This is a compilation of Tennessee news and political stories assembled daily by staffers in Gov. Bill Haslam’s office.
Volkswagen leaders to make announcement about employment Thursday (Nooga)
Volkswagen leaders are expected to make a significant announcement Thursday. Gov. Bill Haslam and VW of America President and CEO Jonathan Browning will hold a morning press conference for an “announcement about employment,” company leaders said in a media notification about the event. “I think with the governor and Browning coming that would insinuate this is something bigger than they’ve already announced,” Bill Visnic, Edmunds.com senior analyst, said Tuesday.
Haslam: Nation’s Eyes on TN Thanks to Progress in Ed Reform (TN Report)
Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam today joined the State Collaborative on Reforming Education (SCORE) in calling for state leaders to continue to focus on education reform as changes to Tennessee’s education system are implemented statewide in response to SCORE’s release of its third annual “State of Education” report. The report outlines four priorities for the coming year that SCORE identifies as crucial to Tennessee being the fastest improving state in the nation, including sustaining policy leadership in the effort and strengthening the principal and administrator pipeline.
Haslam on SCORE’s Education Report (Clarksville Now)
Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam today joined the State Collaborative on Reforming Education (SCORE) in calling for state leaders to continue to focus on education reform as changes to Tennessee’s education system are implemented statewide in response to SCORE’s release of its third annual “State of Education” report. The report outlines four priorities for the coming year that SCORE identifies as crucial to Tennessee being the fastest improving state in the nation, including sustaining policy leadership in the effort and strengthening the principal and administrator pipeline.
TN schools work hard to close achievement gap (Tennessean/Hubbard)
Even top performers feel state’s pressure Clovercroft Elementary’s fourth- and fifth-graders arrived this year with the highest math scores in Williamson County and few problems with any other subject. Still, Principal Laura LaChance holds her breath when she thinks about what Clovercroft, which just opened in August, has to prove during TCAP testing next month. Only 3 percent of her students qualify for free or reduced-priced lunches, and there are very few English language learners — a group that traditionally has struggled with standardized testing in Tennessee.
SCORE says Teacher Training Needs to Better Match Teacher Expectations (WPLN)
The group charged with reviewing Tennessee’s teacher evaluation process says the state needs to do more to help educators improve. The State Collaborative on Reforming Education, or SCORE, says more intensive skill-building programs should be a top priority this year. Tennessee has changed just how much students are supposed to learn, while simultaneously upping the pressure on teachers to raise test scores. Former US Senator—and SCORE founder–Bill Frist says the policies at the root of those changes are solid, but there isn’t yet enough support to help teachers switch their game plan to match the edicts coming down from the state.
State awards $1.85 million for Hamilton County STEM school (Nooga)
Seven months after Hamilton County school officials began discussing the goal of pursuing a grant to bring a STEM school to Chattanooga, Gov. Bill Haslam and state Education Commissioner Kevin Huffman announced the school system will receive nearly $1.85 million in grant money to make the goal a reality. The announcement, made Monday morning in Nashville, represents a critical step that affirms months of planning by Superintendent Rick Smith and leaders in local higher education and business institutions.
Hamilton County Schools begin hunt for STEM leader (Times Free-Press/Hardy)
Before teachers are selected for a new science, technology, engineering and math high school, Hamilton County Schools officials say they’ll focus on finding a dynamic principal. “We’ve got to find that right leader,” Superintendent Rick Smith said. “That right leader is going to attract good teachers.” Local business, school and community leaders held a news conference Tuesday on the site of the new school at Chattanooga State Community College. Gov. Bill Haslam announced Monday that Hamilton County received $1.85 million in a state grant to open a new STEM school and an associated hub to house business and community partners.
Students To Apply For Chance At STEM School (WTVC-TV Chattanooga)
Students will have to step it up this spring for the chance to be part of Hamilton County’s STEM program. Just 24 hours after Governor Bill Haslam announced the $1.85 million grant to start the program, some new details are being released on how exactly it will operate. STEM students will call Chattanooga State’s Wacker Institute “home.” The school is set to open this fall. A quick turnaround, considering crews just broke ground Tuesday morning. The school will choose a total of 75 students, and give all students at each Hamilton County school a chance to apply. “We’ve applied a formula so every school will have a certain numbers of slots for students,” said Hamilton County School’s Superintendent, Rick Smith.
