Wed
Feb 19 2025
06:58 am

MapQuest - which calls itself “the OG of online mapping” on BlueSky ― has refused to make the change. “Our maps are like grandma’s Thanksgiving recipes — once they’re printed, they’re not changing. The Gulf of Mexico stays put on MapQuest,” it announced last month.

MapQuest is now offering a Gulf of ... map generator.

Check out MapQuest next time.

GulfofFlamingos20250219.jpg

Tue
Feb 18 2025
05:21 pm

The JFK Library in Boston is closed indefinitely because of federal job cuts, a source close to the situation tells WBZ-TV.
...
The source said the chief federal officer at the library was told to immediately fire all probationary employees, which primarily covers federal workers who are in their first year or two of employment and don't have civil service protections yet.

Not Roosevelt, not LBJ, not Clinton, etc. I guess he's mad at Caroline.

Vanderbilt is one of several research universities nationally very concerned about cuts to NIH grant funding. We went inside on drug lab with a lead researcher to see exactly what is at stake.

A look inside a Vanderbilt medical lab dependent on NIH funding

Tue
Feb 18 2025
10:49 am

A bill introduced in the Tennessee General Assembly could change the face of Townsend if passed. Entered in the House of Representatives and Senate Feb. 5, the text could allow the Blount Partnership to remove its Townsend Event Center from the city limits, possibly negating Townsend’s ability to regulate festivals and other events on the grounds.

Losing the event center could be a blow to revenues in a city that depends on sales tax for a large portion of its budget, officials said...
...
Ordinarily, cities must initiate deannexation themselves or approve a request from the property owner. The bill, introduced by Tennessee Rep. Tom Stinnett in the House and Sen. Tom Hatcher in the Senate, would give tourism development authorities the power to deannex their property from the adjoining municipality by giving notice, providing a property map and settling debts. Both Stinnett and Hatcher indicated they filed the bill at the request of the Blount Partnership.
...

Townsend Mayor Don Prater said Friday that although he has “regular meetings” with Blount Partnership CEO Bryan Daniels, no one in local or state leadership ever reached out to him about the potential legislation change.

Wow. Disgusting.

Mon
Feb 17 2025
08:25 pm
By: bizgrrl

Margie Ison, beloved news and weather person who captivated audiences all across East Tennessee, passed away at 84...

Ison worked at 6 News in the late 70’s and returned in the mid 90’s. She not only brought viewers the weather, but also told impactful stories of people across East Tennessee.

Ison was a fixture in Knoxville. Well loved and respected.

The $150,000 for the parking lot beneath James White Parkway, which will need Knoxville City Council approval at its March 4 meeting, will be used to pave the gravel lot and paint parking spaces, Kincannon said.

Under the parkway is one way to park near Sevier Avenue. Knoxville wants to make it easier

Mon
Feb 17 2025
06:53 am

We watch the Daytona 500 every year. We lived near Daytona for nearly 20 years and love the races. We primarily watch IMSA races and have attended several in Daytona. But, NASCAR is fun to watch as well. We did attend the Pepsi 400 a couple of times.

Yesterday, we could hardly watch the race. The announcers were slobbering all over the president. They did a flyover then they did some laps in the presidential entourage. Then they interviewed him. It was like another rally.

Luckily, it rained and the president left and the race was delayed for many hours. We did not have to watch.

If this administration is trying to slash spending, this is not a way to do it. But, hey, what's a couple of million dollars here and there?

New insight tonight into a group of voters that helped swing the 2024 presidential race, those that voted for Democrats in prior elections, but for Donald Trump this past November.

Voted for Democrats in prior elections but for Donald Trump this November

Sat
Feb 15 2025
06:51 am

Officials were given hours to fire hundreds of employees, and workers were shut out of email as termination notices arrived. The terminations were part of a broader group of dismissals at the Department of Energy, where reportedly more than a thousand federal workers were terminated. It was all a result of Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) initiative to slash the federal workforce and what Musk and President Trump characterize as excessive government spending.
...
On Thursday, officials were told that the vast majority of the exemptions they had asked for were denied by the Trump administration.
...
On Friday, an employee still at NNSA told NPR that the firings are now "paused," in part because of the chaotic way in which they unfolded. Another employee had been contacted and told that their termination had been "rescinded." But some worried the damage had already been done. Nuclear security is highly specialized, high-pressure work, but it's not particularly well paid, one employee told NPR. Given what's unfolded over the past 24 hours, "why would anybody want to take these jobs?" they asked.

NNSA held an all-staff meeting Friday morning, announcing the DOE had agreed to pause the layoffs, due to the agency's national security mission.

It gets better and better.

Fri
Feb 14 2025
01:37 pm

Elon wears his Trump cap like a crown
He calls his child Lil X
'Cause he likes the name
And he takes him to the strangest room in town
Elon, Elon likes his money
He makes a lot, they say
Spends his days counting
burning cars on the motorway

CHORUS

He was born a to wealthy white family
When the New York Times said, "God is dead
And the war's begun"
Oh, the Musks have a son today

And he shall be Elon
And he shall be a bad man
And he shall be Elon
In tradition with the emerald man
And he shall be Elon
And he shall be a doge man
He shall be Elon

Elon has cartoon goons in tow
His car business slides
Elon blows up rockets all day
Sits on the porch swing watching them die
And Elon, he wants to go to Mars
Leave us all far behind
Take a rocket and go soaring
While we all, we all slowly die

CHORUS REPEATS

Fri
Feb 14 2025
07:14 am

Fourteen states have filed a federal lawsuit against President Donald Trump and Elon Musk, challenging Musk's role as head of the new Department of Government Efficiency and accusing him of being a "designated agent of chaos" whose "sweeping authority" is in violation of the U.S. Constitution.

