Can someone interpret that article for me?

Goody's liquidation confirmed

The report says 9800 employees will be affected. Not sure how many of those are local. I'm guessing a bunch at local headquarters.

Over at Kleinheider's:

I think the Party would be well served to publicly post these job openings and conduct a national search to ensure that we attract a diverse and talented applicant pool.

A national search? There's no one in Tennessee qualified to herd the cats and put out the press releases? Not even in Nashville, where all the party business originates these days?

WVLT BREAKING NEWS: ALCOA laying off 450 in Blount County by March

ALCOA Aluminum in Blount County plans to layoff 450 employees by the end of March, according to company spokesperson Christy Newman.

Newman says ALCOA will no longer produce molten aluminum at its Tennessee operations once the layoffs are complete. ALCOA plans to close two pot lines at the south plant in Alcoa

UPDATE: KNS has more.

Isn't most of the hydro-power generated by the Tapoco dams used for Alcoa smelting operations? Will that power be freed up for Alcoa to sell back into TVA's grid?

(Not that it helps the Alcoa/Blount Co. economy. This will have a huge impact on hundreds of families.)

UPDATE: An update to the KNS article quotes Alcoa City Manager Mark Johnson as saying it affects one third of the city's work force. Officials are "in shock" from the unexpected announcement, according to the article.

No, seriously. Just noticed it on the Tivo menu for the first time today.

State Senate Democratic Caucus Director Mark Brown says he has not spoken with Charles Robert Bone re. the TNDP Executive Director job, but says he would be interested and adds:

I also think I would be a very good ED. Under my direction, the caucus raised over $1M (more than it has ever raised). We won special elections in SD30 and SD10, and came very close to pulling off a miracle in a tough election year.

I would add that Mark has been great about about keeping the lines of communication open with bloggers. His Blackberry has always been a source of interesting info.

Previously...

That didn't take long!

An end run around the failed charter amendment?

The Sentinel reported today that Bill Haslam is 50. They have been awful on spelling and details lately and I thought Haslam was 48 or 49, but I could be wrong. **(Update, his wikipedia entry says he was born in 1958, but the KNS has been horrible with errors lately) Either way, he looks much younger and I've long thought his wife is the spitting image of Robin McGraw, Dr. Phil's wife. Speaking of McGraw, if hottie Tim and his lovely wife Faith Hill are the contenders on the Democratic side, it will be a great race.

Charles Robert Bone has apparently reached out to some Tennessee Democratic Party Executive Committee members who have pledged support for Chip Forrester, asking for their input on the direction of the party. We are told they are holding strong in their support of Forrester.

Just getting word that tomorrow's edition of the Knoxville Voice will be its last. According to our source, the economy and other financial considerations are cited as factors. They had a good run, and Knoxville has lost it's last and only independent alt-paper.

Please be Thoughtful About the TVA Ash Spill

There is a sorry trail of lax oversight, poor management, and misplaced compensation incentives from the TVA Board over many years that led to this disaster. The blame for this event can be laid squarely at the feet of TVA's corporate mindset, the anti-environment Bush Administration, his appointed TVA Directors, and also, everyone who has ever flipped a light switch into the ON position.

Hysteria may serve a radical agenda but it won't help the community directly affected by this nor will it serve the people on the ground working to make sure this thing gets all the attention it deserves and gets properly re-mediated. Nor does it serve those of us who are working hard to lay the ground work for a healthy and viable community going forward.

This is a must read, so go read it.

RELATED: Ad in today's Knoxville News Sentinel

Commentary: I know WhitesCreek Steve, and he is no apologist for TVA and he isn't going to cut anybody any slack. He also knows the community, the situation on the ground, and many of the local officials involved in the disaster recovery. He is also involved in environmental conservation work in Roane County. So, he is an independent voice worth listening to.