STEM grant to make Putnam regional hub (Herald Citizen)
Putnam County is set to lead the Upper Cumberland in a rural science, technology, engineering and math initiative, with Prescott South schools and Tennessee Tech at its center. Gov. Bill Haslam and Education Commissioner Kevin Huffman announced Monday that Putnam County was awarded a $1 million competitive grant through Tennessee’s Race To the Top with an additional $850,000 to go to Tennessee Tech as the region’s STEM hub. “We would like to position ourselves to attract high skill, high pay jobs,” interim Director of Putnam County Schools Jerry Boyd said.
Haslam’s Constitutional Amendment Advances Amid Criticism (WPLN-Radio)
Governor Bill Haslam’s proposal to constitutionally cement the way Tennessee judges are appointed came in for criticism in a House committee today. The bill moved forward on a split vote of 9 to 6. Right now judges are appointed by the governor. Every eight years they face a simple up-or-down vote, which the state Supreme Court says meets Tennessee’s constitutional requirement that judges be elected. But not everyone thinks so. To quiet the dissenters, Haslam wants to amend the constitution to enshrine the current system. Republican Rick Womick, of Rutherford County, argues that wouldn’t be needed if the current system were legit.
TN jobless face new terms for benefits (Associated Press)
Commissioner Karla Davis of the Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development has warned the state’s 56,000 unemployment claimants that they soon will be required to prove they are looking for work. Davis said that beginning in April, claimants also will be required to meet face to face with state job service employees. She said in a news release Monday that the new requirements will make sure claimants are on track to find employment and not get caught off-guard when their benefits expire. The new guidelines have been issued by the U.S. Department of Labor.
Tennessee unemployment claimants may have to prove work search (MBJ)
Changes are afoot for about 56,000 unemployed Tennesseans who plan to seek certain unemployment insurance benefits come April 1. Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development Commissioner Karla Davis announced in a statement all claimants receiving Emergency Unemployment Compensation must provide documentation of two weekly work searches, upon request, to continue receiving benefits. The Emergency Unemployment Compensation program is a federal benefit that pays unemployment insurance to workers who have “exhausted all rights to regular compensation with respect to a benefit year that ended on or after May 1, 2007” and “have no rights to regular compensation or extended benefits,” according to the U.S. Department of Labor.
Blount County road reopens following rockslide (Associated Press)
State crews have cleared a rockslide that shut down part of U.S. 129/State Route 115 in Blount County, known as “the Dragon.” The road, whose sharp curves challenge motorcyclists, was reopened Tuesday evening. It had been shut down Friday morning after rocks, soil and trees slid onto the pavement about nine miles north of the North Carolina state line. The Tennessee Department of Transportation said in a news release that geotechnical engineers will continue to evaluate the area to determine whether the mountainside needs to be stabilized.
TBI executes search warrant on Union City church, assists in arrest of pastor (SG)
A Union City, Tenn. pastor was taken into custody on Tuesday by a multi-agency law enforcement effort for allegedly soliciting a minor. According to a Tennessee Bureau of Investigation release, the TBI assisted the Fairfax County, Va. Police Department in executing a search warrant at the First Church of God and in arresting the church’s pastor. Grady Evans, 34, of Union City, Tenn. was arrested on a fugitive warrant based on a Virginia warrant charging him with the use of a communications device to solicit a minor. Fairfax County detectives contacted the TBI Technical Services Unit, which houses TBI’s Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, to assist in the search and arrest of Evans.
TBI executes warrant, assists in arrest of pastor at Union City church (J. Sun)
The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation on Tuesday assisted the Fairfax County, Va., Police Department in executing a search warrant at a West Tennessee church and in arresting the church’s pastor. Grady Evans, 34, of Union City, was arrested on a fugitive warrant based on a Virginia warrant charging him with the use of a communications device to solicit a minor, according to a news release. Fairfax County detectives contacted the TBI Technical Services Unit, which houses TBI’s Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, to assist in the search and arrest of Evans.
