The new jobs figures are out. Only 80,000 were created in the month of June. Unemployment remains at 8.2%.

Those figures do not tell the whole story. Every month, we hear about job creation. What we do not see are the numbers of jobs lost. And we do not see the numbers of people who have searched for a job for so long, they just stopped looking. It doesn't really matter who's administration decided to report the jobs market in this fashion. What matters is "What are the real numbers"?

It's time we figured out that jobs need to be created on the state level. We need State Representatives, and State Senators who will actively seek out new business for the districts they represent. It should no longer be about meaningless laws passed in Nashville. It should no longer be about the "party" and their agendas against the other party.

I remember a time when a Republican could sit across the table with a Democrat. If one had a good idea, the other would shake his or her hand and say "That's a good idea. Let's get to work on it". And I will admit, today's GOP is not the real GOP. However, Democrats are to blame as well. It's that way on the state and federal levels.

We need to decide for ourselves this election. Do we stay with the status quo, or do we decide to send people to Nashville who will start talking? Do we recycle people who fall in line with their respected parties, or people who will think outside the box, and actually help people?

Real job creation has to be accomplished on the state levels. As I said before, we need Legislators that will actively seek out business for their district. We can no longer depend on Washington to send jobs to Tennessee. The only thing we can depend on Washington for is more of the same; nothing getting done, and one side blaming the other for it.

It is a critical time for Tennessee and the 32nd district. Your vote could help decide which way we turn. No matter what party you are affiliated with, it's time to take a look at all the candidates.

Personally, I have decided to send Kent Calfee to Nashville to represent me. He will listen and actually take good advice to heart. He is not supported by the Tea Party. And he has common sense, and a mind of his own.

Early voting starts July 13. I urge everyone to take advantage of the early voting days. Please, choose a candidate that you think will support the 32nd district and Roane County. Then take a few minutes out of your day, and go vote. We have to do this. The future of out district, and our state depend on us.

Say what you want about the Tea Party, but they have been smart. Those who align themselves with the Tea Party can be proud of that. Locally, they went into the Republican Party meetings, filled the place with supporters, and systematically took over the GOP; nationally. Yes, they developed a plan, then carried it out with perfection (or almost). Then, they set up candidates to run for office, and got them elected.

The GOP office holders looked at all of this and made the decision to go along with the Tea Party. I believe that was a mistake.

I have talked with local Tea Party and national Tea Party members. I get about the same answers from all of them. Basically, they tell me the Tea Party wants to bring back the policies that our founders had intended. I find that amusing. Our founding father's owned slaves, and women were denied the right to vote. We still have a Constitution, and a Bill of Rights. If they and the rest of Congress would just follow those documents, we would still be what they want us to be.

Yes, I am a Republican. I am central conservative. However. all I see from the Tea Party is "it's our way or the highway". I believe in compromise. They refuse to compromise if there is a D before the other office holder's name. I am from a party of inclusion who welcomes everyone that can bring something to the table, not excluding other parties, race, religion, or bank account. I am a Republican who will reach out to shake hands with someone and tell them they have done a good job regardless of party.

I am going to offend a lot of Tea Party members with this. However, I do not view you as a political party. I look at you more as wanting to be dictators. You want to make all of the decisions, hold all the offices, and give people what you want them to have and nothing else. You want to take away from those who need it most. You refuse to even talk about ideas from a Democrat, and most times those who consider themselves REAL Republicans.

Yes, the way the Tea party did things was very smart. Can you imagine what could happen if those who "occupied Wall Street" really did organize, try to take over a political party, then get their candidates elected? It would be more productive than just CAMPING OUT.

We can like or dislike any party we want. We can complain about how bad things are. But, most never get the real facts. They do not educate themselves on the issues. They watch a certain news organization, or listen to some nut on the radio. That's how they decide who to vote for. What is happening now is our fault. It's easy to sit back and blame Washington or Nashville. However, we keep sending the same ones to represent us. I personally believe term limits would take care of that.

OK, until the GOP decides to take back and take control of their party, the Tea Party is here to stay. I just wish they would stop calling themselves Republicans.

