Happy Thanksgiving, folks! Stay safe

Well, Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours, and all that happy stuff. Heh.

Also, I should note that the 18th annual Mission of Hope Blue Barrel Christmas Campaign has kicked off, so if you got a cople of coins or a little folding paper, why not send some over. To them, not me.

We did a story about it the other day. Right smack here for that bad boy.

The program, which helps children in rural Appalachia, runs from November 22nd through December 9th. Big blue barrels are set up at participating Food City, Chick-Fil-A, Kmart, Home Federal, Knoxville TVA Employees Credit Union, Sears and CVS locations in East Tennessee. The Mission of Hope could use donations of non-perishable food items, as well as new and unopened clothing items, toys and hygiene items.

Right smack here for more on the non-profit Mission of Hope.

And, in the meantime, I couldn't resist:

Teen seeks $50K for wrongful arrest

Well, it was bound to happen. Apparently, problems stemming from the Knox County Criminal Court Clerk's Office have potentially led to a lawsuit.

And yeah, the kid who is demanding $50K from the county was picked up right about the time Criminal Court Clerk Joy McCroskey went on a cruise.

No, really? Crap is fallen down all over the place and she gets on a boat. Whatever.

Anyhoo, you can find the documents and the story, right smack here.

Burchett looking to raise coin for wreaths for veteran cemeteries

The latest release from Knox County Mayor Tim Burchett:

Knox County Mayor Tim Burchett is launching a Wreaths Across America team in an effort to raise funds to place as many live wreaths on the graves of veterans buried at the two East Tennessee State Veterans Cemetery locations in Knox County. 

 A $15 sponsorship will pay for a wreath made of live greenery to be placed on a veterans’ grave at either the Lyons View Pike or Governor John Sevier Highway East Tennessee State Veterans Cemetery locations.

“I can remember how much it meant to my mom seeing these wreaths placed on graves at the Lyons View cemetery where my dad is buried,” said Mayor Burchett.  “I hope that the community will join me in showing the families of our fallen heroes that their service to our nation is appreciated and will never be forgotten.”

There are more than 6,000 veterans buried at the two East Tennessee State Veteran Cemetery locations in Knox County.

Anyone wanting to sponsor a wreath can do so by visiting right smack here and clicking on the Wreaths Across America banner.  The organization is also offering a “three-for-two” sponsorship special, which means they will donate a wreath for every two that are sponsored.

Pilot Flying J has also agreed to help out with a sponsorship grant of up to $5,000.

The wreath sponsorship cutoff deadline is Dec. 2, and the wreaths will be placed on the graves on Dec. 14.

Visit right smack here for more information about the organization.

Hornback asks judge to toss libel case, files all sorts of ct stuff

Well, it looks like rogue blogger Brian Hornback came out swinging today, pretty much answering (and denying) the allegations made in the lawsuit filed against him by Ruthie Kuhlman, the county’s GOP chairwoman.

Hornback, who was sued for like a $100K in folding paper awhile back, argues that not only is Kuhlman a public figure, but the statements made by his sources were in fact accurate. He also provides affidavits by those sources attesting that what they told him was accurate.

(Oh yeah, and there’s a phone message in there from Kuhlman.)

All this stems from allegations that Brian made up stuff - or printed stuff that wasn't true - in a couple of entries on his 9-year-old blog Shock and Awe.

Brian says it's all a crock and in today’s legal filings seeks to have the case chunked, and also asks for a summary judgment.

Additionally, he identifies some of his sources and turns over affidavits they provided, including those from bad a$$ Bo Bennett, Jacob Swisher, former county property assessor John Whitehead and Ray Meade.

I don’t have a lot of time today to get into it, but it’s some pretty interesting stuff, and it looks like $&!# is getting real.

Almost 40 folks picked up petitions to run in county races next year

Almost 40 residents on Friday picked up a nominating petition to run in the Knox County primary election, although more than half were incumbents who have already said they plan to seek re-election.

The deadline to qualify is noon on Feb. 20.

Pretty much every county seat, except for a handful of county commission and school board posts, the law director position and the property assessor seat, are up for election.

On Friday, incumbents in most of the bigger seats, including Mayor Tim Burchett, interim Trustee Craig Leuthold, Sheriff Jimmy “J.J.” Jones, Register of Deeds Sherry Witt, Criminal Court Clerk Joy McCroskey, Circuit Court Clerk Cathy Shanks (formerly Cathy Quist), Public Defender Mark Stephens, and Clerk Foster Arnett Jr., picked up petitions.

All are Republicans.

Of those seats, three potential candidates – Charles “Sam” Hammett Jr, Bobby Waggoner and Donald Wiser – picked up petitions to run for sheriff. Wiser also picked up a petition to run as an independent for the register of deeds seat.