AG: law prohibits municipalities from starting districts before merger (CA/Locker)
An advisory opinion by state Atty. Gen. Robert E. Cooper calls into question whether the May 10 referendums on new municipal school districts can legally proceed prior to the official merger of the Memphis and Shelby County school systems. Cooper’s opinion Tuesday flatly says Shelby County’s suburban municipalities can take no actions to establish new school districts — including holding referendums, hiring school staff and constructing or improving school buildings — until the city-county school district consolidation is complete. That is to occur in 2013 or later.
AG to Suburbs: No Referenda on New School Districts (Memphis Flyer)
In an action that will have significant repercussions on the ongoing merger of Shelby County Schools and Memphis City Schools, state Attorney General Robert Cooper has issued an opinion that, in effect, would prohibit any immediate actions by the suburbs, including the referenda scheduled for May 10. These referenda, designed to obtain the sanction of their residents for the creation of new municipal school districts, had been planned — and cleared with the Election Commission — by the mayors and other administrative officials of Germantown, Collierville, Bartlett, Lakeland, and Arlington, all of which cities had been advised by professional consultants that independent school systems were legally, fiscally, and educationally practical.
Tn AG Says No Referenda on Municipal School Systems (Memphis Daily News)
The Tennessee Attorney General says the move to municipal school districts cannot move forward with May or August ballot questions because they would violate the schools consolidation law. The legal opinion from Attorney General Robert Cooper, issued Tuesday, March 20, in response to questions from Memphis State Senator Beverly Marrero reads “Tennessee law currently prohibits a municipality in Shelby County from taking any action to establish a new school system.” Marrero specifically asked if a municipality can take “any formal action” including a referendum toward forming a municipal school district prior to the beginning of the 2013-2014 school year.
GOP Leadership Bill Would Shortcut School Wait for Suburbs (Memphis Flyer)
Even as state Attorney General Robert Cooper was issuing his opinion Tuesday that subutrban action should be delayed until the completion of city/county school merger, Republican legislative leaders were moving quickly to speed up that process. Moving through the Tennessee General Assembly under the sponsorship of state Senator Mark Norris (R-Collierville), the Senate majority leader, and state Rep. Gerald McCormiuck (R-Chattanooga), the House majority leader, is a bill (*SB 2908, HB 3234) that would legalize the creation of new special school districts statewide, as of January 1, 2013.
Former Judge Kilcrease passes away (Nashville Post)
Former Davidson County Chancellor Irvin Kilcrease Jr., the first African American to head up a chancery court in Tennessee, died Monday night. He was 80. Kilcrease was named by Gov. Lamar Alexander to the bench in 1980, 18 years after becoming one of the first African Americans to be admitted — at the third try — to the Nashville School of Law. During his time as chancellor, he heard a number of notable cases, including a dispute between PaineWebber and Morgan Stanley and one fighting the planned renaming by Vanderbilt University of Confederate Memorial Hall. He retired in 2003 and was succeeded by Claudia Bonnyman.
Kilcrease Jr., state’s first black chancellor, was known for perseverance (TN/Gang)
Irvin H. Kilcrease Jr., who became Tennessee’s first African-American chancery court judge and went on to handle a host of notable cases during his more than two decades on the bench, died Monday night. He was 80. Mr. Kilcrease’s son, Irvin H. Kilcrease III, said his father had been in declining health for about a year. The former Davidson County chancellor had been in hospice care, his son said. Mayor Karl Dean called Mr. Kilcrease a “trailblazer and a true public servant.” “While serving as the state’s first African-American chancellor for 23 years, Judge Kilcrease was consistently fair and tough minded,” Dean said in a statement.
Senate Votes to Replace ‘No Child Left Behind’ Provisions (TN Report)
Tennessee Senators overwhelmingly approved legislation that officially gives No Child Left Behind the boot and gives teachers more leverage to banish unruly students to the principal’s office. Sen. Delores Gresham, the chamber’s Education Committee chairwoman, sponsored both measures — which passed with little debate — saying the proposals support teachers. “In other words, Mr. Speaker, one size does not fit all,” Gresham said on the Senate floor moments before the chamber voted 32-0, with one member abstaining, to replace student performance standards under No Child Left Behind.
