The United States Constitution

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

If only the president, the U.S. Attorney General, Sen. McConnell worked within the bounds of our constitution.

NEW: We’ve obtained this letter addressed to the Board of Health by @GregIsaacsLaw ahead of tonight’s scheduled meeting. pic.twitter.com/gpn64lysQw

— Elizabeth Kuebel (@elizabethkuebel) September 16, 2020

So who's with us and who's against us? I know who I won't be patronizing any more. It should also be noted that there's a lobbying effort underway to get one of these restaurant owners, Randy Burleson (Aubrey's), on the board of health as a "citizen representative."

48 days.

48 days.

Take a drive back in time through Knoxville's historic neighborhoods - Bearden, East and North Knoxville.

Oh, "they're currently developing a South Knoxville tour as well."

Alas, they'll get around to South Knoxville.

There's a clear and present danger in the White House, the US Senate, statehouses, and county courthouses all over America. Don't believe the polls. Don't waste your time trying to reason with the 30%. Facts, logic, reason, empathy, compassion, patriotism and other quaint notions no longer apply. Get your asses to the polls. Vote early. Vote blue. Wear a mask. Wash your hands. This is it. Our last stand.

Trump visited California today.

Wade Crowfoot, secretary of California's Natural Resources Agency, pled for Trump to believe the climate change science.

Trump's response, "I don't think science knows, actually."

"It'll start getting cooler. You just watch."

Idiocracy.

There are now 374 ICU beds in the Knox County area. Prior to September 1, 2020, there were 278 beds.

If the local hospitals hadn't added more ICU beds there would be a shortage of 34 ICU beds. There is still only a 16.6% available capacity of ICU beds. This may be the lowest ICU bed availability since 7/21/2020.

Luckily our local hospitals are able to adapt.

Yes, we are all getting tired of the pandemic. We want to go out and play, attend ball games, go on vacation, visit with our friends. It is important to remember that there are many people getting sick and dying. Wear your mask, keep your distance, be kind to others.

2,064 people in the State of Tennessee have died from the coronavirus.

202 deaths were reported in the past week. This may be the highest weekly number of deaths since the pandemic began.

Be safe.

It appears this week may have the highest uptick in coronavirus cases since the pandemic began.
The number of deaths increased by over 8% this past week.

The Knox County Health Department reports
8,186 coronavirus cases and 297 probable cases.

That's 1,002 new cases in the past week, with
222, 169, 81, 100, 121, 120 , 189
as the cases per day for the past week.

That's a 14.% increase over a week ago.

There are 41 Knox County COVID-19 patients currently hospitalized.

There have been 67 total deaths in Knox County from COVID-19.
Five deaths due to COVID-19 in the past week.
That's an 8.1% increase in deaths in the past week (62 as of September 5).
The Knox County Health Dept.'s counts by age are not current and do not match the total number of deaths.
5 in the 18-44 age group (8%)
16 in the 45-64 age group (25%)
14 in the 65-74 age group (22%)
29 in the 75+ age group (45%)

Tests conducted on Knox County residents stabilized after a continuous decline in the last weeks of July into August and September.
3,752 week of August 30, 3,662 week of August 23, 3,982 week of August 16, 4,150 week of August 9, 4,567 week of August 2, 4,412 week of July 19, 4,219 week of July 26
as compared to the steadily increasing testing done at the end of June and the first two weeks of July,
4,425 week of June 28, 5,401 week of July 5, 5,994 week of July 12.

As of September 8, 2020, ICU Bed availability is at 16.6%. (374 ICU beds total with 62 beds available) .
(Note, prior to the 9/1/2020 report, ICU bed capacity was 278. It would appear that Knox County hospitals have increased ICU bed capacity by 96 beds.) (Note, prior to the 8/4/2020 report, ICU bed capacity was 272. It would appear that Knox County hospitals have increased ICU bed capacity by 6 beds.)

According to the TN Dept. of Health, Knox County continues to break the threshold for rate of new covid-19 cases per 100,000 Tennesseans. This threshold is used for decision making processes, e.g. long term care facilities in counties below the threshold for 14 consecutive days may consider allowing visitors.