Term limits is not a new idea, but it is an idea that should be brought to the public eye, now more then ever. What we have now in Nashville and Washington is a collection of professional politicians. If you asked them what a gallon of milk costs, most would give you a low price, then be surprised when you told them what the real price was. Our state and federal elected officials are just out of touch with the people they represent.

Before I continue, let me say that I am a registered Republican. However, I am rapidly becoming an Independent. I am disgusted when I see a Senator on television telling me that the Republican agenda this year is to make sure President Obama is defeated, which would make it easier to push this country closer to the "Republican values". Then I hear somebody who deeply supports the Tea Party tell me their goal is to get us back to the country our Founding Fathers had envisioned. Just a note here. Those "Founding Fathers" had slaves. A little hint here. Your agenda should be what is best for the people of this country.
But, let's not let the Democratic Party off the hook here either. Their interest isn't the people this year either. There agenda is to make sure President Obama is re-elected, and hoping they can take back the House and keep the Senate. And why? So they can do their best to pass the Democratic values and agenda. I can already see some responses to this. "The Republicans keep blocking anything the Democrats want." And they do. However, the Democrats had control of the House and Senate for the first two years of the Obama administration.
If you can just step back from your party for a moment and look at things objectively, you might just get the realization that neither party is going to allow anything to get done. If there is a good idea from one political party, the other side of the isle tells us how bad it is. So let me get back to the topic of the forum

The President has term limits. The Governor has term limits. But, we stop short on making our candidates for Senator or Representative get involved, knowing they would have the same rules. Time and money will turn almost all of those newly elected people (who might have had good intentions) into professional politicians, in most cases.
Now for the argument side. Republicans always say we already have term limits. It's called the election. And if the people don't want you in there, they can vote you out. Sorry, but that doesn't fly. I go back to the time and money; the longer someone is there, the more money they can raise to remain there. But there is something else that nobody factors in. It's voter apathy. If somebody has been in office for years, and does nothing, the voter stops voting because they think their vote no longer matters.
Again, I won't let the Democrats off the hook here either. Yes, most of the time it is a Democrat that brings the subject of term limits to the surface. But, they already know it will be shot down by the other party. It only allows them to tell us they tried. Hey! Try harder! Most of them don't want term limits either. Yes, there are career politicians on both sides. If they are in favor of term limits, why don't they make it a priority every election year? Why aren't they on the floors of the House and Senate arguing the benefits of having term limits.

I agree that term limits are not the fix all solution. But I have said this many times. If we keep recycling politicians over and over, then we are the cause of our problems. Term limits would afford us with different people with new ideas; ideas that represent those who elected them. Someone who runs for office would know, going in, they only have a certain amount of time to present those ideas, and get something accomplished.

Let's face it. As it is now, we are basically stuck with career politicians on both sides of the isle who refuse to change with the times or circumstances. They have the money, raised over time, to continue to remain in an office that has passed them by.

I am sure this topic has made some of you mad. I am sure that many will disagree. But, if we make the leader of the free world have term limits, then shouldn't we make everyone?

Everyone knows I am a Republican. However, the President deserves the respect of the GOP tonight by attending the speech before the Congress. Disagree with him or not, he is the President. GOP lawmakers are not only disrespecting the President, but even more, the Office of the Presidency of the United States itself. Shame on them!!

Has anyone heard anything about this? It was sent to me by a friend today. I would like for someone to either verify it, or disqualify it as being true. I cannot find anything on it.

Dream Act: Obama passes amnesty by Executive Order

Last Friday, with no fanfare, no press coverage, and with every effort made to hide his actions from the American people, President Obama enacted the DREAM Act by Executive Order. Opposed by a majority of the American people and twice defeated in Congress, the DREAM Act grants amnesty to any illegal alien residing in the United States if she/he agrees to enlist in the U.S. Military or enter college.

I would be appreciative of any information that anyone could find me on this.

I just wanted to pop in and say hello. I haven't been to this site much lately at all. I was just busy moving back where I belong; Kingston..Good Ole K Town! I enjoy this site, especially when the discussion stays topic and doesn't turn into personal attacks. You can get a lot of information on this site that you can't find out about anyplace else; such as community events, announcements, charity yard sales, ect..

