The Neyland Entertainment District Project marked a milestone Wednesday by announcing the official name and brand identity: 865 Neyland.

The mixed-use entertainment district, hotel and residential tower are currently under development adjacent to Neyland. The project is a public-private partnership between the University of Tennessee and 865 Neyland, a development team of real estate and sports entertainment experts. The project includes retail and dining space, along with a condo-hotel and parking, totaling an estimated $280 million in private investment.

"public-private partnership", "$280 million in private investment"...

How much in public investment?

Well.....

Don't know what to say. Except, where to park? Too bad there can still be nothing done to make the river front special.

I've been told by those in the know at a different university that this is the thing universities are doing these days to attract students. Not sure I understand why UT Knoxville needs more students.

The Jefferson City Council approved a new five-year water and sewer rate plan on Tuesday that will increase the water and sewer rates by 16 percent for the first 2,000 gallons used.
...
The city council is planning for another 16 percent on July 1 of next year.

City Manager James Gallup said they conduct a study every five years. They also "sought advice from an independent financial advisor." This study shows the council what the rates need to be at in order to straighten out the enterprise revenue to be self-sustaining for the city’s operations and future capital improvements.

Seems like something has gone wrong in Jefferson City to force a 16% price increase for water for two years.

Took a quick trip to Cades Cove this morning. It was beautiful, as usual.

A bear was spotted up at the top of an approximately 75-100 foot Oak Tree hunting for acorns. We were told there were a couple of cubs but we did not see them.

The Administration plans to announce Monday that the United States will no longer limit the planet-warming pollution that power plants pump into the air while burning coal and gas...

The shift by the Environmental Protection Agency would complete the administration’s erasure of the most consequential climate policies of Presidents Joseph R. Biden Jr. and Barack Obama.

If the move survives expected legal challenges, it could also prevent future administrations from regulating greenhouse gas emissions from power plants.

Don't see how that could be true. There is always a way for future administrations to change regulations. Duh.

The power sector is the second largest source of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases in the United States. This pollution accumulates in the atmosphere, where it traps the sun’s heat, raising temperatures and supercharging extreme weather events around the globe.

Mark Carney’s Audacious Bid to Make Canada an ‘Associate Member’ of the EU. As trade talks with the U.S. collapse, prime minister pursues a major—and risky—pivot to Europe.

U.S. inflation accelerated last month as gas prices spiked... The consumer price index rose 3.4% last month compared with a year ago... inflation quickened month to month as costs jumped 0.4% from July, quadrupling the 0.1% registered in the previous month.

Inflation remains stubbornly elevated more than five years after prices soared as the economy emerged from the pandemic.
...
Gas prices jumped 3.9% just from July to August, Friday’s report said, leaving gas prices more than 27% higher than a year earlier.

Gas prices soar as [the President] seeks to reassure Republicans. GasBuddy, which tracks fuel prices, says "every truck, every delivery, every package, every grocery run just got more expensive."

We're in trouble and our Government isn't doing anything to help. The President is more concerned with golf, ballrooms, and gilded accessories.

Repost from Sept. 11, 2011...

Joeseph Angelini, Sr., 63, Firefighter, FDNY Rescue Co. 1 and son Joseph Angelini, Jr., 38, Firefighter, FDNY Ladder Co. 4 died at the World Trade Center working to rescue people trapped in the towers on Sept. 11, 2001. The Fire Department of New York City lost 343 members that day.

Here are some audio recordings of heroic firefighters at work. The calm among the chaos is surreal.

• Manhattan Fire Dispatch gets the first alarm.

• Dispatch receives report that a second plane has struck.

• Dispatch responds to first tower collapse.

• A civilian takes refuge in a fire truck and calls for help.

• Dispatch responds to second tower collapse.

• Captain Al Fuentes, FDNY Marine Division Battalion Chief, was crushed by a falling steel girder while helping rescue firefighters from the collapsed North Tower. He survived, but suffered serious injuries and was in a coma for weeks. Here is his call for help. Note that the dispatcher is unable to raise several command units to assist.

