County creek event set for Saturday

In his never-ending metal detecting, Bigfoot hunting quest, Knox County Mayor Tim burchett will be hanging out in the Halls Greenway (behind Food City/7114 Maynardville Pike) at 10 a.m. on Saturday.

Apparently, the mayor is participating in the “Families in the Creek” event, which the county's spin team says “is an educational opportunity for families to explore a local creek and learn about water quality issues.” (And for the mayor to finally catch Sasquatch.)

In addition to the fish assessment, the event (hosted by the county and the Beaver Creek Task Force) will include a stream walk, benthic macroinvertebrate (WTH????) assessment and a scavenger hunt.

Oh and get this: Registration for the event is now closed but was free to the first 40 registrants.

What the deuce? Then why did the county's spin team even send this out today? Bah. Since I typed it up, might as well post it.

UPDATE: Here's more on the creek event, right smack here.

Finding Bigfoot or finding sense?

Did anyone catch that whole “Finding Bigfoot” show last night? Lord it was awful. I made it through about 20 or so minutes before I hit the clicker.

Credit, though, still goes to Knox County Mayor Tim Burchett for getting the folks here to film. As bad as the show was (or is), it had some nice highlights of the area and you really can't put enough dollar signs on free advertising.

Heck, ask the folks over at the Knoxville Tourism and Sports Corporation (or whatever they're called now). If officials there had brought the show to East Tennessee, they'd be claiming a $10 gazillion economic impact for the area at this point. That and they'd be cashing their bonuses checks.

Heh.

In the meantime, I did get a chuckle last night. My wife walked in while the show was on. I tried to explain to her what was happening. I said the woman on the show was the skeptic, calling out the others (they're all guys) on the whole Bigfoot thing.

Her response?

“That makes sense.”

Yeah, it does.

Bigfoot says to skip the lame Oscars

Bigfoot pondering where he'll hide next

Don't forget Animal Planet's "Finding Bigfoot" airs tonight at 10 p.m. - right after "The Walking Dead" (which is actually on a different channel but the events portrayed in the show probably have a better chance of happening than someone actually finding Sasquatch, but  . . . . heh).

Anyhoo, this is the show that Knox County Mayor Tim Burchett helped lure to the area, so it's going to highlight East Tennessee. Should be fun.

We'll have coverage on it today and tonight over at the KNS site.

In the meantime, just know that there will be all sorts of good stuff on TV, including Family Guy and American Dad.

The Oscars also are on, but only lame people watch that crap, and usually only crappy movies win.

'Finding Bigfoot' to air Sunday

Well, the "Finding Bigfoot" show that Knox County Mayor Tim Burchett lured here will air on Sunday. Click right smack here for the story.

We'll have all sorts of coverage on the event for Monday. In addition #Knoxvillebigfoot sounds like a decent Twitter hashtag for the evening.

And to answer your question, no they didn't find Bigfoot.

Mayor, salt crew in wreck but unhurt

Mayor's salt truck in minor wreck

Tim Burchett is no longer mobile.

The Knox County mayor and his driver were involved in a minor wreck around 10:40 this morning as the salt truck they were in hit a “solid sheet of ice” and nearly slipped off the side of the road.

“A big tree stopped us from completely rolling over or it would have been a completely different story,” Burchett said, adding that everyone is OK. 

In the meantime, he said they'll hang out for awhile and if need be, walk home.

“No one is getting up here right now – it's too dangerous,” he added. “You'd probably need a helicopter. But, we'll get out of here and we've got enough to stay warm, so everything is fine for now.”

The accident occurred on Haw Road off Tarwater in South Knoxville.

No word yet on whether they've spotted Bigfoot.

Knox Mayor Burchett still in hospital

Mayor Burchett

Knox County Mayor Tim Burchett is still in the hospital where he's being treated for pneumonia (no, I don't believe any of the dumb a$$ conspiracy theories going around - it's pneumonia). It also doesn't look like he's going to be getting out any time soon.

I'm thinking at least another four or five days minimum. I have no inside info on this, it's just my guess from talking to people who have been treated for pneumonia.

