SUNDAY, OCTOBER 2, 2011 Teachers adjust to extra class, shorter class times in Montgomery County (L-C)

High schools in Montgomery County are adapting to a schedule change this year designed to conform to an enhancement of state standards. As part of the Tennessee Diploma Project, students who began high school in fall 2009 are required to earn 22 core credits to graduate, rather than the previous requirement of 20. As a result, the Clarksville-Montgomery County School System has adjusted its daily schedule from six class periods to seven, and shortened class times by 11 minutes. "It was something we had to do," Director of Schools Mike Harris said. "The only alternative would have been very, very expensive block scheduling, which we simply can't afford." Block scheduling, which makes class times longer, has them meet only a few days a week and gives teachers more planning time, would require additional teachers to provide the same number of options for students. West Creek High Principal Tosha Diggs said teachers are having the most difficulty adjusting to the change, since adding an additional class and the work that comes with it obviously adds more time to their work day. http://www.theleafchronicle.com/article/20111002/NEWS01/110020324/Teachers-adjust-extra-class-shorterclass-times-Montgomery-County

Teachers: New evaluation system time consuming (Jackson Sun)

Jackson-Madison County principals and teachers say a new teacher evaluation system is time consuming and stressful, but they are adjusting. Northeast Middle School Principal Jimmy Bailey said he's in classrooms at least two to three times a week to ensure all 39 of his teachers have the required four to six evaluations during the school year. "Between handling discipline and day-to-day operations, the evaluations are a big chunk of the day," Bailey said. It's near the end of the first nine weeks of school, and Beech Bluff fourth-grade teacher Derrick Taylor has already had two classroom visits from his principal, Pam Betler. "The first visit was a 15-minute classroom environment observation," said Taylor, a tenured teacher with 16 years of experience. The second visit was late last month when Betler sat in on an hour of math instruction. As a tenured teacher, Taylor must have four classroom observations this school year. Apprentice teachers those in their first few years of teaching will be evaluated six times during the year. http://www.jacksonsun.com/article/20111002/NEWS10/110020331/Teachers-New-evaluation-system-timeconsuming?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|FRONTPAGE

Homegrown manufacturing may provide ticket for Memphis revival (CA/Evanoff)

In a city starved for blue-collar work, John Molash and Alan Sanger have found a small solution -- save a factory. Nearly 110 plants have closed in metropolitan Memphis since 1999, wiping out almost one in three industrial jobs and about $1 billion in annual factory pay once spent mostly in local shops and stores. Molash and Sanger, stubborn veterans of the city's shrinking paper industry, shrugged off the decadelong industrial slide. Landing a bank loan this year, they bought Dieco, an ailing northside cardboard box maker that employed eight workers. "We're going to get this plant back to where it was," Sanger said of the business, now renamed Monarch Packaging. "It was inevitable it was going to shut its doors before we came in.'' Ramping up a box plant might sound unremarkable, but a faction of industrial advocates say a national revival in manufacturing -- gearing up plants large and small -- could solve America's jobs crisis. "We can't eat health care. We can't eat structured investment products," said economist Alan Tonelson of the U.S. Business & Industry Council, a trade group in Washington for small and medium manufacturers. "W e need goods. And we need people making those goods.'' http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2011/oct/02/bringing-back-the-jobs/

Goverment accused of causing, not fixing economic problems (Times-Gazette)

Economist Donald Ratajczak said Friday that while government gridlock is not always a bad thing, in the case of

recent standoffs over the economy the federal government has deliberately placed itself into situations where action has to be taken, and then has been unable to take that action. Emkes said that Tennessee has low debt, strong cash flow and a pension plan with strong 91 percent funding. The rainy day fund was spent down between the 2008 and 2011 fiscal years but is being increased again starting with the new fiscal year 2012 budget. The state budget is balanced even with a $1.1 billion drop in federal funding. Emkes said the state has carefully studied what steps it would make if the federal government makes even more drastic cuts in funding to state governments. He said the risk assessment impressed representatives of bond rating agencies when Gov. Bill Haslammet with them recently. "Risk assessment is the right thing to do, and we will continue to do it," said Emkes. http://www.t-g.com/story/1769362.html

