Link... Make sure you watch the video.. I dont know what to say about it...

TVA and the NRC "will address the public ... on Monday, June 20, at noon in Athens, Tenn. ... at the Comfort Inn located at 2811 Decatur Pike." The subject of the meeting will be Unit 2 at Watts Bar Nuclear Plant.

The Rhea Herald News has the story: Link....

-- OneTahiti

We the people of Parkview subdivision are seeking Rockwood residents that have been annexed by Rockwood in the past 20 yrs or so to tell us if the City has failed to complete the Plan of Services in your area IE Sewer, Hydrants Water Elec Gas. Rockwood has decided to turn the annexation of Parkview into a legal battle which we are prepared to go forward with, we need to stop the taking of peoples property and money without the people having a say in the matter. The powers that be in Rockwood could careless about what anyone has to say. If you can help us out please email me at ronaldtaylor107@comcast.net Thank You

A man just admitted his crime of "report(ing) inaccurate or fabricated readings of power supply cables at the plant." The Herald-News in Rhea County has the story.

-- OneTahiti

Since we lost the private weather station on Joiner Hollow Road in Rockwood earlier this year, the HADS Kingston Fossil weather station at the TVA coal facility has been the one closest to Rockwood and West Roane County available through Weather Underground as well as the NWS. This morning the station was offline.

Rep. Desjarlais' phone number in D.C. is (202) 225-6831; to send him an email, go to his website: Link...

Here's a sample letter with talking points (courtesy of the National Volunteer Fire Council):

Ron Harwell is running for city council in Rockwood, but he says things like this, Ron Harwell What else do you expect from a dumycrat. They do not read or understand the Constitution.
Yesterday at 11:09am That was his post on a facebook page, how can he represent a city that has both Democrats and Republicans in it, by stating things like this? I hope my friends in the city limits of Rockwood see thru the smooth talk and handshakes and see just how divisive this man really is...

From Rep. Hurley's FaceBook wall (Link...):

"TN State Representative Julia C Hurley: My desk!

May 21 at 8:00pm"

From Rep. Hurley's FaceBook wall (Link...):

"Bill Kistner: Saw you in Lenoir City this morning... nice Bimmer! But put the windows down when you have the top down... looks silly with them up! LOL
Monday at 2:24pm"

"TN State Representative Julia C Hurley: hahaha... it keeps the wind down so I can still talk on my vcell phone! You know I can't go without that Blackberry!
23 hours ago"

Summer Fest is an annual fun event in Roane County Park. Bring the whole family and stay the day! You'll enjoy delicious food, a 5k run/walk, a motorcycle event, a Law vs. Order ball game, disc golf, the new Splash Pad, and more. For more information, see: Link...

-- OneTahiti

Amazon may build three more distribution centers in Knoxville and Nashville, bringing its proposed investment to $319 million and creating "about 1,700 full-time workers and 2,000 part-time or seasonal workers within two years" (Link...) in addition to the thousands of jobs already slated for Chattanooga.

Watch all the way through. It's worth it, even on dialup.

-- OneTahiti

In the Tennessee House (via R. Neal at KnoxViews):

HB7 requiring photo ID to vote passes 57-35: Rep. Hurley votes "Yes" to make it either more expensive or more difficult for some people to vote.

HB1498 "freedom to discriminate" against gays, others passes 67-24: Hurley apparently absent.

HB1114 giving state election coordinator secret subpoena powers over county election commissions passes 67-20: Hurley votes "Yes" for more state power and secrecy.

-- OneTahiti

This is just wrong. People serving in our military will have to keep serving, but will not get paid during a government shutdown. They must continue risking their lives while their families go without. See "Where to Turn if Shutdown Happens" at Military.com (Link...) and the "Federal Furlough FAQ" at federalnewsradio.com (Link...).

-- OneTahiti

This headline "Temperance Town may relax restrictions on beer sales" in the Roane County NEWS makes it seem that all of Harriman is for relaxing current beer laws. It's simply not true!

