Five KCS bus drivers to be honored

We report a lot when bus drivers screw up (and there's been plenty of opportunity there) that we'd be remiss to not talk about the good they do.

So, the Knox County Schools Bus Driver Safety Awards will be presented 11:00 a.m., Tuesday, Nov. 17, at Ted Russell Ford (8551 Kingston Pike). The awards are sponsored by Ted Russell Ford and WIVK.

Five drivers will be honored and given a Certificate of Appreciation from Knox County Schools along with a $100 check from Ted Russell Ford.

These awards were initiated to honor the Knox County Schools’ bus drivers that do an excellent job in transporting our children every day. The five drivers honored each month have been graded with high standards by the Knox County Schools, the contractors, the Sheriff’s department and by school staff.

Learn how to properly deep fry a turkey without injuring yourself

I almost chuckled when I saw this release. But then I thought . . . you know, this is probably pretty serious. Especially if beer drinking is involved.

Soooo . . . from Rural Metro:

Everybody has seen, read or covered a story about someone being burned or a fire caused by improper use of a turkey deep fryer. 

With Thanksgiving just around the corner, lots of such fryers will be in use. Rural/Metro Fire officials will demonstrate the potential dangers and how to use a turkey deep fryer safely.

The demonstration will take place at 2:30 p.m. on Wednesday near the Fire Training facility on the west side of the facility at 10410 Gallows Point Drive.

Not enough provisional ballots for Johnson to beat Smith for House seat

Johnson, left, and Smith, right

UPDATE: Tennessee state House candidate Gloria Johnson has conceded the race for the District 13 seat to Republican incumbent Eddie Smith.

"I'm very glad every vote was counted," she told WBIR 10News Monday afternoon. "I conceded earlier today and called Eddie Smith."

PREVIOUS: Statistically, it doesn’t appear that Gloria Johnson can beat Republican incumbent Eddie Smith to regain the 13
Election officials this morning began counting the provisional ballots that were cast in the race. Of the 597, only 86 came from voters in District 13.

Smith defeated Johnson during the Nov. 8 general election by 154 votes, according to the unofficial final returns. He led by 50.35 percent to her 49.65 percent.

Although the outcome of the election appears set, officials will continue to count the provisional ballots, which Cliff Rodgers, Knox County administrator of elections, said could take another week.

“We’re extremely pleased that we’re able to announce before lunch how many . . . provisional ballots were in that district,” he said. “This helps narrow the focus.”

Elections officials will still have to investigate whether the provisional ballots count. For example, was the voter really from the district and was the person actually registered to vote?

The difference in this year’s race was even closer than the last time they competed, when Smith won by less than 200 votes.

The two squared off in November 2014 when Johnson held the 13th District office and Smith challenged her. Smith ended up winning by less than 200 votes. More than 13,000 ballots were cast in that contest.

Some 22,000 ballots were cast on Nov. 8.

Haynes' official resignation letter

Haynes

Dear SEC Member,

I wanted to let you know that after much thought, I have decided that I will not run for re-election to be the Chairman of the Tennessee Republican Party.

I have enjoyed the challenge of leading our party through an extremely important election that had more twists and turns than I could have ever imagined. It has been an absolute honor to represent our Party.

On election night the Tennessee Republican Party picked up two seats that were previously held by Democrats. These victories make Republicans more dominant than ever before in the history of our Party! I am thrilled that you gave me the honor to lead us to these successes.

It is not by mistake that we have low taxes, a balanced budget, unprecedented economic growth, and the fastest-improving education system in the nation. All of this is due to the fact Republicans are governing this state responsibly—and you have been an integral part of these achievements. Thank you for your efforts!

I look forward to the new opportunities and challenges that have been presented to me. It has been an honor to do this job and I will always be grateful for those who work so hard to allow us to be the strongest political party in the state. I have no doubt that our Party's success will continue well into the future.

