Day: April 13, 2017

Pro Wrestler Glenn Jacobs Will Run For Knox County Mayor

Wendy Wilson
Tennessee Star

  Glenn Jacobs, also known to WWE professional wrestling fans as Kane, has announced he will run for mayor of Knox County. Jacobs, 49, has lived with his family in East Tennessee for the past 22 years. “This is a great place to work, live and to raise a family,” he said in formally announcing his intention to run in the May 2018 race. But Jacobs said there’s often one thing standing in the way of business owners and community leaders who want to make Knox County an even better place: government.   A Republican businessman who has been active in libertarian politics, Jacobs said as mayor he would keep taxes low, eliminate waste and reduce red tape. He said Tennessee is fortunate to have a strong environment for business but that as a result, Knox County faces “intense competition” from other parts of the state. He said he would work hard as mayor to recruit new businesses to Knox County and maintain an environment in which existing businesses can flourish. He also said he would strengthen efforts to prepare students for college or the workplace after graduating from high school. Jacobs said he would ensure that government remains open and…

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State Rep. Mark White Bringing Failed Bill for Illegal Immigrant In-State Tuition Back to Committee

Chris Alto

Rep. Mark White’s (R-Memphis) second bill, HB660, that if left unamended, would have allowed the governing boards of state colleges and universities to grant in-state tuition to illegal immigrant students, failed in the House Education committee yesterday, but he has put it back on next Tuesday’s calendar and will ask the committee to reconsider its action. Republicans Jimmy Matlock, Terri Lynn Weaver, Ron Lollar, Roger Kane, Debra Moody and Dawn White, voted “no” on the bill. Republicans Eddie Smith, Mark White and Harry Brooks, along with all Democrats on the committee, voted “yes,” except that Democrat Rep. John DeBerry was absent when the vote was taken making it more than likely that the bill would have passed had he been present. Mark White could have chosen to roll his bill until all members were present to vote, but chose not to and let the vote move forward. According to sources at the legislature, Rep. DeBerry, a proponent for giving illegal immigrants in-state tuition, is pushing for a motion to reconsider White’s bill. It is not clear whether any motion to reconsider White’s bill will require a two-thirds vote of committee members, which would take ten votes to revive the bill, or…

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Transportation Coalition of Tennessee Set to Air ‘It’s Smart’ Ads to Promote Gas Tax Hike

Christina Botteri
Tennessee Star

  The Transportation Coalition of Tennessee (TCofTN), will launch a series of radio ads touting Governor Haslam’s IMPROVE Act “Tax Cut Act of 2017”, the Times Free Press reports. With the legislation heading to the state House and Senate floor as early as next week, the Transportation Coalition of Tennessee plans to begin airing the 60-second spots starting Thursday, going through April 21. The $127,000 buy’s hits the Chattanooga, Jackson, Memphis, Nashville, Knoxville and Tri-Cities markets. TCofTN describes themselves in a statement announcing the ads as a coalition of “businesses, citizens, community leaders, public officials and organizations that are interested in continuing Tennessee’s transportation infrastructure for the long haul.” Their membership includes senior citizen’s insurance group AARP, auto club AAA, the Nashville Chamber of Commerce, the American Heart Association, Tennessee Road Builders Association and some 33 others. The series, called “It’s Smart,” feature spots voiced by a comforting, grandfatherly persona praising the Governor’s plan, saying: Gov. Bill Haslam’s IMPROVE Act responsibly funds important road and bridge work in all of Tennessee’s 95 counties. The IMPROVE Act funds transportation infrastructure and, at the same time, gives a tax cut to all Tennesseans through a 20 percent tax cut on food. Listen: All the ads are available to enjoy here.…

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WWTN’s Ralph Bristol Blasts Conservative State Representative Who Opposes Haslam’s Gas Tax Increase Bill

Tennessee Star Staff
Tennessee Star

  Ralph Bristol, host of Nashville’s Morning News on 99.7 FM WWTN, blasted a leading conservative Republican State Representative who opposes Gov. Haslam’s gas tax increase proposal, the IMPROVE ACT “Tax Cut Act of 2017,” on his program Thursday morning. Earlier this month, State Rep. Jerry Sexton (R-Bean Station) called on Speaker Beth Harwell (R-Nashville) “to hit the restart button in regards to the IMPROVE Act and to send the bill back to Transportation Subcommittee to be debated fairly and openly,” as The Tennessee Star reported. Bristol is no fan of Sexton or his opposition to the gas tax increase, and made that point very clear on his program Thursday. Recent developments “will hopefully bury Jerry Sexton in the graveyard of political one-hit blunders,” Bristol said near the end of a lengthy soliloquy in which he praised the current version of Gov. Haslam’s gas tax increase bill. The IMPROVE Act “Tax Cut Act of 2017,” he said, “is still, in my opinion, by far the most conservative plan on the table to increase funding for transportation in Tennessee.” Bristol also seemed eager to participate in the debate on the floor of the Tennessee House or Represenatives next week when the…