• Captain Orio Palmer, Battalion 7 Chief, age 45, was one of the last FDNY heroes heard from at the WTC. On learning that the operating elevators only went to the 40th floor, he is heard in one transmission saying "We'll have to hoof it." He was leading a team up the stairs, reporting back to command what he saw. He had made it to the 78th floor alone when the South Tower collapsed. Recordings of firefighter mobile radios from a Port Authority radio repeater were found in the rubble. Here are some of Captain Palmer's final transmissions.

On the 10th 25th anniversary of the September 11th attacks, we pay tribute to the first responders who gave their lives and salute first responders everywhere who risk their own lives to save others.

Linguists and psychologists have come up for a term to describe Donald Trump's need for royal accessories like ballrooms, triumphal arches, and adoring crowds--regis envy.

Seen along the road in Blount County.

It's Joe Biden's fault.

Heh.

Jerri Green, the Democratic nominee for TN Governor, and Marsha Blackburn, the Republican nominee, participated in the Nashville Banner’s 30-issue policy questionnaire, which highlights the contrast between the pair, who split on nearly every issue, each following their party’s view.

Since there will probably be no debate. Green keeps offering to debate Blackburn, but Blackburn doesn't seem up to it.

Nashville-based O’Charley’s Restaurant & Bar is closing all its remaining locations nationwide, including its eight locations in Middle Tennessee, according to multiple employees.

O’Charley’s has disabled its social media accounts...

But, their website appeared to let me order from the Alcoa store. I didn't complete the order, thus don't know if my order would have been accepted.

On Friday, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the dismissal of a lawsuit against the city of Jackson, Mississippi, which alleged the city knowingly let residents drink lead-contaminated water.

The lawsuit, first filed in 2022, says the contamination violated Jacksonians’ constitutional right to bodily integrity. Donald Trump-appointed judge Kurt Engelhardt disagreed. “The Constitution does not provide redress for every governmental wrongdoing,” Engelhardt said. “Defendants’ actions allegedly deprived Plaintiffs of clean water and guileless information. These deprivations, while grievous, do not infringe upon any deeply rooted constitutional right.”

That may be true in Mississippi—but on the state level in at least nine US states, and in more than a dozen other countries, clean drinking water is in fact a protected right.

The President on Sunday appeared to suggest that New Mexico should be called “New America,” posting a photo of the state with the new name...

In posts on Sunday, the elderly president, whose cognitive health has come under mounting scrutiny, depicted [Former President George] Washington sitting beside him in the Oval Office with the caption, "President Washington visits current President."

One of the posts showed an apparently AI-generated design board for a Space Force uniform that seemed to borrow design cues from the evil Galactic Empire in Star Wars.

The president, who is facing mounting voter dissatisfaction over his handling of the economy and the cost of living, capped his hours-long posting spree with a glowing tribute to his opulent Mar-a-Lago estate.

Whereas,

Diesel hits record high as Ukraine and Iran wars knock out refineries, fueling inflation worries...

Truckers in the U.S. are paying an average of $5.85 a gallon nationwide, a nearly 60% increase over the same period last year when diesel cost $3.71 a gallon.

Gas prices have reached record highs on Labor Day across the country ...
Drivers are facing an average gas price of $4.15 per gallon this Labor Day weekend, according to the American Automobile Association (AAA), nearly a dollar higher than last year and the steepest Labor Day price for gas on record, according to fuel savings platform GasBuddy.

The US energy secretary, however, says gas prices could drop as Americans drive less after summer.

University of Tennessee Pride of the Southland Band performs a halftime tribute to Dolly Parton.

Via Facebook

Via Knoxnews.

What an excellent marching band.

Via Saturday Down South, UT fans singalong to I Will Always Love You.

Tennessee has received nearly $207 million through the Rural Health Transformation Program from the Federal Government, but the first grants aren’t going toward hospitals, ambulances, or medical clinics.

Instead, the Tennessee Department of Health announced the initial recipients are organizations and cities for 53 projects focused on building walking trails, sidewalks, community gardens, fitness programs, social gathering spaces, and inclusive playgrounds across 44 counties.

Whereas, many, if not most, states are using the funds for actual Healthcare needs.

Arkansas, $10 million to replace ambulances and add telehealth communications, connectivity and patient-monitoring equipment, data sharing, training, and a Patient Navigation Hub.
$6.3 million to upgrade rural hospitals and clinics with specialty telehealth, AI-enabled SMART rooms, telemetry and imaging equipment, digital integration, and emergency teleconsultation capability.