Senate to vote on closing teacher evaluation data (Associated Press)
A bill to close public access to teacher evaluation data is headed for a full Senate vote. The Senate State and Local Government Committee voted 7-0 on Tuesday to advance the bill sponsored by Republican Sen. Jim Tracy of Shelbyville. Tracy said access to the data should be limited to school officials and not available to the general public. In the senator’s words: “Evaluations are supposed to be used as a tool to help teachers, it’s not going to be used for anything other than that.” Under recent changes to state law, half of teachers’ assessments must derive from testing data, while the rest comes from classroom observations.
TN lawmakers move to cloak teacher ratings (Tennessean/Hubbard)
Tennessee lawmakers want to close the door on teacher performance to parents and the media, keeping all aspects of educators’ new evaluations confidential. A new measure is drawing praise from the state’s largest teachers union and disappointment among some observers. In a time of massive education reform, opponents say, parents and the public should get to see how it’s working. The Senate State and Local Government Committee voted unanimously Tuesday to advance SB1447, sponsored by Sen. Jim Tracy, R-Shelbyville.
Jail alone won’t cure batterers, critics say (Tennessean/Haas)
Haslam bill requires time for repeat offenders in TN Ashlee McGrann wishes she had known her now-ex-boyfriend had prior convictions for domestic violence. But most of all, she wants to know why jail time didn’t stop him from assaulting a new victim — her. “I got a front tooth knocked out. It changes everything about how I feel about myself,” said McGrann, 31, of Nashville. “It’s an emotional thing, it’s a physical thing. It’s a pain that I have to deal with it and it affects everyone around me.” The suspect, Zachary Ryan, has been convicted twice of domestic assault and once for violating an order of protection in Davidson County, but never required to take batterers intervention courses, according to court records.
Guns in parking lots bill sponsor plans to amend it (Associated Press/Johnson)
The Republican sponsor of a proposal that would let workers store firearms in vehicles parked on their employers’ lots said Tuesday that he has listened to GOP leaders and plans to amend the legislation so that it’s not so broad. Sen. Mike Faulk of Kingsport decided to delay the measure a week in the Senate Judiciary Committee. The companion bill is awaiting a vote in a House subcommittee. Currently, the measure would apply to any legally owned firearm regardless of whether the owner had a state-issued handgun carry permit. It also would apply to any private or public parking lot, meaning guns could be stored at schools or colleges.
Tennessee abortion opponent seeks bill changes (Times Free-Press/Sher)
The General Assembly’s only physician member, an anti-abortion Republican, says he expects a controversial abortion bill scheduled today for a House committee vote will undergo major changes or he won’t support the measure. Rep. Joey Hensley, R-Hohenwald, said he understands the bill, sponsored by Rep. Matthew Hill, R-Jonesborough, will change substantially. That includes eliminating a bill provision requiring the state Department of Health to list online the names of doctors who perform abortions in Tennessee. “We’re going to change that and take it out because we don’t want to target doctors,” Hensley said Tuesday.
Lawmakers Asking Once More: Who’s Native American? (WPLN-Radio Nashville)
State lawmakers today found themselves asked to determine exactly who should be considered Native American. Supporters of three “remnant” tribes say federal dollars and cultural identity are at stake. Kingsport Republican Tony Shipley wants the state to recognize three “remnant” tribes as official Native Americans. He calls it a “civil-rights issue.” But Julie Reed, a history professor at the University of Tennessee and a member of the Cherokee Nation argues otherwise. Reed says those groups’ ancestors abandoned their tribes two centuries ago, to avoid walking the trail of tears.
Bill would encourage horse slaughterhouses in Tennessee (M. Biz Journal)
A bill currently working through the Tennessee Legislature would encourage horse slaughterhouses and processing plants to locate in Tennessee The bill’s House sponsor, Rep. Andy Holt, R-Dresden, said the facilities would create jobs and be more humane for horses, The Commercial Appeal reports. Horses set for slaughter currently are sent to plants in Canada and Mexico Opponents say such facilities have a history of animal cruelty and can hurt property values. Senate Bill 3461 is up for review today in the Senate Commerce, Labor & Agriculture Committee.