That said, I'm sure he would agree that if it takes celebrity environmentalists and New York lawyers to make people whole, so be it. I think he would also agree that TVA needs to do the right thing before it comes to that, and that TVA and the EPA and TDEC also need to clean up the mess and monitor it for a long time to come. And everyone would agree that reliable facts and timely information are critical for the community.

Be sure to follow WhitesCreek's hyper-local RoaneViews for the latest updates on the disaster.

Jack Lail:

The Society of Environmental Journalists is urging the Environmental Protection Agency be more transparent and release all its data regarding the TVA coal sludge disaster in Roane County, Tennessee.

Michael Silence has the press release:

One of three manufacturing facilities in the Knoxville area, Riverview makes Sea Ray boats and will wind down production during the first quarter of the year. To better utilize Brunswick's overall boat making capacity, production at Riverview will be moved to nearby plants in Knoxville and Vonore, Tenn., which will remain in operation. In addition, production of certain models will be transferred to Brunswick's Palm Coast manufacturing facility in Florida, and a Brunswick plant in Reynosa, Mexico.

PREVIOUSLY:

• Temporary layoffs at Sea Ray

• Permanent job cuts at Sea Ray

• Brunswick furloughs local workers for the rest of the year

Hayes Hickman has the details.

Huh?

Every crime has elements that must be met in order for the accused to be convicted. First degree murder, for instance, is the intentional killing of a human being with premeditation, and burglary is the breaking and entering of a place with the intent to steal.

If all the elements of a crime can’t be proven, the accused is innocent of that crime. It doesn’t always work out the way it should, but proving the elements of a crime is where it begins.

Sean Braisted:

Just got off the phone with Sen. Berke, and he is exploring the possibility of running for Governor, and going through the logistics to see if a run is feasible.

With McMillan, that makes two definite maybes. Still waiting for Lincoln Davis to weigh in.

Knox County Commission recently voted unanimously to instruct MPC that it was the sense of the Commission that landscape businesses were an inappropriate use for Agricultual zoning.

Nevertheless, MPC went to BZA and once again was told about the vote of the Commission. Now it is hanging its hat on misreading some words said there, and proceeding with an amendment to the Knox County Zoning Ordinance to add landscape businesses as a use permitted on review in the Agricultural zone.

MPC will meet tomorrow, Tuesday, at 5:30pm in the Small Assembly room of the City County Bldg. It will specifically address this matter, and its normal agenda meeting in advance of its January 8th meeting, 1:30pm, City-County Bldg. Main Assembly Room.

I trust those who care about this matter, and about respecting the expressed will of elected bodies, will show up at the Tuesday meeting.

--Mark Harmon, County Commissioner, District 2

TVA has replaced their website's front page with an emergency response update page. The current Jan. 4th update has contact and outreach info for area residents and the latest results of coordinated TVA, EPA, and TDEC air and water testing with links to detailed reports.

There are also weekly "incident action plan" documents which summarize the equipment and personnel, where they are deployed, and what they are tasked with doing.

The current plan for 1/2-1/9 lists more than 160 pieces of heavy equipment including cranes, bulldozers, track hoes, dump trucks, barges, skimmers, booms, command trailers, etc. plus a helicopter. It also lists more than 250 personnel, including seven personnel assigned to air quality testing and 13 assigned to water quality testing.

There's also a site and area security plan, four medical aid stations for workers, and worker safety plans with emergency contact info.

While the executives are at press conferences talking about the disaster, we sometimes tend to overlook the fact that there are hundreds of hard-working TVA employees and contractors up there working to clean up the mess, some of them in harms way.

It's also a reminder that large-scale cleanups don't happen overnight, no matter how many resources you have (or don't have) to throw at the problem.

They told us Obama is a socialist who would RAISE OUR TAXES!

That's Liberadio(!)'s assessment, in this rundown of possible candidates.

Could be, but Frist dropping out is a gift to Democrats if they can cobble together a state party organization (as opposed to a Nashville cotillion) and muster up a credible candidate in quick order.

