ABC, WSJ and NYT are among those with alerts. No more info right this second.

EDIT: NPR says it will happen in Grand Rapids later today.

No, not at the shooting range. We're having some work done on a concrete patio. The workers are using a jackhammer and a concrete saw.

It is VERY LOUD!

Pulled out the old Peltor Bullseye 7 hearing protectors. It helps a little.

I have just received word from the Director of Online Communications for the Democratic National Convention Committee that KnoxViews/TennViews has been selected as the official credentialed Tennessee blog for the August 2008 Democratic National Convention in Denver.

Part of the deal is that yours truly will be seated alongside the Tennessee delegation on the convention floor ("one of the best seats in the house") to live-blog the greatest political event in recent history.

Developing...

UPDATE: DNC Chairman Governor Dean Announces Blogs Selected For 2008 Democratic National Convention 'State Blogger Corps'

"Similar to the record-breaking voter turnout our Party has seen during the primary season, the demand for these coveted blogger positions is yet another indicator of the tremendous interest in this historic Convention," said Governor Dean. "The Internet has played a critical role in connecting Americans to elected officials and candidates seeking office. The DemConvention State Blogger Corps will continue to foster this dialogue - in all 50 of our states and our territories too - as we head towards this year's historic election and elect a Democrat to the White House."

Follow the link for the full press release and list of blogs.

UPDATE: Square State, the official Colorado blog, interviews Howard Dean about the State Blogger Corps.

UPDATE: Associated Press

UPDATE: Howard Dean welcomes state bloggers:

My hope is the candidate I voted for,Obama,will have 2,209 delegates before the May 31st meeting of the DNC Rules & By-laws committee.
The AP says Obama has 1,885 delegates..324 shy of 2,209.

On May 20th there are 103 elected delegates to be determained in primaries in Ky & Ore.There are 3,255 total elected delegates.Obama has 1,599 elected delegates.That is 28.5 delegates shy of the 1627.5 delegates needed to clinch a majority of the elected delegates.

It is my belief that if Obama gets 28.5 elected delegates in the May 20th primaries..thus clinching the majorority of elected delegates.

Super delegates en mass should pledge their support to Obama.

That would give Obama the 2,209 delegates needed to win the nomination
& seat the full Fla/Mich delegations.

In case you missed it, the final p-card audit has been submitted with Mayor Ragsdale's responses to questioned expenditures. WBIR has a copy.

One of the questioned charges (pg. 40): "#59 9/30/05 - J's Mega Mart - $19.65"

The Mayor's office explanation is "Gas-only purchase for Knox County vehicle."

J's Mega Mart, known for its fine selection of wigs and swords, is, as you know, at 417 S. Gay Street. I've been by there hundreds of times, and I don't recall seeing any gas pumps.

Has Knox County converted their executive SUV's to run on alternative fuels, like maybe Aqua Velva?

Scott McNutt has more.

Mayor Ragsdale released his proposed budget for Knox County. It has no new taxes, but deep cuts across the board including a six month hiring freeze. Paul Pinkston says a tax increase may be necessary.

The Knoxville News Sentinel files this report. Here's the proposed budget.

UPDATE: Video of Mayor Ragsdales address

All Democrats should be nice to West Virginia.

The two current US Senators from West Virginia are Democrats.
Two of the three current US House of Representatives from West Virginia are Democrats
The current West Virginia Governor is a Democrat.
68% of the current WV State Senators are Democrats.
75% of the current WV State House of Representatives are Democrats.

We've setup a specially formatted version of KnoxViews for when you gotta have it on your mobile devices with a minimum of decoration and frills.

Put this link in your mobile favorites:

http://knoxviews.mobi

(P.S. Let me know how, or if, it works. I don't have any way to test it on a cellphone, iPhone, PDA, etc.)

The Nashville Business Journal reports that average Tennessee health insurance premiums increased 10% in 2008.

Among other interesting statistics, the article also says "On average, U.S. employers contribute 10.3 percent of payroll toward the cost of health benefits."

The Oregon presidential primary
has been around for nearly a century.