Legislator giving up chairmanship of committee (Associated Press)
State Rep. David Hawk, facing a charge of domestic violence, is relinquishing the chairmanship of the House Conservation and Environment Committee. He said in a statement released Tuesday night that he needs to focus on proving his innocence. Hawk, a Greeneville Republican, is accused of striking his wife in the face and knocking her to the ground during an altercation at their home early Sunday. He has said she had a gun and threatened to shoot him while he held their 11-month-old daughter. His statement Tuesday said his dedication continues to be caring for his family and serving his constituents. He is free on $500 bond on the misdemeanor charge.
Shipley upset over nursing board bill being sent back to committee (Times-News)
State Rep. Tony Shipley admits he’s aggravated over what has happened involving a bill to extend the Tennessee Board of Nursing. The House sent Shipley’s legislative attempt to change the nursing board back to be considered today by the House Government Operations Committee, and he’s not happy about it. Shipley, R-Kingsport, sought change amid a Tennessee Bureau of Investigation probe focused on whether he and state Rep. Dale Ford, R-Jonesborough, illegally pressured the Board of Nursing to reinstate three nurse practitioners it had previously suspended from practice.
Hot dog: Chinese hairless pooch, lawmaker evicted from courthouse (NS/Fowler)
Roane County Executive Ron Woody said he was leaving the courthouse last week when he noticed a tiny dog at the end of a leash in the hallway. “It’s kind of an oddity to see an animal in the courthouse,” he said. Woody said he told security personnel, “We need to get that dog out of the courthouse.” It was only then, he said, that he looked at the person holding the leash. There stood state Rep. Julia Hurley, R-Lenoir City, with Pepper, an 11-pound, hairless breed of dog called a Chinese crested. An hour after she and Pepper were evicted, Hurley called him, Woody said, and indicated she was “a little upset” over the incident. “She thought it was inappropriate,” he said.
Greg Vital qualifies for Tennessee Senate bid (Times Free-Press/Carroll)
Chattanooga developer Greg Vital has qualified for the Republican primary in the state Senate seat being vacated by Democrat Andy Berke. Vital, the president of Independent Healthcare Properties in Collegedale, was OK’d to run after enough registered voters signed his nominating petition. The petition allows him to run in the 10th Senate District GOP primary in August. Redistricting this year made the 10th District more Republican with the addition of several GOP-heavy Hamilton County municipalities, including East Ridge, along with a large portion of Bradley County. All of Vital’s nominating signatures came from Hamilton County.
County not ready to post biblical laws just yet (Daily News Journal)
Rutherford County may not be so quick to post a copy of the Ten Commandments on the courthouse wall again, even if state legislation allowing local governments to do so is approved. “It would be wise, before we propose what we do, to review what we’ve been through,” County Mayor Ernest Burgess said Wednesday, pointing out that Rutherford County was engaged in a legal battle over such a display from 2002 to 2006. The Tennessee House of Representatives passed a bill 93-0 Monday enabling local governments to display historical documents that commemorate Tennessee and U.S. history such as the Ten Commandments, Magna Carta, Mayflower Compact, Declaration of Independence, U.S. Constitution, Bill of Rights and state Constitution.
Hamilton asks to dismiss its suit against Occupy (Associated Press)
Hamilton County officials are asking a federal judge to dismiss a lawsuit they filed against Occupy Chattanooga and nine individual protesters. The suit asked the court to declare that the county’s policies for use of public properties and grounds were constitutional. It also asked the judge to order the protesters to pay court costs. The protesters asked that the case be dismissed, arguing that local governments are not allowed to use the federal courts for rulings on the validity of their ordinances. Although attorneys for the county disagreed, on Monday they filed to dismiss the suit.
Occupy Nashville protester arrested on old charge (Tennessean/Sisk)
Occupy Nashville protester Chris Humphrey was arrested Tuesday morning on an outstanding warrant. Humphrey, the last overnight camper who had said his goal was to be arrested for flouting the state’s new no-camping law, was taken into custody by three Metro Police officers shortly after 11 a.m. Tuesday. The arrest was for failure to be booked on a trespassing charge from October. Humphrey, 24, has been one of Occupy Nashville’s most outspoken supporters. He was among the 49 protesters arrested in the fall for challenging a curfew imposed on War Memorial Plaza, and he stayed after most of the 50 tents left on the plaza were struck earlier this month.