Don't forget, back in early April, Commissioner Ed Shouse checked into Parkwest Medical Center for 16 days for the same thing. Doctors initially thought he'd be in there for five at the most. Then they moved him to ICU.

The dude has had a rough year: motorcycle accident (probably sabotage); divorce, mom passing away,  etc.

The silver lining, I suppose, is that pneumonia does go away. So, figure in another month, Burchett will be back on the Bigfoot hunting trail.

Mayor hospitalized with pneumonia

Mayor Burchett

Knox County emperor Dean Rice is now in charge as Mayor Tim Burchett recovers from pneumonia. No really.

The mayor is in a local hospital (he asked that I not say which one). He's not sure when doctors will release him, and his staff has canceled his appointments through the end of the week.

Short story right smack here.

The dude sounds pretty bad. I talked to him briefly. He tried to joke that he put Casual Chris Caldwell in charge and then he trailed off. 

(In the meantime, Big Sexy Michael Grider has taken over Dean's office. He's kicked back with his feet on the desk as I type.)

No word on how the mayor caught pneumonia. Might have been Bigfoot hunting or metal detecting. Regardless, da Porch wishes him a speedy recovery.

Big Sexy on the hunt for Bigfoot

Catching up from over the weekend. Just say this email from county communications manager of only one person, Michael “Big Sexy” Grider, that provides some numbers for Friday's Bigfoot gathering that he says deal “with potential impact.” Whew. Long sentence.

Click right smack here for the story. And yeah, from what I understand Knox County Mayor Tim Burchett really did sport a Sasquatch suit. Heh. Dude cracks me up.

Anyhoo, according to Grider “well over” 1,000 folks turned up for the Friday event. He noted that some people can't apparently read, adding that others “were still coming in as I left, despite the fact that the publicized time for the event was 5-7 p.m.”

He said people from across the states, as well as Kentucky, the Carolinas, Georgia and Alabama attended. He also said “one family that flew in from a northeastern state” also attended, but I think he's either making that up or it's someone he knows.

He added that several locals were hired as part of the production crew. That's kind of cool.

Finally, Grider noted that the cast and crew will be in the area at least through the end of the weekend, which means they “will continue to stay in local hotels and eat at local restaurants.”

And, that also means they have no chance in hell of actually finding Bigfoot.

Heh.

Burchett "finds" Bigfoot in Knox

The rest of you folks can go look for the next president. Knox County Mayor Tim Burchett is on his own mission: To find Bigfoot.

Yup, the Sasquatch aficionado and well-known conspiracy theorist (I think he also believes in Nessie) and some members of various local Bigfoot clubs have worked out a deal with Animal Planet to bring the show “Finding Bigfoot” to Knox County.

I'm not kidding.

You see, I'm required to get an election brief for the ol' rolling blog over on the KNS website, so I figured I'd call the mayor. That's when he told me what he was doing on Election Day.

“Well, I’m just being the mayor,” Burchett said with a laugh. “But we’re also bringing the Bigfoot show to town.”

He added that the show’s producers will meet with the public during a Nov. 16 shindig at Powell Auction from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.

“This is not going to hurt Knox County or East Tennessee one bit – not with the exposure we’ll get of the local beauty,” the mayor said.

I assume he is referring to the landscape – not the hairy and elusive ape-like creature that no one has ever taken a non-grainy picture of.

“The show has 1.5 million to 1.7 million viewers – it’s international, so everyone will see Knox County,” he said.

Burchett added that when the show’s production crew does arrive, the staff will interview locals who claim to have seen what many believe to be the missing link. They’ll conduct research and also journey out into the nearby wilderness, perhaps looking for Sasquatch. 

The mayor, though, said where they go will remain a secret until next year when the show airs.

In the meantime, the Burchett said the rest of his day will be spent “working the polls,” and asking folks to vote to close a costly pension plan for the Knox County Sheriff’s Office.

He also noted that he broke from tradition this year and voted early. He joked that he was afraid he’d have another motorcycle wreck and wanted to make sure he got to the polls.