Great Post on Brian's Blog Correcting Knox County's Only Tabloid

Check out this GREAT post on Brian's Blog correcting the tabloid.

Tabloid Girl Modify's the Story

Tabloid Girl posted the following on a local blog forum: Odd to me that you would Submitted by Bbeanster on Thu, 2007/05/03 - 5:57pm. Odd to me that you would single out Indya for special abuse when Bratton and Buttry behaved the way they did. Deakins got lots of concessions for Farragut prior to the meeting, but I attribute that more to having politcally-powerful constituents than political acumen (although I do think he's a smart guy)Indya is a political neophyte, but she has been a good school board member. I don't know who you are or where you live, but I live in her district and know quite a few people and have not heard such rumblings -- except for the person who swerved their car at her when she was riding her bike home from the meeting and yelled "Bitch!"People do and say a lot of things when they're anonymous.

Tabloid Editor Girl got the account of what happened correctly in her cloumn: Kincannon later said she felt vulnerable on the bike. One motorist pulled over and yelled, "You've ruined my kid's life!'

Brian's Blog (the administrator of Halls Newz) contacted Ms. Kincannon early Sunday afternoon before tabloid editor girl went to print and she explained what exactly happened. There was someone in the crowd that mouthed the word "B**** She did feel threatened and unnerved, by the driver of the SUV that yelled, "Thanks for ruining my kids lives, You have no balls" but the SUV didn't swerve at her as tabloid girl posted.

Brian's Blog has apologized to Ms. Kincannon for a few bad apples. There were some facets to the community meeting that unnerved us. All the more, repeating my neighbor. there are people (these people that did that) are ill-bred and half raised.

Tabloid Editor Girl Reports Democrat Activist to Run as Republican?

In the recent edition of the tabloid and in the regular column of tabloid editor girl there is the following item.

Gossip and Lies

Amy Broyles is encouraging other women to run for office as she prepares to challenge Chuck Bolus for County Commission from District 2 in February.

This must mean that Amy Broyles will run as a Republican instead of a Democrat which she did as a write-in for the Primary in May 2006 and then as an Independent write-in in August 2006. Broyles must be running as a Republican because in February it will be a Primary and to challenge Republican County Commissioner Chuck Bolus in February, Broyles must run as a Republican. Amy, Welcome to the Party, I think.

Surely, tabloid editor girl wouldn't get the report wrong even in a column entitled Gossip and Lies. But then again tabloids like National Enquirer and the North Knoxville publication are typically filled with inaccurate statements.

The Tabloid is WRONG...Again

This column from the tabloid Editor today 2/18/2007

Who will speak for Lindsey?

Looks like fur will fly at Tuesday’s meeting of the Knox County school board.

“We’ve got five votes to buy out Lindsey,” a source told Betty Bean several days ago. Interestingly, this person mentioned Kimberly Kallenberg in the next sentence.

Kallenberg and Powell High School principal Diane Psihogios were suspended with pay last summer, pending an investigation that has never been concluded. Perhaps it was never begun.

Various candidates for school board have promised to end Superintendent Charles Lindsey’s contract, but it’s not happened. As a Lindsey foe came onto the board, another fell off.

Seventh District board member Diane Dozier was perhaps Charles Lindsey’s last big booster. She was defeated by Rex Stooksbury, who told Shopper reporter Jake Mabe that he would not vote to extend Lindsey’s contract.

This writer will shed no tears over the departure of Charles Lindsey, if the board votes Tuesday to buy out his contract.

Think no further than his contemptuous treatment of the late Jerry Sharp to understand why.

With media attention on the state’s Sunshine Law, don’t look for school board members to be talking outside of Tuesday’s meeting. But expect a spirited debate then.

Or maybe there won’t be much debate at all. The five votes that brought him here (by knocking Roy Mullins out of the final three candidates) are gone: Steve Hunley, Tommy Prince, Margaret Maddox, Diane Jablonski and D.M. Miller.

On the 2007 school board, there is no one to speak for Lindsey.

Tommy Prince did NOT vote for Lindsey. he voted for Robert Schiller. In his vote he made the statement. "Why vote for Jeff Blauser when you can have Ken Griffey, Jr." An email was sent to the tabloid editor to point out the facts of her error. Her response was less than professional.

Tabloid Column of December 10, 2006

The role of a tabloid publication in a community is 1) To promote lies. This tabloid owned by E.W. Scripps has and continues to do that with a column called Gossip and Lies. 2) To attempt to create controversy, where controversy doesn't exist. This story in tomorrow's edition of the tabloid fits the bill with Number 2. Enjoy.

County opts to rent new clinic on the east side

Knox County is paying $3,800 a month rent for a new East Knoxville health department clinic in a building that’s valued by the county’s property assessor at $66,800. The rent would purchase the building in 19 months.

