Cowan Rodgers and the End of an Era
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Maybe GM’s decision to shut down a Cadillac dealership in West Knoxville is none of my business. Somehow I’ve made it deep into middle age without ever having shopped for a Cadillac. Reporters rarely find themselves driving new Cadillacs, but the phenomenon may be extreme in my case. I haven’t set foot in any auto showroom in 20 years. Full story »
More Secret History by Jack Neely
- Of Skeet Tallent, a Gold Sun Revelation, and UT Conference Center’s Tenuous Facelift
- The Headless Governor
- The Lost Filmmaker’s Camera
- The Last Fourth of July
Haslam Stalls, Leaves the High Road; Wamp’s Attacks Are Benefiting Ramsey
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Of course the top of the Sunday poll story on the governor’s race was that Bill Haslam still has a double-digit lead at this point. But if you look closely there may have been some other significant news within the Mason Dixon poll taken for the Tennessee Newspaper Network and WBIR. Full story »
More Frank Talk by Frank Cagle
- In Gubernatorial Race, Mayors or Millionaires?
- What Can Wamp Do to Catch the Front-Running Haslam?
- Latest Campaign Ad Captures Haslam's Likability
- The Chamber’s Job Is to Destroy our Rural Way of Life, So Find Another Argument
Bill Baxter’s Sour Grapes
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Bill Baxter’s disparagement of Bill Haslam in a recent guest column in the News Sentinel supporting Zach Wamp for governor reeks of peevishness on Baxter’s part. Full story »
More Insights by Joe Sullivan
- County Commission’s Growing Stature
- Amid Ballooning Federal Deficits, Estate Tax Should Be Reinstated
- Zach Wamp Is Reprehensible
- Push Back for Teachers
Rather Contain Buskers, We Ought to Extend That Market Square Vibe
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
I love Market Square. I need to get that out of the way up front. Its unique character reflects not only the rich historic character of downtown, but also the spirit of a city that is rediscovering the value of a vibrant urban core. Full story »
More Shot of Urban by Michael Haynes
- Without Enough Policing, Sundown Series Is Too Much of a Good Thing
- Construction on Gay Street’s 100 Block Grinds On, While Residents Lose Patience
- Basic Rules of Thumb for Downtown’s Upside-Down World
- Recent Downtown Fatality Raises Questions Over Pedestrian Safety
Slim Pickings in This Year's Political Races
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
We have been sending politicians to Nashville and to D.C. to cut taxes and cut spending for decades, but those easy political slogans are not appropriate for these desperate times. We need leaders with the courage to raise taxes and create new taxes. Full story »
More Sideways Glance by Rikki Hall
- A Tale of Two Calamities
- Henry
- Take Back Our Government
- Resolve Science Vs. Religion Dispute Quickly
Political Arrogance? Here?
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Terry Lee Caruthers: In reading your article on the 9th District school board race, I was once again taken aback in regard to the arrogance of political candidates. [“South Roil,” Citybeat by Jesse Fox Mayshark, July 22, 2010] Full story »
More Letters to the Editor
A Conversation With George Barris, Creator of the Batmobile
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
George Barris and his brother Sam pretty much invented the business of customizing cars, back in 1940s Los Angeles. Nowadays, it’s an industry unto itself, as well as mass entertainment on all too many cable TV shows. But Barris still stands apart, not just as an innovator but as a car guy with a wild talent for spectacle, creating all manner of bizarre concept cars, hot rods, and vehicles for movies—most famously, the Batmobile from the 1960s TV show and KITT from Knight Rider. Barris was recently in town to promote the acquisition of Michael Jackson’s Mercedes-Benz sedan by the Hollywood Star Car Museum in Gatlinburg, where he displays many of his kustom creations. Full story »
More Guest Speaker
- C. Martin Croker: The Man Behind 'Space Ghost' Villain Zorak
- Black Atticus Discusses the Southern Fried Regional Poetry Slam
- Wendy Williams: A Porn Star With a Difference
- Laura Bell, Former Sheepherder and Author of 'Claiming Ground'
What, Me Worry?
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Are all the 30somethings out there drifting around on a pink cloud of insouciance? Maybe they just haven’t faced the facts. If you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs, runs a parody of the famous Kipling poem, you obviously haven’t grasped the situation. Full story »
More Midpoint by Stephanie Piper
In Search of “N. R. Hall & Co. Market Square”
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Dear Dr. Knox: What can you tell me about “N. R. Hall & Co. Market Square Knoxville, Tenn.”? This name is imprinted on a leather sweatband attached to a black vintage hat (circa 1920s?) purchased at an area antique shop. Full story »
More Ask Doc Knox by Dr. Z. Heraclitus Knox
Chard for Life
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
In gardening, as in other food matters, there is something to be said for the lackadaisical, unresearched, no-preconceptions approach. There’s something to be said, but it’s not anything positive. Full story »
More All Foods Considered by Rose Kennedy
- Kevin Bradley Loves Kimchi
- Good Food Spoken Here
- Local Restaurants, Can't You Change and Also Stay the Same?