Rick Perry raises money in Oak Hill (Tennessean/Cass)

Texas Gov. Rick Perry, one of the front-runners for the Republican presidential nomination, spent time in Tennessee last week, including a fundraiser in Nashville on W ednesday. Lee Beaman, CEO of Beaman Automotive, hosted the 90-minute event, which was closed to the press, at his Oak Hill home. Beaman said probably over 200 people attended, including Bill Haslam Gov. and House Speaker Beth Harwell, though he said they were there for reasons of political courtesy and not necessarily endorsement. Beaman said hes donated to several GOP contenders, but he thinks Perry, who made a 15- to 20-minute speech inside a big tent set up in the yard, is the one to beat. http://www.tennessean.com/article/20111002/NEWS/310020090/Political-Notebook-Rick-Perry-raises-moneyOak-Hill

UT faculty, staff salaries lag behind peers' (Knoxville News-Sentinel/Boehnke)

The University of Tennessee law school has lost two young faculty members to other schools and has struggled in recent years to attract new professors because low salaries make it difficult to recruit. "It has gotten particularly hard over the last five to 10 years," said Dean Doug Blaze. "Even 10 years ago we were lagging considerably behind because we would go to hire somebody and we knew their (competing) offers were significantly more than we could offer. But it's gotten more pronounced." In a university that lags behind the national marketplace for faculty salaries, professors in the law school are furthest behind their peers. There, faculty earn 72 percent of the median for similar jobs at comparable schools, according to a report compiled by a private consulting firm. The study, commissioned by the UT system to review salaries statewide, showed all campuses lagged behind the national median for both faculty and staff but none fell as far behind as the Knoxville campus. There, faculty earn about 84 percent of the market median and staff earned 74 percent of their peers' median. http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2011/oct/01/ut-faculty-staff-salaries-lag-behind-peers/

UT comes in (NS/McCloskey)

eighth

in

global

solar

energy

house

design

challenge

The University of Tennessee placed eighth overall in the Solar Decathlon sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy that challenged 19 teams worldwide to build and use an efficient, attractive and affordable house powered exclusively by solar energy. The University of Maryland took home the title in results announced Saturday afternoon. Teams set up the prototypes of their houses on the National Mall in Washington D.C. and then competed in 10 contests judging qualities like architecture and comfort. UT's loft-like house, titled "Living Light," earned a perfect score in the energy balance competition for equating energy production with energy consumption to produce as much energy as the house needs. Tennessee also received high marks in the hotwater competition that required the team demonstrate that the house's water heating system can supply all the hot water required for necessary daily tasks. Living Light took third place Thursday in the engineering contest, what Solar Decathlon Director Richard King called the heart of the competition. http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2011/oct/01/ut-comes-in-eighth-in-global-solar-energy-house/

Appeals court considers suit over gun restrictions (Associated Press)

The Court of Appeals is mulling whether an ex-convict from Georgia whose crime was pardoned can legally own a gun in Tennessee where he now lives. David Scott Blackwell of Franklin sued the state of Tennessee after he was denied a gun permit, saying the pardon in Georgia restored his rights including the one to bear arms. The case has brought out vocal support from Second Amendment advocates, including the Tennessee Firearms Association. It is the first time the association has filed a brief in a lawsuit. The brief portrays the case as a 2

conflict between the constitutional powers of the pardon and laws written by state lawmakers to restrict felons' rights, according to The Tennessean (( http://bit.ly/nRhkbt "Georgia's pardon system granted him a full pardon, ). and it specifically says he has the right to purchase and acquire guns," said John Harris, a Nashville attorney who serves as the volunteer executive director for the Tennessee Firearms Association. "This is a question of, can the Tennessee General Assembly pass a statute that restricts the constitutional authority of another branch of the government?" http://content.usatoday.net/dist/custom/gci/InsidePage.aspx?cId=tennessean&sParam=37588505.story