And has proved to be as treacherous,
for front runners,late in the campaign
as NH is early in the campaign.

Gene McCarthy,Frank Church & Gary Hart
all upset the apple cart by defeating front runners
in the late May Oregon primary.

Going into the 1964 GOP Oregon primary Rockefeller
was trailing Goldwater in delegates.

According to Theodore White:

In Oregon '64

"the very hopelessness of the outlook
..charged Rockefeller's effort..with an intensity
of emotion."

Rocky hammered Goldwater as being "out of the mainstream"

A tag that stuck to Goldwater like glue the rest of his life.

Futhermore,Goldwater made a fatal decision to his chances
he ignored it..to campaign in California..
for the June primary.

So Rocky's theme in Oregon

VOTE ROCKEFELLER...HE CARED ENOUGH TO COME!!!!
Rocky won Oregon big in '64.

Obama better be careful about going here there & everywhere.

Boasting about ending the nomination fight in Oregon.

Oregon voters have been in this primary bidness a long time.

to paraphrase that wonderful line
from the beanster's brother's tapes.

"It aint nothing for Oregon to whip a man's ass for
ignoring their primary."

Is it to soon to resume speculating who Obama's running mate will be? Though I'm not much of a Carville fan these days, I see the Ragin' Cajun mentions one of my favs, Gen. Wesley Clark. Bill Richardson of course would still be a great choice too.

I'm not crazy about Hillary as a pick, mostly because I don't think that would be the best strategy to win required non-Dems, though it would help bridge the two Dem camps back together. Carville also mentioned two others that I would call strategic choices in Gov. Kathleen Sebelius and Michael Bloomberg.

A win would be good.

Michael Silence reports:

Bankruptcy court confirms to me it was filed yesterday.

So, will this affect their IPO?

This just in from AC Entertainment:

Added by popular demand! WIDESPREAD PANIC will perform a third night at the TENNESSEE THEATRE on Wednesday, July 16, 7:30 p.m. in addition to their sold-out shows on July 14 and 15. Tickets for this third show will go fast, so get 'em when they go on sale this Friday, May 16, 10 a.m. at the Tennessee Theatre box office, Tickets Unlimited outlets, by phone at 865-656-4444 or online at TennesseeTheatre.com.

If polls are correct, Senator Clinton will win the West Virginia primary today by a hefty margin. Such an outcome would be in line with a larger trend that bloggers such as DHinMI have noted: Senator Obama has failed to gain any traction whatsoever in Appalachia.

Why is this? A common theory being tossed about is "racism." Is it that simple? Or is there a more complex explanation?

is what Obama said true?

At a time when we're facing the largest homecoming since the Second World War," Obama said of veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, "the true test of our patriotism is whether we will serve our returning heroes as well as they've served us."

Just a quick Google search on the Vietnam war:

1968. U.S. strength in South Vietnam totaled more than 500,000 by early 1968.

January, February, March, 1972. U.S. troop strength in Vietnam dropped to 136,500 by 31 January 1972, to 119,600 by 29 February, and then to 95,500 by the end of March.

What if I Googled the Korean War?

Etc., etc., etc....

We use them all the time - our firefighters, police officers and emergency medical service personnel. Hardly a day goes by that we don't come into contact either directly or indirectly with these hard working public servants. When we have traffic accidents or emergencies at home or at work these public servants are the first on the scene in our communities. Often risking their own safety in order to serve the public good, these employees of our cities, states and municipalities deserve to have collective bargaining rights.

Let's kick a country while they're down.

"Luu urged Myanmar to allow U.S. disaster experts into the country to make sure the aid gets to the people in need."

Are you kidding me????

All the US is wanting to do is to get at Myanmar's oil!!!

Guess I can't argue with them about being disaster experts tho, everything they touch turns to a disaster. To bad they didn't show their expertise after Katrina

An Appalachian blogger properly chastens urban progressives over at Daily Kos. An excellent read and perspective on progress in our own southern mountains.

Make sure to scan some of the more than 604 comments.

The KNS has an update on the LED billboard "impasse" today.