I look forward to seeing you at our December 3rd State Executive Committee meeting.

Best Regards,


Ryan Haynes

Knox officials to count provisional ballots beginning Monday morning

Smith, to left, and Johnson, on right

Knox County elections officials on Monday will begin counting and investigating the almost 600 provisional ballots cast countywide.

They’ll start at 9 a.m. at the Old Courthouse on Main Street.

From what I understand, they have to get the job completed in two weeks, and it’s going to possibly take two weeks to do it.

They’ll first weed out the ballots cast in the 13^th District state house race, in which incumbent Eddie Smith, a Republican, edged Democrat challengers Gloria Johnson by 154 votes.

Then they’ll have to investigate whether the votes should count. (i.e. were the people registered to vote, blah, blah, etc.)

Johnson, who acknowledges that her chances of winning are slim, said she wants everyone to know that every vote counts.

The county’s election commission will certify the election on Nov. 28.

'Inside Tennessee' to focus on presidential race aftermath

A super panel of local Democrats and Republicans on Sunday’s edition of “Inside Tennessee” on WBIR 10News will touch on election night 2016 and the aftermath of the presidential race.

The group includes Democrats Dennis Francis,Don Bosch and Billy Stair, and Republicans Susan Williams, Elaine Davis and Lance Baker.

The subject? Breaking down an election in which Republican candidate Donald Trump defeated former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to become the nation’s 45^th president.

Panelists note that all but three counties in Tennessee went to Trump with some 2.3 million citizens statewide voting. Knox County had a record turnout with 184,000 residents casting ballots.

The 30-minute political and public affairs program, which was taped Wednesday, kicks off at 9:30 a.m. Sunday on WBIR.

Anchor John Becker serves as the show’s moderator.

Veterans, thank you for your service

Haynes won't seek GOP chair again

Haynes

Tennessee Republican Party Chairman Ryan Haynes doesn't plan to seek re-election during the Dec. 3 meeting of party officials.

Haynes held the seat for about 18 months.

“I feel like we set out what we accomplished to do,” Haynes told WBIR 10News Friday morning. “We have a lot more Republicans elected in this state than ever before and that’s good enough for me.”

Haynes noted that “we faced a lot of distractions along the way but kept the focus.”

“I’m really proud to have done the job and happy to see how it all shook out on election night,” he said.

Haynes told WBIR that he plans to stay in Knox County where he has a home and at this point plans to “enter the private sector and looking forward to that and seeing what the future holds.”

When asked about rumors that he might run for Knox County Mayor in 2018, Haynes declined to give a definitive answer.

“I think there are a lot of people out there who would be extremely qualified to run and I’m looking forward to seeing those names come out,” he said. “There are a lot of people very well suited for that job.”

Presidential write-ins skyrocket in 2016; names serious and silly

The 2016 presidential election could go down as "the year of the write-in vote" in Tennessee.  The names submitted include the serious, bizarre, and silly.

In Knox County a total of 3,837 voters wrote in a name for president, more than seven times the amount submitted in the 2012 presidential election when 528 voters wrote-in a candidate.

Even Governor Bill Haslam was so dissatisfied with the major parties' presidential nominees, he wrote-in a candidate Tuesday rather than vote for fellow Republican Donald Trump.

Haslam declined to say who he picked, but jokingly conceded “my person did not win.”

So, who did Haslam vote for?

Maybe the governor voted for science fiction's Buck Roger.

Perhaps Haslam could have cast one of the five votes for "Giant Meteor."

Or did his vote go to Dolly Parton?  She received three write-in votes, but we know she's not interested in the gig.  Parton tweeted on election day, "I've been told a few times I should run for President, but I think there are enough boobs in the race already."

The governor himself was a popular write-in candidate in Knox County, with various spellings of his name garnering a total of 123 votes.

Those are just a handful of the 758 unique names Knox County voters took the time to write in as presidential candidates on Tuesday’s ballot, according to an 18-page list that local election officials provided to WBIR 10News.

