Charges stem from kissing incident at school

by Beth Maples-Bays
Equality Herald - Editor and Publisher

UNIONVILLE - A 16-year-old lesbian Bedford County student faces potential rape charges stemming from a kissing incident at Community High School (CHS) in Unionville. Reports indicate that Jane Doe Minor (not her real name) is currently being held in the Bedford County Juvenile Detention Center pending a hearing before General Sessions Court Judge Charles L. Rich. The proceedings are scheduled to take place on Monday, April 7, in Shelbyville, the Bedford County seat.

Read the rest here.

Federal charges may soon be forthcoming for the three self-described "Christian" men who sprayed [illiterate] racist graffiti upon and later firebombed a Middle Tennessee mosque:

The call came in to the Columbia, Tennessee 911 call center at 5:20 on the morning of February 9. A fire was raging at the Islamic Center. When local police arrived a few minutes later, they found the broken glass of a door and heavy dark smoke billowing out of a broken window. At the scene, the officers also discovered a black swastika painted on the front of the building, along with two black swastikas and "We run the wold" (sic) and "White Power" painted on the side.

Later the same day, law enforcement officers arrested three local residents: Eric Ian Baker, 32, Michael Corey Golden, 23, and Jonathan Edward Stone, 19. The three men are accused of using empty beer bottles filled with gasoline and rags to set fire to the storefront mosque. They face federal charges of unlawful possession of a destructive device and state charges of arson.

According to the criminal complaint filed in federal court, at least two of the perpetrators of the arson and vandalism of the mosque were Christian Identity Movement adherents. (See the affidavit here.)

Christian Identity is a racist and anti-Semitic religious doctrine which teaches that European whites and their American descendants are the Biblical "chosen people,” while Jews are the literal descendants of Satan and that people of color are subhuman. It has been the theological glue binding together neo-Nazis, Ku Klux Klan devotees, militia members and others into the white nationalist movement.

Eric Rudolph and Buford O'Neal Furrow are a couple of other "Christian Identity" names you might recognize.

For those wishing to donate to the rebuilding fund for the mosque...

Community First Bank and Trust
501 S James Campbell Blvd.
Columbia, TN 38401
931-380-2265
Islamic Center of Columbia Rebuilding Fund
Account Number: 0026123

The Clean Water Protection Act (HR 2169) would reverse the Bush Administration’s 2002 decision that the toxic “waste” created by mountaintop removal could be defined as “fill material,” and recklessly dumped into our water ways. This practice has already destroyed over 1200 miles of American headwater streams, and eliminated access to safe, clean potable water for many communities. The CWPA (HR 2169) currently has 107 co-sponsors, and a lot of momentum. But we need more to get out of committee and onto the floor.

We have 3 of 5 Democrats from TN onboard, and we need to know if Lincoln Davis, Bart Gordon, and John Tanner are “wit’ us” or “ginst us” on stopping mountaintop removal.

If you have a moment, please take a moment to call Davis (202-225-6831), Gordon (202-225-4231), and Tanner (202-225-4714), politely but forcefully asking that they co-sponsor the Clean Water Protection Act (HR 2169), and take a stand against mountaintop removal.

A quick report on our TN Dems and mountaintop removal below…

If someone were to "fake" a gun attack on me, I'd call it assault.

If I were a sixth grade student at Murfreesboro City Schools, their administration would call it "a prank," or what some are calling a "character building exercise."

Background:

Staff members of an elementary school staged a fictitious gun attack on students during a class trip, telling them it was not a drill as the children cried and hid under tables.

The mock attack Thursday night was intended as a learning experience and lasted five minutes during the weeklong trip to a state park, said Scales Elementary School Assistant Principal Don Bartch, who led the trip.

"We got together and discussed what we would have done in a real situation," he said.

But parents of the sixth-grade students were outraged.

"The children were in that room in the dark, begging for their lives, because they thought there was someone with a gun after them," said Brandy Cole, whose son went on the trip.

Some parents said they were upset by the staff's poor judgment in light of the April 16 shootings at Virginia Tech that left 33 students and professors dead, including the gunman.

Wow. Sounds like a bad idea that came off even worse when it was, um, "executed."

Parental notification would have at least been a good start here, but apparently these sadists would rather apologize than ask permission. Wouldn't want to "spoil the surprise."

UPDATE: Two officials suspended for two weeks without pay:

Teacher Quentin Mastin and assistant principal Don Bartch were suspended for unprofessional conduct and neglect of duty because of the staged attack...

via WBIR

I'm very surprised that more attention hasn't been given to a possible failure of the Wolf Creek Dam. This could be catastrophic on a NO Katrina scale. Check out Davidson County. I hope any of you guys living in the inundation zones have flood insurance and a "get the hell out of Dodge" plan. According to the US Army Corps of Engineers the estimated damage in case of a failure is over $3 billion in damages...not to mention the possible loss of lives.

Link to view all maps here

Continuing a fine tradition of outdoing itself year over year, Knoxville-based AC Entertainment scores yet another coup, signing The Police to headline at Bonnaroo during their forthcoming 30th anniversary / reunion tour.

I doff my cap to Ashley Capps.

I look forward to seeing the rest of the list on Feb. 14. However, thank you for the early Valentine.

And I'll admit, it made a liar of me. I said that it would take a Kinks reunion to have me attend. With this announcement, I think you may have exceeded whatever expectations I might have had.

They warned you in November.

