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In the KNS Today…

There is some pretty good stuff.

More of the same from Knox County Government with dissolved entities being funded by the County.

The state’s Charitable Solicitations Act mandates that all nonprofit organizations register — or file for a state-approved exemption — before seeking donations or grants, including government grants.

According to state records, there is no history of Knoxville Neighborhood Housing and Commercial Services Inc. registering or seeking an exemption to solicit donations or grants in the state of Tennessee, said Todd Kelley, director of the Division of Charitable Solicitations and Gaming.

Did the KNS have to dig through records to find this story, or do they have a source? Interesting. Like sands in an hour glass…

Illegal Immigrants are being unlawfully evicted from an apartment complex in Blount County.

Ramirez is pastor of the Church of God, Mountain Assembly in Maryville and a member of an ecumenical group of clergymen who minister to Blount County’s growing Latino community.

Hmm. Word on the street is that this may be only a partial job description. I’ll leave that up to the investigative reporters.

Someone is lobbying the federal government to save the penny for all of us who love it so.

Weller also said past polls have shown a majority of Americans favor the coin, which was first produced in the United States in the 1790s.

And just who does he happen to work for? A company with merely a passing interest…

The nation’s sole supplier of zinc “penny blanks,” Greeneville, Tenn.-based Jarden Zinc Products, is lobbying the federal government to protect its interests.

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Hang On Tight

We are about to go on a wild ride. The Knox County Ethics Committee is requesting an investigation of County Mayor Ragsdale’s office. Full story at WBIR.

It is surprising the Knox County Commission has time for this considering they have their own problems.

The upside to all of this is that if they are busy with lawsuits and throwing rocks at one another they may be too busy to raise taxes or do anything else “productive”.

“The government that governs the best governs the least.” Thomas Paine? Thomas Jefferson? No one seems to know for sure. It’s a damn good quote though.

Keep your hands and feet inside The Mixer AT ALL TIMES!

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The Knox County Plot Thickens

Just how bad is this going to get. There are almost too many things here to even begin to comment on.

We could really use a guy like Jesse Jackson or William Jefferson to come in and clean this mess up.

For all of you who are hell bent on using the gov’ment to solve our social ills, read on…

At the Fam-Sec site, Muenzer recorded meeting with program director Joy Douglass, who was there alone with her children, watching a movie.

and

At TennCorp, which operates in a building owned by Finch’s company, B&F Properties, the room designated for the children’s program contained Christmas decorations and van seats, according to a memo summarizing the site visits

and this

“(Ballinger) said they had not had any attendance in quite some time and that she had even mentioned to Michelle Maultsby that it was a ‘glorified baby-sitting service’ since it was usually just her son,”

and this

The file was taken to Finch’s office that night for review and was returned to the Community Development office the next morning. The memo was missing when reporters again looked at the file Wednesday.

more here…

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Webkinz–Who Knew?

It seems like the frenzy may not have fully hit Knoxville/East Tennessee yet, but I think a full blown Webkinz craze may be coming. It may actually already exist here, but I was unaware of it. I am admittedly out of touch with what is “cool” with young kids, and I have been for quite a while. I know of, but am not completely knowledgeable about Thomas the Train and Dora the Explorer, but I had never even heard of Webkinz until this weekend.

My sister in law and her kids, 10 and 7 years old, are visiting from Florida, and they were super excited the other day after they got home from Dollywood. Not because of the rides they rode, but because of the huge selection of Webkinz that were available for purchase there.

I got a quick rundown from them about Webkinz, and it actually sounds like a pretty cool idea. It is a pretty simple concept, and is completely viral in terms of web use and marketing.

First, you buy a Webkinz plush toy. This toy comes with a code that you enter online where you then adopt and name a virtual version of this “pet”. You get to build a room for your virtual pet, then participate in all sorts of activities online that allow you to build up virtual cash to buy more cool things for your pet.

If you are like me and had not heard of Webkinz before, look out. It seems to be the latest thing, and I actually get why.

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Margie Loyd Victim of Discrimination?

What?

From WBIR:

The cruise, Isaacs explained, was intended to only hold the reservation the P-card. He said Isaacs immediately notified the finance department and reimbursed the county.

I think that should read “Loyd immediately notified…”

How exactly was this discrimination? At what place of employment are you allowed to steal borrow money to take a cruise, pay it back after you get caught, then keep your job?

The lobster dinner–okay I can see how she was maybe doing as she was told there, but c’mon!

Now that the old loyalties are apparently broken, there’s a good chance the gloves are about to come off. My guess is that we’ll hear a lot more in the coming weeks about how Knox County gov’ment actually operates, and more heads will roll.

It is entertaining and sad at the same time.

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Who’s Left?

Via WBIR:
Commissioner Cawood resigns from court clerk’s office

At this rate, children and pets will have to be considered as options in the backroom deals that decide who will fill vacated positions in Knox County.

The drama of Knox County Government so far this year is comparible to a Spanish soap opera…and it’s in English!

“I believe that’s the rules,” Moore said in his deposition.

Well, if that is the rules, then that is what the rules is.

Hey, I said English. I didn’t guarantee that it would be gramatically correct.

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Indecent Exposure in Tyson Park

So they are arresting people for this?

Luckily for many readers of this blog, they have never been nude in the vicinity of Tyson Park. Furthermore, I do not have first hand knowledge or photographic evidence of this behavior that didn’t occur. Even if I did, I’d never hold it over their heads in order to get free meals or enlarge the photographs in order to embarrass them in a bar full of people.

Seriously, there is a little more to this story than WBIR is reporting. I’d wager that the young man in question was not skinny-wading in the polluted waters of Third Creek.

He was probably minding his own business in his vehicle, which was backed into a parking spot.

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Deputy Fired for Stealing $10 in Gas

From the KNS:

A Knox County sheriff’s deputy was terminated today after being charged with stealing less than $10 worth of gasoline.

I think it is more newsworthy that all of the other incidents involving county employees and greater sums of money haven’t ended in termination. That’s exactly what would happen at my job, and I’m not open to public scrutiny like these jobronis are.

See, it doesn’t matter how much you steal. All that matters is that you are a thief.

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Margie Loyd on Medical Leave

KNS has the full story. Of course, the details of a medical leave are privileged. I’d guess that she’s claiming some emotional distress due to the spending scandal that’s been brewing lately.

That, or it could be that lunches in the Mayor’s office have been downgraded from lobster at Regas to bean burritos at Taco Bell, and the extra onions didn’t sit well with her.