The Knoxville Arts & Culture Alliance presents a new group exhibition opening Friday, January 6, at 5:00 PM in the Balcony of the Emporium Center featuring seven regional artists, including one prominent South Knoxville artist.

There will be a reception from 5PM to 9PM Friday with complimentary hors d'oeuvres. The exhibition runs through Jan. 27th.

More info...

At what point do we cross the line between protect/serve and intimidate/oppress?

The Center for Investigative Reporting reports on homeland security and the first ten years of the war on terror.

Tennessee ranked last for Homeland Security grants per capita in 2011. I find that surprising.

Law enforcement leaders nonetheless bristle at the word “militarization,” even if the defense community itself acknowledges a convergence of the two.

“I don’t see us as militarizing police; I see us as keeping abreast with society,” said former Los Angeles Police Chief William Bratton, now chairman of Kroll Inc., the security consulting firm. “And we are a gun-crazy society.”

Ok, then.

I know we have coal-fired powered plants in the region, do we have any oil-fired?

I have glanced at the AIRNow site but did not see any mercury specific information.

From CNN ...

The Environmental Protection Agency recently finalized a rule that for the first time requires U.S. coal and oil-fired power plant operators to limit emissions of mercury and other hazardous air pollutants.

EPA rules in place under the 1990 Clean Air Act have targeted acid rain and smog-forming chemicals emitting from power plants. But perhaps surprising to many, those rules have never included limits on mercury, a neurotoxin known to damage developing fetuses and children.

U.S. power plants account for only about 1% of global mercury emissions. Even so, for each dollar spent reducing mercury and hazardous air pollutant emissions under the new rule, the EPA projects up to $9 in health benefit savings by preventing an estimated 11,000 premature deaths and 4,700 heart attacks each year.

Among children, the new limits are projected to prevent 130,000 cases of asthma and 6,300 cases of acute bronchitis each year, the EPA estimates.

CNN article

From Josh Flory at News-Sentinel

Tennessee entities will receive approximately $742,776, and that eligible parties include the Knox County Health, Educational & Housing Facility Board.

The Health Ed board is an entity authorized under state law that manages the issuance of revenue bonds to finance hospital, education and multifamily housing projects. The board has no employees, and management services are provided by The Development Corporation of Knox County.

The board has issued bonds on behalf of a wide variety of nonprofit medical and educational institutions, which gain significant savings because of the tax-exempt status of the bonds.

Flory article

Knox County Health, Educational & Housing Facility Board

Some photos we took this year. Click image for slideshow...

Best wishes to you and yours for a happy, healthy and prosperous New Year.

The image above speaks for itself, but the News Sentinel tonight needs a serious spanking. Since KNS reporter Jamie Satterfield tweeted the offensive commentary above, it has since been deleted from her twitter feed.

Why am I posting this? First, a couple of disclosures, after the flip.

I've published a blog post today over at Justice for Henry that I think makes a pretty strong case that it's time for federal authorities to come into Knox County and undertake a rigorous, top to bottom operational audit of every single agency and department that plays any role in our county's criminal justice system.

I am also calling on Mr. Baumgartner to do the honorable thing and immediately contact the FBI or U.S. Attorney to volunteer every single bit of information he has about current and past drug and other criminal activity in Knox County, TN. This would be a truly meaningful act of making amends on his part.

Bloggers across the state (including me) have been a little quiet over the holidays, but here's some fine reading that you might have missed. Have some eggnog while you browse:

• 2011: The Year Movies Died (Joe Powell)

• New Words/Phrases of 2011 (Joe Powell)

• Whites Creek Eagles Are Nesting (WhitesCreek)

• Hooded crane hubbub (Rikki Hall)

• New revelations and some interesting questions (Katie Allison Granju)

• After The Fairy Tale Dies (Southern Beale)

• Education reformers ignore the real threat to our children (Mike Byrd)

News Sentinel features editor John North saw my blog post about the ring my Dad gave me for Christmas and contacted me about doing a story on it. The feature story appears on today's front page. Here's the online version.

Thanks to reporter Mike Blackerby and photographer Paul Efird for coming out to interview my Mom and Dad and for the great job they did on the story.

Some interesting new laws going into effect in various states this Sunday.

From CNN ...

In all, nearly 40,000 laws were enacted in 2011, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Some take effect New Year's Day.

New laws in Louisiana, Tennessee, South Carolina and Georgia require businesses to enroll in the federal E-Verify program to ensure that employees are eligible to work in the United States, the National Conference of State Legislatures says.

Oregon will require ignition interlock devices -- computerized breath analyzers -- for people convicted of driving under the influence and people who are under intoxicant diversion agreements, which allow prosecution on a DUI charge to be delayed.

Article

Reuters: Sears announced yesterday they are closing up to 120 Sears and Kmart stores "after its holiday sales slumped, sending its shares sliding more than 27 percent to their lowest level in three years."

Today they released a list of 79 store closings, including four in Tennessee: Sears stores in Antioch, Cleveland, and Oak Ridge and a Kmart in Hendersonville. Closing dates are TBD.

Here's the full list.

City of Knoxville press release...

Patricia Robledo Named Business Liaison For City of Knoxville

Mayor Madeline Rogero today named Patricia Robledo as the City of Knoxville’s Business Liaison, heading up the new Office of Business Support. Robledo is a small-business owner and the executive director of the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of East Tennessee.

National Association of Realtors reports: "Pending home sales continued to gain in November and reached the highest level in 19 months, according to the National Association of Realtors®.

The Pending Home Sales Index,* a forward-looking indicator based on contract signings, increased 7.3 percent to 100.1 in November from an upwardly revised 93.3 in October and is 5.9 percent above November 2010 when it stood at 94.5. The October upward revision resulted in a 10.4 percent monthly gain.

The last time the index was higher was in April 2010 when it reached 111.5 as buyers rushed to beat the deadline for the home buyer tax credit. The data reflects contracts but not closings."

In the week ending December 24, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 381,000, an increase of 15,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 366,000. The 4-week moving average was 375,000, a decrease of 5,750 from the previous week's revised average of 380,750.

Tennessee reported 1,177 fewer claims.

U.S. Dept. of Labor weekly claims report...