Below is a letter from individuals appealing the Planning Commission’s approval of development at the Kerbela Temple site.

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Friends and Neighbors,

As members of the South Knoxville Community, we are appealing the Planning Commission's approval of the proposed development at the Kerbela Temple site to City Council. Our appeal is NOT against housing at the site. We support housing here. Our concern is ensuring the development follows the South Waterfront Form-Based Code and honors the South Waterfront Vision Plan—both developed with substantial community input.

If, after learning more about the issues, you want to show your support, here's how you can help:

• We are asking you to show your support by attending the City Council meeting at 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday, October 13.
• Wear a green shirt to show your support for South Knoxville and the South Waterfront. No green shirt? No problem! We'll have green ribbons available at the meeting.
• Give us your voice for our statement to Council. We're collecting short statements from community members about what you value about the South Waterfront and what concerns you have regarding the proposed development. Please share 1–3 sentences in your own words. Link to the feedback form: https://forms.gle/p2fDSaeQhMZEMuSY9
• Share this letter with others and encourage them to show up as well. Council needs to understand that many in the community value the South Waterfront Vision Plan and want to see development follow the code.

Appeals are treated differently from other Council matters. Council members may not discuss or open emails pertaining to the appeal. Please do not email or call Council members. If you had previously provided comments to the Planning Commission, Council will see those. Also, please don't sign up to speak. We have identified speakers who will present the appeal and will be using the full 15 minutes allotted. What we need is your presence in the room.

NOTE: this appeal will be listed on Council’s September 29th agenda. However, 1st District Councilwoman, Karyn Adams, will be requesting the item be postponed until the October 13th meeting.

Want to know more? Read on...

“The government and the F.A.A. have failed us.”

.... an 83-pound drone with six blue arms and whirring propellers appeared in a corner of the sky before zipping over nearby houses, looking like a cross between a mechanical dragonfly and an X-wing fighter, and buzzing like a battalion of bees.

...any joy about the innovation has been muted by the sound of dozens of drones, if not more than a hundred of them, flying by every day, sometimes so loud that they sound like flying lawn mowers.

Oh, my, God. Could be as bad or worse than a data center next door. Have you ever had someone in your neighborhood fly a drone near your house? It is not pleasant. Think, too, it's not like a lawn mower that will shut down when the job is complete.

Today's the first day of fall. The weather overnight brought us a taste of Autumn. Yesterday it was 90 degrees or so. Today the high is predicted to be 83. Nice!

Nearly 10% of Tennesseans lived in poverty last year, an estimated 46,000 more than the previous year.

Researchers added that number doesn’t capture just how many people are struggling to make ends meet.

New U.S. Census Bureau estimates found Tennessee’s poverty rate ticked up from 10.1% to 10.7% last year.

41% of Tennessee households "struggled to afford basic necessities in 2024."

The Tennessee Administration decided "not to expand Medicaid and to reject federal funds for a Summer SNAP program."

“Eventually, the legislature went over the head of the governor, and we’re going to be able to get that next summer, but this summer, those families—unlike their neighbors in most every other state in the nation—went without that crucial nutritional benefit..."

Whatta ya gonna do?

The Trump administration plans to roll out a new A.I. air traffic control tool designed to predict and prevent flight delays in the Washington region starting Monday, as the opening step of an eventual nationwide deployment.

The tool, called Strategic Management of Airspace, Routing and Trajectories, or SMART, is designed to analyze airline schedules, weather patterns and other potential air traffic interruptions to “predict traffic flows and identify potential conflicts before they occur” and recommend alternate flight routes to avoid compound delays.

While the $875 million system is expected to be deployed nationwide by 2028, Monday’s rollout will be limited to the Washington region...

When AI is mentioned, we have to worry just a little bit.

A new $10 million donation was received on Thursday from Dee and Jimmy Haslam that will help an expansion project for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

The new Haslam Atrium, a new communal space created for live music and public programming, will open this fall. The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame says the new expansion will be the main entry for the museum, and will feature views of Lake Erie with a bar and reception area.

Congratulations to Cleveland, the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, and Dee and Jimmy Haslam. As a fan of music & Rock & Roll we thank them for supporting the arts.

From Tennessee Holler, "In case facts still matter"

I don't get it. As Biden's term was ending, yes we had some hard times. We were just getting over a pandemic! Things are worse now and it all appears to be a results of the President's lack of ability to run a country.

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.
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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.
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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.