Link... Here is the video that is airing on the local Nashville stations and on the newscast they conducted a survey of people based on how she reacted to being stopped.. Link... carried the story in middle tennessee.. The reason I am posting this is because of the controversy that it stirred here and the opinions that were given, this way we can all see what was said and what happened...

(Update 2: Added the paperwork in question. Note the circled "A"...WC)

Let us hope the un-American travesty unfolding in Michigan does not happen here.

-- OneTahiti

A ban on a state income tax is one step closer to being written into Tennessee’s constitution.

Read more: Tennessee Senate approves income-tax ban | Nashville Business Journal

If TVA and Big Coal have their way, even more coal would be processed in Kingston, Tennessee (Link...).

I wish the news didn't give me such a sinking feeling of dread. Has anyone seen a credible environmental impact statement? Jobs are good, but at what price? Roane County has already seen more than its share of problems from coal.

-- OneTahiti

The Chattanooga Times Free Press has the story: Link...

-- OneTahiti

Someone sent me an e-mail asking me to support this effort. I looked it up and found similar "acts" of 2010, 2009, etc. Wouldn't it be nice?

Congressional Reform Act of 2011

1. Term Limits.

12 years only, one of the possible options below

A. Two Six-year Senate terms
B. Six Two-year House terms
C. One Six-year Senate term and three Two-Year House terms

2. No Tenure / No Pension.

A Congressman collects a salary while in office and receives no pay when they are out of office.

3. Congress (past, present & future) participates in Social Security.

All funds in the Congressional retirement fund move to the Social Security system immediately. All future funds flow into the Social Security system, and Congress participates with the American people.

4. Congress can purchase their own retirement plan, just as all Americans do.

5. Congress will no longer vote themselves a pay raise. Congressional pay will rise by the lower of CPI or 3%.

6. Congress loses their current health care system and participates in the same health care system as the American people.

7. Congress must equally abide by all laws they impose on the American people.

8. All contracts with past and present Congressmen are void effective 1/1/11.

WBIR has the AP story: Link...

-- OneTahiti

"Tennessee Valley Coalition to End Homelessness (TVCEH) is a regional homeless coalition for the twelve counties surrounding Knox (Anderson, Blount, Campbell, Claiborne, Cocke, Grainger, Hamblen, Jefferson, Loudon, Monroe, Sevier, Union)." (Link...)

Roane County touches Knox County. See: Link... (TDOT map in PDF format).

Why isn't Roane County included? Or are we in some other region's coalition? Just curious. We could really use more help for the homeless here.

-- OneTahiti

Jim Henry, a former House Minority Leader and Van Hilleary’s primary challenger in the 2002 GOP gubernatorial primary, will be the first Commissioner of the Department of Intellectual Disabilities.

Link: Link...

TVA said plaintiffs "cannot recover based solely on marketplace fear or stigma," that there is no "legally protected interest" in recreational opportunities on affected waterways, no proof that the spill increased levels of airborne ash on their properties and no evidence that particles of arsenic, cadmium, chromium, lead, mercury, selenium and zinc - all hazardous substances as defined by the Superfund law - "leached from the coal ash."

Link

The Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) have asked the Pennsylvania "state Auditor General to look at alleged dereliction of duties by two state agencies with regards to coal ash safety" (Link...).

"'Coal ash consists of the concentrated pollutants that we prevent from going out power-plant smokestacks and it is extremely toxic,' stated PEER Executive Director Jeff Ruch."

UNICEF ranked the 24 countries in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. Material well-being, educational well-being, and health well-being all were taken into account.

The United States placed rock-bottom. Charles M. Blow writes about it in the NY Times: Link...

Where would Tennessee and Roane County rank? What can we do locally to turn this around?

-- OneTahiti

"Current water quality monitoring looks only at the surface." EPOnline has the story: Link...

-- OneTahiti

Alternet.org has had some gritty stories recently. Here's one.

"[W]hen things start to go truly bad, empires regularly unravel with unholy speed: just a year for Portugal, two years for the Soviet Union, eight years for France, 11 years for the Ottomans..."

Alfred McCoy takes a look into our near future: Link...

-- OneTahiti