Taxes & Towers

As the Tennessean's columnist Tim Chavez points out in a column today, so far nothing has been done about the only documented incident of violence at the last set of protests: the roughing-up of a protestor by THP Sgt. Harold Gooding. Nor have any of the major media investigated widespread reports that citizens who demanded names and badge numbers where handcuffed and hauled away. Chavez suggests that these kinds of things explain why talk radio is so influential. Hey, at least the Tennessean has somebody saying stuff like this; the Sentinel runs two syndicated columns and its usual Saturday grin-and-grimace routine. The Sentinel does report that Sundquist will have metal detectors installed in the Capitol. This was called for by Tom Humphrey in a column on July 29th. Humphrey's influential, I guess, but I don't see the point: in the previous event, the only weapons present were in the hands of state troopers. This looks like harassment, or cowardice, rather than a reasoned response and it will play badly. Expect a lot of video cameras to be present at the rallies today and Tuesday, and a lot more pressure for a response if the authorities misbehave.

Bryan Mitchell reports on Eli Fly's endorsement of an income tax, which came "just moments" after his contract was extended. The story contains a clear description of the search committee's composition, though not much background on why the members were chosen or exactly what the Board is looking for in a new President. Up to now, UT has not gotten behind the income tax the way it did when Ned McWherter tried for one -- presumably because the University muckymucks thought Sundquist couldn't pull it off anyway. Does this change represent a new assessment of Sundquist's prospects, a quid pro quo for Fly's contract extension (which is surely what Mitchell implies) or is it a token effort designed to forestall any vengeance by Sundquist when he fails and massive cuts are required?

The top local story, by Michael Silence, has to do with the proliferation of cell towers. Personally, I don't think they're nearly as ugly as regular telephone poles with their drooping wires festooned everywhere (Maryville went to a no-overhead-wires approach 20 years ago -- why can't Knoxville?). But lots of folks don't like them, and the cell companies have dealt with this in a Sundquistian manner, with a combination of bluster and inept efforts to sneak under the radar. Now everyone hates them. Backlash inevitable. Rumor has it that there's been a run on copies of The Monkey-Wrench Gang at Edward McKay, but that's probably just loose talk.