There has been some discussion as to why "Michigan is now in the midst of an overwhelming [coronavirus] surge that began about six weeks ago."

It has been noted that "Michigan is among the states with the highest rate of the more-contagious B.1.1.7 variant (57.6% of new cases compared to 44.1% for the US).

However, the CDC reports that as of March 27, 2021, Tennessee has the highest rate of the more-contagious B.1.1.7 variant, 60.5%

From the CNN report, "The likeliest explanation for the Michigan surge is a mix of all of the above: a very transmissible viral variant is spreading one step ahead of the vaccination among those newly eligible for it, with some contribution from a premature, partial return to normal life. And this is where politics is rearing its ugliest head."

Let's hope that we are not in for a surge like Michigan.

There are Dogwood Trails in all four corners of Knoxville.

The Dogwood Arts Festival will be held at the World's Fair Park this year, April 23-25, 2021.

Ancient Lore Village, a fantasy-themed event space in South Knoxville, is now open for business.

Fantasy-themed event space Ancient Lore Village opens in South Knoxville

They are not doing harm while focused on stuff like this.

House Bill 930 was filed in February by Representative Chris Hurt. The Senate version of the bill, SB 925, is scheduled for a vote Tuesday.

The ladder could become ‘official state tool’ of Tennessee

ROADS AND BRIDGES: In Tennessee there are 881 bridges and over 270 miles of highway in poor condition.

DRINKING WATER: Over the next 20 years, Tennessee’s drinking water infrastructure will require $8.7 billion in additional funding.

The Need for Action in Tennessee

White House report highlights Tennessee's infrastructure needs

A KPD officer is one of the victims.

It just happened.

I feel so sorry for everyone at the school, in the community, and the police.

This past season, me and my teammates on the East Tennessee State men’s basketball team decided that we were going to kneel during the national anthem. We wanted to continue to shine some light on racial injustice and police brutality in this country.

Our head coach, Jason Shay, fully supported our decision and had our backs every step of the way.

Then, last week, after our season ended, Coach Shay abruptly “resigned.”

Our Coach Should Still Be Our Coach

Join the Knoxville Electric Vehicle Association, Ijams Nature Center, Drive Electric Tennessee, and East Tennessee Clean Fuels Coalition for Knoxville's Drive Electric Earth Day event on Saturday, April 10, from 10 am-3 pm on the Ijams Visitor Center plaza.

Electric vehicle owners will bring their cars, including Nissan Leaf, Chevy Volt, BMW, Toyota, Tesla, Honda, Kia, Audi. They will also answer questions.

Washington Post:

When it comes to rates of vaccination, Mississippi still has a way to go, with just a quarter of all residents having received at least one dose compared to the nationwide average of 33 percent, according to state data.

According to the CDC, Tennessee, Alabama and Georgia, have similarly low rates of vaccination.

According to the Washington Post,
* In Mississippi, nearly half of all Republican men and 40 percent of Republicans over all have said they do not plan to get vaccinated,
* Mississippi’s large Black community, which comprises 38 percent of the state’s population but accounts for 31 percent of the doses administered,
* Tim Callaghan, an assistant professor at the Texas A&M University School of Public Health and an expert on vaccine skepticism, said that more research was needed to divine the reasons behind Mississippi’s slackening vaccine demand but that states with large rural populations, Republican voters and African-Americans were likely to be the first to confront the problem.

Hard Knox Wire: Bill makes panhandling and camping on on public property illegal. "They are criminalizing being poor” in a "cynical exchange for conservative votes."

Hellbender Press, "The Environmental Journal of Southern Appalachia" and former labor of love for our late friend Rikki Hall, is back. The masthead has several familiar names.

Their latest article, The battle of Flenniken Branch, is about the developer of a Maryville Pike property in South Knox County facing multiple state and county citations over alleged sediment pollution.

KCHD’s new online registration process for COVID-19 vaccine appointments went live as of 9 a.m. this morning. The public may access the system on KCHD’s Vaccine Information webpage at https://covid.knoxcountytn.gov/vaccine-info.html

In related news, the Knox Co. Health Dept. is seeking volunteers to help with COVID-19 vaccines. From KCHD:

Q: If people would like to sign up to volunteer at the vaccine clinics, how can they do that?