Georgia, Expanding training and education for nurses, emergency medical technicians and paramedics
Expanding access and strengthening telehealth access points, maternal and behavioral healthcare, newborn screening, transportation and other services to improve access to care.

Even in bright red Florida, The funding will support more than 80 awards serving communities across 31 rural counties, home to nearly 1.2 million Floridians. Awardees include hospitals, Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs), rural health clinics, and other health care providers and community organizations working to meet the unique needs of rural Floridians

Michaela Barnett is running for the U.S. House of Representatives, District 02. When she wins, Burchett (with 2 Ts) will be out of a job.

Barnett held a Town Hall at the Blount County library in downtown Maryville, TN. The attendance overwhelmed the room, about 150 people. They had to bring in more chairs and remove tables. It was great. I was surprised to see about 20% of the audience were young people.

Barnett spoke for a few minutes, then opened up the room for questions.

IMO, Barnett is an excellent replacement for Burchett. She cares about the people. She will be accountable to her constituents. She will try to get laws passed to bring back healthcare. She will work in Washington, not just walk around shaking hands saying dadgum (my word, not hers). Her issues are more than just Yetis and UFOs. She's educated, intelligent, and experienced.

I asked her how she thinks she can beat Burchett, with him getting 86,000 votes and her getting 38,000 votes in the primary, both unopposed. She said that was the primary. Many people voted in the Republican primary for specific seats, e.g. Marsha for governor. In addition, her campaign is highly organized. They have over 1,100 volunteers. They have 7 full-time employees. Barnett's campaign is the best funded opponent Tim Burchett has ever had. So far they have raised over $500,000. Keep on giving.

She has a plan to push for a return to healthcare for most, with a look to the future for universal coverage. Restore ACA premium tax cuts. The current administration spent more money bailing out Argentina than what is needed to provide healthcare in the U.S. She wants to raise Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement rates for rural areas.

Barnett said she is ok with nuclear power as long as all are held to the highest standards. She is against using Tennessee as a storage facility for nuclear waste from other states. She wants to replace coal with other alternatives.

Barnett said she will work towards campaign funding limits, term limits, and to overturn Citizens United.

More was said but I had to leave early.

Support Michaela Barnett for the U.S. House of Representatives. She's a true replacement for Burchett.

Gloria Steinem, a trailblazing journalist and activist who devoted her life to fighting for women's rights, died on Wednesday. She was 92.

Starting in the 1960s, at a time when women were largely limited to domestic roles, Steinem challenged gender stereotypes and championed feminist ideals like equality, sisterhood and reproductive freedom. In doing so, she inspired generations of women to do the same. Today, she's a household name that is synonymous with the women's rights movement.

"Because of her work, across America and around the world, more women are afforded the respect and opportunities that they deserve," then-President Barack Obama said when he awarded Steinem the Presidential Medal of Freedom for her commitment to activism in 2013. "She also changed how women thought about themselves."

Wikipedia - Gloria Marie Steinem (/ˈstaɪnəm/ STY-nəm; March 25, 1934 – September 2, 2026) was an American journalist and social movement activist who emerged as a nationally recognized leader of second-wave feminism in the United States in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and who was particularly popular in the 1980s and early 1990s.

The "administration has begun acting on its deep aversion to cycling, revoking federal grants for what it calls “D.E.I. bike lanes.”

tried to remove a bike lane near the White House.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy "have deployed rhetoric that suggests the bicycle is hopelessly lefty, belonging in the same category as green-haired baristas, Rosie O’Donnell and yard signs professing that love is love." Also "told National Public Radio that liberals believe “that everyone should ride a bike to their shoebox-sized apartment to eat crickets to achieve a phony climate agenda.”

Good grief. I'll say it again, this administration is taking us back 50 years.

A new wave of COVID-19 is sweeping the country, with cases on the rise in nearly every state.

As of Aug. 19, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that COVID infections are growing or likely growing in 48 states and declining in zero states.
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The new COVID shots are expected to be rolled out at pharmacies, clinics and hospitals in September, experts say.