Tennessee legislators want more judges' misdeeds made public (NS/Humphrey)

Legislators are eyeing repeal of the state law that allows keeping the admonishments wayward judges receive secret and imposing stricter rules concerning when judges must bow out of a case when accused of a conflict of interest. Judges say making public the "private reprimands" now handed out by the Court of the Judiciary would be a bad policy move, but acknowledge the Legislature could take such a step. Changing the rules for recusal of a judge, which are now established by the state Supreme Court, also is criticized on policy grounds. But it could also be a violation of the state constitution, according to Chris Craft, presiding judge of the Court of the Judiciary (COJ). Both proposals arose during recent hearings by an ad hoc committee appointed to review the COF and recommend changes to the 2012 legislative session. For much of the two days of hearings, the legislators listened to sometimes emotional complaints from citizens about judges they characterized as arrogant or abusive. "I wish all the members (of the Legislature) could hear what we've heard," said Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Mae Beavers, R-Mount Juliet. "I think there is a need for serious change." http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2011/oct/01/tennessee-legislators-want-more-judges-misdeeds/

Democrats honor McWherter at annual Jackson Day event (Tennessean/Sisk)

Speakers laud former governor's impact, his focus on community Democrats paid tribute Saturday evening to popular former Gov. Ned McWherter at the state partys annual Jackson Day dinner. Gathering on a cool October evening under a massive tent on Bicentennial Capitol Mall, about 700 party supporters turned out to remember McWherter, a W est Tennessee farm boy who helped lead a generation of centrist Southern Democrats that also included President Bill Clinton and Texas Gov. Ann Richards. McW herter died April 4. He saw out beyond where he was to where he was going, said Chip Forrester, the Tennessee Democratic Party chairman. This is really why we are here tonight, to honor a man who really created the most loving and powerful Democratic family this state has ever seen. Tickets for the event were $75 for individuals, while group rates varied. Brandon Puttbrese, a party spokesman, could not say Saturday how much the event would raise for the party. Speakers included Nashville Mayor Karl Dean and former Tennessean editor and publisher John Seigenthaler. Now more than ever, those of us that are elected officials need to focus on the importance of community, Dean said. That was certainly the motivation behind everything Gov. McWherter did. http://www.tennessean.com/article/20111002/NEWS/310020087/Democrats-honor-McWherter-annual-JacksonDay-event?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|News

Franklin, Grundy eye jail solutions (Chattanooga Times Free-Press/Benton)

Officials in Franklin and Grundy counties are looking to solve overcrowding and safety problems in their county jails. The Franklin County Jail in W inchester, Tenn., is designed to house 114 inmates, but held 161 during a recent inspection, Tennessee Corrections Institute detention facilities specialist Miller Meadows said Tuesday. Franklin County officials are working on a solution, he said. On the other hand, Miller said, Grundy County's jail is "just a walking lawsuit waiting to happen, in my opinion." Grundy's jail not only is overcrowded. The toilets have not been repaired, floor drains don't work and inmates sleep on the floor in every cell, he said. There are fire code and other safety problems, he said. With the overcrowding, a fire could be a disaster, Miller said. Grundy County commissioners on Monday discussed ideas ranging from expanding the jail or building a new one to housing all the county prisoners in other county jails, but still haven't decided on a solution, according to officials. Franklin County Sheriff Tim Fuller said the number of pre-trial prisoners being housed in county lockups because they can't make bond contributes to overcrowding there and across the state. http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/2011/oct/02/franklin-grundy-eye-jail-solutions/?local

Dean pushes obesity fight (Tennessean/W ilemon)