Most who have been on this site for a while, pretty well know me. Yes, I am still a registered Republican (sorry Steve), although I often disagree with some of the BS they try to do. When that happens I will not defend them if I think it's wrong. And, I will continue to voice my opinion on what Democrats do; good or bad.

Listen people. This country is in big trouble. It isn't too late to fix it. It will be a very slow process. But, the first step is to clean out Congress and the Senate. There is no compromising even on a good idea. And, this would happen if the Democrats had control of the Congress. Before the last election the Democrats did have control, and nothing was happening then either. I have been in favor of term limits for years. Yes, it's usually the Republican party who shoots that down. I get tired of hearing "We have term limits; every time people go vote. They can vote me out if they feel like it". "Yeah, but whoever is running against you can't afford to buy your seat." And the Democrats won't fool with it because they know the Republicans won't let it happen anyway. My point is this. We control who goes to Washington, but we can't control what they do when they get there. And as long as we keep sending the same people, we will continue to deserve what we get, and get what we deserve. We can all complain, get mad, speak out, or whatever. But until you and I, "WE" decide we are going to stop sending the same people there, then you and I, "WE" deserve what we are getting.

OK, enough about the political stuff, and all the blog entries. I just stopped in to say hello. I've misses SOME of you, haha.

I have been seeing a group of doctors who are specialists, in order to have tests ran, shots, and other treatments that were doing wonders for my back and leg, after having 13 back surgeries. I have been feeling better than I have in a very long time. I went to my monthly appointment as usual this morning. When I got there, the doctor informed me that their office, and other offices across the state would no longer be accepting Medicare, or any Medicare related insurances as of April 1. She went on to explain that the corporate office called each of it's doctors and told them that the passing of the Health Care Reform Bill would further reduce the reimbersment they received from Medicare for treating patients. Last year, that was already reduced by 21%. So, if I want to remain with that group of doctors, each monthly visit will cost me $190. And that is a discount because I am deemed disabled. Those that are not disabled, such as the elderly, will be paing $235 per visit.
They told me that I could go back to my primary care physician and possibly find another group that did accept Medicare related insurance or Medicare itself. It took my primary care physician 2 months to decide what treatments he recommended for me, and another 2 1/2 months to get me in, because of the waiting list. So, I can either go in reverse with my healing, or I can pay the money for each visit. Yes, I will pay the money until there can be another group like these found, if one can be found in this area. But, only if it doesn't take too long. I go from paying $20 dollars per visit and my Medicare sponsered insurance paying the rest, to $190 dollars per visit, and no allowable insurance to pay any of it. And yes, it is because the new Health Care Reform Bill was passed. Thanks a lot Washington. You just denied insurance for the elderly and disabled that were getting needed help from specialists. Yes, I'd call that reform. But, for who?

28th Admendment to the Constitution: Congress shall make no law that applies to the citizens of the United States that does not apply equally to the Senators or Representatives, and Congress shall make no law that applies to the Senators or Representatives that does not apply equally to the citizens of the United States.

I'll let you all decide this one. Keep in mind that Congress already had their high dollar health care plans.

I was watching WBIR News last night when they reported that 3/4 of all adults could not name one candidate running for Governor.
Has it gotten so bad in this country and state that voters can't believe in change? Has voter apathy gotten to the point, they are just going to remain home and not vote?
Everyone in the race is calling for change of some kind. But 3/4 of adults not looking at, then not choosing a candidate? I find that a little frightening.
How do we, the people on roaneviews, help change that? This isn't a problem as to who the voter will choose. This is a problem of not caring who the candidates are, and just staying home.
This isn't about being Democrat, Republican, or Independent. It's about getting voters fired up about at least one issue they are passionate about so they do go vote.
Lack of voter turn out will not only hurt the political process statewide, but locally too. I suggest we get a voters' registration drive going, having it non-partisan, and pass out literature on all the candidates.
I hope others have suggestions and will be willing to work at it.

