Archive for 2008
Lost a good one.
A remembrance of founder Katie Allison Granju’s dad Hank Allison, dead at 64.
I never met Hank Allison, but if St. Peter takes into account a girl’s view of her dad, he’s surely in a good place now. Katie always had great stories about about him during her time over at the 10. The world’s the [...]
Your new wallpaper
The geeks over at Wired ran various conventioneers’ speeches through Wordle to produce darn cool images.
Aesthetically, I prefer the clouds produced by Pres. Bush and Joe Biden, although the John McCain one is pleasantly evocative of a Rocky and Bullwinkle segment I half remember.
In the spirit of bipartisanship, I think I’ll rotate ‘em.
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Read More..>>A sort of pre-pre-Kindergarten
State Rep. Stacey Campfield, not a fan in particular of the state-funded pre-K (views as free daycare on the sly) is proposing a requirement on the parents to obtain the state-funded pre-K: come to some classes yourself. The way Campfield sees it, the parents get their free daycare, and the state gets more involved parents.
On [...]
Closing the enthusiasm gap
The GOP convention has energized the McCain campaign, with VP nominee Sarah Palin clearly lending some spark. The USA Today/Gallup poll puts McCain up 50-46 over Obama.
Will the spark last, and can McCain turn Palinthusiasm into a significant election-day return?
(Palinthusiasm: the worst political term since Joe-mentum.)
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Attention selfish drivers…
As I’ve long suspected, research is indicating that selfish driving patterns result in more traffic for everyone. I’ve contended that the jerk waiting until the last second to merge is making it worse for all of us, and in weaker moments, uttered a few unkind words about what his parental lineage must be.
I’m happy to [...]
Snooper trooper fired…
…is the headline I originally thought of for this story. But, had to play it a bit closer to the vest, as Lt. Shirley hasn’t been convicted of the snooping.
On a side note, investigators said one of the people Shirley checked on was Tennessean reporter Brad Schrade, after Schrade reported on the Cooley ticket-fixing scandal. [...]
Roundup of Knox happenings.
Here’s a roundup of Knox County happenings this morning, then a few regional happenings.
–Eric McLean headed to trial: McLean said he shot 18-year-old Sean Powell because the teen was having an affair with his wife. She was said to have met Powell while a student teacher at his school. McLean would later talk to Matt [...]
Your Sarah Palin updates
The details of her life are simply too interesting to not be a news rockstar.
You’ll be happy to know that, despite being a moose hunter, sometimes commercial fisherman, former beauty queen, and former sports reporter, Sarah Palin is not a hacker. All your base are not belong to her.
Sarah Palin is, however, to be a [...]
Blogging Gustav
Tennessean business editor Randy McClain, a native of New Orleans, is blogging Hurricane Gustav’s arrival from Louisiana.
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Oh, she went there
In her first public address as a VP candidate, Sarah Palin full on and overtly invoked Hillary Clinton and said “the women of America aren’t done yet!”
I suppose that’s something of an elephant in the room: will some of Hillary’s supporters cross over to vote for the ticket that includes a woman?
My initial thought: no. [...]
No safe choice for McCain…
Sarah Palin presents assets and a risk for John McCain.
She’s known as a bit of a maverick Republican up in the great white North. That would seem to help shore up the folks enamored with McCain’s old-school maverick image, even as he moves more toward the “classic conservative” campaign image.
She’s young (44) and a family [...]
Butts will be kicked, names will be taken
Former Knox GOP Chair Brian Hornback doesn’t care for Barack Obama smooching another man’s wife.
Fairly common these days we see politicians give a peck on the cheek, but how often do you see one right on the kisser? I always run into those situations where two people’s paths cross, and both end up trying to [...]
Manufacturing a controversy?
Randy Neal senses the press may be exaggerating a possible divide over the Obama nomination. Randy’s in Denver at the convention and said Tennessee went 51 to 32 for Obama.
Feelings among the general population of voters may, of course, vary. The media seems to do a fine job of finding the few dissenters and making [...]
The other Joe: Don’t pick me
Robert Novak reports Joe Lieberman is sending word through go-betweens that John McCain should not pick him for a running mate, sensing it would be a disaster in shoring up GOP support.
However, the McCain camp’s spirit of transcending the party line ain’t dead:
The Republican operative who urged Lieberman to dissuade McCain from picking him [...]
Oh mercy, it’s still going
So. Have you seen the dustup over on the Founder’s new digs? (We’ll consider this the official greeting to the Founder’s new gig, too–this webmonkey tends to procrastinate, as you’ve well noticed. Welcome!)
The comments are still going, days later.
Time for a confession. I…was a teenage boy. This decade, even!
It seems Katie’s post about teenage boys [...]
Meeting notice re: Ragsdale investigation
John Gill, with office of the Knox County District Attorney General, has called a meeting set for 3 today to discuss the investigation of Mayor Mike Ragsdale’s office.
Several commissioners have been invited. No word yet on whether it will be public meeting.
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Addressing a rumor…
Over on the other dotcom, a commenter made a blog post asking the following:
What a terrible tragedy with the Central High School shooting today. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the shooting victims family and to all students and faculty. I have heard from various people today that a rape happened at Halls [...]
Update–confirmed: student killed in shooting at school.
Knoxville Police have confirmed the victim of this morning’s shooting has died from his wounds.
One of our producers said she just heard Commissioner R. Larry Smith on the Hallerin Hill show, saying he’d been at the command center and heard the student hit in the school shooting had died. We have not yet independently confirmed; [...]
Where Central High parents should go…
And now, our reporter on the scene at Central Baptist said parents there have been cleared to return to the school.
We’ve received some calls into the newsroom that radio is reporting that law enforcement is telling students not to go to Central Baptist but instead to go to Central High School.
According to KPD PIO Darrell [...]
UPDATE: Shooting at Central High School…
Parents are being sent to Central Baptist Church in Fountain City. (688-2421)
One student has been hit, taken to UT Medical Ctr, no word on condition at this point.
Suspect in custody, a short distance away, about 6 minutes after shooting.
School canceled for the day. Students who need to meet up with parents will be taken [...]