City Council bypasses one-time tax hike; cuts budget, uses reserves (CA/Maki)
After months of tense debate about using a one-time tax assessment to balance the city’s books, the City Council voted Tuesday to dip into the city’s reserves and use cuts to cover a projected operating deficit. In approving the use of reserves and budget cuts, the council rebuffed Mayor A C Wharton’s proposal for a one-time tax assessment to balance the budget and chastised the mayor for not following through on cost-cutting strategies approved last year. “I wasn’t going to vote for a tax increase if the other reforms we agreed to weren’t implemented,” said council member Kemp Conrad, whose plan to use reserves and budget cuts was approved 10-1 by the council.
Council Rejects 18 Cent Property Tax Hike (Memphis Daily News)
Memphis City Council members voted Tuesday, March 20, to reject a one-time-only 18- cent property tax hike to mop up an estimated $13 million in red ink for the current fiscal year. Instead the council voted to use $10 million from the city’s reserve fund and cut $3.2 million in the existing budget including money for a voluntary buyout program of some sanitation workers that the Wharton administration has yet to activate. The alternative crafted by council member Kemp Conrad rejected two other budget cuts suggested earlier in the day at City Hall by Memphis Mayor A C Wharton Jr.
Scottie Mayfield holds fundraiser (Chattanooga Times Free-Press/Carroll)
Six weeks into his congressional campaign, Scottie Mayfield said he couldn’t identify a single issue where he differs from U.S Rep. Chuck Fleischmann — the man he’s trying to beat. “I haven’t studied his voting record that close,” Mayfield said in an interview Tuesday at a hometown fundraiser here. “I’m sure we will when we get a little bit deeper into that sort of thing, but I’m going to say not really.” Mayfield and three other Republicans are challenging Fleischmann in the District 3 Congressional GOP primary. The well-known dairy executive said his leadership skills and business career would make him “a better representative” than Fleischmann.
Fincher hosts education roundtable; teachers say deregulate (State Gazette)
Northwest Tennessee educators sent a message loud and clear to Congressman Stephen Fincher: deregulate education and allow the state to set education standards. They also had a message for state officials: Let us do our job. The messages were delivered during an education roundtable assembled by Fincher’s office at the Dyersburg/Dyer County Chamber of Commerce on Thursday afternoon. The roundtable discussion was billed as an information-gathering session for Fincher as well as for State Sens. Dolores Gresham and Jim Tracy, who serve on the Senate Education Committee, and State Rep. Bill Sanderson.
Suit over student Bible study fails (Associated Press/Loller)
A federal appeals court has ruled a Knoxville fourth-grader’s rights were not violated in a dispute over a Bible study group. The parents of Luke Whitson sued the Knox County Board of Education in 2005 because their child “got the impression from another fourth grader that he could not participate in a student-led Bible study during recess,” the Sixth Circuit panel states. Although there is some dispute over what Principal Cathy Summa said to students, once the controversy became the subject of news stories, the school board issued a press release in which Summa explained herself. That statement is quoted in the appeals court’s Tuesday opinion.
West Tenn. Bankruptcy Judge Retires (Memphis Daily News)
Everybody is having to do more with less these days – including bankruptcy judges in one of the busiest areas of the country in terms of bankrupt debtors. U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge G. Harvey Boswell has announced his retirement effective July 8. Boswell’s court is in Jackson, Tenn., which is part of the Western District of Tennessee, the same district that includes the bankruptcy courtrooms of Memphis. But because of a stalled bankruptcy judgeship bill Congress has yet to pass, it appears that Boswell’s position will lapse and will not be filled after his retirement.
Abolishing capital punishment creates death row dilemma (Stateline)
Connecticut legislators are again debating whether to repeal the state’s death penalty, as they have off and on for the past seven years. Death penalty opponents continue to claim the punishment is too costly, too arbitrary, and racially biased; supporters insist it still deters crime. To attempt to win support from both sides, this year’s repeal bill comes with a caveat: The repeal would be prospective, meaning that all 11 inmates currently on death row would still be eligible for lethal injection even after execution is banned for future crimes. The change may be enough to get repeal past the legislature.
