Published by jen March 26th, 2007
in Local and State.
In what has been interpreted as an act of war by some state republicans, Union County’s native son, Senator Mike Williams, declared his independence last Wednesday by announcing that he was leaving the GOP to become a political Independent. His decision returns the balance of power in the state senate to an even 16-16 split between Republicans and Democrats.
Williams explained his decision to leave stating that, “Some in the party are leading us down a path of bitterness and divisiveness and, in doing so, they have left me. I have not left them.”
Williams, who is known for voting his conscience even when it strays from the party line, first found himself in GOP crosshairs after his vote for John Wilder in 2005. Back then, he crossed the aisle along with fellow Republican Senator Tim Burchett of Knoxville to give Wilder the votes needed to retain his position as Lieutenant Governor and Speaker of the Senate. While Burchett was forgiven by party loyalists, Senator Williams was not. The intervening years saw a build-up of GOP scorn for Williams that culminated in online Mike Williams “watches,” that monitored the senator’s every move. The 2006 midterms produced a 17-16 split between senate Republicans and Democrats and yet another opportunity arose for the control of the senate to go to either party.
Continue reading ‘Senator Mike Williams: A Declaration of Independence’
Published by jen March 26th, 2007
in Local and Maynardville.
MAYNARDVILLE CITY HALL — When the plan to update the City of Maynardville’s municipal code was first brought up by city attorney John Roach a few months ago, it sounded like a good idea. At council, it was presented by Roach as a simple revision that would bring the city into compliance with state laws by making sure the city wasn’t stepping out of its jurisdiction. In addition, the council could add new misdemeanor offenses to the code that would allow the city to levy more fines, providing much needed revenue. However, a closer examination of the proposed laws reveals a code filled with regulations and an unnerving amount of government interference into the lives of city residents.
Perhaps the most disturbing of the proposed municipal laws has to do with modifying the city’s curfew for minors. Under section 11-802, Maynardville would establish a curfew Monday through Thursday between the hours of 11:00 pm to 6:00 am for those between the ages of 17 and 18. Friday through Sunday, the curfew would extend until midnight.
Continue reading ‘Proposed Maynardville City Laws: More than Just an Update’
Published by jen January 9th, 2007
in Local and State.
More on this later but for now check
here The surprise of the day is Democrat Rosalind Kurita crossed the aisle to vote Ramsey and Mike Williams voted Ramsey as well. The vote was 18-15.
Published by jen December 28th, 2006
in Local and Maynardville.
I’ve been meaning to start posting these for a while. They are the same ones that ran in the Union News Leader. Tip for those that are new to blogs and/or “categories”: Notice the category at the bottom of the post. If you click the various categories listed they will take you to similar posts. This should make it easy to find all of our articles on any given topic.
Highlights from Maynardville City Council’s November Meeting
MAYNARDVILLE CITY HALL - As the year winds to a close, Maynardville City Council (MCC) has its eyes on the future. And while the future of the city is by no means stilted, the path it is to take remains hazy on some points.
INDUSTRIAL PARK REZONED
First on the agenda was a proposed rezoning from industrial (M-1) to low-density residential (R-2). The area in question encloses Richardson Way beginning at Main Street. Affected by the rezoning would be several houses as well as those businesses located inside the Union County Industrial park.
Continue reading ‘Maynardville City Council: November Meeting’
Published by jen December 28th, 2006
in Local and Luttrell.
Highlights from Luttrell City Council’s November Meeting
LUTTRELL - When the City of Luttrell’s 2006 application for the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) was denied, city council members wanted to know why. Had they not, after all, managed to use the funds to keep the city’s sewer system in good working order? Hadn’t they spent hours going over the application? The answer, as it turns out, is a unique one.
Luttrell fulfilled not only its grant obligations for 2005-2006 cycle, but also achieved the highest of the three star ratings on this year’s evaluation. It was also one of only a handful of applicants in the 2006 pool that did not have a commissioner’s order from a state agency demanding that they resolve specific violations and problems. The grant money Luttrell sought for 2006 was to help with maintenance and upgrades rather than correcting state violations.
