Joe Sullivan

Going on two years ago, the City of Knoxville’s Pension Board concluded that the 8 percent annual investment return on which its pension funding had been predicated was too high—contributing to a $127 million unfunded liability.

But just as the city’s rapid growth in the late 19th century led to annexations in all directions, so may downtown’s 21st century resurgence beget extensions of its footprint.

For all the entrepreneurial economic development that’s revitalized downtown Knoxville since the turn of the century, about the only new buildings to go up have emanated from the public sector.

The time could be at hand for Gay Street’s missing teeth to get filled in, restoring a full smile to downtown’s signature thoroughfare.

Anyone who doubts Gov. Bill Haslam’s sincerity in seeking to provide high-quality health care coverage to low-income Tennesseans has another think coming.

To the extent it’s possible to make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear, Nick Cazana’s plans for converting the drab state office building on Henley Street into a sleek hotel will succeed in doing so.

I’ve criticized or poked fun at lots of elected officials in this column over the years, but I’ve never before singled one out for ridicule.

Now that the city of Knoxville is completing acquisition of the site of the former Lakeshore Mental Health Institute, a big question becomes how to make the most of its magnificent 186-acre campus bordering Fort Loudoun Lake in West Knoxville.

Recent revelations of security system deficiencies at two Knox County schools need to be put in the rear view mirror, and the school system needs to move ahead with doing exactly what Superintendent Jim McIntyre called for in his Feb. ...

One gun control measure strongly favored by public opinion and supported by the National Rifle Association would require background checks on all gun purchases.