The same issue is playing out in Nashville. Mike Byrd at the Enclave blog has been following it closely.

This is starting to sound like the AT&T cable bill. Wonder why the billboard industry hasn't gone to the Tennessee legislature to ask for statewide regulations allowing LED billboards?

UPDATE: Frost calls on UT to comply with billboard law

The print edition of the Knoxville News Sentinel is now the same cute size as the Maryville Daily Times, 11 inches wide.

To you and yours.

Colin Powell and Jenna Bush have both recently said on interviews that they didn't know who they were voting for for pres. Jenna may be a liberal, she was cooking with Rachel Ray recently and talked about her concern for the environment and that she doesn't eat red meat, weird for a Texan. Myabe she's just on a mission to soften daddy's image. I think Laura has had Botox. Anyway, a big wedding day shout out to Jenna and Henry.

America faces a housing crisis that it has not seen the likes of since the great depression. Hundreds of thousands of families have lost their homes due to the mortgage crisis in the past year and more are at risk if we don't act now. That is why the US Senate must support some version of the Foreclosure Prevention Act, which passed this past week in the US House. This legislation, which is on its way to the Senate next week has been threatened with veto by President Bush.

Surgery went well and I am home again. Getting used to the routines. Not gonna be easy, but it is something I cannot afford to fail at.

Calls Blount Democrats "far-left loons" and refers to three county commissioners as "monkeys." Sen. Lamar Alexander was in attendance and apparently concurs because there is no report that he objected. Read all about it at BlountViews.

In a recent Newsweek, The Last Word, column George Will wrote:

You [Obama] favor eliminating the cap on earnings subject to the 12.4 percent Social Security tax, which now covers only the first $102,000. A Chicago police officer married to a Chicago public-school teacher, each with 20 years on the job, have a household income of $147,501, so you would take another $5,642 from them. Are they undertaxed? Are they rich?

Doesn't George know that social security is not paid jointly?

Looking for fresh strawberries and/or humanely-raised local meat? If you're interested in learning more about local food (and the people who produce it), the Market Square Farmers' Market is launching a monthly series of farm tours. The "To the Source Farm Tour" series kicks off on Sunday, May 18, with a visit to three farms in Meigs, Rhea, and Monroe counties.

The tour will visit Tidwell's Berry Farm, a family-owned "ready pick" berry farm in Spring City, Tennessee. The next stop on the tour is River Ridge Farm in Ten Mile, Tennessee, to tour the farm where Dave Waters and his family raise beef, pork, chickens, and other goodies. Regulars to the Market Square Farmers' Market are familiar with Dave as the market's "meat guy." The tour will conclude with an opportunity to pick your own strawberries at Strawberry Knob Farm in Madisonville.

"Eleanor" and I will be going as we continue to explore our local food options. Cost of the tour is $20 per person and shuttle vans (provided by CAC) will depart from Market Square at noon on Sunday, 18 May. The shuttles will return approximately 6:30 p.m. Advance registration is required by Wednesday and space is limited. So, contact Charlotte Tolley at the Farmers' Market booth on Market Days (today or Wednesday) or visit the new MSFM web site at www.marketsquarefarmersmarket.org for additional information in the "Special Events and Programs" section. "Eleanor" and I will be manning a booth for the MSFM this morning at the Beardsley Community Farm's Farm Fest and we'll also be signing interested people up. Other volunteers will be at the farm fest booth in the afternoon to get you signed up, also.

See you on the farm!

• Margaret Truman, Eliot Roosevelt, Steve Allen - mystery writers? Did they really take the time out of their celebrityhood to craft, write and rewrite those mystery novels you see on the bookshelf?

We all know that politicians don't write their own speeches.

But novelists? Mystery novelists, in particular?

Surely no "novelist" would lend a name to a book that he or she hadn't written. Well, if you think that (as I did for a long time), you are most naive. This kind of intellectual dishonesty goes on more than you would think.

WBIR:

Because the suspect is dead, no charges will be filed.

OK, then.

Go read this and this and turn that frown upside down.

(And if you still think you're having a bad day, go read this.)