Zillow has issued its Negative Equity Report of underwater mortgages, home equity, and mortgages behind on payments (Link...).

Rockwood is 19% underwater, about 1 mortgage in 5; Harriman is 18%, Kingston less. Overall Roane County is 14% underwater, about 1 in 7. This is very worrisome but some other locales--Knoxville, Crab Orchard, much of Georgia--are much worse.

-- OneTahiti

Kingston Tennessee is a provincial little town in a most beautiful setting. It is blessed with water and scenery with the Emory and Clinch River confluence at the northern end and the Clinch and Tennessee River confluence at the southern end. Fort Southwest Point Park anchors the town at one end and very soon the Ladd Landing Greenway will provide the bookend to the north with the net cost to Kingston taxpayers being absolutely free.

Starting at Ladd Park at the Clinch and Emory confluence, the greenway carves its way through several micro habitats and a mature mixed hardwood forest. Except for the much discussed handrails on the bridge over Ladd Landing Boulevard and a few benches and such, the trail is complete. You may walk the entire trail right now, except for the bridge, and I encourage everyone to do just that. I have traveled it several times and seen something new every time I've gone. There is nowhere else in Roane County that you can walk into a deep forest on the comfort of a paved trail. The Ladd Landing Greenway is a gift that everyone in Kingston should enjoy and treasure from now on.

This is good news and bad news. Too bad this wasn't done 15 years ago when the problem was identified. Good that this beautiful spot on the Emory river will get cleaned up. There will be a big mess for several years but the next generation will have a greater Riverside park in Harriman.

RNeal has the story...
Link...

So I've noticed that the grass lot that sits between Ruby Tuesday and Los Primos in Harriman hasn't been mowed in months. It is a real eye sore and I'm sure hurting Ruby's business. Today someone told me that Ruby Tuesday has maintained that lot since they opened the store but that the lot isn't actually part of the property on which the restaurant and parking lot sit. Ruby's paid to have the lot mowed each time the grass on Ruby's actual lot was mowed. However, recently Ruby's was served with a court order saying that Ruby's could no longer have the lot mowed.

A best friend is nursing a blood clot in his leg that went undiagnosed and could have done serious damage. He sent this and I'm passing it along.

Sometimes symptoms of a stroke are difficult to identify. Unfortunately, the lack of awareness spells disaster. The stroke victim may suffer severe brain damage when people nearby fail to recognize the symptoms of a stroke.

Now doctors say a bystander can recognize a stroke by asking three simple questions:

Link...

Fincher (R- Frog Jump) (Yeah, Really..."Frog Jump")has received a$70,000.00 in 2012 for no particular reason except that it is in the Farm Bill he just voted on. The Congressman from the 8th District is a welfare queen. I suppose his real motive in cutting food stamps is to make sure there is more money for people like him.

Yep. That's what they did.

Freedom to fish in stupid dangerous dam tail waters where fish are blocked into a man made concrete barrel.

Link...

The Headline said it. Blair Harrison has resigned, reportedly taking a job in Georgia... If only there would be this big a concern if the Math team adviser resigned...

"GOPer Who Got Millions in Farm Subsidies Thinks the Poor Should Starve Rather Than Get Food Stamps." Read the story at: Link...

-- OneTahiti

Tax Cheats lobby against internet sales tax collection and more...

Link...

Roane County's hemlock trees are now being attacked by the woolly adelgid aphid. Let's hope we find something to restore the balance caused by introduction of this devastating pest introduced by the nursery industry.

Link...

This Commission appears ready to tell the County Departments, including the School Board, that they must work within their budgets. I am looking forward to a flat budget with no tax increases. I have heard chatter of 19 cents that could quickly go down to 5 cents, but it is looking much clearer that those negoiating bluffs will be called, thereby resulting in a zero increase. The Commission will stand strong by giving the mandate for the departments and school system to manage with what they have.

Our go to guy for political heads up is Tom Humphrey. He does an excellent job of noticing what is important in Tennessee politics and sending it along. Every once in a while he puts the burning light of clarity on things in Nashville. This is one of them, as he runs down some of the little "not" scandals the Governor Haslam thinks the press shouldn't cover.

Link...

TULLAHOMA, TN, 5/12/13: A Tullahoma man is accused of shooting his 13-month-old baby girl Sunday night while cleaning a handgun at the family's home. Kevin Sayre, 26, faces a charge of aggravated assault after police said he was cleaning the 9mm gun at the East Gate Apartments when the weapon fired, striking the baby in the chest.

The Ladd Landing Greenway is done except for some squabbling between the engineering contractor and the bridge contractor regarding a handrail that should have been on the bridge in the first place. Hikers and bikers can access the entire trail except for the bridge itself, which is done except for the aforementioned hand rail. The trail itself is a fabulous gift to Kingston and Roane County. I'll have pictures soon.

And from From TVA:

Link...

So both sides have lawyered up big. I predict a monster payout by Pilot and the Haslams. They certainly don't want racketeering or something charges to come out of this. The truckers were swindled and smell blood in the water. Now they want their pound of flesh.

Link...

I wish our Senators would quit taking us for idiots. Here's the statement:

The Tennessee Republican said TVA bonds lost about $500 million in value after the president's announcement last month, largely because of uncertainty over whether the utility would be sold. Alexander said customers in the seven states served by the TVA will likely pay more for electricity as a result.

The loss is to the value of the TVA bonds which are held by bond investors and speculators, not TVA rate payers. This is about as disingenuous as our other Senator saying we have to cut Social Security, which doesn't have anything to do with the deficit, in order to control the deficit.

About Prospect 14 Tour- June 22, 2013

The City of Harriman has 14 properties located in the downtown district available for your business opportunities. The City of Harriman along with the Harriman Industrial Board will be hosting a Prospect 14 Tour on June 22, 2013 from 10 am - 5 pm. Plan to attend now and get a first hand glimpse during this historic event.

Due to the inability of the Roane County Commission to act in defiance of heavy lobbying to save Roane County millions in tax money, our Taj Ma Jail has not been re-certified by the State due to over population.

Let's see, they violated campaign finance laws with their political billboard, took over the Roane County Republican Party at its convention, and stole Democratic signs and t-posts during the election and they wonder why the IRS won't give them a tax exempt status? Link...

"I remember when Tennessee was the leading state for economic development in the South and one of the top 3 in the United States of America," the newly elected Tennessee Democratic Party chairman said Monday. "Now we rank No. 1 in the country for references and time on Colbert and late-night television."

Link...

Quote of the day:

"If we spent half as much on energy efficiency as what we're spending to install scrubbers on the Gallatin plant, we'd save much more power and create many more jobs," he said. "We're putting a Band-Aid on a gunshot wound when we put these scrubbers on these old plants."

Times Free Press Story

From the Roane CAG:

The Kingston Fossil Plant will be conducting a test of its Continuous Emission Monitoring System, or CEMS, beginning Tuesday, May 14, 2013, and will run for 10 days. During the CEMS test there may be a slight discoloring of the emissions from the scrubber stack. However, the emission from the stack will still be water vapor.

Link...

Kristin Rawls has a piece in Alternet that is well worth the read, especially for us in Tennessee: Link...

-- OneTahiti

WATE has the story: Link...

-- OneTahiti

The deficit "through the first seven months of fiscal 2013" is down 32% over last year, too. Read more: Link...

-- OneTahiti