Holladay said.

The company said this is part of a plan started last year to reduce it's 300 employee work force by 60%.

According to the KNS article, Mayor Cunningham lamented the company "downsizing to the point of closing down," suggesting they were winding down operations here. The company said this was not the case, and that there would still be "finance, sales, marketing and support-type staff" located here.

Ceremaspeed is a VIP Member of the Blount Chamber Partnership Economic Development Board. The Blount Chamber says that because of VIP members, "new jobs have been created, additional capital investments have been made and our region's tax base has been increased," and that "a better quality of life and standard of living for the citizens of our area has been created."

Previous discussion at KnoxViews...

By way of email from an alert reader, Blount County Commission now has live online streaming video of County Commission and other meetings in the County Commission room. They are also maintaining an archive including commission, animal control, and planning meetings.

To view the live stream when a meeting is in progress, go to the County Commission page here and scroll down to the "Stream from County Commission Room" link. The archives are here.