Knoxville blogger Katie Allison Granju recently left WBIR for Scripps; fortunately, they've given her a new blog at the KNS site called "Because I Said So." Her introduction to the new blog includes this welcome:

As the blog tagline notes, I'll be tackling issues both personal and political here, because as the iconic feminist slogan notes, the two are especially intertwined for those of us who are both female and actively politically engaged.

I'm looking forward to it.

With permission from the author who is a student at South- Doyle High School in Knoxville, TN. This was a class writing assignment. Content has not been altered in any way. These are his words. What are your thoughts?

Peace of Nations

What does it take to bring forth peace of nations? Loyalty from the people and from one nation to another is a necessity. Confidence, a nation needs confidence and pride in itself, to not back down to a stronger nation, for peace of nations to work, one nation can not push another around. Humanism, people must remember that though we may look different and sound different, everyone is a human, all the same.

A following of the people is necessary in order to maintain a stable nation and a healthy time of peace.

People who are loyal to their nation not only strengthen it, but also provide a safe melting pot for other nations. Loyalty is not only a thing for followers to show to the nation, it shows an allied nation that it can be trusted as well as supported in future efforts. A collaborated effort united by loyalty is one of the most influential groups of people around the globe. This virtue is one of the most important for any man or nation, having this virtue is a most for global peace.

Faith in a nation’s power or people is needed for a sense of belonging among other things. As a nation progresses forward to make itself more predominant in a growing world. Confidence brings forth a feeling of strength and power, yet for a smaller country of the world give it a sense of pride to project to a larger country that may be trying to break a world peace of sorts.

Without the confidence to stand up for a nation you believe in it may secretly fall from the inside. A virtue that many aspire to have, confidence is that which would prove difficult to a nation.

Humans, all humans are just that, humans, yet many wish to believe that all humans are different. In a world without violence, a peace among nations, there would, above all no racism. A world without racism, in itself would make all peaceful. Racism is the heart of all violence in humans, but at heart a human is just the same as another human. As a nation without racism all things violent would become shut out, from the nation.

Peace within nations is possible, but only with a few select qualities. Virtues such as confidence and loyalty make a nation strong, yet compassionate. Without racism, the world itself, all the world, would be free from the grip that is violence. Peace among the nations of the world is a possible feat, yet only at the will of the people throughout the world.

Note: I am proud to be a part of this young leaders life. He inspires me daily. The gene pool doesn't fall from the tree. Thank you for the forum to express young American's thoughts and dreams.

The Knoxville based Aslan foundation has purchased almost 100 acres on Cherokee trail and part of the Log Haven community. This is the property just east of the blue water tower.

Link...

City of Knoxville Parks and Recreation has teamed up with River Sports to offer bicycle rentals at Volunteer Landing. The grand opening is tomorrow, August 19, at 2PM. The cost is $10 per person for a two-hour rental, or $30 for all day. And here's a nice map of Knoxville's bicycle greenways.

Full press release with more details after the jump...

Don Daugherty encourages Knox Democrats to attend the nominating convention tomorrow night, but says he is withdrawing his name from consideration for Knox County Criminal Court Clerk and instead will focus his efforts on an independent "Democratic Resource PAC" and war room operation. Daugherty's full statement after the jump...

The Sunday roundup of Tennessee liberal bloggers is here. Go check out what everyone's been saying this week.

Reader Ben Garlington forwards this larger, county-wide version of the 1931 streetcar map.

According to the KNS, seven protesters were arrested at Kimberly-Clark offices in downtown Knoxville. They are upset about Kleenex and toilet paper destroying forests in Canada.

There was apparently plenty of drama, including three people chained to doors and some ninja action as two women rappelled down the side of a parking garage to hang a sign. Police say they aren't from around here.

Commissioner DeFreese is on the hunt for arsenic at the the Knox County Green Waste Natural Resource Recovery facility in Solway.

Defreese and Lumpy went out yesterday to observe collection of some soil samples. She files her account on the Knox County Commission chat board, which includes the disclosure that "I did have a hidden audio digital recorder on my person." There's some six degrees of subterfuge involving Mayor Ragsdale, too.

Jake Jost at Knoxville Talks has the details...

And after some time off she's fired up and ready to go:

So, way to miss out on the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, Democrats. But truth to be told, it's probably not such a big deal, since your guys were just as involved in the nepotism and backroom deal-making as were the Republicans.

