Audit tattletale line quiet lately

Remember the ol' tattletale line? Yeah. Didn't think so. Apparently a lot of people forgot. What was once a place to regularly leave late night drunken messages or rat screw your work buddy is pretty much dead. Either that or the county is just so full of goodness that nothing is wrong.

Anyhoo, during today's county audit committee meeting, the panel's chairman, Joe Carcello, said that in the past eight weeks, the hotline has received two reports. He said both are being investigated and – according to Mark Jones (who was out today) – there also is “no urgent need to close any open or active reports.”

All this means we probably won't know jack for a long time.

Thanks: Honoring those who served

A personal thanks from me to all those who served and currently serve. Here's the Veterans Day proclamation for 2012 right here.

Mayor doesn't hold back on Twitter

Well, it wasn’t exactly a Donald Trump-like  meltdown on the Twitterverse because, well, almost no one can be as stupid and ridiculous as Trump and the dead animal that sits on top of his head, (how many times has be filed for bankruptcy and why is he still allowed a credit card again?), but Knox County Mayor Tim Burchett – a well know twittin’ Twitter-er (yes he does his own tweets) on Friday night had a few things to say about the University of Tennessee.

The tweet in question: “I need to get him some tats and a criminal record so UT will be interested.” (He was no doubt referring to the troubled football program. (“Troubled” being generous. How about that Kentucky game last year. Bwahahahahahah.)

 The mayor, of course, was writing about his nephew, a senior who plays quarterback on the Christian Academy Knoxville football team and is a finalist for Mr. Football. The kid is a stud. (CAK also beat up on Alcoa last night by the way.) And he’s certainly better than that pretender who can hit a car with a beer bottle on a Friday night but can’t manage to find his wide receivers the next afternoon.

Anyhoo, Burchett quickly took down the tweet, but not before a number of folks retweeted it. One person said it wasn’t smart of him, another thanked him for his honesty and another told him to “stay classy.” Whatever. You got to see the stuff I have to remove sometimes. Heh.

“I pulled it down pretty quickly,” the mayor, who has almost 1,800 followers on the social media site, told me this after. “I was just being funny but everyone went ballistic. I didn’t think anyone read that stupid thing. It was probably up for about five minutes.”

Course in all the outrage, no one seemed to notice all the nice stuff he said about veterans.

Quick list of freebies for Veterans

Thanks to Brian Paone for putting this together (I had it in the comment section, but wanted to give it better play.)

Here's a non-exhaustive list of the restaurants and eateries around town that are giving out Veterans Day freebies to former/current armed forces members:

KRISPY KREME - Free donut on Veterans Day, proof of service required.

APPLEBEES - Free signature meal on Veterans Day. DD-214, state-issued military ID card (if you have one you know what it is; if you don't I'm not telling you) or proof of membership in a veteran service organization will be accepted.

TGI FRIDAY'S - Free lunch on Veterans Day. Proof of service accepted: Active Duty ID card, Retired ID card, DD-214, VA ID card or veteran's designation on your driver's license.

ARBY'S - Free Classic Roast Beef Sandwich on Veterans Day for veterans and active military with ID.

OLIVE GARDEN - Free meal for active duty and veterans on Veterans Day with ID.

CHILI'S - Free meal (choice from six options, and no, I don't know what they are but I assume it's pretty common food) with valid military ID or proof of service.

TEXAS ROADHOUSE (specifically, Morrell Road) - free lunch on MONDAY, NOVEMBER 12 from 11AM to 4PM with valid military ID or proof of service. I don't know if other TRs are doing the same; I advise calling and asking. I did call Morrell Road, however, and confirmed the above information for their particular location.

SHONEY'S - Free breakfast or lunch buffet on MONDAY, NOVEMBER 12 all day with military ID or proof of service.

LITTLE CAESAR'S - Free Crazy Bread on Veteran's Day with military ID, DD-214 or veteran's designation on your DL.

OUTBACK STEAKHOUSE - Free Bloomin' Onion and a Coke on Veterans Day with proof of service.

GOLDEN CORRAL - Free dinner on Veterans Day with proof of service.

