This venture has been both a fun and sobering exercise at times. I want to thank you my readers, especially the great people I have met over the years because of this venture. I thank you for taking the time to read this blog over the past two years and I thank you for your friendship. AM+DG.

TN to Get Tougher Edu Standards -- Tougher standards for graduation, including more difficult math and science courses, are coming to TN. The class of 2013 and every class thereafter will be required to take four years of math, instead of three, including the higher level Algebra II, which currently is not required for a high school diploma. Additionally, all students still must take three years of science, but now they'll be required to pass chemistry or physics in addition to biology. The effort is a push on the part of a 33 state coalition to standardize state school standards across the country.

Hammond Leads Donations in Hamilton -- GOP Sheriff candidate Jim Hammond leads contributions in the Sheriff's race in Hamilton Co. According to financial disclosure forms filed with the election office, Mr. Hammond received a total of $120,675 in contributions between March 28 and July 28. Contributions to Democrat Greg Beck totaled $20,785, while Independent candidate Jim Winters reported $1,950 in contributions.

Jones At It Again -- State Rep. Ulysses Jones is at his pet project again - an attempt to turn back the reforms of TN Waltz and weaken the state's new requirements against accepting meals from lobbyists. The current law prohibits lobbyists from funding meals for lawmakers and limits groups or individuals who employ lobbyists from spending more than $50 per legislator per meal. The law doesn't apply to individual constituents or groups that don't employ lobbyists. But those reasonable limits seem unreasonable to Jones, who wants to end the limits and simply offer public disclosure of all meals instead. He said he also might support spending limits of $88.20 per meal or $1,000 per group per year limit on meals.

Kurita v. Barnes Endorsement Fight -- In the State Senate primary going on in Clarksville, State Sen. Rosalind Kurita just picked up some mega endorsements to quiet the endorsements primary opponent Tim Barnes released this week. Barnes announced earlier the endorsement Clarksville’s Labor Organizations United Together, which is a union of all the major unions in Clarksville, including the Montgomery Co. Teacher's union. In addition to major union endorsements, Barnes also picked up the endorsement of the APSU College Democrats. Kurita, however, announced a string of endorsements first from NRA - an unusual endorsement for a Democrat, the TN Nurses Association and the Conservation Action PAC, an environmentalist group.

Residency Requirements on Election Day or Filing Deadline? -- That's the issue being discussed in Chattanooga, where former Rob Healy, a former city parks and recreation director, is asking state officials whether he would qualify for the election in March of next year after just having moved to the city. State Election Coordinator Brook Thompson and City Attorney Randy Nelson have both said the deadline for residency is measured from the filing deadline - and thus Healy would not be eligible to run, however the issue will ultimately be settled by a lawsuit.

Judges On the Ballot Too -- Voters on Aug. 7 have an opportunity to reject Gov. Phil Bredesen's appointments of two Tennessee Supreme Court justices and five other appeals court judges, but it's a pretty safe bet they will not. Of the 146 judicial retention elections held since the state's system for selecting top judges was established, 145 resulted in a win for the incumbent judge. That system is to change if Republicans in the State Senate have anything to do about it. They want to scrap the so-called "Tennessee-system" for electing judges whereby a group of lawyers select nominees who are then chosen by the Governor and then confirmed in a "retention question" on the ballot. The state constitution specifies that judges should be elected and the TN system is a way to satisfy this requirement, albeit in an fairly undemocratic way. Judges, however, seem to favor the system, which they say allow them to rise above political campaigns.

Corker Criticizes Budget Accounting -- Sen. Bob Corker said the administration's budget estimate, "is not an honest view of our country's budget deficit." Corker says the budgets are inaccuarate because they include not additional funding for Iraq and Afghanistan in 2009 or beyond and the alternative minimum tax will be patched only for tax year 2008. Corker: "This is not an honest view of our country's budget deficit and the administration knows it. Their failure to include a realistic assessment for war spending and refusal to make accurate assumptions about the alternative minimum tax is disappointing and does not set the right tone for having a serious discussion about our country's dire fiscal situation."

