Frozen custard, other treats at Rita's on Market Square

So I haven't tried Rita's Ice of Knoxville on Market Square yet, but I hope to soon. Rita apparently has frozen custard, which is a treat that I've only had at the KAMM's Frozen Custard Shop at the Grove Arcade shopping center in Asheville, NC.

If you've never had frozen custard, you're in for a treat, I'm sure.

I'll report back once I've given it a taste.



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2 Knoxville synagogues vandalized

Apparently two Knoxville synagogues were vandalized recently. The damage was discovered today. Details here.

The first question that comes to my mind is the obvious one... Is this a hate crime?

EDIT: Here are some videos.


Damage at Temple Beth-El




An interview with Temple Beth-El Rabbi Beth Schwarts




An interview with Heska Amuna Synagogue President Marty Iroff



Video of Heska Amuna Synagogue -- Heska Amuna suffered less damage than Temple Beth-El.



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Travolta's 16-year-old son is dead

John Travolta's 16-year-old son apparently died today after falling and hitting his head on a bathtub in the Bahamas.

Details here.

Tweeting Travolta.

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Tax time already?

2009 is barely underway and already tax terms are showing up on Google Hot Trends.

I ran into the West Knoxville Branch Library today to return my copy of Cormac McCarthy's Child of God and I saw a stack of tax forms... already.

Tweeting income taxes.

Aren't we a couple of months away from even getting W-2 forms from employers?

EDIT: @rlmartinex points out that W-2s are supposed to be issued by Jan. 31... I guess that just goes to show that I'm a procrastinator/ late filer.

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State bailouts?

So are we going to bailout states now? Some might argue that that makes more sense than bailing out companies.

Wonder what would happen if a state "went under?"

Just talked to Gov. Bredesen's Press Secretary, Lydia Lenker, and she says Tennessee is not asking for any budgetary money to cover any state shortfalls. However, she says, like most states, Tennessee is interested in getting stimulus money that could help Tennessee's economy (See below).

From "Economic Recovery: A Federal-State Partnership" on the National Governors Association Web site (Complete document):

The federal‐state programs with the greatest potential to assist with recovery efforts fall into three categories:

•
Benefit programs for individuals in need (e.g., Medicaid, food stamps, welfare and unemployment insurance);

•
Infrastructure programs with ready‐to‐go projects that will create new jobs; and
•
Countercyclical programs where the federal government can help offset proposed budget cuts by increasing the federal share of ky federal‐state programs such as Medicaid and special education.

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Is it ever wrong to do the right thing?

That's the question being asked at this year's Great American Think-off.

It's a tough one. Sounds like a bit of a logical trap to me.

I don't know what my answer would be, but off the cuff, I'd say the right thing can't be right if it's the wrong thing to do. If it were wrong to do the right thing, then the right thing would be the wrong thing. So, no, it is never wrong to do the right thing.

If you're doing the right thing, and your wrong in doing it, then that would make the wrong thing the right thing to do, right? Doesn't wrong always have an opposite? If it didn't have an opposite would it be wrong? You can't have wrong without right. Wrong is wrong because of its correlation to/ relationship with right.

If you're doing the wrong thing, then there is always a right thing that could have been done. By virtue of doing the wrong thing you are not doing the right thing.

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Sen. Pell, father of Pell Grants dies at 90

Rhode Island Sen. Claiborne Pell, the creator of the Pell Grant, has died. He was 90.

Thank you Sen. Pell for helping me get through college -- Never met you, but I'm indebted to you.

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More trouble for Goody's?

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WVLT) -- Knoxville-based Goody's Family Clothing is apparently no longer issuing giftcards, accepting new tuxedo rental orders, or offering layaway services -- at least for the immediate future, according to a memo sent to Goody's stores and obtained by VolunteerTV.com. Calls placed to several Goody's stores in Tennessee and other states also confirm the changes. Full Story...

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Bi-racial couple surprised by 2nd set of black and white twins

A bi-racial couple in Hampshire, England is welcoming their second set of twins... http://tinyurl.com/7zvv7z

That's pretty rare in itself, but the kicker to this story is that the first set of twins were black and white, and so was the second set of twins. How cool is that?!

Snopes on a similar story: http://tinyurl.com/lhxhp

Dooh!!! -- E. TN sheriff cited for hunting violation

Once again, Claiborne County Sheriff David Ray is having some legal trouble -- it's not quite as serious this time around, though.

 

Looks like he was cited by TWRA for a hunting violation: http://tinyurl.com/a49ul6

First Knoxville baby of 2009

Lacey was born at 1:17 a.m. today. She weighed in at 6 pounds, 13 ounces.

Her mother is Casey Collins, of Blaine, Tenn.

I've got some video of mom and baby on the way into the newsroom. I'll embed it once I get it in-house and posted.

Isn't it interesting how how we are so intrigued by firsts? There's something about being first, I think, that plays to the pioneer spirit that I believe is inherent in people.

Here's the video shot by WVLT Video Journalist Daniel Beckner:

Tweeting 2009

It's interesting to see what folks on Twitter are saying this first day of 2009.

If you're on twitter, hit me up @radiomanmic.

Everybody's waiting for Frist...

I wish he'd let us know whether or not he's running, already!  Then again, maybe it's a good thing that he's not decided... I don't know if I could handle an year and a half to two year long Governor's race. 

 

Sort of like the potential Hutchison bid for Knox County mayor, the possibility of Haslam running for governor isn't exactly breaking news: http://tinyurl.com/6ugbhw

Happy New Year!

