Can Farragut Change?

It is said when you have your health you have everything. Loudon County tops Tennessee in cancer rates and respiratory diseases. Through my work I have visited the Trigen,Viskase and AE Staley plants. Are these plants worth the employment and taxes they provide to the local community? Don't the people that live in Loudon County deserve the same quality of life other Tennesseans have?

You do not have to be a chemist, doctor, or rocket scientist to see something is very wrong in Loudon County. I remind those that choose to live in West Knox County that the air you breath comes from the East.

Spend a few moments and look at this:

http://www2.state.tn.us/health/CEDS/PDFs/ha-e-loudon-pc.pdf

If you are wondering why this is important AE Staley makes ethanol for cars to use as fuel. Are you an ethanol supporter?

NEW UPDATE:

Loudon plant to get $75M infusion

From the Knoxville News Sentinel, "Tate & Lyle will invest $75 million to expand production capacity and install pollution controls at its Loudon plant in Blair's Bend Industrial Park, a company official and community activists announced Friday."

"In addition, the project will allow the plant to increase production of ethanol by 37 million gallons per year.
The installation of pollution controls is the result of a previously announced agreement between Tate & Lyle and a group of Loudon County environmental activists. The Loudon County citizens had challenged the Tennessee Air Pollution Control Board's approval of a construction permit needed by the joint venture."

PREVIOUS UPDATE:

A new study shows that more energy is used to create ethanol than is saved by its use as a fuel additive to cars. For the people of Loudon County and West Knox County this is a bitter pill. Dangerous fumes and foul smelling air for no good purpose.

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1894&e=1&u=/ap/20050718/ap_on_bi_ge/ethanol_study

From the Farragut Press, "At its meeting July 19, members of the Development Review Process Evaluation Committee continued to hear public comment regarding — essentially — how Farragut does business with the business community."

Most people think of mulit-tasking and driving an automobile as a bad idea. The joke you hear is talking on the cell phone while applying makeup or eating a juicy cheeseburger. Not to be outdone John Wall has come up with a new idea for driving and multi-tasking. He broadcasts his own podcast Internet broadcast while he drives to work along interstate 95 in Waltham, Mass. Is he a poster child for the modern idiot?

Don Lindsey of AAA gives his thoughts in a letter to the editor in the Knoxville News Sentinel.

July 30, 2005

Podcasting makes_for dangerous driving The story in the July 18 edition about podcasting highlights two things: a new and possibly useful technology and how such things can distract us in the most dangerous way.

The picture and description of a motorist reading notes and recording a podcast while driving on Interstate 95 is one of the more flagrant examples of what not to do. For most of us, driving is our riskiest activity. Adding distractions - spilling coffee cups, long looks at passengers, items sliding off seats, using cell phones (even hands-free), or podcasting - takes our minds off the one thing we should be thinking about: driving.

Depending on which research you read, driver inattention leads to as many as 1 million crashes and $40 billion in damage each year in the United States. That's more than 2,700 crashes and $109 million in damages - each day.

Just keeping up with traffic can provide all the distractions we can handle. There's no need to add more.

DON LINDSEY
Director, Public Affairs
AAA East Tennessee
Knoxville

A new challenge has come forward. The Regal 10 Cinemas at Farragut Towne Square has closed its doors permanently. Even though it has a lease through 2013 there will be no more movies unless another theater chain purchases the building. A large part of the Farragut Sales Tax base has been lost.

Vice Mayor Mike Haynes has been chairing a Town of Farragut appointed committee to look into the way the Town of Farragut does business. More meetings are scheduled and the Farragut Press has been covering the story. Positive steps are being made to improve both the flow of Town related business and the relationship with businesses that work with the Town of Farragut.

Can Farragut Change won the Best Local/Regional Topics with eleven other Tennessee Blogs from TennesseeBloggers.com.

Knox County Schools Superintendent Dr. Charles Lindsey has proposed cutting Drivers Education and Languages in Knox County High Schools and Middle Schools. Is this a sincere proposal or is it a political football?

As quoted from the Knoxville News Sentinel, “Lindsey's proposal still would eliminate the drivers' education program in high school, foreign language in elementary and middle school and the talented-and-gifted program in middle school.”

Lindsey requested a huge increase over last years budget and when he was rebuffed he chose to play hardball. Chairman Dan Murphy was quoted in the KNS, “"I don't think we're deadlocked. We're having an exhaustive discussion," board Chairman Dan Murphy said near the end of a nearly three-hour work session during which board members criticized some of Lindsey's ideas and offered their own suggestions for reducing a requested $347.2 million budget to the approved $320 million.”

Isn’t it finally time for Knox County Schools, Knox County Commission, and Mayor Ragsdale to show the taxpayers they can work together to create and fund a realistic school budget?

Should any of these people get a Gold Star for "playing well with others"?