The health department closed a county-owned clinic about 3.5 miles east on Asheville Highway in Burlington to facilitate the move. Our request for comment was ignored by the county mayor’s office.

According to the county’s Web site, the new clinic was opened with a ribbon cutting Nov. 28 attended by 100 people and numerous elected officials. It is located at the Hardy Professional Building, which was built by Dr. Walter S.E. Hardy who also served on the county’s legislative body from 1966 until 1980. He died in 1986.

The new clinic’s landlord is the Tennessee Conference of the AME Zion Church Community Development Corp. Records at the city and county tax offices show the property taxes are current at the Hardy Building, but delinquent at the Conference’s headquarters at 2321 Magnolia Ave.

There, city taxes of $7,253.76 are past due, along with $2,843.72 in current taxes, for a total of $10,097. County taxes of $11,329,18 are past due, along with $2,722 in current taxes, for a total of $14,051. The combined tax bill now due is $24,148 (or 6.35 months of rent).

Commissioner Paul Pinkston said he will present a resolution to ensure that property taxes are current before the county enters into a lease or contract with an outside party in the future.

The Rev. David Walker is listed as the agent for the Conference, which also has received money from the city.

Although the new clinic opened to the public on Dec. 4, just in time for flu season, parents wanting to know where to take school-aged children for free FluMist vaccines might have a tough time finding the place, since a Nov. 27 News Sentinel story about the flu immunization program lists the Hardy Clinic address as “Magnolia Avenue.”

The clinic is at 2202 Martin Luther King Avenue in the Five Points community, next door to Walter P. Taylor Homes.

But the News Sentinel probably should be forgiven for the error since the Knox County Health Department Web site lists Magnolia Avenue as the Hardy Clinic address.

The whole address issue is made more curious by an unsigned 11/30 memo from “Administration” to health department employees instructing them not to mention Walter P. Taylor Homes or Five Points when giving directions to the clinic.

“Managers and supervisors, please advise your staff when giving directions to the new Hardy Clinic location, to reference the attached map and use the language given for this location and all other clinic locations listed.

“Please do not reference Walter P. Taylor Homes or Five Points in identifying the location of the Hardy Clinic site; instead, use the directions provided. If someone asks if the clinic is in Five Points or by Walter P. Taylor Homes, please answer this question in the affirmative.”

The author of Knox County’s Web site evidently did not get the memo, because the story there not only mentions the history and correct location of the Hardy Clinic, but boasts that “...the Hardy Professional Building will be the catalyst for community transformation in East Knoxville when it reopens to once again serve the health care needs of the community, thanks to efforts by the Knox County Mayor’s Office, the Knox County Health Department and the Tennessee Conference Community Development.

The Web site lists services that will be provided at the Hardy Clinic, which is just under three miles east of the Knox County Health Department’s main office on Dameron Avenue.

These services include “physical exams for children and adolescents, immunizations, women’s health services, targeted disease management, a communicable disease clinic and health education programs.”

Contact Bean at bbeanster@aol.com

Tabloid Column of December 3, 2006

Commissioner Greg "Lumpy" Lambert in October 2006 was the hero of the tabloid. On December 3, 2006 he becomes it's next negative bias target. Here is the column.

Wrong, wrong, wrong

We’ve had some fun with the “One Man, One Vote” annexation referendum at South Grove shopping center in deep south Knox County, but at the core this is a most serious issue.

Much has happened since our last edition. The fight is over.

Mayor Mike Ragsdale and 12 county commissioners wrote to Law Director John Owings, requesting that he drop the lawsuit to block the annexation. Owings battled for a day, forcing Ragsdale to say “withdraw” rather than “settle,” then he withdrew the suit on Thursday.

Why it’s wrong:

1) Ragsdale and 12 commissioners (hereafter known as the Dirty Dozen) showed they will not fight to enforce the annexation agreement the county made with the city. Knox County paid $7 million and gave the city two seats on The Development Corporation board to establish the boundary. In a Nov. 7 referendum with one voter the agreement was blown to smithereens.

Halls and Powell were drawn outside the city’s urban growth boundary (protected from annexation) when Leo Cooper and Mary Lou Horner sat on county commission. Their successors, Scott Moore and Larry Smith, signed last week’s letter.

Halls and Powell residents are now at risk if just one developer wants to ram the city limits up Maynardville Highway or Clinton Highway to the county line.

2) Ragsdale and the Dirty Dozen said getting along and making nice is more important than protecting the county’s sales tax base. The News Sentinel said Knox County will lose $150,000 a year. Margie Nichols said the city will gain $600,000 a year. Fuzzy math, but whatever the amount they lose, the county didn’t fight to keep it.