TRAVEL CENTERS OF AMERICA (because truck stops have the best food) - Free meal on Veterans Day with proof of service.

MIMI'S CAFE - Free lunch or dinner on Veterans Day with proof of service. (Reservists are specifically included in this.)

RED ROBIN - Free Red's Tavern Double burger on Veterans Day with military ID.

DENNY'S (had no idea we had one, but it's apparently on Watt Road) - Free all-you-can-eat pancakes on Veterans Day with proof of service.

Again, this is not an exhaustive list. There may be smaller eateries offering freebies, and a lot of 'em are offering discounts, but I focused on free stuff that I could confirm (because no one likes to waste their time).

Also, every veteran should get a lot more free stuff every day than they do. But that's another rant.

Veterans Office expands outreach

Don't forget that Veterans Day is this Sunday. County offices will be closed on Monday. I believe the city's side of the Deathstar will still be open. (They like to work. Heh.)

Anyhoo, the county just sent out a release, noting that its Veterans Service Office “is making it more convenient for veterans to get assistance by expanding its outreach to senior centers and partnering with faith-based organizations to more effectively reach” local veterans.

(You might recall that earlier this week, the county opened its new Veterans Service Office. Actually, it just moved the office about two feet, but still, new digs are always cool.)

Veterans also can meet with officials to get assistance with claims for service-connected disabilities, improved pension, health benefits, insurance programs, educational programs and burial benefits at the following locations (and times): Click right smack here.

Also, the public is invited to a veterans benefit brief at First Baptist Concord on Nov. 15 at 6:30 p.m. Click right smack here for that info.

Ethics panel reappoints officers

Knox County's Ethics Committee met this morning, mostly to elect new officers. Not a whole lot here, other than one small note of (sort of) humor.

This isn't exactly a talkative group, so when the panel sought nominations from its members there were quite a few bumps on the ol' logs up there on the dais. Finally Richard Bell nominated Elaine Davis for reappointment to the chair seat. That quickly passed 6-0.

Davis then asked about the vice chair seat. She was met with chirping crickets. Finally, she nominated Karen Smith to serve. Smith, by the way, was not at the meeting. (This is starting to be a running theme.) No other nominations. That, too, passed 6-0.

Finally, Davis nominated – since everyone else forgot how to talk – Richard Bell for reappointment for the secretary spot. Yup. Passed. 6-0.

Knox County Commissioner Richard Briggs, Karen Smith a Raj Patel were absent from the meeting.

I'll have more on the Ethics Committee in tomorrow's paper. Good stuff, folks, good stuff

Mayor appoints four to new KTSC

Knox County Mayor Tim Burchett appointed four people today to the board of directors of Visit Knoxville, which used to be called the Knoxville Tourism and Sports Corp, but abruptly changed its name after the last board got caught doing absolutely nothing other than letting the former executive director run wild and get paid like a gazillion dollars and no one really cared until a former Knoxville mayor started a whisper campaign to get her run out because she made waaaaay too much money for doing whatever she did, and, well, I digress.

Anyhoo the mayor named his senior director of community outreach, Hemal Tailor, Knox County Commissioner Brad Anders, Anita Lane (Hampton Inn Downtown general manager) and Courtney Piper (Piper Communications founding principal) to the board.

Let's hope they pay attention a little bit better than the last batch. Heh.

“Like me, they are all committed to ensuring transparency in the operation of Visit Knoxville, and the efficient use of taxpayer dollars to effectively promote tourism in Knoxville and Knox County,” Burchett said in a released statement.

The city and county recently approved contracts with Visit Knoxville to serve as a “destination marketing service.” No one was surprised.

For more info about the organization, click right smack here.

Broyles misses meeting, becomes chair

Forgot about this little tidbit. Must have been hanging with Diane Sawyer. Heh.

Anyhoo, The Knox County Commission has a sub-panel called the insolvency board, which is comprised of commissioners Dave Wright, Sam McKenzie, R. Larry Smith and Amy Broyles.