Mom and Pop's Grocery Store and gas staion, located South of the River, will be closing its doors on the 28th of this month.
Mom and Pop's had been serving that community for as long as I can remember. Their business depended on the residence from South of the River stopping there to get gas and buy supplies on their way to the river and lake. In the Spring, Summer, and Fall of 2009, after the TVA disaster, the patronage became non-existant. After struggling to pay bills and make payroll during this winter, the store is forced to close its doors.
Talking with the owners, they confirm it is directly related to the TVA disaster. They sought help from TVA. However, TVA said they did not adequately prove the loss was because of the disaster, even though common sense should have told them differently.
Not only will the business be closing, but the family now stands to lose their home as well.
This disaster reaches beyond Kingston and Swan Pond.
But, TVA does not think so.
Again, the question needs to be asked. When is TVA going to take responsibility and keep their promise of making people whole again?
The closing of this small business should concern us all. How many others are to follow? They (TVA) continue to show their lack of concern for the people of Roane County.
I urge everyone to write TVA and voice their displeasure in allowning this injustice. The store was a mainstay; an institution for the people in that area. Now, it will be an empty building.

As of this month, I have been cancer free for a year and a half. It was luck that my urologist found my prostate cancer early. I got lucky. The cancer was located on the edge of the prostate, and could have easily spread to other organs. The early detection probably saved me from years of health problems.and possibly death.
Men, I know you hate the thought of a prostate exam. I never wanted them either. Most doctors recommend the exam once a year for men over 40. However, all men should have the exam. Yes, it is uncomfortable, and embarrassing. But that 30 second exam could save your life.
Ladies, we all know who really runs a household, lol. So, "urge" the man in your life to have the exam. Also recommended is a colon check. These exams take only seconds, and can save lives.
I thank God everyday for the doctor that saved me. I hope this post will encourage others to get checked.
One and half years, CANCER FREE! I get to watch my grandchildren grow up. Think about it.

I was traveling from Harriman back to Kingston earlier today when I noticed a hole in the Interstate bridge. What concerns me is, the concrete is missing at one of the joints of the bridge. Does anyone know who to contact to have the bridge inspected? If you do, I hope you will make that call very soon.
When I saw the hole, the thoughts of other bridges collapsing instantly came to mind. So, if you do know who to contact, I ask that you pass this concern along. It may be nothing. But, we need to be certain. Doing nothing could lead to disaster.

I know election day is still months away. And I know it isn't something that many of you think about right now. However, now is the time to be thinking about it.
Right now, I want to talk about one candidate running for the County Commission. His name is Randy Ellis.
Randy is a great husband, and a wonderful father. His family will always come first.
I have worked with Randy for several months trying to make sure TVA cleans our disaster up right. He is on the Long Term Recovery Committee and co-chairs the Roane County Community Advisory Committee.
Trust me when I say that he does ask the tough questions. He does his research and presents his concerns to TVA in such a way, they have to listen.
Now, I cannot vote for Randy because he would not be representing my district. He will be representing the Swan Pond, Emory Heights, and South Harriman area. But make no mistake about it. If I could vote for him, I would. Even though I cannot vote for him, I will be spreading the word to the people I know in these areas.
Randy will be just one of the new faces we need on the County Commission. He will represent not only his district, but the people of Roane County.
This election can be a huge step forward in changing the path our county is on. Randy will not go with the flow. He will not just go along to get along. He will be a strong voice for what is needed to make the county better.
When you elect Randy to the County Commission, it will be a start for bringing back integrity, discipline, and real leadership to the Commission. With Randy, and a few other new faces on the Commission, we can finally move forward instead of remaing stagnant.
So whatever district you live in, look hard at the candidates you will choose for County Commission. Help give us new leadership for this wonderful county we live in. And for those in the Swan Pond, Emory Heights, and South Harriman area, I have two words for you. VOTE RANDY!

I urge everyone who can to attent the first public meeting of the Roane County Community Advisory Group tonight at Roane State. I will be held in the student lounge. Meet and greet is at 6. The meeting will be called to order at 6:30.
Keep in mind, this is your meeting. It is your opportunity to voice your opinion as to how YOU want TVA, and the other agencies involved to return your beautiful community to perfection.
Please take this wondeful opportunity to get off the sidelines and into the game.
I hope to see many of you there.