Mayor's broad-based initiative aims to touch all Nashvillians Mayor Karl Dean has a plan for the folks who never tried to walk 100 miles with him. They will exercise more without even realizing it. The next push in his quest to make Nashville a healthier place calls for reshaping the city with sidewalks, trees and venues that will lure people out of their cars. The nonprofit Nashville Civic Design Center is working with the Metro Public Health Department 3

toward that aim. Its just one part of a broad-based effort against obesity that touches every resident of the city from the babies who need to be breast-fed to the senior citizens who need walkable neighborhoods. The Design Center will recommend better plans for transportation, public buildings, housing, parks and neighborhoods so the city wont get caught in Atlanta-like growth that makes people feel trapped in their cars, said Julia Landstreet, its executive director. The Design Center is one of many players in the effort. http://www.tennessean.com/article/20111002/NEWS/310020067/Dean-pushes-obesity-fight?odyssey=tab| topnews|text|News

Corker says he's frustrated by partisan politics (Tennessean/Thompson)

U.S. Sen. Bob Corker lamented ongoing gridlock in Washington, D.C., but expressed hope for the future during a speech at Austin Peay State University Thursday morning. The former Chattanooga mayor told a small crowd of 20 students from an honors leadership class and several local officials that every morning he spends in D.C., he wakes up and appreciates the opportunity given to him by his constituents. But he also feels like his head is about to pop off. Its the most frustrated Ive ever been in my life when we have a country that has the kinds of issues that we all know have to be solved, he said. The greatness of this country dissipates daily. Corker said he understands the growing fear and frustration of Americans as their financial problems continue and virtually nothing is accomplished in the Senate. He blamed party politics, especially the trend of politicians crafting legislation intended to create a divide between Democrats and Republicans. To me, the best kind of legislation in this country is the kind where you lose 10 on the right and you lose 10 on the left and you have 80 in the middle to support it, said Corker, who spoke for about 20 minutes before taking questions. It didnt happen in health care. It didnt happen in financial reform. http://www.tennessean.com/article/20111002/NEWS02/310020047/Corker-says-he-s-frustrated-by-partisanpolitics?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|News

Sources: Return of the W amp thing (Nashville Post/Whitehouse)

Weston Wamp, son of former Republican congressman and gubernatorial candidate Zach Wamp, has been informing key individuals in Tennessee's 3rd Congressional District that he will shortly announce that he is a Republican candidate for U.S. Congress. NashvillePost.com reported in June that he was considering a run. Wamp, a 2009 graduate of the University of Tennessee, will vie for a seat currently held by freshman Republican Rep. Chuck Fleischmann. Zach Wamp represented the district from 1995 until early this year. According to several sources, the ex-congressman has been calling his former campaign donors asking for financial support for the past several months and has taken Weston W amp to Washington, D.C., in the hopes of signing on a bigname political consultant. After leaving the U.S. Congress, Zach W amp has opened up a general consulting firm that "specializes in energy, defense/security, transportation and workforce development/technology transfer," according to his website. Weston Wamp, meanwhile, runs a firm out of Chattanooga he calls Wamp Strategy. http://nashvillepost.com/news/2011/10/1/sources_return_of_the_wamp_thing

Wamp's son to challenge Fleischmann (Chattanooga Times Free-Press/Carroll)

Weston Wamp knows he's not old enough to be a congressman today. Doesn't matter. On Election Day 2012, the day that will matter, he'll have been 25 for a little more than seven months. And for the U.S. House of Representatives, 25 is all the Constitution requires. In an exclusive interview with the Times Free Press, Wamp confirmed he will run for the 2012 Republican nomination for Tennessee's 3rd Congressional District. "I believe my age is an asset, not a liability," W amp said. "You look at Washington right now and you see there's no shortage of people with long resumes and decades of experience. But it's the most dysfunctional Congress that our country has seen in years." The stakes are huge. Wamp's father, former U.S. Rep. Zach Wamp, was elected in 1994 and held the seat through 2010. He gave it up to run unsuccessfully for governor. U.S. Rep. Chuck Fleischmann, the current officeholder and also a Republican, has indicated he'll run for re-election, setting up an unusual primary battle between a first-time incumbent and the son of his immediate predecessor. http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/2011/oct/01/wamps-son-to-challenge-fleischmann/?local

