Link...

Yeah, I know it's a political campaign, but could we just start demanding some kind of truthfulness from our candidates? If they lie to us on the campaign trail, how in the world are we supposed to expect them to tell us the truth once they are elected?

Link...

Thomas Scarborough went for a ride behind this 30 plus incher yesterday. The kayak is a Jackson Coosa and is 32 inches wide for comparison. The fish was photographed and released.

This time nobody is laughing: Link...

-- OneTahiti

I'd say that's about the best headline ever for a political race. Unfortunately it is not limited to Weston v Chuck. I wonder how many people will vote for Weston in the Congressional race and Carr in the Senate? That illustrates Martin's point, since Carr is running the Lamar's far right and Weston is running a gnat's eyelash to the left of Chuck. Carr would be a disaster for Tennessee and America, and the real difference between Chuck and Wamp is distinguishable only in the tortured illogic of their campaign rhetoric.

David Martin:

This ought to be interesting.

President and CEO Bill Johnson
Chief Financial Officer John Thomas

9:30 a.m. EDT, August 5, 2014

Info at:
Link...

A $40 million plan for a Chattanooga light rail system that would serve not only downtown, but also the Airport and the Enterprise South Industrial Park has been proposed. What are the logistics of running it up highway 27 to Roane County? Think of a terminal that links I 40 to the south.

Link...

R.Neal has the info:

Link...

Folks on the R side have a choice of right and righter for Congress in the 3rd District. Their campaigns look like a contest to see who can promise to sell off public schools, destroy Social Security, and trash the environment the fastest, while hating on providing affordable health insurance and holding down working folks paychecks. I rate it a toss up on those points.

Link...

More pictures and some info at the link.

Link...

Three Roane County primary school classes are hoping for tablet computers to help them with their studies. Two classes need one tablet and the other needs two.

Unfortunately, these requests are all over $800 each and are unlikely to be filled by any one donor. However, if each school supporter in our community donates just a little, together we could get these students the computers they need.

Please consider helping these children by donating to their projects at DonorsChoose.org: Link....

-- OneTahiti

In the meantime CEO pay and executive bonuses rise dramatically, as have rates.

"New carpet appears to be in the works in the gigantic Chattanooga office complex and TVA is remodeling the atrium areas with more high-priced finishes to come," she wrote in her letter. "This sends mixed messages to employees about cutting costs and what is important."

Link...

Corker delays action on ending delays for veterans seeking medical treatment...says Congress needs time to study why VA needs to hire more doctors and nurses.

Link...

I wonder if the big news from this is that the unlock effort seems to have stemmed from the petitions.whitehouse.gov site where 115,000 citizens called for this legislation?

Link...

Note: This is Gerald Largin's column from today's Roane County News. I do not re-post articles from media outlets for reasons of copyright and deference, but this is one time I'll make an exception due to the pertinence to Roane County. The TVA Board of Directors should respond to this article with their reasons for allowing a TVA policy this blatantly counter productive. It is long and I hope you will read the entire thing and pass it on.

A VIEW from LICK SKILLET: A report from McGlothin-Largen Park

Friday, July 25, 2014

Lick Skillet Flats has seen the beginning of activity in the development of McGlothin-Largen Park, which the Tennessee Wildlife Resource Agency on
the newly erected sign officially designates: “McGlothin-Largen Wildlife Management Area,” but which we will always think of, and call, the “park.”

The sign also explains that the area was “Donated to the People of Tennessee in Memory of Martha McGlothin Largen and John Roy Largen.”

105.7 News

ANOTHER LAWSUIT FILED AGAINST FORMER CUMBERLAND COUNTY DEPUTY - BREAKING NEWS

Another multi-million dollar lawsuit involving Cumberland County law enforcement has been filed in a middle Tennessee U.S. District Court. The plaintiff, Keith Jarred Flynn, filed the suit naming former Cumberland County deputy Dustin Hensley, three other deputies, the sheriff’s department and the county as defendants. Flynn alleges in the suit that on June 20th of last year, he was pulled over by Hensley on Pomona Road for a vehicle violation. Flynn says he was ordered out of his car and to get on the ground which he complied after he told Hensley he has a pocketknife on him. The suit then states that Hensley tasered Flynn and handcuffed him in the presence of a minor that was in Flynn’s vehicle.

Some Roane County Progressive blogger guy gets quoted a lot in Pam's take down of Marty's call for Dems to crossover and vote against Chuck and for Weston.