... and a prosperous 2009!



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Antacid: Fly ash solution...

I was listening to a news conference yesterday about the Roane County fly ash spill, and one of the officials said that one of the options for keeping the find dust from getting kicked up into the air is to spray a fine coating of calcium carbonate over the fly ash. He said it would react with the fly ash and create a concrete-type film, apparently.

 

The interesting thing is that -- and Scott Blalock just pointed this out to me -- calcium carbonate is the main ingredient in many, if not all antacids. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calcium_carbonate

 

Imagine how useful that stuff could be in this situation... not only can it keep the ash out of the air, it can help relieve all of that heartburn that is sure to be common for anyone dealing with this situation in the coming weeks and months.

All this over a measly nuclear-powered aircraft carrier

Sheesh... apparently Virginia and Florida are fighting over who will become the home port of the George H.W. Bush, a U.S. Navy aircraft carrier. Heck, the only thing either state stands to gain is a few bucks... a few meaning a number and nine zeroes, according to TheHill.com: http://tinyurl.com/9nsfyk

Dooh!!!

You know it's a tough economy when drug dealers start diversifying their payment options into the realm of giftcards.

I wonder if the value to the dealer is based strictly on the dollar amount, or if he values a $25 giftcard to Best Buy higher than he would value a $25 giftcard to Bath & Body Works?

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Gov. Bredesen pushes for energy change during sludge spill news conference

Wednesday, in Roane County, Gov. Phil Bredesen said the fly ash sludge spill at TVA's Kingston Fossil Plant may be an "epiphany" to TVA with regard to the business of producing energy.

Check out the entire news conference in three 10-minute segments.

Do Roane Co. school officials buy the "water is safe" line?

In a news conference today, Roane County School officials said that, although authorities say the water in Roane County is safe to drink despite the massive fly ash sludge spill, school food will be prepared with bottled water, parents and staff are encouraged to bring bottled water to school if they want, and the school system has purchased extra bottled water to sell at school.

http://tinyurl.com/9atnz7

This begs the question of whether school officials believe the water really is safe.

Foolin' around the Christmas tree

Apparently, a lot of people get frisky around the holidays.

I wonder if it has anything to do with this.


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Shakin' things up in Yellowstone

With three days of earthquakes and tremors in Yellowstone National Park, could it be that something bigger is coming? http://tinyurl.com/9elz4u

 

Lifetime Kia of Morristown closing dealership

Major dealership. Heavy advertisers. Sign of the times?

 

Details from VolunteerTV.com: http://tinyurl.com/95r9yd

Report details Columbia tragedy

NYT has newly-released info on the Feb. 1, 2003 Space Shuttle Columbia disintegration that killed the entire crew.

 

http://tinyurl.com/8xyr4o

Freedom of Information... at a price

Looks like the outgoing administration is considering a "midnight regulation" that would eliminate the consideration of "public interest" when releasing otherwise exempted information under Freedom of Information Act(FOIA).

Dooh!!!

If you have illegal drugs... it may not be such a good idea to be hanging out next to the jail... but then again, maybe they had an "appointment."

 

In the spirit of Homer Simpson, "Dooh!!!" -- http://tinyurl.com/959od4

TV Classics turned postage stamps

TV Week is reporting that some of the great black and white TV sitcoms will get a new run.

It's weird that I have a group of favorite TV classics, considering I'm only 25 years old. But seeing this on TV Week's Web site brought back fond memories of Nick-at-Nite sitting in my child-sized recliner. If I remember correctly, I only got to watch Nick-at-Nite on Friday and/or Saturday nights, because it usually was on past my bedtime. My top favorite is and always will be the original "Get Smart," but I don't think that's going to be one of the stamps released by the U.S. Postal Service.

My favorite shows-turned-stamps are "Dragnet," "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" and "I Love Lucy" -- The chocolate factory episode and the one where she has to keep tasting the gross tonic are my favorites.


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New Year's in the South

I've lived in the South my entire life, but every year I'm intrigued by the curious traditional New Year's food (http://tinyurl.com/7ve4x8). 

 

Like a good southern boy, I love me some Hog's Jowl, but I'm not a big fan of either black-eyed peas or greens.  Looks like I'll unlucky and poor, but hey... at least I'll have my health.

 

As Mike Sees It

Knox County Commissioner Mike Hammond (disclosure: also my former boss at Citadel Broadcasting) has started a blog.

 

http://mikehammondblog.blogspot.com/

 

Knox County Commissioner Mark Harmon has been doing this for quite a while on his blog that is hosted on KnoxViews.com --

 

http://www.knoxviews.com/blog/196

 

It's interesting to see how public officials use technology.  Is posting information to a blog sufficient for Sunshine purposes? 

Back in the U.S.S.R.

Sometimes I get the feeling that good ole Medvedev and Putin don't thing so highly of the thing we call democracy... can't help but wonder if they're trying to increase their control over the former Soviet Republics.

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7799321.stm

Paris' Pink Ride

Entertainment news is almost an oxymoron, but I couldn't resist noting Paris Hilton's new Pepto-Pink Bentley. NBCDFW.com called it the Pepto-mobile.

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Upside down

Wonder how much this refrigerated beach resort is going to cost... Talk about luxury!




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165 years ago...

Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol" was published, according to the Dec. 19, 2008 edition of Garrison Keillor's "Writer's Almanac: http://writersalmanac.publicradio.org/