MetroPulse Stories: Columns

Next Month's Primary Is a Golden Opportunity to Screw With Campfield

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 20:43:00 -0000

There is an election next month, with early voting beginning Feb. 15. Did you know Stacey Campfield is on the ballot?

The Carousel: Maybe America's Oldest Theater With a Stage in the Middle

neely@metropulse.com (Jack Neely) — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 20:41:00 -0000

Last year, the University of Tennessee chose not to level Clarence Brown Theatre, as planned. Still in the UT bulldozer’s long-range sights is the Carousel Theatre, which sits separately, like Clarence Brown’s big garden shed.

Is Geography Destiny?

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 20:36:00 -0000

I’m wondering if maybe it’s time to go home.

Restaurant Report: Boyd's Jig & Reel

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 20:34:00 -0000

Jenny Boyd, owner of Boyd’s Jig & Reel, swears she wanted the pub to be known for the music, not the food, but she admits the traditional pub fare they’re dishing out has “surpassed expectations. We eat here all the time. We love it. We had food because we had to have food, but it’s been great.”

Letter: Foreign Intrusion

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 20:29:00 -0000

President Obama’s rejection of the current permit request for the Keystone XL pipeline was the correct decision for the following reasons:

Letter: Just Plain Ol' Ineffectiveness?

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 20:27:00 -0000

Last week I was traveling Interstate 40 and stopped at the last rest area east of Knoxville. Chattanooga, Morristown, and Jonesborough all had colorful brochures inviting travelers to their communities. Knoxville was starkly unrepresented.

Letter: Good Ol' Gender Bias?

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 20:25:00 -0000

This is a response to the KTSC removal of Ms. Gloria Ray—in short, why now does her salary and compensation come into question?

Local Drag Racing Action: Getting Ready for the 2012 Season

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 20:13:00 -0000

If you haven’t been in a while or it’s your first time out to see a drag race, this is the place to start.

Knoxville's Traditional Power Centers Have Dead Batteries

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 20:06:00 -0000

Trustee John Duncan III ought to send Gloria Ray flowers. Her troubles with the Knoxville Tourism and Sports Corp. have kept him off the front page or the lead TV news items for a few days.

Dear Pink Lady: Advice for Knoxville’s Lovers From Our Soluble Solutions Columnist

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 20:00:00 -0000

Because all advice goes down easier with a drink (even a nonalcoholic one). Especially when it’s picked at random from our columnist’s extensive collection of community cookbooks.

Wandering Around Knoxville’s Abandoned Industrial Sites

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 18:50:00 -0000

There is not much left of Fulton Bellows now—just piles of gravel and immense slabs of concrete towering over Third Creek. The life has been obliterated from the land. The site is a brownfield; the groundwater underneath is contaminated. Despite the nearby traffic, a hush has fallen over the area. So much violence has been done to this place it makes me numb. Who cares what happens here now? Let them build their Walmart.

Is Knoxville the Birthplace of the First Rock ’n’ Roll Star?

neely@metropulse.com (Jack Neely) — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 16:13:00 -0000

Knoxville is the birthplace of Atlantic Records' first big star, who was one of the founders of rock ’n’ roll. Granville McGhee’s name is not as recognizable as that of Chuck Berry or Bo Diddley or Howlin’ Wolf—but as Stick McGhee, he performed what some consider the first rock ’n’ roll hit.

Wading Into Knoxville’s Slag Heaps and Forgotten Fens

editor@metropulse.com (Z. Heraclitus Knox) — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 16:09:00 -0000

Two centuries ago, the block of Gay northeast of the intersection of Gay and Union offered a dropoff way down toward First Creek’s floodplain. The bank was so steep it was considered impossible to develop commercially by the architecture and resources of the day, and whether by city permission or not, citizens began using it as a dump.

Nancy Drew and the Bishop’s Ring

olivejkeith@gmail.com (Olive J. Keith) — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 16:04:00 -0000

The name “Friends Antique and Collectibles Mall” does not do the place justice. The basement is a Man’s World full of military items, tools, and old sports equipment. The main floor boasts a dish heaven, silver (plate and sterling) begging to be polished, and vintage everything. The possibilities of hidden treasure in all this stuff is only part of what makes this place interesting.

Appointing State Appellate Justices Unconstitutional

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 16:02:00 -0000

A special panel of the state Supreme Court has ruled that the state’s appellate justices are being properly elected to office by being appointed by the governor then one day facing a retention election. This in spite of the Tennessee Constitution, which says judges are to be elected by a vote of the people.

Letter: Urban Consumption

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 15:57:00 -0000

Charles B. Jones Jr.: "I read with interest 'Buying Outside The Box' [Shot of Urban by Michael Haynes, Jan. 19, 2012] as it relates to urban retailing."

Letter: Legislative Opportunity

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 15:55:00 -0000

Patrick Morales: "...we must make it clear to those who are elected to protect our state, to do so by supporting the Tennessee Scenic Vistas Protection Act."

Letter: Hail Martha

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 15:54:00 -0000

Michael Arve: "I applaud Martha and hope that other people pick up her message and send it on."

Death and Life: Recalling the Roots of Downtown Knoxville’s Revival

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 15:50:00 -0000

If one had to name a single work that transformed the way architects and planners look at the cities for which they design, it would be Jane Jacobs’ first book, published in 1961, The Death and Life of Great American Cities. Downtown Knoxville is referred to, mostly by politicians and planners, as “everyone’s neighborhood,” a concept Jacobs invented and applied.

Possum Without the O

neely@metropulse.com (Jack Neely) — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 17:08:00 -0000

I’ve been enjoying Bill Landry’s book, Appalachian Tales & Heartland Adventures. It chronicles the back story of the long-running WBIR series of anecdotal stories about backwoods crafts, sports, cuisine. I have only one complaint about the book. Landry spells possum as opossum.