So Long Long -- Saying he had made a number of statements that reveal a "blood-thirsty" disposition, federal prosecutors urged a jury not to give any leniency to former Hamilton Co. Sheriff Billy Long. The defense for their part have argued that Long qualifies for a federal sentencing provision called the "safety valve." Judges can use the safety valve to disregard mandatory minimum sentences for certain drug crimes when defendants meet a set of criteria including having no prior criminal history. Mr. Long pleaded guilty May 5 to 19 counts of extortion, six counts of money laundering, one count of providing a firearm to a convicted felon and one count of possession with intent to sell cocaine.

Laura Bush Pushes Reading First -- In case you missed it, First Lady Laura Bush was in Nashville yesterday to speak at the national Reading First conference. Reading First is one of the cornerstones of the Bush No Child Left Behind law, which provides federal dollars for a science-based teaching method that emphasizes basic skills like phonics. Last year, Congress slashed the Reading First budget by 60%. This year, neither the House nor the Senate has budgeted any funds at all for Reading First.

Cooper Pushes Private Healthcare -- Rep. Jim Cooper is pushing for a bill that would allow Americans to buy their own health insurance, rather than getting it through their employer. Congress will not be taking any action on the proposal until at least next year under a new president, but while in Nashville on Monday, Cooper said it’s important to begin talking about the issue now. Under the bill, employers would give employees the money spent on health care premiums. Employees would then be required to buy health insurance with after-tax dollars. Cooper said a $15,000 tax-credit for a family of four would also allow those whose employers don’t offer health insurance to buy it.

Gay Group Asks Haslam for Recognition in Light of Knoxville Shooting -- The shooting at the Uniterian Universalist Church in Knoxville has made national news in the past few days. Now one group wants to use the shooter's apparent motive - hatred of gays - to leverage formal recognition by Knoxville Mayor Bill Haslam. In an e-mail to the mayor Monday, local activist Gary Elgin, former director of the Rainbow Community Awareness Project asks the Mayor, "This is the time for you, when called upon, to answer and step up and be counted as our mayor as well." Haslam responded in part by saying, "Knoxville is a caring, compassionate city where diverse viewpoints are shared and respected. Every person, regardless of race, religion, age, sex, or sexual orientation, is a person of human dignity and a valued member of our community."

Love Out -- One of the first TN Waltzers to go down, Charles Love, is out of prison. Love, a former Hamilton Co. School Board official, was convicted in the Waltz investigation of being a bagman. Love served less than a year in prison following a plea deal.

Toll Roads Explored in Memphis -- A bridge in Memphis could be the project that gets recommended by TDOT as a part of toll road. Unlike other toll projects, the Memphis Metropolitan Planning Organization adopted a resolution favoring the initiative, and the Memphis Regional Chamber has been a strong supporter. The bridge would releave traffic on the two other bridges in Memphis - the 35-year-old Hernando DeSoto Bridge and the 59-year-old Memphis & Arkansas Bridge has exceeded 100,000 vehicles in recent years.

Sound Bites Reframed to Diversity in Cohen's Race -- The race for Congress in the 9th District will be decided by the Democratic primary, where white Congressman Steve Cohen faces a serious challenge from black exec Nikki Tinker. This year, apparently campaign advisors for Tinker are suggesting that the sound bites in favor of her candidacy call for "diversity" in TN's Congressional delegation, rather than blatantly pointing to race as an issue. Memphis Poli Sci Professor Larry Moore on race being an issue in last year's campaign: "That looked nasty nationwide ... Nobody wants to be seen doing that again." More here. More here on the national consulting firms involved.

Federal Funds Also Helped in VW Deal -- Congressman Zach Wamp and Sen Lamar Alexander helped to secure federal funding for the Enterprise South Industrial Park, which also impressed VW officials and was helpful in getting the autom manufacturer to commit to TN. The federal money is on top of state and local incentives to VW that could top $500M. Two earmarks totaling $3.5M in fiscal year 2005 and 2006 appropriations bills helped fund a connector road in the industrial park and a $17.2M earmark funds an Interstate 75 interchange across the industrial park to State Highway 58. Another $4M in federal funds has been earmarked to workforce training. Wamp said he will be seeking another $1.5M earmark for workforce training in next year's budget and Alexander said he is seeking a $1M earmark to provide a connection via Highway 317 between the I-75 interchange.