Continue reading ‘Luttrell City Council’s November Meeting’
Published by jen December 28th, 2006
in Local and Plainview.
Highlights from Plainview City Council’s November Meeting
PLAINVIEW CITY HALL — Plainview City Council met in November to examine Plainview’s overall direction and discuss several measures to secure the city’s operating costs.
BUILDING PERMITS & ZONING
City Council passed a motion to increase the cost of building permits issued by the city. The new regulation, establishes a fee of $50.00 for residential building permits. The permit fee for storage sheds will remain at its current rate of $10.00. The higher fee for residential permits will help offset the city’s costs for inspections and the issuance of permits.
Three new building permits were reported by the city zoning official. Two of the permits, a residence and a garage, were located at separate addresses on Thomas Road. A third permit was taken for a residence located on Monday Road.
Continue reading ‘Plainview City Council: November Meeting’
Published by jen December 14th, 2006
in Local and State.
Even though speculation continues over who Senator Mike Williams will vote for in January, it appears that GOP threats of retribution should Senator Williams cross party lines again and vote for Lt. Gov. John Wilder, are toothless ones.
Not only have a large number of constituents from the Senator Williams’ home county voiced their support of the Senator, but it also turns out that the Tennessee Senate Republican Caucus may have no official means of punishing Senate members who step out of line.
The GOP Caucus, began a draft proposal to establish rules regulating party votes after Sen. Tim Burchett and Sen. Mike Williams jumped ship in 2005 to vote for Wilder. However, even though the new draft by-laws state that one of the purposes of the Senate GOP Caucus is to elect a Republican Senate Speaker there is no means of punishing Republicans that vote for a Democrat instead.
Continue reading ‘GOP Threats Against Sen. Mike Williams are Toothless’
Published by jen December 8th, 2006
in Local and State.
The state of Tennessee won’t help you pay for prescriptions or bargain with companies for reduced prices but they’ll sure as hell spy on your prescriptions.
The Controlled Substance Database started by the Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance requires pharmacists and health care workers who issue controlled substances, such as OxyContin, to file patient and drug information to an online database.
The information must be filed twice a month.
Continue reading ‘New Controlled Substance Database Spies on Tennesseans’
Published by jen December 5th, 2006
in Local.
The following story on Union County commission’s actions regarding the ousting and subsequent reinstatement of REACHS (Regional Eduction And Community Health Services) ran in the Union News Leader last week. Fortunately, REACHS remains in the county, due in no small part, to community outcry and the media attention and coverage it received. REACHS provides an essential service to our community by treating children that have suffered physical and sexual abuse. The program is now trying to raise funds in Union County in order to help improve services and donation boxes can be found around the county including one at Rocky Top Market.
The story of what happened with REACHS should serve as a wake up call to both the community and public officials. We cannot afford to make potentially devastating decisions based on what we think something is. Citizens, leaders, and journalists must serve as checks on one another to insure that ignorance does not result in consequences that we cannot so easily take back.
Continue reading ‘REACHS: A Wakeup Call for Union County’
Published by jen December 2nd, 2006
in Local and State.
After years of incessant exploitation by land speculators and businessmen, the Tennessee Valley Authority has finally done right by the people it serves by passing 8-1 a new land use policy that will stop the sale of TVA land to private developers.
The comment period from the public produced over 5000 comments and of that 92% of them were for stopping the sale of public lands to private developers.
In an almost comical example of a thick-headed corporate owned politician, the sole dissenting voter Bill Baxter said, “The public is not of one mind on this.”
Excuse me Bill? Are you really trying to tell me that we’re not of one mind on being pissed off that the government took our land under the promise that it was for the public good and that we are not tired of seeing that same land being sold at dirt cheap prices to developers and businessmen for them to make a huge profit?
Continue reading ‘TVA Reclaims Land for Citizens’
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