Neanderthal? Trammel, Scooby, Lumpy continue to display the mafia-type mentality that will no longer fly without Godfather Hutchison. This is better than the Sopranos...maybe, when they're not re-elected, HBO will consider them for a part? Here comes the sun.....

What a mouthful! I think this is a "bigger story" than yesterday's "big story" concerning Moore's and Tramel's Excellent Adventure in Nashville--the implications for a local government's being able to control and manipulate media through tax policy is pretty frightening.

In the KNS article by Scott Barker and Rebecca Farrar they write, "Under terms of its agreements with the city and county, the News Sentinel deeded its former downtown location to the city in exchange for an in-lieu-of-tax arrangement on its new location.

That agreement called for the paper to pay about $70,000 more per year than previously in city and county taxes while saving $4.2 million - not $10 million, as Tramel asserted - on its new location's taxes over 10 years."

The old News Sentinel building which was later demolished plus the land under it was worth 4.2 million dollars?

How? I know KNS Editor Jack McElroy wrote that the News Sentinel,"received certain tax incentives as an inducement to build in an economically distressed area" but that is a lot of "inducement". Also I remember the 10 million dollar figure from a few years ago and there being discussion on the old SKB blog about the correct figure. Either way that is much more than the old KNS building and land was worth.

Mr. McElroy also wrote, "Those agreements also were made in public meetings and were approved by the public officials in office at the time. They were reported in this newspaper and elsewhere."

I think we should have paid more attention five years ago.

On another note, if the News Sentinel is successful with its Sunshine Law lawsuit, will the people of Thorn Grove file a Sunshine Law lawsuit to invalidate the Midway Industrial Park? They have already filed a different lawsuit to overturn the Knox County Commission vote.

I look forward to seeing if Mr. Tramel's contention that he's his own man and not "Tim Hutchison's boy" actually means anything. I have this gut feeling that could have unintended political consequences for him.

"Either way that is much more than the old KNS building and land was worth."

The building AND land might have been worth 4.2 million. That was a lot of square footage. Think of the lofts....

I doubt the land by itself is worth 4.2M. Plus we taxpayers had to pay the demolition fee. Does someone need to hire a real estate appraiser?

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Less is the new More - Karrie Jacobs