Is That a Gun in Your Pocket or Are You Just Happy to be on Administrative Leave?

Reports that tranquillity broke out at Tuesday's City Council meeting must have come from someone who managed to miss a near-fistfight in the main assembly room. It began, according to witnesses, after Oscar "Poorboy" Brown said that pictures of the body of Andre Stenson—a black man who died Jan. 9 while being arrested by four white police officers—showed signs of a brutal beating. Former police officer and one-term city councilman L. B. Steele, father of L.B. Steele III, one of the four officers involved, disputed Brown's contention. The discussion grew heated and Brown says that Steele "broke on me like he was gonna hit me and I told him if he hit me I'd kill him." Steele says the confrontation was nothing more than "Poorboy jawing." Furthermore, he says, "It was Scott (who) Poorboy threatened to kill."

"Scott" is officer Scott Coffey, one of the four officers on administrative leave while Stenson's death is being investigated. Coffey and many other officers attended the meeting to oppose a citizens' review board. Numerous witnesses say Coffey was sporting a pistol that was shoved into the waistband of his pants. Witnesses also say Coffey, Steele, and Brown were all forcibly restrained by police officers standing nearby (Steele disputes this). Coffey, whose attorney could not be reached for comment, is reportedly threatening to take out a warrant for Brown's arrest.

Do You Get an Extra Turn for Burning Witches?

If the plethora of pious purchasables available at Cedar Springs Christian Book Store isn't enough to convince you Knoxville is the Christian commerce capital of the world, consider a column in this month's Harper's magazine. It quotes a series of "mission trip cards" from the board game Missionary Conquest, a "Christian alternative to Monopoly and Risk." The game is distributed by D & E Enterprises, identified as a Knoxville company. Players vie to establish international missions and earn blessing points for their efforts to convert the heathens. Among the cards:

"Egypt. You show kindness to a group of date pickers and are invited to speak to the whole village about Jesus Christ. Gain 25 blessings."

"Israel. While attempting to preach, you start an argument with Jews concerning the New Testament. Lose 25 blessings."

"Nepal. You witness to Buddhist monks and offend them. The government expels you. Gain 75 blessings."

And the ultimate prize for any would-be soul-winner: "Iraq. You preach on the streets of Qum (a holy city) even though you were warned in a dream not to. You are stoned to death by fanatical Muslims. Gain 150 blessings."

Ah, that old-time religion.

The Life of an Artist

A Knoxville native who died almost 20 years ago will soon get the international attention that eluded him much of his life. Published by New York's Oxford University Press, a biography of Knoxville's best-known artist, the talented and eccentric painter Beauford Delaney (1901-1979) is to be released at a party at the Michael Rosenfeld Gallery in New York next Thursday. Its title is Amazing Grace: A Life of Beauford Delaney; its author is David Leeming, well-known scholar of world mythology and author of an acclaimed biography of novelist James Baldwin. Leeming will be in Knoxville for a signing in about three weeks. Over the last four years, Leeming and an assistant spent weeks in Knoxville researching Delaney's youth here, as well as his art, much of which is still stashed in a downtown-Knoxville storeroom, awaiting Knox County Probate Court's resolution of a complicated legal snarl involving the University of Tennessee, members of Delaney's family, and other heirs.

Snow Daze

After first announcing that schools would open an hour late on Wednesday, Knox County Schools decided what the hell, Cocke County's doing it, let's close for the whole day, throwing parents into predictable turmoil. We began to wonder if fun-loving kids were bribing school officials or maybe commandeering the media desk. But you can't be too safe. Despite the several degrees-above-freezing temperature at 9:00 on that sunny morning, a Metro Pulse investigation did indeed turn up several unmistakable frost crystals in the shadows of trees. (School spokesman Mike Cohen says about 30 different bus drivers had reported icy roads on their routes. "Did we do it knowing we'd look foolish in three hours? Yes. [But] I'd rather have people mad at me than be answering questions about why we had buses out in icy conditions.")