The 70th anniversary of Wizard of Oz is Tuesday, November 17. Theaters all across the nation will be showing the best movie ever made.
Cinemark's Tinseltown in Oak Ridge will have one showing at 6:30 p.m.
Take the family, especially those family members who have never seen Wizard of Oz. Get there early to get seats.

Senator Corker is holding a town hall meeting on Wednesday, September 2 in Loudon County at the Loudon County High School Auditorium in Loudon, 1039 Mulberry Street. The meeting will begin promptly at 4:00 pm ET. This event is free and open to the public.

Award winning photo journalist, Carlan Tapp just completed an excellent documentary on coal ash being dumped in Alabama. His work, as always, is excellent.

Link...

I have been watching and listening to the big debate over health care. I have been watching as both the Democrats and Republicans make complete asses of themselves at town hall meetings and on the news. I see both sides sending in their disrupters. Remember studying about the Boston Tea Party? That was organized and scheduled just like the disruptions of town hall meetings are today. Yes, that is Democracy. Then, I wonder why something that could be so easy, be so hard.

Why not a one payer system? Now I know I am going to hear "Wow Rick! That would cost too much money! And I don't want the government dictating my health care!" Or I will hear something like this. "No way. I don't want the government taking away the insurance I have now."

Well, guess what? There is already a one payer system in place. And, the government is the payer. It has been around for decades. The elderly and disabled have it. The government does not tell them what doctor to go to. Doctors are not limited to what procedures to use in treatment. And most of the time, the patient does not need a referral. I am talking about Medicare. And for those that are under a certain annual earnings income, they can receive Medicaid as a suppliment to pay for what Medicare doesn't. Then, there is Medicare Part D. That takes care of prescription medication. Most medications do not have to be pre-approved.

I know this first hand. I have been disabled since 1995. Medicare has been my insurance since then. I go to whatever doctor I need to go to. I have whatever procedures I need. Here is a "for instance". Nest Thursday, I will be having my 13th back surgery in 14 years. My out of pocket expenses have been maybe 10% overall. Since Medicare Part D, the most I have ever paid for a prescription is $3.20. And when my deductable has been met, medicines cost me $0.00. Everyone I know on this health care system would not trade it.

Now, I will hear that Medicare is broke. There will be no more Medicare or Medicaid in 10 years, ect, ect. Well, Medicare would not go broke if our government, both Democrats and Republicans would stop robbing it. Yes, it is borrowing (or robbing) from Peter to pay Paul. So let me propose this and see what kind of hostilities I receive.

First, pass a law that Medicare and Medicaid cannot be touched for any reason. Put it in a lock box. And second, take the money that is being proposed for health care (over 7 trillion dollars), and shore up Medicare and Medicaid. Pass the law first, or they will rob it before the law was passed.

Then, those that do not have insurance can have it. Nobody would lose their insurance they have now. The government will not be controlling the doctors. No one's grandmother will have to make a decision to live or die (which was a BS scare tactic anyway). Then maybe this country can get on to more pressing business.

Announcing the birth of Blayze Alexander Davis. He was born July 30, 2009 at 10:10 am. He weighed 7 pounds, and is 20 inches long. Mother, father, and baby are doing wonderful. Papaw feels just a little older.

At the only town hall meeting ever held jointly by Senator Yager and Representative Ferguson, they both made a promise that they would not allow any landfill in Midtown that would be used for storing coal ash. Now is the time to keep that promise.

The Kingston Fossil Fuel Plant burns 14,000 tons of coal a day. It produces 1,400 tons of coal ash a day. Our eleceted officials are talking about storing 8 million tons in a 69 acre landfill. That is 70 trucks a day that carry 20 tons; not 20 trucks as has been stated.

They will not put this in the ground as they say. This much ash will be 640 feet high if they only use the 30 acres they stated. If they use the entire 69 acres, it would go to almost 100 feet. To get an idea of what it might look like, compare it to the tallest stacks at the plant. They are 1080 feet high. So, this mountain of coal ash would be over half that height if only 30 acres are used. Then, if they add household garbage as their engineer said they could, it would grow even higher.