And just because you couldn't get it together to field a stronger slate of contenders for the countywide offices doesn’t mean there’s an unusual amount of internal strife in your party. Sure, lots of y'all hate each other's guts, but you shouldn’t feel like the Lone Ranger – half the Republicans I know wouldn’t pee on Mike Ragsdale's head if his brain were on fire.

Meanwhile, Sandra Clark gloats "It was about my 100th Republican victory party, but this one was different."

And Larry Van Guilder weighs in: Knox County voters concocted their own cure for scandal fatigue last Thursday: stay home.

In sharp contrast to the news from the Knox County Mayor's office today, the City of Knoxville announced that they have received a "Certificate for Excellence in Financial Reporting" for their Comprehensive Annual Financial Report for Fiscal Year 2006-07.

Press release after the jump.

KNS

The attorney general and his staff will "focus primarily on the use of grant funds and on audits of the mayor's hospitality funds, county purchasing card charges and expense reimbursements and travel expenses. This will include fulfilling the legal obligations to advise citizens seeking to bring an ouster suit."

UPDATE: Mayor’s Office Statement on State Attorney General’s Involvement

The Knox County Mayor’s Office released a statement late Monday afternoon regarding the appointment of State Attorney General Robert E. Cooper, Jr. to assist in reviewing matters related to Knox County government.

Chief Administrative Officer Dwight Van de Vate offered the following comment:

“We welcome the involvement of the State Attorney General’s Office and the continued efforts of General Bright. The work of General Cooper and his staff will ensure a fact-finding process that is careful, deliberate, and objective. We will continue to support their work and look forward to seeing these questions definitively answered once and for all.”

Wow. I just heard on WBIR 10 News This week that Republican Kathy Bryant defeated Democrat Brad Anders for County Commission 6-A.

Or maybe I heard that wrong. Let's go to the tape for an instant replay:

Yep, that's what they said. I could have sworn that Bryant was the Democrat who was defeated by Republican Anders. But I could be wrong. Hope so, because we endorsed Bryant and were pulling for her to win.

(Katie's only been gone one day and look what happens!)

Mike Padgett came in third in the race for the U.S. Senate Democratic nomination. The News Sentinel reported on the front page that Padgett "tied for third," but the State of Tennessee Division of Elections begs to differ:

Bob Tuke 58946 32.3%
Gary Davis 38971 21.3%
Mike Padgett 33341 18.2%
Mark Clayton 32160 17.6%
Kenneth Eaton 14638 8.0%
Leonard Ladner 4668 2.6%

There was another interesting outcome over in Blount and Sevier Counties. In the Republican primary for the State Senate 8th District, Former Rep. Doug Overbey knocked off incumbent Sen. Raymond Finney by a scant 139 votes:

Jim Bishop 977 4.6%
Raymond Finney 10036 47.4%
Doug Overbey 10175 48%

Finney carried Blount Co. by a huge margin, but Overbey scored big in Sevier Co. Which is odd, because I would have guessed that nobody over there had ever heard of him. The 20th House district, Overbey's former seat that he gave up to run against Finney, is a relatively small part of Blount Co. Finney did not concede and says he wants a recount.

Some other incumbents got the boot, including U.S. Rep. David Davis in TN-1, who lost in the Republican primary to challenger Phil Roe by 460 votes. In the State Senate 14th district Democratic primary, incumbent Sen. Steve Roller lost to Eric Stewart by 131 votes.

Sen. Rosalind Kurita narrowly defeated Democratic primary challenger Tim Barnes by only 19 votes in a hotly contested race. Barnes is considering a challenge.

In another "turnout counts" election, Blount County school board candidate Patricia Bell lost by only 14 votes.

In the "poetic justice" department, incumbent U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen hammered Nikki Tinker, who drew national attention and the ire of Barack Obama for running racist ads, by more than 60 points in the Tennessee 9th Congressional district Democratic primary.

The Black Wednesday victories in Knox County were real puzzlers, especially some of the margins.

The most surprising to me was the race for Sheriff, with Republican J.J. Jones beating Democrat Randy Tyree by nearly 16 points. I really thought it would be closer than that, and that Tyree actually had a chance for a narrow victory. Again, low turnout was probably a factor, as were short memories and scandal fatigue.

The other disappointing result was Property Assessor. Andrew Graybeal was clearly the more qualified candidate, but Black Wednesday candidate Phil Ballard won by more than 25 points. Go figure.

Congratulations to Sam McKenzie in County Commission 1-A, Amy Broyles in 2-B, and Finbarr Saunders in 4-A for their decisive victories.