They are warning you again.

THE DAM MIGHT BREAK! Are you listening? I think they are out of disaster assistance funds.

By John Mark Hancock
Copyrighted – All Rights Reserved

As 2007 gets into full swing, without much snow yet in the Great Smoky Mountains, the University of Tennessee men’s basketball team is finding tough sledding on the road after some major successes in December. It appears that Head Coach Bruce Pearl’s young team, while they overachieved in the early part of this still-young season, has been humbled and brought back to earth with three straight losses on the road, all of which were bitter and hard fought at the end.

The fiery Pearl, who nearly got tossed out of the game on the Plains when he was assessed a technical foul down the stretch while protesting an egregious call by a referee, lost three games in a row for the first time in his entire 15-year coaching career last night at Auburn. The Volunteers blew a 14-point lead late in the game, which when combined with the very poor officiating and the fact that star Chris Lofton never got to the free throw line while the Tigers shot multiple free tosses throughout the game, led to a 3-point loss.

Read more after the jump...

...the failure of the Wolf Creek Dam?

By way of today's Tennessean, it appears that the Corps of Engineers is working with federal, state, and local agencies to address the issue of aging infrastructure in the Cumberland River Valley:

The potential for a catastrophic failure of the aging Wolf Creek Dam in Kentucky has many Middle Tennessee emergency planners mulling a Katrina-like scenario and preparing evacuation plans.

A break at the dam, where damp spots indicate growing seepage, could send the contents of the largest reservoir east of the Mississippi River roaring down the Cumberland River.

In a worst-case scenario, major flooding would occur in Celina, Hartsville, Gallatin, Hendersonville, Mt. Juliet, Goodlettsville, Lakewood and Nashville, according to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Corps officials say that while a large-scale disaster is possible, it's not likely, and they're monitoring the situation closely.

The Corps' performance during Katrina is not entirely reassuring.

If you live along the corridor, it might be a good idea to reassess your home insurance policy for catastrophic flooding...

Look out Middle Tennesseans, when the Corps of Engineers take action you better have real good insurance. Of course, Tennessee has Bill Frist and Lamar Alexander to help protect citizens, just like Trent Lott in Mississippi with Katrina. Louisiana was just a litle too leftist to get the Corps to do their job.

Good luck, Middle Tennessee! Hope the Corps gets the job done before Wolf Creek becomes as famous as Katrina.

Just a quickie update for the weekend...

From a high of 99 today in the 3 o'clock hour (CDT), the temperature is now down to 77 in the 6 o'clock hour and falling.

Some high winds are coming with this change, but for those of you out east, you might have a cooler weekend to look forward to.

Enjoy. It's a sorely needed break from all this darned heat.

It's budget shortfall time in Tennessee, and the end of the fiscal year is upon us, so you know what that means.

Metro is on pace to collect more than $6 million in traffic fines during this fiscal year, the same amount the city has estimated it will collect next year, city officials said.

The latest figures put to rest speculation that Metro police would have to step up the number of tickets issued next year to reach the city's revenue estimates.

Metro officials had expected they would collect $4.5 million in traffic fines during the fiscal year ending June 30.

Anyone coming through on their way to Bonnaroo, for example, take heed.

Reverend Fred "God Hates Fags" Phelps is coming to Oak Grove, KY to "protest" at a memorial service for the fallen soldiers of the 101st from nearby Ft. Campbell, KY.

The theory is that grieving family members need a reminder that God is punishing America's abominable behavior in endorsing the gay, uh, lifestyle? Agenda?

Whatever it is, Phelps isn't known for espousing dog-whistle views on religion. The running notion is that God is punishing America by killing American soldiers with roadside bombs.

(more on the flip)

As the history of the civil rights movement is written, sprawling passages are rightfully dedicated to the legacy of Dr. James Lawson, once dubbed "the leading nonviolence theorist in the world" by Martin Luther King, Jr.

Lawson was recently bestowed with the title of Distinguished Alumnus from Vanderbilt University, the school from which he was expelled for his role in orchestrating The Nashville Lunch Counter Sit-Ins.

MP3 of his 2006 keynote address at Vanderbilt can be found here.

And courtesy of today's Tennessean, there's an anecdote about the power of faith, forgiveness, and walking the walk.

Lawson finished his studies at Boston University, then came back to Tennessee, eventually moving to Memphis as pastor of a large church. He became involved in the sanitation workers' strike, and it was at Lawson's invitation that his close friend King came to Memphis, where he was assassinated.

A few months later, Lawson was having breakfast with his wife and saw a picture in the newspaper of James Earl Ray in his Memphis jail cell. He told his wife that he was going to try to visit Ray. Curious to see what kind of person could do such a horrible thing, Lawson wrote down some questions he wanted to ask, then went to the jail. Ray was told only that a minister was visiting, and he granted permission for Lawson to see him.

Lawson said that when he walked into that cell, he saw the most lost and forlorn man he had ever met. He balled up the paper with his questions and put it in his pocket and instead talked to Ray as a minister. After a while, he asked Ray if he would like for him to pray, and when the answer was yes, he knelt on the floor of the jail and prayed. As he stood to leave, Lawson asked Ray if he would like for him to come back again, and Ray replied that he would.

So over the next several months, Lawson became Ray's prison minister.

When people ask me why I decided to call Tennessee home (being an Illinois native by birth), I point them to this -- the rich, historic, and living legacy of the people and communities.