TNGOP Mum on Reasons for Closing Statesmens to Media -- The Knoxville News-Sentinel reports that contrary to TNGOP Spokesman Bill Hobbs recent assertion that the annual Statesmen's Dinner was historically closed to the media, the event has been open to the media since 1995. Former TNGOP Chairs Beth Harwell, Chip Saltsman, and Bob Davis all said the event was open to the media when they was Chairman. Smith said, "Because of the timeline we are working with and requests that have been made, the dinner will be closed to press." She wouldn't say whether or not Karl Rove, the speaker at this year's event, had made the request.

Adams Resigns Again -- Curtis Adams, a Hamilton Co. Commissioner and on-again-off-again Mayor of East Ridge, has resigned again from the later post. Adams said he did not get support from fellow officials for what he believed was a needed 47-cent property tax increase - and this time the East Ridge Council approved his resignation.

VW Incentives Will Create Record -- Those closely monitoring the incentive package offered by the federal, state and local governments say the incentive package used to lure Volkswagen to TN could set a record for the most ever offered to lure an auto manufacturer. Now, the Times Free Press reports that the incentive package will top $500 million over the next 30 years. That includes $81M worth of donated property, $30M in free worker training, $43M in road construction, $3.5M in paid rail improvements, $150-350M in property tax breaks, and sales tax breaks on industrial machinery purchases and pollution control equipment. The previous record was $419.4 million offered in 2006 to recruit Kia to West Point, Ga. EDC Commissioner Matt Kisber said the incentives are just keeping pace with the times. The projected economic benefit of the plant will top $600M a year.

TNGOP Closes Statesmens to the Media -- The Knoxville News-Sentinel points out an inconsitency in the TNGOP's recent news that it will be closing its annual Statesmen's Dinner fundraiser to the media. Previously, the TNGOP had been critical of any attempts to limit press or citizen access to events sponsored by Democrats. Hobbs said the Statesmen's Dinner had been "closed ticketed event and historically has not been open to the media." However, the AP has attended the past two dinners featuring Mitt Romney and Bill Frist. The speaker this year is White House political advisor Karl Rove. Tennessee Democrats criticized the move.

Bredesen: Buy-outs Should Have Been Sweeter -- Gov. Bredesen said that the state incentive package to cut the state's payroll should have been sweeter to get more employees to buy into it. So far, with about two weeks to go before the Aug. 5 deadline, about 1,400 state employees have applied for the buyout, well short of the about 2,300 goal. Bredesen: "We could have made it richer ... If I had known what was going to happen to the economy in the future and what the impact was going to be on people’s psyches with $4 gas and those things, you might have anticipated it would take a little more to get somebody to want to leave and we might have tried to sweeten it up.”

UT Pres Won't Face Punishment Over Disclosure Lapses -- Tennessee Ethics Commission voted to do nothing to punish UT President John Petersen for omissions on a financial disclosure form. Petersen had already paid a $250 fine for filing his form late. After the form was filed, questions were raised as to why Peterson only listed his UT salary as generating income of more than $1,000. Eventually, Peterson filed amended reports showing income from six investment accounts generating income.

Michael Hooks Gets County Job Fresh Out of Jail -- Fresh out of federal prison after serving 30 days on a fraud conviction, Michael Hooks Jr. is right back to work in a new job with Shelby County government. Hooks was hired by the Shelby County Division of Corrections as a part-time recruiter for a federally funded prisoner re-entry program, meant to reduce recidivism. County officials implied Hooks would be well suited for the job, because of his past incarceration. Although Hooks' conviction involved a small-scale fraud, his indictment spawned the broad public corruption investigation called The Tennessee Waltz, which led to convictions of a dozen elected officials and aides.