In a front page article, the Knoxville News Sentinel reports this morning:

Having won the Republican primary, Overbey will win the office because there is no Democratic opposition.

I guess Independent Ira Lapides dropped out and I didn't hear about it.

Turnout for yesterday's election in Knox County was an anemic 19%. When people don't vote, nothing changes.

Here.

Katie Allison Granju signed off for the last time at Knoxville Talks yesterday. She did a fantastic job creating a great new local media sponsored blog and set the bar high for her successor.

Katie blogs on, though, at her personal blog and at Mothering Magazine.

Local races to watch:

• Randy Tyree v. J.J. Jones*, Sheriff

• Amy Broyles v. Chuck Bolus*, County Commission 2-B

• Steve Drevik v. Ed Shouse, County Commission 4-B

• Scott Emge v. Sherry Witt*, Register of Deeds

• Andrew Graybeal v. Robert Bedwell v. Phil Ballard*, Property Assessor

• Robert Bratton v. Fred Sisk*, Trustee

(*Black Wednesday involvement)

Other competitive races:

• Sam McKenzie v. Albert Baah, County Commission 1-A

• Finbarr Saunders v. Ruthie Kuhlman, County Commission 4-A

• Don Sproles v. Richard Briggs, County Commission 5-C

• Kathy Bryant v. Brad Anders, County Commission 6-A

• Chuck Ward v. Mike Brown, County Commission 9-A

• Ken Irvine v. Bob McGee, Criminal Court Judge Div. II

• Amy Vandergriff v. Foster Arnett, Knox County Clerk

State primaries to watch at TennViews...

Tomorrow (Thursday), Knox County votes. The race between Randy Tyree and J.J. Jones for Sheriff of Knox County is the litmus test. It will decide if Knox County is ready for a new era of good government, or just wants more of the same old same old. It's your vote. You get to decide. It should be interesting.

Folks reading this probably already know this, or have already voted. But you may want to let family and friends know about the sample ballot and the two charter amendments that are on the ballot.

Knoxville News Sentinel

Knoxville lawyer Herbert S. Moncier filed a lawsuit late Monday demanding that 13 officials who will be elected Thursday take office as soon as they are certified by the Knox County Election Commission.

See Herb Moncier's earlier KnoxViews column on this (which also appeared in today's KNS editorial section alongside a counterpoint by Steve Drevik).

The Knoxville News Sentinel reports that officials are rethinking the Technology Corridor, which has not been as successful as hoped and is not being actively promoted and marketed. There's discussion of opening it up for mixed use development that allows for residential, retail, and general office space.

There's no mention of the root problem. High tech companies aren't going to move to an area that doesn't support education and only graduates people qualified to work in call centers.

Check out the video:

Also, check out Randy Tyree's blog. (Where's JJ's blog?)

UPDATE: Randy Tyree will hold a press conference at his election headquarters at 10330 Technology Drive off Pellissippi Parkway, 11 a.m. Tuesday, Aug. 5. It will be attended by Tyree and Joan Berry, the mother of Johnia Berry. More here.

Total number of early votes: 20342
Democratic Primary: 6347
Republican Primary: 14390

Feb. 08 early vote total: 36962
Aug. 06 early vote total: 24042

Breakdown by location here.

I just wanted to alert folks to a piece I wrote today about TVUUC's rededication ceremony. I posted it at The Moderate Voice and as a diary on Daily Kos.

I just thought some folks around here might want to read it.

Knoxville Tennessee Hotels & Lodging

Hotels: Downtown

• Crown Plaza Knoxville 401 Summit Hill Dr. 865-522-2600 map info

• Four Points by Sheraton Cumberland House 1109 White Ave. 865-971-4663 map info

• Hilton Knoxville 501 W.Church Ave. 865-523-2300 map info

• Holiday Inn Select Downtown Convention Center 525 Henley St 865-522-2800 map info

