"As county mayor, I worked closely with myself as county commissioner to ensure we were never conflicted about any decision we made," he said.

Link...

You should take a walk along any part of it that you can. Roane County should do more to promote its gateway location to the Plateau's wonders and beauty.

Link...

The Creative Arts Co-op proudly presents a new holiday tradition 'It's A Wonderful Life - A Live Radio Play' by Joe Landry.

Join us for a classic story retold in a vintage style. Follow George Bailey as he finds out he really has had a Wonderful Life...

Two Shows: December 21 & 22
Both shows begin at 8:00pm
Tickets are $5.00 at the door.
All shows are at the Creative Arts Co-op Visual & Performing Arts Center, 426 Ruritan Road, Harriman.

For more information, please call 865/765-1129.

Pretty cool stuff...

Link...

Atlanta will never have enough water, even if they get to poke a straw into the Tennessee River in Tennessee. The Buzz links to the latest on that and tons more:

Link...

Sarah Pirkle, Milly Cavender, and Griffin Cavender Vann are the Naughty Knots. They are all talented songwriters as well as great singers. Tonight they play for us at Market Street and tomorrow they head into the studio to record their new CD.

Sarah wrote this song and frankly, I like her live version a little better than Dale Ann Bradley's. But Ms. Bradley has had this one on the Bluegrass chart for a long time now at number 3. Sarah and the Naughty Knots will play their version live tonight. (Don't get choked up, now)

With a water bill for the Roane County jail running over $20,000 in a single month, there should be ample areas for cost cutting to fund this job adequately.

Roane County Executive Director Ron Woody says he only has "in the low thirties" to pay someone for this important position. A quick check of salary ranges around the country show that to be below the minimum range reported by most municipalities:

Geminids

In the cynical world of Republican politics our media rarely shows the gumption to call them out. In fact, Senator Corker had the temerity to say the reason there are vacancies in because of President Obama, even though Obama has made nominations that are being blocked by Republicans in the Senate. Corker has participated in a record number of filibusters during Obama's term and looks to continue his obstruction, apparently in service to big corporations and billionaires.

Here's a rare one from the Knoxville paper. May I say a heartfelt thank you!

You don't have to talk with a Tea Partier very long to realize the inconsistency of their world view. This is not good governance.

Link...

These are Tennessee fish. Enjoy!

Link...

The CEO would be authorized to approve settlements of dispute proceedings.

Link...

Link...

Until recently, I wanted wine to be sold in grocery stores. It seemed like the sensible thing to do. Then I read an article on British drinking and our alcohol industry, and thought again. The piece is worth a read: Link....

-- OneTahiti

Did you know there's a "Talent Buyer of the Year" award?

I don't usually watch these things, even though there's the occasional awesome performance amongst the drivel. I do check out the winners list afterwards and see who won. I admit to keeping up with Lady Antebellum because David Haywood's Dad and I go way back and played in a group through high school and college. David sent the Lady A bus back to Augusta to pick up his Dad, Grandfather and other family members and bring them to their Xmas special in Nashville, a few days back. David is doing pretty well these days.

On Governor Haslam's failure to create a TN healthcare exchange...That and More

Sorry. We're working on it. It seems to be more of an annoyance than anything else.

Update: Our crack team of elves has righted the sinking ship. Our elves are the best! We thank them and owe them.

Steve

Let's talk about the real reason the House failed to produce a farm bill, Republicans, who control the House from which all spending bills must legally flow, have the rural vote locked up on meaningless issues (guns, gays, god, race, birth certificates, etc) so why bother.

Tom Vilsack: "It's time for us to have an adult conversation with folks in rural America..."

That and more from the Buzz...

Link...

Did they listen or was it purely a business maneuver?

The RCNs changed their mast head, logo and the width of the paper. The article about the change says their mission remains the same - "to be the primary source of local news for Roane County." However, the thin 10 page paper feels light on community news to me. The KNS often beats the RCN with real community news happening in Roane County. KNS, BBB, and RV are my primary sources with a quick read of the RCN to see which direction the wind is blowing. I even buy the DNE when I see a good article that the RCNs has ignored.

Holding dual roles at different levels of government has some advantages, Beets said. Often the challenges faced by the county and the city are interconnected. Having a perspective at both levels makes it easier to understand complex issues, he said.

Roane County executive Woody agreed that there are positive aspects to holding multiple offices.

Knowledge of the subject matter and the motivation of the elected official are important factors in good political decision-making, he said.

Already we have been entertained by Erica Lane, and the Christmas Musical Gala, featuring area churches. Click on the embedded links to see photos!

Still to come are these events:

The Babahatchie Community Band
Caroling Around the Tree
And...
The Celebration of Christmas, featuring pianist Eric Littleton, and special guest singer Muse Watson!

Click on the bold links for more information!

"The Romance of Christmas" was a beautiful quality show presented by Erica Lane Saylors.

Market Street in Ladd Landing at Kingston

Social hour starts at 6, Music at 7, We're done at 9:30 ish.
$10 You are welcome and encouraged to BYOB and BYO Food because we don't serve either one.

Griffin Cavender Vann and Milly Cavender are Cherohala.

Add Sarah Pirkle and they are the Naughty Knots. You'll understand more Friday night...

After much pestering and begging The fabulous Naughty Knots have agreed to play at Market Street. The Knots don't so much play for you as give you an experience you won't forget. We've seen them at Hippie Jack's, the Palace in Crossville, and reluctantly missed them at the Bijou and the Bristol Roots festival. I'm telling you, don't make that mistake. Rarely do we see the various talents and abilities of three separately strong singer songwriter musicians join together into something even greater than the sum of the excellent parts, but here we have the Knots as rare evidence.

The Naughty Knots CD is in the works and frankly there's nothing on the net tubes that lives up to what they are like in a live performance. This clip from Bristol Roots captures part of it but not that spine rippling good feeling you get when three glorious voices nail three part harmony. For that you have to be at Market Street next Friday night.

ABOUT OUR MUSIC SERIES

"We want our players to graduate with a meaningful degree."

Interesting

On Friday evening (7PM), December 21st, Dr. Eric Littleton, celebrated pianist, returns to the Princess for "A CELEBRATION OF CHRISTMAS MUSIC".

On Monday, the handful of remaining TVA board members -- fearing vacancies will leave them without a quorum when Congress adjourns at the end of December -- plan a special meeting to delegate authority to a brand-new and untried TVA president and CEO.

Corker and Alexander both blocked nominations. Corker then has the temerity to complain that the Board isn't working. The real villian here is our media who aren't putting their actions in the spotlight so voters will know what they're doing to us.

More at TFP

We've seen an acceleration of the trend of taking away our local control of such things as cable providers, but now there is a strong move afoot to take away our School Board control of local schools and how we spend our own money. The for profit school lobby is holding "educational" meetings with our representatives. Calfee described the meeting as "Interesting" but gave no other information. I suspect the beverage they served was "koolade". More from the Buzz:

Link...

Jay will play for us at Market Street tonight. There's room so come on down.

He allegedly explains the reason he knocked an 84 year old woman to the sidewalk breaking her arm is...

"Need money"

RCN story (paywall)

TVA has been one of the better stewards of land over its history. A map of 229,000 acres of TVA land available for recreation is posted online here.

I particularly like the "Leave No Trace" guidelines for use that they have posted. This is an educational process that needs a lot more attention.