TVA’s sport fish study angles for data (Chattanooga Times Free-Press/Sohn)
TVA went sport fishing Tuesday in Chickamauga Lake, and what fish experts netted was loads of data. With an electrofishing boat, teams of TVA fisheries biologists filled net after net with bass and crappie from Wolftever Creek during the utility’s annual spring sportfish survey. This year’s catch will be added to 10 years of data that tracks bass and crappie numbers by species, as well as by size and general health, according to TVA fisheries biologist John Justice. But the exercise is not just to tell ordinary anglers there are fish in water.
Report underscores seismic concerns at key Y-12 facility (News-Sentinel/Munger)
A new government report underscores a long-held concern that a severe earthquake could essentially destroy Y-12′s 9212 complex, a 60-year-old facility where bomb-grade uranium is processed in various forms. The review evaluated the Oak Ridge site’s preparedness for dealing with “severe natural phenomena events,” and the independent team from the Department of Energy’s Office of Health, Safety and Security looked at key Y-12 facilities, particularly Building 9212 and the Highly Enriched Uranium Materials Facility. The HEUMF, a high-security storage facility for the nation’s primary stockpile of weapons-usable uranium, was constructed in recent years at a cost of $549 million.
Audit finds TVA coal purchases done properly (Knoxville News-Sentinel/Marcum)
The TVA Office of the Inspector General reported recently that it found no irregularities in a two-year audit of TVA coal purchasing transactions. The IG looked at TVA Coal Quality Adjustment Reports for fiscal years 2008-2010 for accuracy and compliance with contract specifications. The coal reports are to document that TVA received the proper quality of coal that it paid for under contracts. Out of 642 reports during the two-year period, the inspector general looked at 18 of them, totaling about $24.6 million and representing all such transactions over $1 million.
HCA on track for $3M tax break for new Antioch data center (City Paper/Garrison)
Hospital Corporation of America, the nation’s largest private health care provider, is close to landing a $3 million property tax break from Metro for building a new $200 million data center in Antioch. The Metro Council, after no deliberation, gave preliminary approval Tuesday to hand HCA a 60 percent property tax abatement on real and personal property taxes over seven years to accommodate a new Antioch data center at The Crossings on Old Franklin Road. The incentive, which Mayor Karl Dean’s administration engineered, is set for final approval in April. Nashville-based HCA operates four technology and data centers in Tennessee, two that are in Davidson County.
TN gets jobs after gambling law shift (Tennessean/Marsteller)
A little-noticed change in the state’s gambling laws will result in more jobs moving to Middle Tennessee. Video Gaming Technologies Inc. plans to close a facility in Ruckersville, Va., and relocate some of its workers to the company’s headquarters in Brentwood later this year. The move will affect 218 jobs, according to a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Act notice the company filed with the Virginia Workforce Network. During a conference call with Virginia reporters Tuesday, a Video Gaming executive said those employees will be asked to relocate to Brentwood or other facilities in Reno, Nev., and Tulsa, Okla., the Charlottesville Daily Progress reported on its website.
Columbia Coca-Cola plant site closes (Columbia Daily Herald)
Coca-Cola Bottling Co. Consolidated of Columbia, located at 1516 Nashville Highway, has shut down production and the building that once housed the facility is up for sale, officials said. President of the Maury County Chamber and Economic Alliance Brandom Gengelbach said production at the facility was stopped a few months ago and the building was officially put on the market a few days ago. “We have not been made aware of any jobs losses associated with the Coca-Cola distribution center in Columbia,” Gengelbach said.
Lenoir City school system curtailing prayers at public meetings (NS/Willett)
The Lenoir City School Board has ceased opening its meetings with a prayer in a response to secular organizations who allege that prayer at board meetings and other school functions violates the Constitution. The school also has decided it no longer will allow prayer before football games, Superintendent Wayne Miller said. No decision has been made regarding other complaints raised in letters from the organizations, which include Americans United, the American Civil Liberties Union and the Appignani Humanist Legal Center. Long-term decisions on the matter will be made with advice from the school district’s legal counsel, Miller said.