The County Health Department has a map with the number of coronavirus cases per zip code.
On September 10, 2020, these zip codes were reported with the most cases:
(last reported on September 3)

37920 has the most cases with 606 cases (population 39,000) (16.6% increase)
37921 with 591 (population 28,000) (1.4% increase), then
37918 with 555 cases (population 44,476) (1.5% increase)
37916 with 609 cases (population 12,507) (58.6% increase)
37922 with 426 cases (population 41,539) (0.2% decrease)
37917 with 404 cases (population 27,000) (0.5% increase)
37919 with 434 cases (population 28,000) (8.2% increase)
37923 with 384 cases (population 30,000) (1.3% decrease)

Be careful out there.

From reports dated as of September 12, 2020.

There has been a steady increase in coronavirus (covid-19) cases in Tennessee.

According to the TN Dept. of Health,

170,891 people have tested positive for the coronavirus in TN and 2,064 have died from it.

That is an additional 8,529 cases in one week and an additional 202 reported deaths.

2,437,765 tests have been given to Tennessee residents.
That is an additional 131,733 tests in the past week.

Hospitalizations have decreased. From September 6 to September 12 (7 days) the number of patients hospitalized for the coronavirus has decreased by 17.7% (by 150 from 846 to 696).

7.0% of TN residents tested for the coronavirus have tested positive for the coronavirus.

35.4% of the 6.89 million people estimated to live in TN have been tested for the coronavirus.
However, that may not be true. it is not known how tests are counted when a single person gets tested multiple times. Certain people in certain fields of work (medical, education, sports) or physical ability (nursing home residents, hospital patients) may get tested multiple times.

Be careful out there.

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.

Tiger Tiger, burning bright, 
In forking rivers of the night; 
What mortal call on 9-1-1, 
Could frame thy fearful location?

DTV features a conversation between Tennessee US Senate candidate Marquita Bradshaw and Tennessee US House Candidate Renee Hoyos at 9:30 PM on Friday, September 11. Tune in to get to know our Senatorial candidate in conversation with our Congressional Candidate Renee Hoyos.

Where to watch Democratic TV
Live Stream @ (link...)
AT&T Uverse: Channel 99
Comcast NBC Universal: Channel 12
WOW! Channel 6
Charter: Channel 193
CTV Archives of all DTV Programs since Apr 2018 can be accessed at (link...)
DTV Shows are also archived on YouTube @ DTVKnox: (link...)
Facebook: DTV Knoxville (link...)

Cases skyrocket, frustrations mount, but Knox County Board of Health stays the course

UT Chancellor Donde Plowman knows the situation is dire but appears to feel like help is not on the way. .

"There will be no change for at least another week to the 10 p.m. bar curfew that started about a month ago, despite mounting frustration from some board members over the lack of action and warnings from UT Chancellor Donde Plowman that the situation is dire."
...
Dr. Martha Buchanan, director of the Knox County Health Board, said she had not exercised her authority to impose restrictions on businesses that refused to comply but had reached out to educate them.

"I don't know how we would do it at scale," she said.
...
"222 cases were found on a single day — the largest one-day increase since the pandemic began. Six people have died in the first nine days of September..."
...
"The 11-20 age group have had a 279% growth rate (in cases) in the last couple of weeks."

Chancellor Plowman ...asks for the closing of bars and restaurants around the UT campus.

But nah...

Health Dept. Board member Dr. James Shamiyeh seemed to grow frustrated with the proceedings at one point, saying the chancellor had been growing increasingly urgent in her presentations to the board and public. He worried the board's inaction could be dangerous to the economic and public health of the university and the community.

We got a nice note from former Knox Co. Administrator of Elections Cliff Rodgers regarding absentee voting. Some eligible voters are considering mail-in/absentee voting as a way to minimize risk of exposure to the coronovirus. Others are rightly concerned that the postal service has become politicized and may be actively trying to sabotage mail-in voting.

We voted absentee (over 60) in the recent state primary/local election. We had no problems and were able to confirm that they received our ballots. For the Nov. 3rd election, we are considering voting early in-person, just because this election is so critical. We would also be comfortable voting absentee, but better safe (sort of) than sorry.