"There is no greater threat to democracy than the accumulation of state power in the hands of a single, unelected individual," says the lawsuit, filed by New Mexico Attorney General Raul Torrez and officials from Arizona, Michigan, Maryland, Minnesota, California, Nevada, Vermont, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Oregon, Washington and Hawaii. "Although our constitutional system was designed to prevent the abuses of an 18th century monarch, the instruments of unchecked power are no less dangerous in the hands of a 21st century tech baron." Two of the 14 states are led by Republican governors.


This is a separate lawsuit from the one 19 state attorney generals sued over Treasury data on 2/8/2025.

This is also separate from the lawsuit filed by 22 states over cuts Medical Research Funding (NIH).

Once again, be thankful there are some states, groups, organizations and individuals willing and able to stand up to these oligarchs.

Thu
Feb 13 2025
05:03 pm

From AL.com, Al.abama Media.

JD Crowe: Elon Musk promotes Trump to ‘Toddler'.

A White House press conference turned into a battle for attention between President Musk’s 4-year-old son and a befuddled elderly guy trying to nap in the Oval Office.

Then there's Rick Bragg. I miss P.J. O'Rourke.

Topics:

Earlier today I asked, "Can the President take back our Federal deposits?"

The answer is, Yes.

About 250 Huntsville Utilities customers were in for a surprise when they received letters notifying them their accounts were about to be debited $100 to take care of their electric bills.
...
That’s because the assistance they were receiving through grants..., were revoked following an executive order from President Donald Trump.

Thu
Feb 13 2025
06:43 am

Millions of people in the U.S. receive direct funding from the Federal government. Is it now the norm for the current administration to randomly take back funding that has already been deposited in our bank accounts?

That is what the current administration did to New York City. They were distributed $80 million in congressionally-appropriated FEMA funds. The money was in the bank account of New York City.

Then, the current administration went to the bank and took back the congressionally-appropriated FEMA funds. They went to a bank and took money out of a bank account that was not theirs. New York City did not approve of this withdrawal. Congress did not approve of this withdrawal. If they can do this to New York City, imagine what they can do to you, an individual.

Wed
Feb 12 2025
04:51 pm

Mayor Indya Kincannon said that because of more than 120 years of wear and tear, the Gay Street Bridge will never be able to return to the level of traffic that it was being used for previously.

It is expected the bridge will be reopened to pedestrian and bike traffic, and may be open to emergency vehicle use in the future, although more information is needed.
...
Jason Brady from Gresham Smith said the plan is for the City to work to replace the bridge in the next five to 10 years.

Wow! A bit of an inconvenience I'd say.

Topics:

Cars, with the exception of public buses and emergency vehicles, will never be able to drive again on the Gay Street Bridge, city leaders announced at a press conference on Wednesday.
The bridge is set to reopen to only pedestrians and cyclists in late 2025 or early 2026, due to the severity of the damage discovered in June 2024.

City leaders announce Gay Street Bridge will not reopen to cars

Knoxville mayor: Gay Street Bridge will not reopen to motor vehicles

Topics:
Wed
Feb 12 2025
04:44 pm
By: bizgrrl

Devo_Pres_20250212.jpg

Elon Musk humiliated President Donald Trump during Tuesday’s joint press conference in the Oval Office, which left Trump looking like the “most powerless” U.S. president ever caught on camera, MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell said on The Last Word.

The Devolution is happening.

H/T Drudge.

Not that I should be insulting Devo. Love the band.

“We are facing a Wild West situation,” said Mark Pieth, a criminal law professor at the University of Basel in Switzerland and anti-bribery law expert. “It will be everyone against everyone.”

Trump's halt of US law banning business bribes abroad raises specter of a 'Wild West' of dealmaking

Tue
Feb 11 2025
09:44 am


A coalition of 22 attorneys general sued the federal government,
claiming that the $4 billion in cuts would “grind to a halt” studies on cancer, heart disease and other conditions.

This is a separate lawsuit from the one 19 state attorney generals sued over Treasury data.

A federal judge on Monday temporarily blocked the National Institutes of Health from cutting research funding in 22 states that filed suit earlier in the day

Thus, Tennessee and every other southeastern state, except North Carolina, are still prevented from receiving National Institutes of Health research funding.

"In addition to Massachusetts, Arizona, California, Connecticut, Colorado, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, , Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington and Wisconsin are a part of the lawsuit."

Again, be thankful there are some states, groups, organizations and individuals willing and able to stand up to these oligarchs.

Tue
Feb 11 2025
06:51 am

Again, "New life ahead for Standard Knitting Mill."

"...the new baseball stadium is sparking growth in the underdeveloped east side of Knoxville, creating opportunities for housing, businesses and community engagement.

“The redevelopment at the mill site will transform it into a mixed-use destination featuring residential lofts, boutique retail, dining and office spaces” – all within walking distance of the new stadium."

I love how Sandra adds the historic information about the site. Quite fascinating. 3,000 employees, 3 shifts, making t-shirts and underwear. "Built in 1900, the Standard Knitting Mill was once the largest textile mill of its kind, producing millions of garments annually and earning Knoxville the title ‘Underwear Capital of the World."

From five years ago,
* Knoxville Standard Knitting Mill site to be turned into mixed-use development
* Standard Knitting Mill Proposal

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