The elementary-school massacre in Connecticut set off renewed conversations about how to avoid such violence, but as usual gun-rights advocates have no interest in discussing what “well regulated” in the Second Amendment truly means.

Assume the governor (and his minions) listens to the people regarding James White Parkway and chooses the No Build alternative. What then?

Close your eyes and imagine that you live in a sustainable community. What is your morning routine? What’s in your kitchen? How do you get around? What makes people upset? What entertains them?

I used to think of the future as mine, but having lived through a big chunk of it, I think of it as someone else’s problem. I am a minority stakeholder in the century yet to come. I ought to ...

The Great Smoky Mountains National Park plans to charge backpackers $4 per person per night to camp in the backcountry, starting next year. Local hikers have fought this idea since it was first suggested, and this month they sent a ...

The State of Tennessee has a golden opportunity to reduce spending in future elections: Stop funding Democratic primaries.

Early voting started last Friday, but you haven’t voted yet. You’re still hoping an asteroid will strike the planet or the governor will sign a stealth bill requiring proof that you’ve donated $10,000 to political campaigns to be eligible to ...

In Tennessee, the majority party in the state Legislature gets control of the election commission in every county, a contrivance with no constitutional basis.

While Gov. Haslam is to be commended for making Amazon collect sales taxes, his overall stance toward corporate interests has been supplication. He has weakened Tennessee’s already laggard regulatory agencies and launched an attack on transparency.

Knox County’s charter is its constitution, the document that defines county government. The Knox County Charter Review Committee is the local version of a constitutional convention, and it has convened this year, as required every eight years. This is a ...

A joint resolution passed this month by the State House condemning a 20-year-old United Nations document should be placed into a time capsule so future generations can understand why they inherited an unsustainable and deteriorating world. The legislators who sponsored ...

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

With a new year and a new city government, what lies ahead for Knoxville? Mayor Madeline Rogero’s promise to make our town greener and more livable needs to be translated into policies, and there is cause for optimism.

Until this month, no composting facility near Nashville could accept food waste. A couple of Lipscomb University graduate students noticed this opportunity a couple years ago. Now, finished with their degrees, they have started a business, obtained permits, and built ...

Coal and timber land is often owned by small holding companies that are owned by larger corporations and institutional investors. This makes it difficult to find an actual person associated with the land, and even county property assessors are sometimes ...