• Marriott Knoxville 500 Hill Ave SE 865-637-1234 map info

Hotels: East

• LaQuinta Inn & Suites 7210 Saddlerack St. 865-633-5100 map info

• Country Inn & Suites 7525 Crosswood Blvd. 865-546-5700 map info

• Fairfield Inn 1551 Cracker Barrel Ln. 865-971-4033 map info

• Hampton Inn 814 Brakebill Road 865-525-3511 map info

Hotels: North

• Best Western Knoxville Suites 5317 Pratt Rd. 865-687-9922 map info

• Country Inn & Suites 7534 Conner Rd. 865-947-7500 map info

• Hampton Inn 117 Cedar Ln. 865-689-1011 map info

• Holiday Inn Express Hotel & Suites 7520 Conner Rd. 865-938-3800 map info

Hotels: West

• Baymont Inn & Suites 11341 Campbell Lakes Dr. 865-671-1010 map info

• Best Western Cedar Bluff Inn 420 N. Peters Road 865-539-0058 map info

• Candlewood Suites 10206 Parkside Dr. 865-777-0400 map info

• Comfort Inn & Suites 208 Marketplace Ln 865-531-1900 map info

• Country Inn & Suites 805 N. Campbell Station Rd. 865-675-9800 map info

• Courtyard by Marriott 216 Langley Pl 865-539-0600 map info

• Extended Stay America 214 Langley Place 865-769-0822 map info

• Hampton Inn 9128 Executive Park Blvd 865-693-1101 map info

• Holiday Inn Express 11717 Campbell Lakes Dr 865-966-2500 map info

• Holiday Inn Knoxville at Papermill 1315 Kirby Road 865-584-3911 map info

• Holiday Inn Select Cedar Bluff 304 Cedar Bluff Road 865-693-1011 map info

• LaQuinta Inn West 258 N. Peters Road 865-690-9777 map info

• Microtel Inn 309 N. Peters Rd. 865-531-8041 map info

• Residence Inn by Marriott 215 Langley Place 865-539-5339 map info

Hotels: Knoxville McGhee Tyson Airport (Alcoa, TN)

• Hilton Knoxville Airport 2001 Alcoa Hwy 865-970-4300 map info

• Country Inns & Suites 162 Cusick Road 865-273-2800 map info

• Fairfield Inn 126 Cusick Road 865-984-9350 map info

• Hampton Inn 148 International Avenue 865-983-1101 map info

• Holiday Inn Express Hotel & Suites 130 Associates Blvd. 865-981-9008 map info

• MainStay Suites 361 Fountain View Circle 865-379-7799 map info

• Jameson Inn 206 Corporate Place 865-984-6800 map info

Knoxville Tennessee Restaurants

• Regas Restaurant 318 N Gay St 865-637-3427map info

• Calhoun's on the River 400 Neyland Dr, 865-673-3355 map info

• Ruth's Chris Steak House 950 Volunteer Landing 865-546-4696 map info

• Chesapeakes 500 Henley St 865-673-3433 map info

• Copper Cellar 1807 Cumberland Ave 865-673-3411 map info

• Ye Olde Steak House 6838 Chapman Hwy 865-577-9328 map info

• Bayou Bay 7117 Chapman Hwy 865-573-7936 map

• By the Tracks Bistro 5200 Kingston Pike 865-558-9500 map

• Cappuccino's 7316 Kingston Pike 865-673-3422 map info

• Copper Cellar 7316 Kingston Pike 865-673-3422? map info

• Naples Italian Restaurant 5500 Kingston Pike 865-584-5033 map info

• Altruda's Italian Restaurant 125 N Peters Rd 865-690-6144 map info

• Northshore Brasserie 9430 S Northshore Dr 865-539-5188 map info

• Sullivan's Fine Food at Rocky Hill 7545 S Northshore Dr 865-694-9696 map info

• Pizza Palace Drive-in 3132 E Magnolia Ave 865-524-4388 map info

• Tomato Head 12 Market Sq 865-637-4067 map info

• The Pizza Kitchen 9411 S Northshore Dr 865-531-1422 map info

• Litton's Market & Restaurant 2803 Essary Dr 865-688-0429 map info

Restaurants: Airport Area

• Foothills Milling Co 315 S Washington St Maryville 865-977-8434 map info

• Sullivan's Downtown 121 W Broadway Ave Maryville 865-681-3334 map info

• Tomato Head 211 W Broadway Ave Maryville 865 981-1080 map info

• Los Amigos 409 N Cusick St Maryville 865-983-6022 map

The Knox County Democratic Party executive committee has voted to hold an open convention to select their nominee for the Criminal Court Clerk vacancy. The convention will be Tuesday, August 19, 2008 at 6:30 at the Main Assembly Room at the City-County Building. It is open to all Knox County Democrats who are registered voters.

In related news, former Knox Dem chair Don Daugherty announced his intention to seek the nomination. Earlier this week he issued a statement, the text of which follows after the jump...

Per Slate, not in Tennessee. Maybe it should be, especially given how polarized we have become and due to over-the-top hatemongering that's in vogue.

Another way we might use this tragedy to improve our world.