FULL LIST: The list of write-in candidates submitted in all of Tuesday's races

The catch?  Almost none of them counted.  Write-in candidates must be certified prior to the election to be eligible for Tennessee's 11 electoral college votes.

There were only eight certified write-in candidates, according to the Tennessee Secretary of State’s Office:  Darrell L. Castle, Cherunda Fox, Tom Hoefling, Kyle Kenley Kopitke, Laurence Kotlikoff, David Limbaugh, Evan McMullin, and Marshall Schoenke.

Castle got about 120 votes; Hoefling got around a dozen; Kotlikoff neared 10; Limbaugh got three; and Fox, Schoenke and Kopitke received nada.

McMullin pulled in more than 1,300 votes, making the former CIA operations officer and independent candidate from Utah the big write-in vote winner.  But he still lost.

Zombie-buster Rick Grimes has routinely received write-in votes in recent years, earning him the same obligatory status as other candidates who almost always make the list:  Mickey Mouse, Daffy Duck, Goofy, Snoopy, Peyton Manning, and Chuck Norris.

Former professional wrestler Ric Flair received three votes from people who apparently wanted to "Make America Woo Again."  If only Flair could have gotten one more vote, he would have had the figure-four.

As usual, there were many names just too lewd, crude, and rude for online news and television broadcast.

There were also names of television broadcasters.  Some folks kindly wrote in votes for WBIR 10News reporter Mike Donila and anchor Russell Biven.

The write-in list goes on and on, ranging from historical figures, cartoon characters, to burnt toast.

The bottom line is thousands of people wanted a candidate other than Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump.  Well, except for one voter who wrote in "Hillary and Trump."

The next local election – it’s a city primary contest only – isn’t until August 2017.

Expect the fun to continue then.

Local government closed Friday

Knox County Government offices will be closed Friday, Nov. 11 in observance of Veterans Day. This includes Knox County Solid Waste Convenience Centers and Knox County Library Branches.

For a complete list of observed County holidays, please visit http://knoxcounty.org/hr/holidays.php

Johnson seeks ballot info in tight state House race against Smith

Tennessee State House candidate Gloria Johnson has sued to get information about provisional ballots still being counted from Tuesday’s election in Knox County.

The Knoxville Democrat is seeking through an injunction in Knox County Chancery Court to get the names and addresses of those who filed provisional ballots from elections administrator Cliff Rodgers. Attorney John Eldridge filed the paperwork Wednesday afternoon.

Johnson seeks to notify the 597 people who filed provisional ballots that they have until 4:30 p.m. Thursday to submit proper identification to ensure their ballots are valid.

The ballots are the last  that need to be counted – and Johnson argues they’re key to her 13^th District  race.

Republican incumbent Eddie Smith beat Johnson by 154 votes in early and election-day returns.

The only thing left to count are the provisional ballots, which include submitted forms from voters who may have lacked proper ID while voting Tuesday.

Election officials say it could be days before the provisional ballots are finalized.

Next Ed & Bob Night Out on Nov. 16

These guys are gonna run out of restaurants.

Knox County At-Large Commissioners Ed Brantley and Bob Thomas are headed out to the Halls area for their next Ed & Bob Night Out in Knox County.

Ed and Bob will be at E. B.'s Eats & Treats, 4620 Mill Branch Lane, Wednesday, November 16th from 5p to 7p to meet the people of north Knox County and listen to their concerns.

The two feel that going out to the citizens eases the strain on those who, because of work, commitments, financial situation or the distance to the City-County Building, cannot attend regular commission meetings.

All elected officials, media and public are welcome to attend. This is not a commission meeting. There is no agenda. There will be no votes taken; however, it is obvious where's there are "Eats & Treats" and Ed and Bob will be eating them!

https://www.facebook.com/EbsEatsandTreats/