Too Few Buyouts, Bredesen To Fire -- Gov. Phil Bredesen said with the looming Monday deadline for state employees to accept voluntary buy-out packages, there still aren't enough taking the deal. That means Bredesen will have to layoff some state employees to meet the budget shortfall. Only about 1,400 state workers have sought the state's buyout as of late last week, Bredesen said, well below the target of about 2,300 needed. The buy-out package includes: four months of base salary, $500 for each year of service, six months of subsidized health coverage and an option to pay for an additional 12 months, as well as tuition aid, and a one-time $2,400 payment for those 65 and older. Bredesen said he had expected too many applicants for the buyouts, not too few, and that he was surprised that applications have so far fallen short of expectations. More here

Cohen Has Vegas Fundraiser -- Congressman Steve Cohen racked up a fundraising pull recently, when he was the beneficiary of a $64,188 fundraiser in Las Vegas hosted by a group of professional gamblers. Apparently, the gamers wanted to host Cohen a fundraiser after he questioned a witness in a Congressional hearing about online gambling. Cohen cites his support of the state lottery and a referendum to open Memphis for horse racing as previous issues which put him in support of more open gambling laws. Cohen's challenger Nikki Tinker's top out of state donors are connected to the pro-choice Emily's List. Tinker also seems to be having some trouble with her financial disclosure.

VW Will Bring White-Collar Jobs Too -- The Chattanooga Times Free Press reports that the Volkswagen deal for Chattanooga means not only an auto assembly plant, it means that lead manufacturing plant for the entire North America production will be headquartered there as well. That means that not only will factory jobs be created, but white collar engineering and management jobs as well.

Cohen Attempts to Play Up Obama Link -- The Commercial Appeal notes that the race in the 9th district Democratic primary could come down to which candidate can claim the closest link to Dem standard-bearer Barack Obama. Obama is widely popular in the 9th district, which is composed of a majority of black voters. Incumbent Congressman Steve Cohen says he endorsed Obama, well before his primary opponent Nikki Tinker - because Tinker was waiting on Clinton-backer Emily's List to guarantee their support. Still, Tinker has played up her Obama connection - making Obama's signs just as prominent as hers at her own campaign headquarters. Cohen's handlers say he is more like Obama because people chose to vote for Obama based on the content of his character, rather than the color of his skin.

Overby & Finney Clash Over Past Votes -- It's an interesting race for the GOP primary for State Senate in 8th district. State Rep. Doug Overby is running against incumbent State Sen. Raymond Finney. Overby criticizes Finney for his support of an overhaul of the state's Basic Education Plan - something local school board officials opposed. Finney, points out that Overby was one of the few Republicans to vote for Democratic House Speaker Jimmy Naifeh. Both men say they voted the way they did because their vote didn't matter. Finney partially argues that the BEP vote would have passed even if he voted no and Overby says Naifeh would have been elected had he voted no.

Eaton Hits Tuke on Ford Race -- Senate long-shot Kenneth Eaton has hit other members of the Democratic primary fight for US Senate rather hard. Showing up to a City Paper interview in a casual Hawaiian shirt Eaton called out his Dem primary opponent Bob Tuke for his failure as TN Dem Party Chair to get Harold Ford, Jr. elected against Bob Corker. Meanwhile, the Commercial Appeal notes the race is beyond a long-shot for Democrats and Lamar Alexander says he's in wait-and-see mode.

Again - No Toll Road Unless Public Approves -- Tennessee Department of Transportation Commissioner Gerald Nicely drew a round of applause Thursday when he promised that the proposed Knoxville Parkway won't be a toll road if the public is opposed to the idea. TDOT officials had proposed that before, but in news media reports following a public forum in which opposition to the toll road was voiced, TDOT said they would listen a federally mandated highway commission, instead of the citizens forum. At the new forum, TDOT recognized there was more opposition to the toll road than support and if that kept, the toll road would not be built.

Knox Co. Commission Tries Message Board -- An new message board unveiled today allows Knox Co. Commissioners to "talk" to one another while the public can see their conversations. The message board idea was in response to a court ruling that Knox Co. Commissioners violated the State's Open Meeting Laws by holding conversations outside the commission meetings. State Rep. Bill Dunn proposed the message board idea as a work around for fatigued commissioners.