School board considers new state rules for improvement (Leaf Chronicle)
During a Tuesday night school board meeting, school system officials gave the state’s No Child Left Behind waiver tentative praise, saying it offered a more realistic plan for improving students’ achievement within the district. “I’m not sure … how it’s going to play out, but I do think it’s probably better than what we had before,” Clarksville-Montgomery County Schools Director Mike Harris said in an interview before the meeting. Although the impact of the waiver’s implementation is forthcoming, Harris said the rules that will govern that implementation in Tennessee are “pretty much set in concrete now.”
OPINION
Editorial: Evolution ‘debate’ bill is religion, poorly disguised (Tennessean)
Natural selection, mutation, speciation, the empirical bases of evolution are in dispute, and the Tennessee legislature thinks it can help, again. Stop trying to “help” define our curriculum. Let the Tennessee State Board of Education, whose job it is to evaluate and set the state school curriculum, do their job. The Tennessee government has set a responsible path for school and student achievement improvement in recent years. Some good examples of their leadership are winning “Race to the Top” federal challenge funding, obtaining a waiver from the federal No Child Left Behind Act, thereby allowing better state and local accountability, and forming the Achievement School District to help our most challenged schools.
Times Editorial: Evolution and education (Chattanooga Times Free-Press)
Evolution and the teaching of it in Tennessee’s public schools is a topic that will never die. At least, it seems that way. The latest proof is a Senate bill sponsored by Sen. Bo Watson, R-Hixson, that would protect teachers who allow students to critique scientific theories in classroom discussion. On the surface that sounds prudent; careful study of the bill, however, shows that it would subvert science education and the principles that support it. The bill, nevertheless, won Senate approval on a 24-8 vote Monday. It now goes to the House, where a different version of the legislation was approved last year. The language in the House and Senate version of the bill differs significantly.
Editorial: No need to hide teacher performance information (Jackson Sun)
We understand the sensitive nature of teacher evaluation data that lies behind legislative efforts to close such information to the public. Should the data be restricted, it would be an unprecedented closure of public information. Public employee records have traditionally been open, because public employees are paid with taxpayer dollars, and taxpayers have a right to know how their money is being spent. If anything, the public deserves even more information about its public school teachers, including access to Tennessee Value Added Assessment scores for teachers.
Gail Kerr: Abortion list has only one goal: to intimidate (Tennessean)
Tennessee lawmakers are trying to intimidate doctors who perform legal abortions. Period. If it passes, legislators figure doctors will hesitate to perform abortions out of fear that fanatical fruitcakes bent on violence will target them. What they are pushing is a bad bill that would require an online listing of the names of physicians any time they perform a legal abortion. The lists also would include enough detail about patients that, in a small town, any nosy Nellie could make a good guess about who got an abortion. Like it or not, abortions are legal. This proposed law is nothing more than an end run around that.
Free-Press Editorial: A sadly necessary defense of First Amendment liberty (TFP)
It is not especially surprising that the Tennessee House of Representatives voted 93-0 for a measure that would let public buildings post “historically significant documents” such as the Ten Commandments and the Declaration of Independence. What is troubling is that such a measure should be necessary in the first place. Decades of activist court rulings against the free, voluntary religious expression guaranteed by the First Amendment have created the unfortunate misconception among too many Americans that such expression must somehow be confined to churches or homes. The First Amendment envisioned a far more robust protection for religious speech — including in the public square — saying that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech … .”
Clay Bennett Political Cartoon: “Reasonable Suspicion” (Times Free-Press)
Free-Press Editorial: Welcome removal of tents from Occupy Chatt. site (TFP)
After so-called “Occupy Chattanooga” protests did costly damage to the lawn of the Hamilton County Courthouse over a period of more than four months, the county finally had more than a dozen protesters’ tents and belongings removed Monday to a nearby sidewalk. It was overdue. Grass has been damaged on the lawn, which was never intended as a campground. Mud has taken the place of the grass in some areas. “You’re probably talking about in the thousands-of-dollars range to redo it all and get it back like it used to be,” Commissioner Chester Bankston told the Free Press editorial page in January.