For eligible voters who wish to vote absentee, Mr. Rodgers says it's critical to request your ballot immediately and to return it promptly. He says they always get some after the deadline and unfortunately have to notify those voters that their votes weren't counted. He notes that Tennessee law allowing a ballot request up until one week before election day is unrealistic because it does not allow enough time. He has no other concerns about absentee voting in Tennessee.

(Also, there is a lot of bad information circulating on social media from people in other states who advise you to drop your absentee ballot off at the election office to avoid mail delays. This is not allowed in Tennessee. By law, the ballot must be mailed, or, as Mr. Rodgers notes, sent via FedEx or UPS.)

Anyway, you can read Mr. Rodgers' thoughts and observations after the break below...

Downtown Knoxville Greyhound bus station up for sale

There's a clear and present danger in the White House. Vote early. Wear a mask. Wash your hands. This is it. Our last stand.

It appears this week may have the 2nd highest uptick in coronavirus cases since the pandemic began.
The majority of zip codes have double digit increases in cases this week.
The number of deaths increased by nearly 11% this past week.

The Knox County Health Department reports
7,184 coronavirus cases and 263 probable cases.

That's 835 new cases in the past week, with
137, 65, 91, 104, 148, 134, 156
as the cases per day for the past week.

That's a 13.2% increase over a week ago.

There are 41 Knox County COVID-19 patients currently hospitalized.

There have been 62 total deaths in Knox County from COVID-19.
That's a 10.7% increase in deaths in the past week (56 as of August 29).
5 in the 18-44 age group (8%)
16 in the 45-64 age group (26%)
13 in the 65-74 age group (21%)
28 in the 75+ age group (45%)

Tests conducted on Knox County residents continues to decline in the last weeks of July into August and September.
3,134 week of August 23, 3,740 week of August 16, 4,150 week of August 9, 4,567 week of August 2, 4,412 week of July 19, 4,219 week of July 26
as compared to the steadily increasing testing done at the end of June and the first two weeks of July,
4,425 week of June 28, 5,401 week of July 5, 5,994 week of July 12.

As of September 1, 2020, ICU Bed availability is at 22.7%. (278 ICU beds total with 63 beds available) (Note, prior to the 8/4/2020 report, ICU bed capacity was 272. It would appear that Knox County has increased ICU bed capacity by 6 beds.)

According to the TN Dept. of Health, Knox County continues to break the threshold for rate of new covid-19 cases per 100,000 Tennesseans. This threshold is used for decision making processes, e.g. long term care facilities in counties below the threshold for 14 consecutive days may consider allowing visitors.

The County Health Department has a map with the number of coronavirus cases per zip code.
On September 3, 2020, these zip codes were reported with the most cases:
(last reported on August 26)
37921 has the most cases with 583 (population 28,000) (12.3% increase), then
37920 with 561 cases (population 39,000) (16.6% increase)
37918 with 547 cases (population 44,476) (18.9% increase)
37922 with 427 cases (population 41,539) (18.9% increase)
37917 with 402 cases (population 27,000) (8.9% increase)
37919 with 401 cases (population 28,000) (15.9% increase)
37923 with 389 cases (population 30,000) (10.5% increase)
37916 with 384 cases (population 12,507) (increase not calculated, 37916 not included in list previously)

Be careful out there.

From reports dated as of September 5, 2020.

There has been a steady increase in coronavirus (covid-19) cases in Tennessee.

According to the TN Dept. of Health,

162,362 people have tested positive for the coronavirus in TN and 1,862 have died from it.

That is an additional 10,082 cases in one week and an additional 137 reported deaths.

2,306,032 tests have been given to Tennessee residents.
That is an additional 132,626 tests in the past week.

Hospitalizations have increased. From August 29 to September 5 (7 days) the number of patients hospitalized for the coronavirus has increased by 11.3% (by 86 from 760 to 846

7.0% of TN residents tested for the coronavirus have tested positive for the coronavirus.

33.5% of the 6.89 million people estimated to live in TN have been tested for the coronavirus.
However, that may not be true. it is not known how tests are counted when a single person gets tested multiple times. Certain people in certain fields of work (medical, education, sports) or physical ability (nursing home residents, hospital patients) may get tested multiple times.

Be careful out there.