So Senator Yager and Representative Ferguson, it's time to keep that promise. Make a trip to TDEC and explain to them why this land should not be permited to hold coal ash.

And thanks Charlie for the help.

I was contacted today by Stephanie Smith of CNN. After the piece they did on Roane County, they had a lot of response at CNN headquarters. She is interested in doing a follow up soon. We discussed using someone local to do the tour. She agreed it was a good idea.

She and I discussed the proposed landfill. She is very interested in adding that in the follow up.

We also talked about those impacted that are not in the imaginary line area. She will want to interview some of those people also. If you are interested, let me know. She will be contacting me by phone and e-mail in the next few days. When she does, I will send her address to those who are interested.

I went by the Election Commission today to inquire whether it is illegal to have a referendum on the Midtown Landfill. The Election Commissioner contacted the Election Commission in Nashville.

There is no statute that would allow a referendum on any landfill. However, the County Commission can request that either Senator Yager or Representative Ferguson go before the General Assembly and ask for a "special act" that would allow for the referendum.

So, a referendum on the Midtown Landfill would not be illegal. And, about 99% of the "special acts" requested, are granted. Now, if the Commissioners say it is illegal, they can be told they are misinformed.

At the one town hall meeting Senator Yager and Representative Ferguson held in Kingston, they promised us that they would not allow a landfill to open in Midtown for coal ash. The calls and e-mails need to start now.

On June 30, 2009 the Solid Waste Committee voted to send a resolution for a coal ash referendum to the full County Commission for a vote. This special election will allow the people of Roane County to vote on opening a landfill in Midtown that will accept new coal ash from the Kingston Fossil Fuel Plant. We listened to the engineer explain the way it would be constructed.

Initially, the landfill would hold 350 million cubic yards of coal ash. Then, if we wanted, they would line it and build up the sides with dirt so the landfill could hold up to 500 million cubic yards. AND THEN, if we wanted even more, they could line that, build up the sides again, and fill it with a maximum of 750 million cubic yards of coal ash. When asked if we could put household garbage in it, he said yes. They would line the ash, add the garbage, line that, then add coal ash again.

He went on to say that they would "blend" the landfill in so it would look like the rest of the area. And since it was made of dirt, nothing could happen to it.

The referendum will have the wording "for schools and other projects". This is political psychology 101. Any time something controversial is put on the ballot, they use wording such as "for schools" or "for children", or even "for the elderly" to drum up public support.

It will not matter how many people shows up voicing opposition when the full commission votes on this. There are enough of them to call for a special election.

Already, people are saying that I am against the public voting. That is the furthest thing from the truth. I just have the opinion that some things should not even come up for a vote. We are already dealing with 1.1 billion gallons of coal ash in our rivers. The last thing we need is constant truck traffic traveling through Midtown, filling up a landfill that sits on the side of a hill, overlooking another river, with 750 million cubic yards of coal ash.

There will be a solid Waste Committee meeting Tuesday, June 30, 6p.m. at the court house. Once again on the agenda, they will discuss the possibility of opening a landfill in Midtown to accept coal ash.

I wonder if they think enough time has passed, and we have settled down enough to consider this again?

Those who can, need to attend. We need to put the brakes on this before it even starts. If you know anyone in Midtown, call them and tell them what is going on. We need to fill up the room once again and voice our opposition.

I accompanied WVLT to the site this morning after being asked to interview with them. The reporter and I both noticed the same thing.

We drove to the church right pass the railroad tracks so he could get the best view. When we arrived, there was a backhoe doing work in the cove right accross the street. Even before the camera came out, the backhoe stopped and the driver was picked up. As we watched, all work seemed to stop on the dam. He was curious as to why they wouldn't think it might look better if they were seen doing work when the press was around instead of stopping.

Then we started discussing the "church slough" that Anda Ray was so proud of when she announced it had been cleaned up. Has anyone seen this slough? It is so small that a 4 person crew with only shovels and wheel barrels could have cleaned it out in 5 months.

I received an e-mail explaining the cancellation of the LTRC metting for this Wednesday. Here is the e-mail I received. I thank Ms. Lemons for answering my e-mail.

