Hey, parents: The Society of Professional Journalists is sponsoring a national essay contest for high school students to write about "Why free news media are important."

The contest is open to all students enrolled in grades 9-12 in public, private and home schools. Students must submit original work and have a sponsoring teacher sign the contest entry form. Essays should be 300-500 words. Entries may be typed or handwritten but must be double-spaced.

The first place award is a $1,000 scholarship. Second place will receive a $500 scholarship, and third place will receive a $300 scholarship. Entries must be postmarked by March 1, 2008.

Larry Van Guilder is the contest chair for the local SPJ chapter. Entries may be mailed to him at:

Larry Van Guilder
820 Black Rock Circle
Knoxville, TN 37934

For more information and official rules, see the SPJ website contest page, or contact Larry by email at lvgknox@mindspring.com.

(Just as an observation, local kids have some pretty great subject matter to draw from for an essay on this topic!)

The next time you dine at Ruth's Chris Steak House, you just might find yourself in the Regas Room.

Craig Miller, CEO of the Florida-based fine-dining chain, was in town last week to dedicate the private room located on the main floor of the downtown waterfront restaurant to the Regas family.

"We want people to embrace it and to consider it a special place. Now, we have an added tie-in with Regas," said Miller, who has long been friends with Bill Regas since their days working together at the National Restaurant Association.

Bill and his cousin, Gus, are the sons of Frank and George Regas, who founded Regas Restaurant, 318 N. Gay St., in 1919. It is the oldest restaurant in Tennessee.

More than a dozen members of the Regas family as well as friends, business and civic leaders celebrated the dedication with a private lunch and champagne toast. (The meal was under $25, Miller said.)

But don't get your hopes up about lunch. There isn't any talk of opening for lunch any time soon.

In fact, Miller said the company recently stopped serving lunch at its Manhattan location.

For all the doubters who wondered whether Knoxville could support such a high-end restaurant, Miller points to the numbers, particularly at a time when the industry has been tight. Sales at the restaurant are 15 percent over original estimates, he said.

He expects business to continue to grow, especially through private-event bookings.

Part of the success, he said, has been the company's efforts to be a part of the community.

Before the restaurant opened in October, Ruth's Chris sponsored the city's first race 15K run entirely on the Knoxville greenway system.

"This location has exceeded our expectations. It's been outstanding, and we still have huge opportunities ahead of us," Miller said.

A great story from Knoxnews!

KNS: Lowe to leave Trustee's Office after 33 years

Mike Lowe, who lost his bid for county property assessor in the Feb. 5 primary, is leaving the Trustee's Office to go into real estate development.

A couple weeks ago I got my bike all muddy cycling the Third Creek Greenway at Tobler Lane, thanks to a huge mud hole that enveloped the path near the creek. Last week the mud mysteriously disappeared. Turns out a fellow greenway user took the initiative to clean off the trail. Hat tip to HandsomeRyan!

If you haven't been near the Cherokee Boulevard connector in a couple years, you might not recognize the place. Not only did the city restore the meandering nature of the creek, but they also cleaned out most of the undergrowth. It looks vastly different.

For the first time in a few months I rode all the way down to Neyland Drive. Along the way it occurred to me that Tyson Park sure looks a lot cleaner than it used to.

But the most dramatic visible change was along the creek as it passes through the UT campus. I'm not sure if it's because of the above-mentioned project or some other work, but the water actually resembles a creek now. It won't be winning a beauty award any time soon, but it's a far cry from the superfund site that existed a year ago. Perhaps my nose was numb from the nippy air, but I didn't even smell any hazardous waste.

Thumbs up for the improvements.

The Billionaire's Retort:

From the Wall Street Journal here. No you can't...heal this nation...No you can't...end this war!

In a redux of Sen. Bob Dole's senate resignation in 1996 during the presidential campaign (how'd that work out, Bob?) rumors are floating that McCain may resign his Senate seat. Governor Janet Napolitano (D) would appoint his successor.

McCain has missed some crucial votes in the Senate, including a major vote last May on the Iraq war, the only presidential candidate to miss that vote. In fact, he has missed 55.7% of Senate votes, according to the Washington Post. In the same report, Obama has missed 38.8%, and Clinton 27.1%.

Here are the votes McCain has missed.

What's this guy even doing taking a Senate paycheck, anyway, missing more than HALF the votes in the Senate? Perhaps vigor is an important trait in a candidate, after all. At 72, McCain would be the oldest first-term president ever elected.

Nine days later the counting is complete.

Clinton 73,105 (48.8%) (14 delegates)
Obama 71,396 (47.6%) (12 delegates)

I'll be happy when this election is over and there's a Democrat in the White House.

The U.S. House of Representatives voted 223 to 32 today to hold Harriet Miers and Josh Bolten in contempt. They were ordered to appear before Congress nearly a year ago and have not. Miers was nominated to the Supreme Court as a brushback pitch setting up Roberts, and Bolten was the chief of staff during the U.S. Attorney firings. Both are wanted to testify about their roles in firing several federal prosecutors and manufacturing allegations to cover the actual reasons for the dismissals. Bush has offered to have them testify without transcripts or oaths.

The Senate Judiciary Committee also approved contempt citations for Bolten and Rove, but the full Senate has not acted.

Florida Rep. Wexler is determined to have Cheney before him under oath in the coming year, and this is a good step in that direction.