RELATED: The view from Memphis.

PREVIOUSLY: Haslam definitely running: Bill Frist won the Davidson GOP straw poll, racking up 59% v. Bill Haslam's 5%. Marsha Blackburn came in second with 25%. Zack Wamp scored a big fat zero.

AND: First clue.

UPDATE: The KNS reports that Haslam has retained Lamar Alexander's former campaign coordinator.

RELATED: Katie Allison Granju says Haslam is like Obama, except in a "Tennessee-friendly package."

On August 13, 2008 I had announced that I was going to run in the upcoming election for City Council. However, due to several conversations with various people and groups in the community I have decided not to run in the upcoming city elections. I will be making an announcement within the next few weeks as to what my intentions will be.

I have dedicated my life to serve the people of this great region and I will continue to do so. I have been very active assisting all that have contacted me in any way I could and I will continue to do so.

My decision to not seek a seat on the City Council is a decision that I feel is best for the people at this time and the announcement that will be forthcoming shortly, will clarify any questions that anyone will have.

I thank those that do support me and I am hoping that after the announcement is made, you will continue to support me as well as many others.

Happy New Year to all and I will be speaking out shortly!

Chuck Williams

First Obama cabinet casualty.

The Flypaper Theory: Every Vote Counts

Coleman: -225

I am actually going to start taping The O'Reilly Factor just so I can see the look on his face when he has to say the words "Senator Al Franken."

A friend found several old South High Band programs and made me copies. Here are a few.

The first one isn't dated, but I'm guessing it's around 1963. Mr. Blackwelder was still the band director at South and the area elementary schools. He taught lots of us South Knoxville kids music. I took private lessons from him, and he was a great teacher and an excellent trumpet player who could play most if not all of the Arban's Book.

If you don't know someone listed on these programs, you ain't from South Knoxville.

P.S. I recall that Russell Ramsey, listed as South High's drum major in the ca. 1963 program, went on to become the drum major for the U.T. Pride of the Southland Band.

NewsComa and company have launched NewsTechZilla, a resource for journalists trying to survive in the world of online publishing.

Michaels Silence talks about it in his Sunday News Sentinel column.

RELATED: Katie Allison Granju's account of launching a newsroom blog.

The Chattanoogan reports a "high Republican source*" as saying Bill Frist has decided not to run for governor, opening the field for Knoxville Mayor Bill Haslam and Third District U.S. Congressman Zach Wamp to duke it out in a Republican primary. According to the article, Wamp will announce on Monday.

A.C. Kleinheider has an interesting analysis of Frist's decision. Apparently it involves a clever strategy of running for president by not running for president or anything else.

(*The Chattanoogan does not say what the Republican source was high on. Heh.)

UPDATE: And as Betty Bean notes in comments, don't forget Rep. Marsha Blackburn from the 7th.

UPDATE: It's official.

RELATED: Metro Pulse

There will be a one-hour breakfast meeting at Pilot Corp. headquarters next Wednesday (Jan. 7) where about 100 guests will hear a status report on Knoxville Mayor Bill Haslam’s plans to run for governor in 2010.

Speaking of pie and nutrition, Blue Cross Blue Shield of TN put out a newsletter with some info on watching sugar in your diet.

According to this helpful chart, jelly, pumpkin pie and milkshakes defy all known laws of nutrition and physics.

I'll let you do the math. Hint: A teaspoon of sugar has 4 grams of carbohydrates (basically pure carb) and 16 calories. There are approx. 6 teaspoons in an ounce.

NYTimes.com

Spikes in blood sugar can take a toll on memory by affecting the dentate gyrus, an area of the brain within the hippocampus that helps form memories, a new study reports.

Researchers said the effects can be seen even when levels of blood sugar, or glucose, are only moderately elevated, a finding that may help explain normal age-related cognitive decline, since glucose regulation worsens with age.

Other research suggests that physical exercise can offset the effects.