3) Ragsdale and the Dirty Dozen have shown total disdain for open meetings. This issue should have been debated and voted on at commission’s Nov. 20 meeting. Instead, the mayor and 12 commissioners skulked around the City County Building in secret, obtaining signatures on the letters to Owings.

South Knox commissioners Larry Clark and Paul Pinkston deserved better from their colleagues than this backroom deal.

4) Ragsdale and the Dirty Dozen gave a healthy Christmas present to South Grove developers Tim Graham and Derry Thompson. With the annexation lawsuit dropped, the developers will receive a check for $1 million from the city on Dec. 31. This will be followed by three annual payments of $333,333, according to Nichols.

By what rationale do we tax some people to give money to others?

I would guess that the average city homeowner pays $1,000 a year in city property taxes. If so, then a thousand of you suckers just paid your taxes for Tim Graham’s first installment. Send a note to Mayor Haslam with your tax payment.

This is wrong, wrong, wrong for many reasons.

Wrong for city police and fire services to be stretched almost to Seymour.

Wrong for the skulking avoidance of open debate.

Wrong for sacrificing the urban growth boundary.

Wrong for subsidizing one development of retail stores when many others are built every day without subsidy.

Tabloid Column on November 20, 2006

The following is a portion of the weekly Editorial column of the tabloid editor known as Sandra Clark in this weeks Halls News. This obviously was meant to be comical and turned sick and twisted when on Monday it was reported that the nineteen year old man that attempted to rob Commissioner Lamberts at gunpoint, is the same young man that 10 hours prior is alleged to have murdered Dave Lindsey, a Walgreens truck driver less than 3 miles away from Commissioner Lambert's car lot.

The second disturbing point of the column is the disrespectful nature that is shown to a Congressman that has represented our community so well.

If the community desires to read comical, political discussion it can be found in any reputable Scripps owned publication in particular on Sundays.

It is called the Comics section.

COMMENTARY
Billy's Bad Dream

Editor's Note: I wish I had written this, but Ididn't. It was sent by a friend who has a real job and therefore shall remain nameless. Let's call it Billy's Bad Dream:

U.S. Rep. John J. Duncan Jr. (R-Knoxville) is being investigated by the Knox County Sheriff's Office for shooting Senator-elect Bob Corker in the hind quarters. Even though the incident occurred at a McDonald's Restaurant in the UT area, Sheriff Tim Hutchison has assumed jurisdiction. The Sheriff restated his belief that his agency serves all of Knox County and that he intends to investigate any occurrence that might wind up generating publicity.

A visibly shaken Duncan explained that he was shooting at Trent Lott and mistakenly hit Corker. "Trent was stealing Lamar's motorcycle and I was merely trying to recover it," said the longtime federal lawmaker. Duncan also said that he only drew his gun after Lott went for his own firearm.

"Sen. Lott took his arm and gun hand out to the side as he rode away," said Duncan, demonstrating the move as he continued explaining that "... I drew mine in the more proper fashion," pulling a pistol from his pocket and pointing it directly into the camera, scaring the beejeebus out of the camera operator.

Corker's wounds are not believed to be life threatening.

Outgoing Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, M.D., treated Corker at the scene.

"The bullet hit Bob right on the cheek of his butt," said Frist, who is expected to return to his medical practice as soon as his bid for the GOP presidential nomination is dead, probably sometime before Thanksgiving.

"If the stray shot had been about 8-10 inches higher, it would have struck Corker in the back of the head," said a slightly amused Sen. Lott.

Corker's remarks are not printable in a family paper. The Chattanoogan readily admitted that "he has a potty mouth whenever I am shot in the ass."

Tennessee Republican Party chair Bob Davis and Brian Hornback, Knox County GOP chair, issued a joint statement proclaiming that the shooting once again proves that the Republican Party takes the Second Amendment rights of all citizens very seriously.

"Duncan's brave act shows that local, state and federally elected Republicans share the belief that guns are an integral part of our society and that if Republicans are to regain control of the nation's destiny, a few more folks need to be shot."

Washington insider Tyler Harber could not be reached for comment, but Greg "Lumpy" Lambert believes Harber has additional information about this incident and plans to use Knox County Commission's newly recognized investigative powers to get to the bottom of it.

In the meantime, Lambert is rightfully proud that Duncan utilized the quick draw technique that Lambert recently taught him at a GOP retreat for candidates elected this year. The event was held in a phone booth.

Duncan is expected to be represented by well-known Knoxville attorney Herb Moncier who thinks he can have it his way, especially since both the gun used in the shooting and Duncan's back-up weapon belonged to state Sen. Tim Burchett. The senator commented on this story, but his mouth was so full of cookies that his speech was incoherent, which is not at all unusual under the best of circumstances, according to knowledgeable sources.