In New Term, Supreme Court Shifts Focus to Crime and First Amendment (NYT)
The Supreme Court, which has been focused in recent terms on the rights of corporations and on curbing big lawsuits, returns to the bench on Monday with a different agenda. Now, criminal justice is at the heart of the courts docket, along with major cases on free speech and religious freedom. The docket seems to be changing, Justice Anthony M. Kennedy told reporters at a judicial conference in August. A lot of big civil cases are going to arbitration, he said. I dont see as many of the big civil cases. Still, the shift in focus toward 4

criminal and First Amendment cases will soon be obscured if, as expected, the justices agree to hear a challenge to the 2010 health care overhaul law. That case promises to be a once-in-a-generation blockbuster. In the meantime, the justices will hear an extraordinary set of cases that together amount to a project that could overhaul almost every part of the criminal justice system. The court will decide whether the police need a warrant to use advanced technology to track suspects, whether jails may strip-search people arrested for even the most minor offenses, whether defendants have a right to competent lawyers to help them decide whether to plead guilty, when eyewitness evidence may be used at trial, and what should happen when prosecutors withhold evidence. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/02/us/supreme-court-turns-to-criminal-and-first-amendment-cases.html? ref=todayspaper (SUBSCRIPTION)

Parkridge, Memorial (TFP/Carroll)

and

Erlanger

health

systems

named

top

hospitals

On March 30, Memorial Health System issued a news release that declared itself Chattanoogas only hospital to be named among the Top 100 in the nation. Who said that? No less than Thomson Reuters, the health care industrys leading source of information on hospital quality, the news release said. Five months later, a similar announcement: U.S. News & World Report ranks Erlanger No. 1 hospital in Chattanooga. Based on federal data, the magazine cited six specialties at Erlanger Health System as high performing far more than any other area hospital, officials said. Soon it was Parkridge Health Systems turn. On Sept. 14, the Joint Commission, the leading accreditor of health care organizations in America, said Parkridge was the only hospital system in Chattanooga to follow correct patient care protocols at least 95 percent of the time. So if all three Chattanooga hospitals claim to be the best, whos right? The answer is complicated, and experts say patients shouldnt elevate any one hospitals claims since all three are marketing toward the same goal: Private and government insurers use quality measures to dole out hospital reimbursements. http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/2011/oct/02/parkridge-memorial-erlanger-health-systems-ranked/?local

Doctor drought: Physician shortage is problem for counties (N-S/Harrington)

After Drs. Ken and Carla Nickle completed their service to the Army last year in Alaska, the husband and wife physicians packed their bags and moved to rural East Tennessee. In the town of Greeneville, the Nickles carry a heavy workload, practicing a broad range of family medicine that includes delivering babies and pediatrics, sports medicine, geriatric care and everything in between. "I knew I wanted to be in a smaller area like where I grew up," said Carla Nickle, a Greeneville native who remains in the Army Reserve. "We have traveled all over, but I can say that East Tennessee offers the best of all the world." Though she could have earned more money and had a better lifestyle faster if she was a specialist, Carla Nickle said she wouldn't have it any other way. "Every time you go into an exam room, it's something so different. That's what is exciting to me," she said. "You have to be willing to have that wide spectrum and not be that specialized." The Nickles are among those helping to ease the shortage of primary care physicians that is expected to reach more than 90,000 doctors in the next 10 years. Adding to the shortage is a population explosion of baby boomers who are going to have increased demand for medical care. The new health care law is expected to add another 32 million people to insurance rolls. http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2011/oct/02/developing-physician-shortage-creating-care-for/

