A lot going on

« If you want to view the final draft of the Homeless Blueprint.. | Main | My Christmas Allies »

December 11, 2007

A lot going on

It's just too busy these days to write a lot about anything, but here are some stories being followed/worked on by the Ticket:

Chattanooga Mayor Ron Littlefield wants to talk with Atlanta about trading water from the mighty Tennessee for his long sought-after rail line. Or has he done some initial bartering already? I can't find the link again, but I read something over the weekend that, unlike the local media, intimated that talks were farther along than we've been told. Maybe not, but it's a story worth keeping an eye on. A very interesting angle was brought up in a piece this weekend about how the boundary that separates Tennessee from all three of its southern neighbors has been wrong. I heard about this when I first moved here.
Another issue involving transportation and natural resources is the controversial highway that has long been planned to basically connect Chattanooga with Asheville, NC — that's right, smack through the Cherokee, Nantahala, and any other forests that are in the way. Called Corridor K, this highway would no doubt provide certain benefits, but many are concerned about its deep environmental impacts on some of the most beautiful near-wilderness this side of Lake Moosehead. (Oh, right, there's a move on to put a huge development right on the shores of said lake in the state of Maine. The battle between progress and preservation continues.)
A.C. Kleinheider continues to pose the questions (as devil's advocate, or perhaps not) regarding the state's Sunshine Laws. The latest dispatch would rename them Moonshine Laws.
There are 2008 election stories popping up every day now, and I'm not talking about the presidential race. Actually, I did just submit a column on the presidential candidates for this week's Pulse. It's so high-level, y'all know it all already, but there are some poor saps out there who just haven't been paying attention. The state races, though: this next year's battle for the General Assembly is going to be as fierce as ever, and things are happening all the time. I'd tell you to stay tuned here, but there's a chance you'll read it somewhere else first. Come back here after you've forgotten, though, and I'll have it all compiled into a user-friendly layout. That's my 2008 campaign promise.
It's the eleventh day of December, and I had to open the doors to my house to cool it off inside; then I had to shut the doors because bugs were flying in. Bugs. December. There's a stray cicada or two that I hear from time to time. (I'm blogging on the porch.) I never thought I would miss Michigan. (I don't; but I'm waxing nostalgic for New England.)
There's a new grocery store in town, starting tomorrow, and if it's like the ones I've been to in Florida and Atlanta, I'm thinking we'll like having it here.
You can vote online in an independent primary here.