Daily Dose for July 24, 2007

Nashville Mayor's Race Between Clement, Gentry and Dean

Nashville Mayor's Race Between Clement, Gentry and Dean -- A new poll conducted by Survey USA shows that three men are essentially tied in the race to become the next Mayor of Nashville. The poll commissioned by the Nashville City Paper shows former Congressman Bob Clement leading with 23% to Nashville Law Director Karl Dean and Vice Mayor Howard Gentry's 21%. The poll surveyed 564 likely voters in the mayoral election with an MOE of ±4.2%. Crosstabs reveal that Clement is strong among elderly voters, while Dean is strong among moderate voters age 50-64. Gentry leads among African-Americans, which could constitute at least 20% of the electorate for the race. The other candidates in the race, Buck Dozier (16%) and David Briley (12%) fall below, with 5% still undecided.

Lies in Ads -- The Tennessean has what is becoming more common a story - a list of truth "stretches" in the ads for Nashville Mayor. Ads for all the candidates contain various degrees of truth stretching.

Alexander Pushes for Fast Confirmation of US Attorney -- For the second time in a year, the US Attorney's office in Nashville that covers Middle TN could be left vacant, unless the US Senate works fast to confirm the nominee for the seat Ed Yarbrough. Yarbrough is replacing Craig Morford, who has been pegged to be Deputy Attorney General, the number two spot in the Justice Department. Sen. Lamar Alexander is hoping to get Yarbrough confirmed right away because the office already faces a backlog because of the earlier vacancy. If Congress doesn't act, President Bush may be able to appoint Yarbrough via a recess appointment after Congress goes into recess in August.

Minimum Wage Now $5.85 / Hour -- The federal minimum wage will jump today in states, like TN, that don't have a higher state minimum wage. Employers must boost wages by 70c to $5.85/hour starting today. Next summer, the federal minimum wage moves to $6.55 an hour. And on July 24, 2009, it will reach $7.25 an hour.

Knox Co. School Board Makes Transfers Colorblind -- In applying a US Supreme Court ruling, the Knox Co. School Board voted to make all transfers color-blind, taking racial balance out of the equation of accepting or rejecting transfers. The change immediately affects 39 students whose transfer requests were denied based solely on the negative racial impact on the schools involved. Now transfer requests that meet all the standards other than racial balance will be approved.

Posted by Adam Groves | Email This |