Sumner schools to discuss ACLU lawsuit (Tennessean/Easton)

Sumner County Schools will host a town hall meeting on Monday in response to recent backlash over the districts decision to bar district employees from praying at school events. The meeting will be from 6-7:30 p.m. in the gym at Volunteer State Community College in Gallatin. The purpose of the informational meeting will be to discuss and answer questions about ongoing litigation with the American Civil Liberties Union of Tennessee, which filed a lawsuit in May accusing the Board of Education of promoting Christianity. The school system has drawn criticism in the past week for a Westmoreland principals decision to discipline four coaches for bowing their heads at a football game. The districts subsequent decision to distribute guidelines prohibiting school employees from praying with students at See You At The Pole events has also drawn criticism. Public wants answers Public outcry prompted the school system to host the town hall event, said David French, senior counsel for the American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ), which is defending Sumner County Schools in the ACLU lawsuit. http://www.tennessean.com/article/20111002/NEWS/310020092/Sumner-schools-discuss-ACLU-lawsuit? odyssey=mod|newswell|text|News|p 5

MORE

OPINION Free-Press Editorial: Volkswagen -- and $86 billion! (Times Free-Press)

Everybody in the Chattanooga area knows about Volkswagen's $1 billion investment in an automobilemanufacturing plant here, and we're excited that VW Passats are rolling off local assembly lines by the hundreds. But did you read about the German company's other plans? VW says it plans to invest a stunning $86 billion over the coming five years in its quest to become the biggest car maker in the world! The money will go toward plants, vehicles and research and development, Bloomberg News reported. What does that mean for Chattanooga, with our shiny new VW plant? That's hard to say at this point. There has been some talk of expanding local operations -- which of course our community would warmly welcome. We cannot guess, however, what if any portion of VW's plans for a worldwide investment of $86 billion would involve Chattanooga directly. http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/2011/oct/02/1002-f5-fp2-volkswagen-and-86-billion/?opinionfreepress

Tom Humphrey: Flaws in Tennessee's voter ID law could be fixed with ease (NS)
The photo ID flap has gone off on an interesting tangent in Mississippi, while in Tennessee Democrats are denouncing the idea as a voter suppression plot and Republicans are striving to justify it as a defense against election thieves. Mississippi is putting the issue to a statewide vote this November. An Associated Press report says Republican strategists think this will boost conservative turnout, helping their guys win big in the gubernatorial race and otherwise. But bear in mind that no photo ID will be required for the election and, if they're right about the rampant voter fraud afoot, the thieves could carry the day. A guess is that they're right about arousing conservative rage with fraud fears but wrong about any rampant voter fraud. In Tennessee, where the issue has already been decided by the Republican Legislature, the GOP has no fear of vote thievery to boost turnout. Indeed, some of the claims of concern about voter fraud are, well, at least debatable. Last week, for example, Senate Republican Caucus Chairman Bill Ketron held a news conference to declare he had found a convicted felon to be voting in Rutherford County and a declared Democrat at that. This proves the law is needed, he said. http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2011/oct/02/flaws-in-tennessees-voter-id-law-could-be-fixed/

Roy Herron: Voter ID law will disenfranchise rural residents (Knox. News-Sentinel)
When my 94-year-old mother was born, women were not allowed to vote. But then Tennessee ratified the 19th Amendment, and for seven decades Mother has voted faithfully. This year, many of my Republican colleagues in the Legislature took away that right when they made it harder for her and as many as 675,000 other Tennesseans to continue to vote. Ironically, all but seven legislators from the party that supposedly favors less government passed a law requiring my mother to obtain a "big-government" photo identity card in order to vote. When the law goes into effect with the March 2012 presidential primary, poll workers will no longer accept her voter registration card as sufficient proof of identity. Mother has not driven in at least two decades, so she has no driver's license. But when she is pushed in her wheelchair to the polls, not one election worker will mistake her for another 94-year-old trying to vote. My mother is one of 675,337 Tennesseans age 18 and older who, according to the Department of Safety, either have no driver's license or have a license that does not carry their 6

photo. These citizens may be registered to vote, but unless they obtain a photo ID from a driver's license station or can produce another type of government-issued photo ID that the new law accepts (such as a military ID or a passport), they will not be allowed to vote. http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2011/oct/02/f3-10-2/

