Metro Pulse/Ear to the Ground

Comment
on this story

Back to School

Rumors are a-buzzin' that recently deposed school board member Steve Hunley is looking for a way to get back in the school politics mix. Hunley (who was out of town and therefore unavailable for comment) has made it known he'd be interested in serving as a "legislative liaison" between the school system and those big meanies on Knox County Commission. His biggest proponent on the board may be West Knox board member Diane Jablonski, who says she has suggested to Superintendent Charles Lindsey that he could use an administrative assistant to fulfill various roles including just such an ambassadorial function. She says Hunley had good relations with several commissioners while he was on the board, "so certainly if there were thoughts about having someone outside school system in that capacity, he would be a logical person." On the other hand, she says, it depends on "whether he'd be willing to do that or whether the superintendent would be willing to see that as a position to be filled." Don't bet on it. Lindsey has shown himself as a man who likes to do his own talking. And however popular Hunley may or may not be with commissioners, his grilling of school officials while on the board didn't exactly make him a favorite in the halls of the AJ Building. Not to mention what his successor Jim Williams (who defeated Hunley in the spring election) might think of such an arrangement.

Meter Man West

Roger and Susan Bourdeaux are in Los Angeles this weekend for the Hollywood premier of their film, Meter Man, filmed in beautiful downtown Lincoln Park. The film, to be shown at the Directors Guild of America meeting, features the music of R. B. Morris and stars Brad Renfro, Sam Sharp, Steve DuPree, Carol Jenkins, KoKo Valee and Angel Collins (decked out in drag as Dolly Parton). The Bourdeauxes will be in LA along with Chet Frist of the Tennessee Film Commission and other winners from the Nashville Independent Film Festival.

The film is the story of a voyeuristic, Y2K-obsessed meter reader (Renfro), whose motto is, "I'm a meter man but I'm still important"

Nile on the Tennessee?

Mark Jones, director of environmental health at the Knox County Health Department, says county residents shouldn't worry about the department's pesticide campaign against mosquitoes. The pesticide used—Biomist—has low levels of toxicity, Jones says, and reports of the West Nile virus last fall have increased concerns about disease-carrying insects.

It's been easy so far not to worry about the mosquito control program—despite persistent concerns about pesticide sprays, the county has made little effort to warn residents that they would be spraying. Jones said his department has tried to notify homeowners' associations and neighborhood organizations before spraying, but no notices have been mailed to individual home owners and no announcement was made through the media (a story ran in the News-Sentinel two weeks ago, but only after complaints had been made about the spraying in Sequoyah Hills). "We can't call everyone on a street to tell them," Jones says. "But we're trying to let people know what we're doing to the best of our ability."

Here are some of the warnings from the Biomist label issued by the manufacturer, Clarke Mosquito Control: "Hazards to humans and domestic animals...Harmful if absorbed through the skin or inhaled...Avoid breathing spray mist...This product is extremely toxic to fish. Do not allow spray treatment to drift on pastureland, cropland, poultry ranges, or water supplies."

Home Rules

Citizens for Home Rule is preparing to sue the city of Knoxville over finger annexation. Relying on a state Supreme Court decision (Earhart v City of Bristol) which overturned such annexations in Bristol, CHR president John Emison is optimistic about the prospects for overturning annexations connected to the corridor annexation of Pellissippi Parkway. Ironically, the suit is to be filed in behalf of developer Oliver Smith IV, who has been at the center of much controversy over the commercialization of the intersection of Pellissippi Parkway and Westland Drive.