"Voting for Weston Wamp is tossing a vote away. There's nothing in it for a Progressive Democrat. He applauds the Hobby Lobby SCOTUS decision and is only slightly to the left of the Tea Party. Let the Republicans be wing nuts and let us Democrats be for the working people of America."

Little understood in these matters is that the lower the votes in the Democratic primary, the lower the number of delegates TN has at the National convention.

Link...

In less than two weeks this part of the fun time in TN elections will be over. It makes me sad somehow. It's all personal with no real policy differences between the two.

Two weeks out from Tennessee’s primary, GOP Rep. Chuck Fleischmann is going up with a TV ad featuring former rival Scottie Mayfield going after Fleischmann’s current primary opponent, Weston Wamp, over a secret-recording controversy that flared up earlier this year (Link...). “Now he’s asking for our trust to represent us in Washington?” a bow-tied Mayfield asks of Wamp. “We have a congressman we can trust.” It’s a continuation of Fleischmann’s steady on-air prosecution of Wamp (Link...) and comes as second-quarter reports show the lawmaker outraising and outspending the challenger. The ad is running in the Knoxville and Chattanooga markets starting today, said a campaign aide.

Link...

White-nose syndrome first was confirmed in Tennessee in the winter of 2010 in the northeastern corner of the state, and has spread rapidly ever since. The white, powdery fungus that causes the disease thrives in cold, damp caves, and with more than 9,000 caves, Tennessee is the most cave-rich state in the U.S. Once stirred from hibernation by the irritating effects of the fungus, the infected bats burn precious fat reserves and may starve to death after leaving the cave in search of insects that aren’t yet available.

Link...

From our "We told you so" Dept...The discussion is here:

Link...

Is there a new poll out?

Link...

The Roane County Highway Department says several road signs are missing, vandalized or damaged. In just the last two days, their sign crew has been busy replacing stop signs at River Road and Lakeshore View Drive intersection, as well as the Piney Knob area of Indian Shadows.

Link...

If you want simplistic answers to complex problems, you should vote for a Republican. If you want to be represented by one of the most intelligent people I've ever met, Here she is...

Link...

Nooga.com's David Allen Martin...

Think about it. In any political race, campaigns will push out nothing but pretty pictures, friendly soundbites and positive buzzwords about themselves and their candidacies. Aside from a handful of debates or forums where contestants are forced to address specific queries in front of the public, most races come down to which candidate can out-market the other. Given this dialogue deficit, it falls upon the shoulders of voters to figure out ways to draw additional answers out of politicians.

Great singer/songwriters and consumate musicians, these guys are on the rise in a big way. The audience was different in that we didn't see anyone we knew. They seemed to be teenagers and boomers, with a few in between. How do you reach that demographic? NPR!

It was a sell out show at the Bijou on a Monday night. The NPR connection is Prairie Home Companion and the Tiny Desk Concert. Here is the latter:

You can download their first two albums for free at their website. Buy something anyway.

Women in Tennesee need to ask themselves if they want Stacey Campfield, Ken Yager and Kent Calfee making their reproductive healthcare decisions? That's what Amendment 1 would do. Is that what you want?

Link...

It appears that our East TN media have decided to report on the 3rd District Congressional contest as a society fashion social and leave the voters to be informed by campaign commercials. There is nothing of substance in the Times Free Press coverage of the only event that has all three congressional candidates present and answering the same questions. One wonders if the reporter were even present, given the inane coverage. The TFP is obviously backing Wamp from the photo they chose to use.

The big news of the night appears to be that Chuck cries when he thinks of children pledging allegiance to the flag and that Mary Headrick told Democrats it is foolish to crossover and vote for either of the Republicans because it won't make a lick of difference in Tennessee's future.

Here's the story for what it is worth:

Link...

Yes, the same dynamic group that had you dancing in the aisles last July, is coming back! C. Vaughn Leslie is bringing his group "Boy's Night Out" back to the Princess for The Tony Mason Memorial Scholarship Fundraiser!

As I pour 2 more inches out of the rain guage. That's 5 inches this week here in Whites Creek Gorge.

Election rhetoric is an astounding thing and it's not helped by the "he said, she said" style of lazy reporting we get these days. Speaking to the Tea Party, which eats political BS like strawberries on ice cream, Wamp repeated his "do nothing Congressman charge against Fleischmann by denigrating his House Appropriations Committee assignment:

Wamp said Fleischmann’s committee assignment...

“That’s not some sort of rare thing,” Wamp said. “My father was also on the Appropriations Committee. He (Fleischmann) is grabbing a hold of anything he can to get people to give him one more term in Congress, despite the fact he hasn’t accomplished anything of significance.”