Randy Nichols, the current district attorney general and a Democrat, does not plan to seek re-election. Charme Knight, a Republican in his office, does. 

Candidates need to meet certain qualifications to run for office. In addition, they need 25 signatures from registered voters who can vote in that particularly race.

The primary is May 6. The general election is Aug. 7.

So far only three people picked up petitions to run for County Commission seats. Bo Bennett, who ran for the city mayoral post a few years ago, got a petition for the seat currently held by R. Larry Smith, as did Steve Rogers, who challenged Smith in  2010.

(Smith, the commission vice chairman, is term-limited.)

In addition, Bob Thomas plans to seek the at-large seat held by Mike Hammond, who has announced his intentions to run for the criminal court clerk post.

Three incumbent school board members – Gloria Deathridge, Lynne Fugate and Pam Trainor – picked up petitions. Newcomers Terry Hill and Tamara Shepherd got petitions for the seat currently held by Thomas Deakins, who has said he doesn’t plan to seek re-election.

The school board seats are non-partisan.

You can find the entire list right smack here.

County election season starts today

Today is the first day for a candidate to pick up a nominating petition to run in the Knox County primary election. The deadline to qualify is noon on Feb. 20.

The primary is May 6. The general election is Aug. 7.

Pretty much every county seat, except for a handful of county commission posts, the law director position and the property assessor seat, are up for election.

Click right smack here for what you need to do to qualify.

And right smack here to check out who has picked up petitions.

Stokes to run for Circuit Ct Judge

Knoxville lawyer Billy Stokes today announced that he will seek the office of Judge, Knox County Circuit Court, Div. 1, bringing the total of Republican candidates at this point to three.

"My career as an attorney has enabled me to serve both in private practice and government service," Stokes said in a statement. 'there is no more important, responsible or accountable position in our justice system than the position of Judge. After consulting my family and members of my firm, I believe I can do the best job in this role for the people of Knox County."

According to the rest of his release, Stokes has practiced law in Knox County for more than 30 years, with most of it at the Circuit Court level. He was a Captain in the U.S. Army, Judge Advocate General's Corps (JAGC) and served in the Tennessee governor's cabinet and on senior staff.

Early in his career, he work for the Knoxville Police Department, the Knox County Juvenil Court and the East TN Regional Juvenile Detention Center.

He is currently a shareholder in the firm, Williams, Sharp, Davies, Cope & Mann, P.C.

In addition to Stokes, local attorney and former county GOP Chairman Ray Jenkins and attorney Kristi Davis, who represented the family that got yelled at by a judge for naming their kid "Messiah," are running for the seat.

Also, from what I understand Knox County Assistant Attorney General Leland Price will run as a Democrat for a Criminal Court Judge seat (different race).

And, of course, I’ll be running as a write-in candidate because, quite frankly, I think it would be bad a$$ to get that gig and then walk around the Death Star all day in the black robe like freakin’ Lord Vader. (Not to be confused with Lord McIntyre of course.)

Davis to run for circuit ct judge

Local attorney Kristi Davis today announced her intentions to run for the Knox County Circuit Court Division I seat to succeed Judge Dale Workman who recently announced his plans to retire.

Davis, a partner with the firm of Hodges, Doughty & Carson, will hold a kickoff fundraiser in early January.

According to a release:

She grew up in the Karns community and received her undergraduate and law degrees from the University of Tennessee, with honors. She represents both plaintiffs and defendants in employment law, workers’ compensation, general civil litigation, and appellate matters. She has been active in the community, serving on the American Heart Association’s Circle of Red, the Board of Directors for Friends of Literacy, and an Advisory Committee for Pellissippi State.

Knoxville attorney and former county GOP chairman, Ray Jenkins, also will seek the position.

The Republican Primary is set for May, and the general election is set for August.

Workers game system for free parking; county looking to charge everyone

If you haven't seen it, we did a story last night touching on allegations that some county employees are "gaming" a system to get handicapped hangtags, so they can park for free inside the City County Building.

Folks, this is an awful thing to do. Man, seriously. There's a nice hot place for you in the afterlife if you do stuff like this by the way.

Anyhoo, there's a ton of elements to the story.

Here's the beginning, and you can find the rest of it right smack here.

A number of Knox County leaders suspect government workers are cheating a system that allows them to obtain and keep handicapped hangtags so they can park for free inside the downtown City County Building.

Now local leaders want to discourage that by changing state law to allow them to charge disabled employees for parking privileges.

They say the move would add dollars – at least $43,000 annually – to the coffers and prevent some workers from jumping ahead of employees who park elsewhere and have waited years for the coveted garage spots.