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The Best Diet Book Doesn’t Exist

Patrick Rooney

  In my debut piece last week, I Made It Back to Good Health, I discussed the long, hard, but ultimately satisfying road I traveled to become more fit today, in my mid-50’s, than I was twenty years ago, and along the way became a knowledgeable fitness professional. The article primarily dealt with my uphill journey overcoming injuries and surgeries. In today’s column, I want to talk about about the nutrition side. Many experts have said it is at least 75% of the game, when it comes to losing weight and body fat. I concur. I have spent thousands of hours studying and implementing many “diets” over the years, putting in a ton of reading, including the most cutting edge information in the fitness industry, in the quest for more mental and physical energy, a clean and efficient body, more muscle, and less fat. Let me save you a lot of time and trouble: the best diet book, written, or video program does not exist. “What? Come on!” you say. “There are some great diet books and programs out there – amazing breakthroughs!” Yes, that’s true. Science has come a long way. And there are some great diets out there. But…

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Bill To Help Teacher Organizations Other Than TEA With Payroll Deductions Fails In House Subcommittee

Wendy Wilson
Tennessee Star

  A bill failed in a House subcommittee Wednesday that would have ensured that school districts that allow for payroll deductions for the dominate teachers union would also allow payroll deductions for membership in any professional employee organization. The bill was an attempt to give groups besides the Tennessee Education Association (TEA) legislative backing in asking for payroll deductions. The TEA is affiliated with the National Education Association (NEA), the largest U.S. labor union. The House Finance, Ways and Means Subcommittee shot down the bill on a voice vote. Rep. Bill Dunn (R-Knoxville), who sponsored the bill in the House, told the committee before the vote that “some districts are picking winners and losers” and that this legislation “levels the playing field.” The bill was sponsored in the Senate by Sen. Dolores Gresham (R-Somerville). The bill was promoted by Professional Educators of Tennessee (ProEd), an association that is not a union and does not endorse political candidates. Some districts do allow payroll deductions for organizations other than TEA but policies across the state are “inconsistent and arbitrary,” Audrey Shores, chief operating officer for ProEd, told The Tennessee Star on Tuesday. Automatic payroll deduction is often a preferred way of collecting membership dues…

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FACT’S David Fowler Praises ‘Little Guys’ In Fight Against Gas Tax

Wendy Wilson

  David Fowler of the Family Action Council of Tennessee has waded into the gas tax debate, writing in a blog post last week that while the issue is outside the focus of his group, it is “just too interesting to let slide.” “To appreciate what’s going on, you need to understand that the state House has always had a top-down management style,” wrote Fowler, who served in the state Senate for 12 years before joining FACT as president in 2006. “It works sort of like this,” Fowler wrote. “The Speakers typically give the rank-and-file Representatives (hereafter, the ‘Little Guys’) the freedom to represent their folks back home, so long as their views on something important don’t conflict with that of the Speaker or the Governor, to whom the Speakers for some reason seem to always take some kind of fealty oath. But when there is a conflict, the Speaker uses the loyalty of his or her committee and subcommittee chairs, engendered by their being given a position of ‘importance,’ to bring down the hammer and get the ‘preferred’ agenda rammed through.” Fowler applauds the “Little Guys” who won’t “shut up and go along” with the gas tax, part of Gov.…

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A Push To Drop The Word Easter From Egg Hunt Faces Backlash In England

Wendy Wilson

An effort to drop the word Easter from a national egg hunt in England to appeal to non-Christians was criticized by Prime Minister Theresa May and the Church of England, the Washington Post reports. The egg hunt is sponsored by the National Trust, a charity that promotes conservation. Around 300,000 children are expected at 250 National Trust sites for this year’s event. Cadbury will provide the chocolate eggs for the hunt. The Post received a statement from the Church of England saying that the marketing campaign “highlights the folly in airbrushing faith from Easter.” May was quoted in an ITV News video calling it “ridiculous.” “Easter’s very important. It’s important to me, it’s a very important festival for the Christian faith for millions across the world,” she said. Following the criticisms, the National Trust blamed Cadbury for the rebranding and added the word Easter to its website to describe the egg hunt. It’s unclear how eggs became part of Christian Easter celebrations, according to the Post. Some say the egg serves as a symbol of new life dating from ancient times and others say the egg represents the Christian belief celebrated at Easter that Jesus was resurrected from his tomb. England has…

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The 962 Road Construction Projects Costing $10.5 Billion in The Gas Tax Increase Bill Can Be ‘Modified’ by TDOT

Laura Baigert
Tennessee Star

Governor Haslam and other administration officials have stated since announcing the IMPROVE Act , now the “Tax Cut Act of 2017,” on January 18 that the purpose of the gas and diesel tax increases included in the bill is to fund 962 needed road construction projects in all 95 counties for a price tag of $10.5 billion.

These projects, however are the seventh in priority in a list of seven things for which the additional funds raised in the bill can be used.

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