Metro Pulse

Secret History by Jack Neely: If you want to take a break from all the political stuff, the hate stuff and the attack ads and the county political stuff—and I think we could all use a break—have a look at the upper left-hand gallery at the Knoxville Museum of Art. It’s called Higher Ground, sort of an episodic history of art in the Knoxville area, and the KMA’s first permanent exhibit Full story »

Frank Talk by Frank Cagle: In the modern era, the only thing more certain than death and taxes is the re-election of Tennessee incumbents. But this year there are a few races that could surprise. Full story »

Insights by Joe Sullivan: John Petersen has so many irons in the fire, to use his phrase, that it’s no wonder that the University of Tennessee’s president occasionally gets burned Full story »

Off-Center City by Matt Edens: In what could be an unprecedented occurrence in the annals of Knoxville road building, orange barrels may soon appear along North Central Street as part of a project to make the road narrower, not wider. Dubbed a “road diet” in planning circles, the idea is to re-stripe the street from four lanes to two. Reducing the number of lanes will make the area more pedestrian-friendly by slowing down traffic and introducing a screen of parked cars between the sidewalks and the travel lanes. (The street parking also provides additional parking for area merchants.) Full story »

Shot of Urban by Michael Haynes: I hear that one a lot. There are quite a few topics, among folks who live or spend a significant amount of time downtown, that come up over and over again. Many of them recounting near-death pedestrian experiences, and the widespread disregard by drivers for people on foot around here. Full story »

Sideways Glance by Rikki Hall: One Unitarian parent trying to explain the inexplicable to her child described the shooter’s desperation in the face of unemployment and termination of his food stamps. “He should have just come to our church, we would have helped,” said the child. The children of the Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church congregation uniting in song at the vigil after the attack was a moment of glory. That is what Unitarians do: face down the thunder of violence and intolerance with sweet songs of hope Full story »