When it comes to long-term economic development, there’s ample evidence to suggest that counties where drilling occurs will be in worse shape down the road, and that even during the drilling and producing phases, there will be a few winners and likely a whole lot of losers, especially among lower-income individuals.

The story in Hard Times (via Alternet) is worth the read: Link....

We allow fracking at our peril.

-- OneTahiti

Pardee starts his new job this month and initially will be paid an annual salary of $590,000. Pardee also will be eligible to earn far more in bonuses and incentive pay. Greene, who left TVA after the utility's board hired Johnson instead of her to become CEO last year, was paid nearly $3.6 million in salary and benefits last year, the second highest of any TVA executive.

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RB will be at Ladd Landing tonight with Greg Horne and Daniel Kimbro. Best ten bucks you'll ever spend. Click the ad up on the left for info after you listen to this...

Bonus Track after the break

“I think this lets people see that Kingston is a progressive city. We’re ready to go into the future. We’re not that little scruffy town that was destroyed by an ash spill, and we never were. But, that was the perception by a lot of people.” – Troy Beets, Mayor of Kingston

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(Previously)and Link...

The documents regarding impropriety during Teresa Kirkham's term in the Property Assessor office are now a matter of public record and appear to paint a picture of a rein of terror upon anybody who posed a threat to Ms Kirkham.

Reading through the documents on this is a surreal window into the office from hell. People in Teresa Kirkham's inner circle could bask in her glow, while people who opposed her were threatened and then attacked with lies and vicious slander. Ultimately brought down by the cover up, it remains to be seen why Kirkham risked everything to protect a porn addicted employee who should have been terminated quietly, for his sake and hers.

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This has been in the works. Thank you, Mayor Mason and District Attorney Russ Johnson.

Plans are underway to bring the Boys and Girls Club to Roane County for the first time, spearheaded by leaders of their own community, from the D.A.'s office to the Roane County Anti-Drug Commission. The club provides after school and summer activities for children. Leaders said in a place with poverty in many areas, the club can be beneficial.

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I have had a couple of conversations with David Bolt at Sustainable Future and I'm very interested in seeing what others have done on this.

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Our Tennessee legislators are not alone in putting forth wacky, ill-conceived bills. Here's one from North Carolina establishing the right to declare an official state religion: Link...

-- OneTahiti

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My sources are separate from the RCN but include much of the same documents released to journalists last week but not obtained by the RCN until this week. Here's what we know.

1. This story is not about a man who watches bestiality porn and exposes himself in his office while drawing a paycheck, although those things are fact and, in the opinion of County Attorney Tom McFarland constitute a criminal act in the form of misuse of County property and theft in the form of falsely filed time cards claiming work done when it was not. DA Russ Johnson holds a contrary opinion. Moore was a contract employee at the time.

2. This story is about former Property Assessor Teresa Kirkham covering up Moore's filing of false time cards. It is also about her hiring an outside computer technician to erase hard drives on County computers. The technician refuses to state whether he erased hard drives or not, but there is plenty of evidence pointing to that. If he was paid with County funds it is difficult to see how he can refuse to answer questions.

So maybe we could ask the Governor to get the scalpers out of our concert tickets and let them take over his medicare lottery? Then poor people could bid for their lifesaving operations on Stub Hub.

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Performers, concert venues and promoters on one side...scalpers and their friends on the other. I was really hoping this bill would pass in Tennessee.

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This is extremely frustrating for property owners who have waited over 4 years for TVA to step up and make them whole.

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Here is a short piece that puts "rich" and "poor" in perspective: Link...

-- OneTahiti

Tennessee has among the lowest average monthly benefits for a recipient of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families in the country. But not content with that, the state legislature is pushing a plan to cut benefits for families of kids who don't do well enough in school.

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It looks like the Governor's plan is not allowed under the current law. Seems like he would have noticed that.

The Daily Buzz

Neither Bredesen nor Haslam have taken a salary since they were both independently wealthy. This is appropriate because, as it turns out, Ron Ramsey runs the state.

RB Morris...RB Morris...RB Morris!

It's a bit rainy this morning so here's a sunrise picture from a few weeks back, just to get you going. May the joy of renewal fill all hearts.

Employees under former Property Assessor Kirkham claim she threatened to fire them if they revealed allegations against Moore. Kirkham claims she never threatened anybody. It's Ms. Kirkham's word against the word of several of her former employees. Kirkham claims Moore did not draw overtime but that is contradicted by others in the office. The real questions here are whether Moore reimbursed the County for the overtime pay he drew while misusing County equipment and why wasn't he dismissed at the time?

Anybody else see a pattern here?

Federal regulators have cited TVA with three more apparent violations at Watts Bar Nuclear Plant — this time over thousands of parts the utility purchased that are not documented as nuclear-grade quality.

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Jennifer Daniels will be at Market Street tonight.

Why am I not surprised???

TVA will allow a maximum of 17.5 megawatts of solar to be built this year in Tennessee and parts of six other states? Our Georgia neighbors (at least, those in the smaller Georgia Power service area) will be looking at 45 megawatts this year, 210 megawatts over the next three years.

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In order to strip skin off the backs of low income workers making less than $15,415/yr. (2012 dollars), Governor Haslam refused to accept $730.7 Million from the feds, $730.7 M to supply TennCare to 144,500 low income Tennesseans in 2014.

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The devil is always in the details, but this sure looks like slavery to me...

HB0681

...requires that any defendant convicted of a felony and sentenced to serve such sentence in a local jail or workhouse be ordered, as a part of the sentence, to participate in any work program operated by the jail or workhouse.

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Haslam's decision may be ideologically pure but it hasn't been very well received by anybody except the Tea Party...

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NCSE's executive director will be speaking on "What the New Tennessee 'Academic Freedom Act' Means to You" at 5:30 p.m. on April 10, in Greve Hall 122 on the campus of the University of Tennessee in Knoxville.