Wednesday morning on The Tennessee Star Report, host Leahy welcomed Columbia, Tennessee mayoral candidate, Debbie Matthews in studio to discuss her candidacy, her opponent, and continuing the vision for a prosperous Columbia.
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The Johnson City Press endorsed Republican Bill Lee and Democrat Craig Fitzhugh in the Tennessee gubernatorial primaries. A Sunday editorial said, “After sitting down with all six viable contenders to succeed Haslam in both parties, our team was most impressed with Republican Bill Lee and Democrat Craig Fitzhugh.” The editorial cited the challenges the next governor will face. “While Tennessee has crawled out from under the Great Recession and improved its national standing in education, we still lag in economic opportunity, educational attainment, job preparation, infrastructure and, most significantly, public health,” the newspaper said. The Johnson City Press also said Lee and Fitzhugh have avoided the “detestable trend It’s a different matter when you get the candidates in a personal setting for direct questions.” Lee earned the endorsement because of “Second Amendment protections, limited government, business acumen and tough immigration policy,” among other issues. The newspaper cited his business success as a factor despite his lack of public experience. In endorsing Fitzhugh, the newspaper cited his 12 terms in the Tennessee General Assembly as one factor, saying he knows how government works. “As a bank executive and experienced lawmaker, Fitzhugh knows his way around finance and budgetary issues. He’s an…
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Former Maryland governor Martin O’Malley, who also served two terms as mayor of Baltimore, has endorsed Karl Dean in the Democratic primary for Tennessee’s next governor, as The Tennessee Star reported on Monday. The possibility has been floated that O’Malley will campaign in Tennessee on behalf of Dean. O’Malley, like Dean, is into the “big chicken industry” which in Maryland is considered to anchor the state’s agri-business: The 300 million chickens produced in the state rank ninth nationally, and the nearly $1 billion in sales they account for makes up 41 percent of Maryland farm cash receipts. On top of that, much of the nearly $300 million in corn sold here is linked to chicken farming, as feed. The chicken business is credited with employing about 7,000 people in the state. Dean is the Democrat’s gubernatorial “big chicken” cheerleader in Tennessee, who spent time hobnobbing with Tyson Foods CEO Tom Hayes at the Tyson Foods ground-breaking ceremony in Humboldt last week. Anne Davis, Dean’s lawyer wife left her position as managing attorney for the Southern Environmental Law Center which has opposed chicken slaughterhouses just in time to avoid potential conflicts of interest for Dean should he become governor. O’Malley like Dean, has focused on…
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Anne Davis, wife of Democrat gubernatorial candidate Karl Dean, left her position as the managing attorney for the Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC) to help her husband run for governor. Davis, who helped establish the Nashville office in 2012, left her position in 2017, just in time to avoid potential conflicts of interest for Dean should he become governor. The SELC’s regional work challenging the environmental impact of chicken slaughterhouses and processing plants places Dean at best, in an awkward position running for a state-wide office in Tennessee where a fifth Tyson Foods operation is being launched and another is expanding. While Dean was hobnobbing with Tyson Foods CEO and President Tom Hayes at the plant’s ground-breaking ceremony in Humboldt on Wednesday, his Democrat opponent, Rep. Craig Fitzhugh, was busy pointing out the project’s flaws to Tennessee Attorney General Herbert Slatery. Fitzhugh is seeking answers to the concerns raised by constituents in his rural county who are likely to be impacted by the Humboldt plant and the estimated 600 new chicken houses that will supply the chickens to be slaughtered and processed. In addition to the Tennessee office which Anne Davis recently left, the SELC staffs offices in Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia…
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While Democrat gubernatorial candidate Karl Dean was cheering “big meat’s” newest location at the Tyson Foods ground-breaking ceremony in Humboldt on Wednesday, his opponent State Rep. Craig Fitzhugh (D-Ripley), was busy trying to address concerns of his constituents in adjacent rural counties that may be negatively effected by Tyson’s new operation. Dean proudly noted on his campaign’s Facebook page that he was hobnobbing with Tyson Foods CEO Tom Hayes at Wednesday’s event in Humboldt: But on Wednesday, Fitzhugh, the Tennessee House Minority Leader, was busy pointing out the project’s flaws to Tennessee Attorney General Herbert Slatery. In a letter obtained by The Tennessee Star (embedded below) dated May 30, 2018, signed by Fitzhugh, to Attorney General Herbert Slatery, Fitzhugh has asked for a “legal opinion with regard to the interpretation of state statutes concerning the authority of counties to regulate concentrated animal feeding operations [CAFOs].” The Tennessee Department of Agriculture defines a CAFO as “large-scale animal production facilities where many animals are raised or maintained, where feed is brought to the animals, and where wastes accumulate in a small area.” Tyson Foods utilizes a vertically-integrated operation meaning they control every aspect of poultry production from growing the chicks to distributing the end product.…
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At the eighth annual South West Tennessee Development District (SWTDD) Legislative Luncheon held January 3, one of the topics discussed by the gubernatorial candidates in attendance is the need for an additional $72 million to address infrastructure at the Memphis Regional Megasite. The Memphis Regional Megasite is a 4,100-acre state-owned manufacturing site located between Jackson and Memphis off I-40. The site was acquired by the state in 2009 according to the Tennessee Economic and Community Development (TNECD) website, has had investments of more than $106 million, although other reports indicate tax payer investments of as much as $144 million. TNECD Commissioner, Bob Rolfe, named to the position on February 16, 2017, following the departure of former TNECD Commissioner turned gubernatorial candidate Randy Boyd, recently said another $72 million would be needed to complete infrastructure projects that would make the site “shovel ready.” Five gubernatorial candidates were represented at the SWTDD luncheon: Republicans Mae Beavers, Diane Black and Bill Lee as well as Democrat Craig Fitzhugh and Karl Dean’s campaign manager, Courtney Wheeler. Republican candidates Randy Boyd, Beth Harwell and Kay White did not attend. Four of the five candidates agreed that the $72 million additional investment needs to be made.…
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