Nashville school board passes budget by 5-4 vote

Boos erupted from the 150 or more people attending the Metro school board meeting Tuesday night as board members narrowly approved a $633 million budget that cuts hours for some 600 bus drivers and contracts out all janitor jobs and groundskeeping work.

The budget passed 5-4 and will go to Mayor Karl Dean to become part of Metro’s complete budget proposal for 2010-11. That spending plan — or an alternative — must be approved by Metro Council by the end of June.

Add a comment 03/24/2010

Minnie Pearl statue now graces winery as dispute goes unresolved

Rod Harris and Centerville Mayor Bob Bohn both say they hoped to renew negotiations this year over the location of a bronze statue cast in memory of the country comedienne, but the $10,000 price tag is no laughing matter.

 Last year, Harris lifted 900-pound Minnie from her limestone pedestal on the east side of the Hickman County Courthouse during a dispute over relocating the statue. Harris had spearheaded efforts to pay for the $150,000 statue through donations and said the city violated a contract with plans to move it for public square renovations.

“They wanted to put Minnie Pearl on the corner, and the only girl that does that is a working girl. That is not where she belongs,” Harris said.

“The whole thing isn’t about money — it’s about principle. It’s about honoring a contract and honoring what you say you are going to do.”

In 2005, the statue was installed on the square in Centerville, about 50 miles west of Nashville. It stood just two blocks from the birthplace of Sarah Cannon, who became a country and western icon after her Cousin Minnie Pearl persona joined the Grand Ole Opry. Cannon died in 1996.

Add a comment 03/22/2010

Roadside bomb kills 1 in southwest Pakistan

QUETTA, Pakistan – A roadside bomb exploded Monday in a city in southwestern Pakistan, killing one person and injuring three more in an attack that police blamed on ethnic militants.

The bomb was planted beside a rickshaw near a busy intersection, senior police officer Hamid Shakil said.

Quetta is the capital of Baluchistan province, where the government has been fighting ethnic Baluchi militants. The Baluchi militancy is distinct from the Taliban insurgency, which the government is fighting in many parts of Pakistan.

The Baluchistan militants seek more autonomy for the province and a greater share of the profits from its many natural resources.

Add a comment 03/22/2010

Boy Arrested after Wal-Mart Announcement

The boy has been charged with bias and intimidation after the racist message was relayed via the store’s public address system last week.

According to police, the boy picked up a public-address telephone in the Wal-Mart in Washington Township and said: “All black people, leave the store now.”

Add a comment 03/22/2010

Woods gives first interview since crash

Tiger Woods took questions from reporters for the first time in four months Sunday, saying “I’ve done some pretty bad things in my life” and that he doesn’t know what kind of reception he’ll get when he returns to competitive golf at the Masters.

“I’m a little nervous about that to be honest with you,” Woods told ESPN’s Tom Rinaldi, who asked him what he expects when he returns to golf on April 8 following an auto accident which led to an indefinite leave from professional golf and an admission of multiple affairs. “It would be nice to hear a couple claps here and there.”

After his auto accident, Woods admitted to infidelity and said Dec. 11 he would take an “indefinite break” from golf. Woods spoke publicly for the first time Feb. 19, when he confessed to cheating on his wife. But he didn’t take any questions after his 13-plus-minute statement.

Add a comment 03/22/2010

Obama’s Health Care Reform Bill Passed

HAVING STAKED THE SUCCESS OF HIS PRESIDENCY ON THE LONGSTANDING DEMOCRATIC DREAM OF UNIVERSAL HEALTH CARE, PRESIDENT OBAMA FINALLY ACHIEVED VICTORY ON SUNDAY NIGHT, BRINGING AN END TO A YEARLONG PARTISAN STRUGGLE. 

THE DEMOCRATS PASSED THE BILL WITHOUT A SINGLE REPUBLICAN VOTE AND THE KNOWLEDGE THAT IT MAY WELL HAVE ENDED THE POLITICAL CAREERS OF SOME WHO VOTED FOR IT AT A TIME WHEN THE PUBLIC REMAINS DEEPLY DIVIDD OVER THE ENTIRE ENDEAVOR.

Add a comment 03/22/2010

Music City Center building jobs come slowly

Mayor Karl Dean and other supporters sold the $585 million Music City Center project as a stimulus package for Nashville, where the unemployment rate is about 10 percent. They’ve said the project should create 2,500 to 3,000 jobs, with 800 to 1,000 people on-site at peak times.

About 100 people are working on the job already, said Gary Schalmo, project director and senior vice president with Bell/Clark/Harmony, the general contractor. They’re working on plans and shop drawings, procurement and other tasks.

Excavation work will start around March 1, bringing 20 people or so to the construction site south of Sommet Center and First Baptist Church. An additional 100 workers will start putting up the 1.2-million-square-foot building’s concrete frame in April or May.

Add a comment 02/22/2010

Obama unveils new health care proposal

Making a last-ditch effort to save his health care overhaul, President Barack Obama on Monday put forward a nearly $1 trillion, 10-year compromise that would allow the government to deny or roll back egregious insurance premium increases that infuriated consumers.

The plan conspicuously omits a government insurance plan sought by liberals and viewed as a non-starter by conservatives and some congressional moderates. It includes Senate-passed restrictions on federal funding for abortion adamantly opposed by abortion foes as well as abortion rights supporters.

The new White House plan would give the federal government the power to regulate the health insurance industry much like a public utility. The Health and Human Services Department — in conjunction with state authorities — would be able to deny egregious premium increases, limit them or demand rebates for consumers.

Add a comment 02/22/2010

Osama Bin Laden’s Son Warns His Successors Will Be Worse

Osama bin Laden’s son has a chilling warning for those who are hunting his father with drones, secret agents and missile strikes.

From Omar bin Laden’s up-close look at the next generation of mujahidenn and al Quaeda training camps he says the worst may lie ahead, that if his father is killed America may face a broader and more violent enemy, with nothing to keep them in check.

“From what I knew of my father and the people around him I believe he is the most kind among them, because some are much, much worse,” Omar bin Laden, who was raised in the midst of his father’s fighters, told ABC News in an exclusive interview. “Their mentality wants to make more violence, to create more problems.”

Omar has turned his back on his father’s philosophy, a remarkable step for a man in an Arab culture where it is a sin to disobey his father and taboo to openly criticize him. It was doubly significant for Omar bin Laden because his father had picked him to succeed him as the leader of jihad.

Add a comment 02/11/2010

Man who threatened Clinton’s office in 2007 arrested again

Leeland Eisenberg, who authorities say held Hillary Clinton’s New Hampshire campaign office hostage in 2007, was arrested peacefully at is home in Dover, New Hampshire, on Wednesday morning, sheriff’s officials said.

Eisenberg, who was on probation, had been on the lam for about 24 hours after managing to sever his GPS tracking bracelet at his home, sheriff’s officials said. ” It was good, old-fashioned police work,” said Capt. Joe DiGregorio of the Strafford County Sheriff’s office. “People who escape often return to places that they’re comfortable. Mr. Eisenberg seems to be no different.

Add a comment 02/11/2010