Rick,

First, I had a doctor’s appointment this morning so did not get your email till just a little bit ago.

Second, reason(s) for postponing the meeting:

(1) There has been no substantial new information to come out since the last meeting.

(2) There is a meeting tonight which will allow residents to voice their concerns to all the parties involved.

(3) It is anticipated that a root cause analysis report will be released later this week. If that report is released later this week, postponing the meeting to next Wednesday will allow time for it to be studied.

(4) The budget committee is meeting Thursday and Monday afternoons (long meetings) to try to finalize the budget. Since everyone is accustomed to the meetings being held on Wednesday, it made sense to hold the next meeting on Wednesday, July 1.

Hope this clears it up for you.

Sheila

Again, I thank her for responding.

Tonight's open house meeting at Roane State was possibly the most important meeting with questions and answers that we have had yet since this disaster first happened. I looked around and saw only one member of the LTRC present. Yes, I could have missed someone else. But, with such an important meeting being help in our community, and for our community, I did not see our County Executive or any of our Mayors. Yes, some could have had personal reasons for not being there. But my question is this. Why would our elected officials miss a meeting like this which had so many questions from the public? It was a unique opportunity to listen and hear concerns. And, it was the perfect opportunity for them to ask questions also.

OK, so there was news media from all over. And, I am sure peopled might have "bothered" them. But, this was IMPORTANT for this community. And they were NOT present. Why?

I received a call from the producer on Friday. The History Channel will be airing a special show on Monday night at 9:00 p.m. It is called "Crumbling America". It features a segment on our disaster, filmed back in January.

You too can hold stock in TVA. Yes, they trade on
Wall Street under TVA or TVE. I have been keeping up with their stocks for quite some time now. There seems to be little change since this disaster. So, if you want to become a stockholder, it is possible. No, you cannot go directly to TVA to buy stock. But there are many financial groups you can use. Here is that information. How many of them were bailed out by the government?

Link...

Also, you can keep up with the stock here.

Link...

To my knowledge, you cannot buy stock in Homeland Security or the Postal Service. Is there any other government agency that trades on Wall Street?
And does anyone think TVA is going broke?

Last Wednesday's LTRC meeting was another attemp by TVA to either show us just how much they DO NOT know about what they are doing, or they want to continue to deceive us. They had already admitted two weeks before, that the flood had pushed the coal ash farther down river. They just didn't know how far. They brought in the Army Corp of Engineers to sonar map the migration of the ash. However, they only mapped the Emory River.

Now I am no scientist, but after coal ash was discovered at the Kingston water treatment plant intake, shouldn't that have told TVA the ash was miles down river now? Why didn't they map the Clinch River all the way to the Tennessee River? Is TVA that stupid, or do they think we are?

Maybe this is why TVA didn't use the Engineers to do the correct sonar mapping while they had them here. The mapping would have shown the ash all the way to the Tennessee River. More people's property would be devalued. And they would have to re-evalute their imaginary line theory. TVA would have to buy more pens that write invisible (since we never can see the line).

What bothers me even more is TVA knows there is ash in the water at the Kingston City Park. For those who may not believe that, go there on a warm, sunny day and watch the boats speeding by. You can track their destination by the cenospheres they churn up.
However, there is no warning signs telling people that swimming there may be dangerous. Note, I said "may be". Yes, it should state that swimming is dangerous. My point being, there is no warning at all.

Maybe TVA is now wishing for another flood before they have to map down river, hoping the ash just goes away. Yes, that comment looks stupid too, but it's no more stupid than TVA still thinking we are a bunch of uneducated hillbillies that will eventually shut up and let them do or say whatever they want.

Doesn't TVA realize it would be cost effective in the long run if they just bought properties effected from those who wish to sell? Do they even have a clue that reaching out and helping the ones this disaster displaced would go a long way in improving people's trust, even in a small way?

As long as TVA keeps up this arrogant, "you can't touch this" attitude, their trustworthiness and image will continue to decline not only here at home, but nation wide.

Early voting is now underway. I recommend it. It saves time, and it makes the poll workers' job much easier on regular election day.
I went in, and was out in about 3 minutes. So, choose your candidates well. And go vote.