Adams Back on Job -- After resigning last week, East Ridge city manager Curtis Adams is back on the job. Adams had met with East Ridge Mayor Mike Steele and East Ridge City Attorney John Anderson and agreed to go back on the job. The city manager has now written a letter to him and to all members of the East Ridge Commission saying that his resignation will become effective when a new city manager is hired. The East Ridge Commission now turns to Adams' controversal budget, which prompted the resignation following a 47c property tax increase proposal.

Shelby Co. Trustee Race Sees Rare Campaign Finance Case -- The Memphis Commercial Appeal reports on the race for Shelby Co. Trustee. Ray Butler a Republican is running against acting Trustee Paul Mattila. Butler, who was former Trustee Bob Patterson's campaign Treasurer, unusually had control of his campaign account after Patterson died. After Butler directed all of the remaining money in the account to his own campaign, Mattila filed a complaint with the Registry of Election Finance, which says that while it is clear that Butler has control of the campaign account as Treasurer, he is limited to donating $1,000 to his own campaign - because that is the limit that campaign committees can give to each other. Butler disagrees with the interpretation - and the case could need to be settled in a lawsuit.

Ford in Jury's Hands -- The trial of former State Sen. John Ford has wrapped up and jury deliberations begin today in the federal case. Ford is accused of taking money as consulting fees and then using his office to push for deals with a TennCare contractor that paid him. The trial ended with Doral Dental execs pleading the fifth amendment and refusing to testify before the jury. More here and here.

Hamilton Co. Mayor Ramsey Wants Incumbent to Lose -- Hamilton Co. Mayor Claude Ramsey had strong words when commenting on the race of incumbent State Rep. Jim Cobb. Ramsey criticized Cobb for his vote on the BEP formula changes sought by the metro mayors and said, "I hope he gets beat." Cobb is running against former State Rep. Jim Vincent.

Local Elections Early Voting -- Don't forget that many counties have August elections for county races. Early voting for those elections starts Friday and goes through August 2.

VW Picks Chattanooga -- Volkswagen will invest $1B in a new auto assembly plant in Chattanooga, the auto company announced yesterday. Gov. Phil Bredesen and Volkswagen President Stefan Jacoby made the announcement, which was also attended by Sens. Lamar Alexander and Bob Corker and Congressman Zach Wamp. Volkswagen said it will produce a car designed specifically for the North American market. The company will build the facility in the Enterprise South Industrial Park, located 12 miles northeast of downtown Chattanooga. The industrial park is 100% owned by the City and County and is a certified TVA megasite. More here

Williams Took Money From Dems -- GOP State House members are criticizing one of their own colleagues, State Rep. Kent Williams, for taking a donation from State Rep. John Litz, the assistant majority leader for the House Democratic Caucus. Williams known to vote with Democrats in the past took the $250 donation in his campaign against former State Rep. Jerome Cochran. Among the members criticizing Williams were State Reps Eric Swafford, Chris Crider, Mike Bell and Frank Niceley. Meanwhile, the City Paper reports that Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey has raised money for Dem. State Sen. Rosalind Kurita. For good measure - Kurita cast the vote to give Ramsey his seat.

County Mayors Unveil Education Program -- Knox Co. Mayor Mike Ragsdale and Shelby Co. Mayor A.C. Wharton have unveiled a program sponsored by the Urban County Mayors offering free community college tuition. Under the ambitious plan, Ragsdale and Wharton hope to raise money to allow all high school graduates in their respective counties to attend in-state community college tuition-free. The two mayors are trying to get Nashville Mayor Karl Dean and Hamilton County Mayor Claude Ramsey to sign on to the idea as members of the now incorporated, nonprofit organization. If all four mayors are brought on the program could be funded in a line-item each county's budget or through each administration's discretionary money. There are also talks of raising the money privately.

Memphis City Council Counter Sues Schools -- Earlier, the Memphis City Schools sued the City Council seeking to restore the money the Council stripped from its operating budget. Now the City Council has counter sued the Schools saying the schools are behind on paying off the debit service the City took out on its behalf. The city is asking for the right to withhold any tax revenue it would normally pay city schools to recoup the money. Attorneys for the City argued that the charter of the school district requires the bonds be paid back and also authorizes withholding money if they are not.