- Seconds on Bacon, Biscuits
Tennessee ’Shines
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
Tennessee is wholeheartedly embracing the mountain dew, turning it licit with a law last year permitting distilleries in 44 counties rather than the three where they were previously allowed. One of those is Sevier County, which last week saw the debut of the Ole Smoky Moonshine Distillery, set just back from the parkway in Gatlinburg. Full story »
More Libacious by Jesse Fox Mayshark
Glowing Boxes from Glowing Bowl
Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2009
As a raw-foods only café, Glowing Bowl was a difficult concept to warm up to (so to speak). However, I’d done it, and was certain that others would, too, if only they’d give it a try—once you’ve been exposed to it, such fresh, organic, expertly prepared food quickly makes the transition from nicety to necessity. Full story »
More Bonnie Appetit
UT Cafe a Learning Experience
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Standard journalism practice is to build up the underdog and take the leader down a peg or two. A visit to the Ready for the World Café (University Center, 1502 W. Cumberland Ave) might brace us for a dose of the former, since the venue is run entirely by students. On the other hand the café’s buffet lunch (the only meal it serves) costs $11, placing it in one of the higher echelons of the Knoxville buffet spread. Even given the absence of tax and service charge it’s something of a challenge to view this as value for money. Full story »
More The Gourmet Nose
Further Center-City Redevelopment With This Lincoln Park Craftsman Bungalow
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Pains me to say it, but there was a little truth in the Wamp campaign’s recent observation that downtown Knoxville’s redevelopment is “limited”—although probably not in the way that Wamp’s handlers meant. Full story »
More Urban Renewal by Matt Edens
- New Loan Program Aims to Move Middle-Income Homebuyers Into Center City
- Give Me Land, Lots of Land
- Since Sundown
- Let Me Call You Sweetheart
Final Check-Out
Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2008
After roughly 10 months on the job I am giving up pursuit of the truth about Knoxville in its supermarket aisles. Though I believe the truth is still to be found in these stores—in produce perhaps, or inadvertently buried in a bin on the bargain aisle—the press of more urgent and lucrative business pulls me away. I admit that at times it has seemed to me that this column, like Seinfeld, was about nothing at all. Few places feel more empty of meaning than a grocery store at mid-afternoon with nothing going on. Full story »
More Grocery Check-Out by John Yates
Nature Meets Technology
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Bridgeview Grill went out of business, but right now it’s a fun place to visit. Along the water as it flows past the university, the building is home to a thriving colony of barn swallows. Walk the docks that pass under Neyland Drive along the mouth of Second Creek, and these handsome birds will zip past you, showing off the band of white spots atop their forked tails. Full story »
More That's Wild by Rikki Hall
- Bill Would Remove Some Tennessee Waterway Protections
- Warming or Not, Carbon Glut is Core Problem
- Full of Sap
- Let TVA Pay Damages
From the Editor: Comings and Goings
Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2010
It is with no small displeasure that we must announce the departure of staff writer Chris Barrett. But we're also happy to announce that Jesse Fox Mayshark is returning to the fold. Full story »
More From the Editor
- We Knew Him When
- 2009 Knoxville City Council Endorsements
- Upward and Onward
- Knoxville’s Best Alternative
A Healthy Debate
Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2009
Last month, a little more than 100 miles northeast of Knoxville, President Obama stood before aisles of canned goods, deli meats, and strategically-placed advertisements, and in a loose accent converted a Kroger on the Virginia side of Bristol into a town-hall meeting. Full story »
More The Hill to the Hills by Frank N. Carlson
- Zach Wamp and the C Street Band
- The (Blue) Dog Days of Summer
- TVA Chairman Mike Duncan Threatens to Politicize Agency
- Tempest in a Teabag
We Are All We Have
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
The first few minutes for a visitor at a Trappist monastery are pretty special. The member monks and priests subscribe fully to the line of teaching that when Christ returns, He will present Himself as a stranger in need. You briefly get the benefit of the doubt. Once they sniff out your humanity, you are left to your own devices. Full story »
More Off-Center City by Matt Edens
- Who Will Fill 6th District Vacancy?
- The Rep faces potential legal troubles
- Old Man Potter’s Revenge
- Soul Food
On the Edge
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Other Lives by Lucy Sieger: From the book’s spine, an enigmatic dark-haired woman engages me with her smoky gaze. She has stenciled brows, kohl-lined eyes and a beauty mark; she is dangling a cigarette, of course. She is my alter ego, the writer I always wanted to be, my creative soul embodied in the daughter of sculptors from the Left Bank of Paris or poets from Prague Full story »
More Other Lives
Letter From Ft. Myers, Fla.
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Letters Home from Buddy Lucas It has been said that Tennessee is an old man stretched out under the sun and the moon and the stars, who dips his toes in the Mississippi River and rests his head on the Smoky Mountains with a thousand tales to tell and all the time to tell them. Being a part-time existentialist, full-time daydreamer, and occasional magic-bean buyer, I adhere to that description. This Tennessee will always be home to me. Knoxville has a special place in my heart, because it was there I feel I came to be who I am. Full story »