Scott McNutt: Voter ID law could ferret out new election commissioners (N-S)
A Tennessee law set to take effect in January requiring people to present a photo ID to vote appears to address a nonexistent problem, but locally, officials say it could help identify recruits for the Knox County Election Commission. According to a recent Associated Press story, few cases have been found around the country of people trying to vote with false identification. W hile voter photo ID laws seem to be, at best, examples of wasteful government spending on unneeded layers of bureaucracy, or, at worst, attempts to discourage those without photo IDs from voting, state Election Coordinator Mark Goins says that's not so. "For example, in the primaries you just held in Knoxville, we caught the largest rash of voter ID fraud cases ever to occur in Tennessee!" he exclaimed. "No, wait! My bad there wasn't voter fraud, was there? I imagined that, didn't I? OK, but there was the time an illegal immigrant tried to vote with a fake ID, and I caught the perpetrator red-handed No, wait; that was just another of my fantasies. Uh, um." Knox County Election Commission Chairman Christopher Heagerty acknowledged the only instance of local voter malfeasance he could immediately recall was that of Rob McNutt, a local Republican activist who voted several times in the wrong precinct from late 1999 to late 2001. http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2011/oct/02/scott-mcnutt-voter-id-law-could-ferret-out-new/

Guest columnist: State DHS job cuts would strand food-stamp applicants (Tenn.)
With the prospect of losing $4.5 billion in federal funds to budget cuts, Gov. Bill Haslam has asked Tennessee administrators to prepare for the worst: Show how they would cut 30 percent from departmental budgets. These deep cuts would, among other things, mean the loss of 5,100 state jobs. One department that would be hit hard by the cuts is the Department of Human Services. DHS is responsible for administering the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). Formerly known as the Food Stamp Program, SNAP provides nutrition assistance to 1 in 5 Tennesseans. With 1.3 million Tennesseans on the SNAP rolls last month, administering the program is no small task. In July 2011, the Davidson County DHS office received 23,876 applications for assistance. With 21 business days in July and 41 eligibility workers to process each application, each worker processed about 28 applications per day. Despite these constraints, DHS carries out its work effectively, processing often more than 1,000 applications each day. DHS does an admirable job, with an error rate of just about 4 percent on SNAP applications. http://www.tennessean.com/article/20111002/OPINION/310020024/State-DHS-job-cuts-would-strand-foodstamp-applicants?odyssey=mod|newswell|text|Opinion|s

Editorial: Utility districts offer more proof reform is needed (News-Sentinel)

Public utility districts in Tennessee continue to undergo scrutiny, and for good reason. It seems that every time the media or government watchdogs cast a light on them, unsavory practices are caught in the glare. Ratepayers are outraged, and rightly so. The malfeasance and the hubris of many involved should anger every Tennessean. In some districts, commissioners and employees treat themselves to sumptuous meals while their customers see rates climbing ever upward. Managers retire, then sign lucrative consulting contracts with their former employers. Family members are hired. Corruption goes undetected for years. Meanwhile, crumbling infrastructure requires costly repairs, with the ratepayers picking up the tab. No wonder Tennessee Comptroller of the Treasury Justin P. Wilson has made reforming the way utility districts do business a top priority. The News Sentinel reported last week that 52 utility districts close to three in 10 statewide are considered to be in distress and are under close oversight of the Utility Management Review Board. Half are under the microscope because of financial problems, while the other half have persistent water loss issues. http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2011/oct/02/utility-districts-offer-more-proof-reform-is/

###