It also would be more equitable, overall, for the employees who work in the City County Building, the headquarters of local governmental operations.

Poster to R. Larry: 'Get over it'

Woo-hoo, oh boy, ol R. Larry Smith had another good one in today's News Sentinel.

After last night's meeting, in which the board talked about travel, KNS reporter Gerald Witt asked Smith why he drove to Nashville twice (which cost taxpayers $416 when - presumably - he could have picked up a phone and called).

According to the article (right smack here), Smith "said "he went to the state comptroller on a whistle-blowing trip that led to the ouster of former Trustee John J. Duncan III."

Ummmmm. No.

That office has nothing to do with CTAS payments, which were the cause of Duncan's downfall.

Further, R. Larry got almost all his information from the articles I wrote. Whistle-blower. Sure.

I broke the story, I first reported that someone else took tests for Duncan, and I was the first to write about the TBI investigation into the office.

I am not bragging. That's just what happened.

Along with the way WBIR also did some good reporting. They even had a scoop or two in there. Also, I think WATE reported about a showdown between Smith and Congressman Duncan, which Smith probably blew out of proportion, but whatever.

Anyhoo, I say this because, well, someone has to tell the truth. The investigation originated from the local District Attorney's Office. Not R. Larry Smith.

In the meantime, there were some fireworks from last night. You see, after Commissioner Amy Broyles nominated someone other than R. Larry to lead the board, he got upset. Right around that time he started trying to sell his story to the press that she traveled more than any other commissioner. (Another lie by the way.) A few news outlet bit.

But it didn't work out the way R. Larry anticipated. As noted from the pic below (taken during last night's meting.)

On a side note, Amy had the best line of the night when she told R. Larry: “Since being elected to commission, I have survived a shooting, two brain surgeries, a concussion, five cerebrospinal fluid leaks, viral meningitis, eight kidney stones, a tumor removed from my upper chest, a uterine hemorrhage and the beginning of menopause. I don’t think I’m going to succumb to one of your temper tantrums.” (Thanks for writing all that down, Gerald.)

Burchett outlines solar energy thing

Chris, Hugh Holt, and Tim stare at solar panels

I'm just going to run this one straight because, well, quite frankly, this crap bores me. (Your welcome, Grider.)

Knox County Mayor Tim Burchett today outlined a solar energy initiative that will soon go before the Knox County Commission and the Knox County Board of Education for their consideration.  He was joined at the announcement by Knox County Schools Superintendent Dr. Jim McIntyre.

If the initiative is approved by the Board of Education and the Commission, it will create a revenue stream for both the Knox County Schools and Knox County Government while also generating solar energy that would be used on TVA’s power grid.

“We all understand the importance of green energy and protecting the environment, but it is the financial return that is realized using this model that is the key to making this work,” said Mayor Burchett.  “I look forward to discussing this initiative further with the Commission and members of the Board of Education as they consider whether to approve it.”

“We continually seek ways to effectively manage the resources of the Knox County Schools,” said McIntyre, “and this solar initiative is attractive because it will guarantee significant financial savings, as well as provide a unique educational opportunity for our students and an important environmental benefit to our community.”

As part of the project, Knox County and the Knox County Schools would partner with Efficient Energy of Tennessee to install solar panels on top of several Knox County and Knox County Schools buildings.  The panels will collect solar energy, which Knox County and the Knox County Schools will sell to TVA. 

The initiative is similar to one implemented in Campbell County several months ago.  Since the panels were installed on a dozen Campbell County schools, the revenue generated has outperformed estimates. 

Since 2011, the average price of solar panels has dropped by 60 percent, according to the Solar Energy Industries Association. 

Knox County and the Knox County Schools would issue bonds to purchase the panels.  The bonds would then be paid with revenue generated by the panels and sold to TVA.  There would also be a 15-year performance guarantee backed by EETN, which would guarantee a minimum annual revenue amount to the County and the Schools.

Currently, several Knox County Government and Knox County Schools buildings are being evaluated for solar installations.  Any facility identified and approved for installation would be fitted with a 49.5 kilowatt array.

(All this comes up in the December meetings.) 

Common Core encouraging truancy?

Apparently that whole Common Core thing isn't as rosy as Lord McIntyre wants everyone to believe.

Parents around the country are protesting Common Core by keeping their kids home from school today.  You can find the bad a$$ article right smack here.

In New York, the first state to implement the program, state education leaders are already beginning to back off their support for it after complaints and a big drop in test scores.

Then there was the wisdom of U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan who over the weekend dismissively indicated that concerns about Common Corer were primarily from white suburban moms finding out that their kids were not as smart as they originally thought.

Heh. Reminds me of a certain commissioner.