Now the board has been trying to meet for weeks, but had to cancel a number of times because it couldn't get a quorum. On Monday, everyone but Broyles finally made it to a meeting. It was at that time, the panel voted in Broyles to serve as its chair, if only because the other members chaired (can you use that word as a verb?) other committees.

So, the three vote her in, and she's not there. (I'm not even sure if she knows that she's in charge yet.)

Then they go ahead and conduct a meeting that she is now supposed to run. I'm sure there is some sort of Roberts Rules violations, but, you know, Knox County and all.

In the meantime, I overhear one of the attorneys in the law director's office tell a commissioner that only the Rules Committee is the only sub-panel of the Commission that has named a chair. (There's been some confusion about this for awhile.)

So, if that's the case, did they have to vote in Broyles? And was the business conducted during the meeting legit, since she wasn't there to oversee it?

Strange.

Hey, Diane Sawyer: Have another one

Update: Had to change the video. ABC started crying about copyright infringement or something.

According to ABC's Diane Sawyer, Tuesday night's winner was . . . Sutter Home. Heh. Geez, I figured Karl Rove would have been the one to go get drunk, particularly after his little meltdown with his former buds at unfair and biased Fox News, but seriously, lady, carry your a$$ home.

Anyhoo, check out the vid, particularly the parts when she's talking to George Stephanopoulos and Barbara Walters. True entertainment at the expense of others.

Now, I'd be remiss if I didn't note that apparently some hippie New York Times reporter is claiming that she gets this way when she's tired. Yeah. B.S.

Don't we all know a former judge who used that excuse?

Well, at least she wasn't butt chugging.

I, mean, I don't think she was.

Johnson still wins the House seat

The Knox County Election Commission has wrapped up counting absentee ballots and it doesn't appear that the extra votes changed the outcome to any election, including the closest one for the 13^th state House District seat, according to the unofficial results.

Late last night, Administrator of Elections Cliff Rodgers said the county had about 5,800 voters cast ballots by mail, so not everything would be complete until today. 

The Central Absentee County Board is now done counting, according to the Knox County Election Commission's website.

The closest race of the night – before absentee ballots came in – was the contest between Democrat Gloria Johnson and Republican Gary Loe, who were vying for the state House seat. Johnson held a 395-vote lead.

That race had 625 absentee votes and Johnson's lead dropped to 296.

Stoned Immaculate: Weed now legal

Not really much to say. Enjoy the picture. Heh. According to the Washington Post, it's now legal to burn one in Colorado as voters agreed to legalize small amounts of weed “for recreational use for adults 21 and older, regulating and taxing the drug in the same way alcohol is regulated.”

The Post says supporters raised almost $2 million. Gee, wonder where they got the money from. In addition, Colorado resident also can grow marijuana next to their tomatoes, since cultivating also is now legal.

Still counting votes, Loe complains

Getting a little late into the night and my main man down at the election office just cranked out another news release, letting folks know that even though all the county's precincts have reported, the Central Absentee County Board will be counting ballots late into the night.

“We had approximately 5,800 voters cast ballots by mail,” said Administrator of Elections Cliff Rodgers. “We hope to finish counting late tonight and into the early morning hours if necessary.”

On the surface, about the only local election this appears to have any possible – and really, it's super slim – chance to affect would be the contest between Democrat Gloria Johnson, who as of right now, beat Republican Gary Loe by 400 votes for the 13^th District state House of Representatives seat.

When questioned by a reporter about the race, Loe asked if this “was another ploy” by KNS Editor Jack McElroy to influence the race.

Yeah, dude, all the strings lead back to the puppet master's corner office at News Sentinel Drive. Cause, you know, Jack stayed up late, hoping to influence a race that – even if a Democrat wins – will have absolutely no affect on state-wide decision-making cause there's like a gazillion Republicans in the Tennessee Legislature and about three Democrats.

Seriously, it's sad that some people really believe this crap.

But I digress.

Knox County election officials, in the release, said they were pleased with the quick tally of the election day precincts. The final tally of all votes cast was done at 9:56 p.m., which election officials say “was the fastest tabulation of election day results for a presidential election in memory.”