A: If people would like to sign up, they can go to (link...). We need volunteers for several different positions, including clinical and non-clinical. They range from people who welcome patients at the door to those who can give a vaccine.

Q: What is the average amount of volunteers used at each vaccine clinic?

A: KCHD uses anywhere from 12 - 60 volunteers depending on the size of the clinic and how many other resources we have available. The 12-60 volunteers are made up of general volunteers who sign up using the (link...) website as well as staff provided by federal resources, such as FEMA and the National Guard. The federal resources are starting to decrease, so the number of volunteers needed will begin to increase soon.

The exposed data includes personal information of over 533 million Facebook users from 106 countries, including over 32 million records on users in the US, 11 million on users in the UK, and 6 million on users in India. It includes their phone numbers, Facebook IDs, full names, locations, birthdates, bios, and in some cases email addresses.

Facebook reports the data is old, from 2019 and prior. However, if the user had Facebook data back then, it could be a problem.

DTV's Michael Davis discusses the 2021 City Council Election with council member Lauren Rider as she launches her campaign for re-election tonight. DTV can be seen on CTV tonight, April 2 @ 9:30 pm on the following cable channels:

AT&T Uverse: Channel 99
Comcast NBC Universal: Channel 12
WOW! Channel 6
Charter: Channel 193

DTV streams live at here!

The DTV show will be available after 9:30 PM on Facebook here:
(link...)

Wednesday, President Biden began selling his proposal to "Rebuild Infrastructure and Reshape the Economy."

Sen. Bill Hagerty visits East TN on Tuesday to praise Denso, "applauding its growth, despite the pandemic." He also shared his concern for rural hospitals, "I’m particularly concerned about our rural hospitals."

What about the pandemic Sen. Hagerty? Are you doing anything to help the country and people to survive? He voted against the recent stimulus bill, as did Rep. Burchett.

Rep. Tim Burchett announced his economic policy initiative on Wednesday. "I know we can find bipartisan ways to prioritize solutions that work..."

Hah, Burchett and bipartisan shouldn't be in the same sentence.

On Thursday, April 1, Burchett announced “President Biden is caving to the far-left with his ‘infrastructure plan.’ The reality is only 5% of this proposal goes towards repairing our roads; the rest is about progressive priorities like the Green New Deal..."

Maybe Burchett doesn't understand infrastructure is much more than just roads. Or maybe it's an April Fools joke.

Tennessee was deemed the worst place to live in the world for Covid-19 transmission this past winter. That didn’t happen by accident; it has been a snowball of failures in leadership, lack of education, and tourism economies being left to fend for themselves.

'Vaccine interlopers’ exploit chaotic policies to skip line in rural Tennessee

The person, who has not been identified, was flung about 10 feet out of the cart and landed on the track, according to an accident report filed by Gatlinburg Mountain Coaster. The rider was taken to the hospital.

A rider was ejected from a Gatlinburg, Tennessee, roller coaster and flung onto the tracks

Clear skies, full lungs means a win for all as Knoxville's air quality improves

The new owners [of the old Hyatt, Marriott, Hotel Knoxville] have submitted an application to the Knoxville-Knox County Planning Commission to use the site as a senior housing facility.

I would never have guessed that this would be how this facility would turn out. Back in the day there were so many huge events held in that building. There used to be a great Easter banquet and so much more.

Such an icon. I guess grand hotels are out of style?

About 2.2 million people, who earn too much for Medicaid and too little for Obamacare subsidies, fall in that coverage gap nationwide, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation.

Their positions have ignored much evidence that states that have expanded did not take on additional cost burdens and increased coverage saved American lives.

The conversation around Medicaid expansion appears to be undergoing a new and dramatic shift in some of the holdout states, however. Central to that change is the Biden administration’s offer, via its Covid-19 relief bill, of increased federal dollars over two years to states that adopt expansion for the first time. It’s expected that funding could cover the states’ Medicaid costs for that period.

'Changed hearts and minds': Biden's funding offer shifts Medicaid expansion debate