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Frankly Speaking
One of the weirder things about Tuesday's plenty-weird announcement that News-Sentinel curmudgeon Frank Cagle will become Victor Ashe's new deputy mayor was N-S editor Harry Moskos' comment that Cagle might still write columns for the paper's editorial page. Letting a paid political flack write political analysis isn't something any self-respecting newspaper would do, but that certainly doesn't rule it out in the Sentinel's case (this is the same paper that hired Cynthia Moxley to write gossip news about her own PR clients). In any event, we're betting that if Cagle does continue to pen the occasional jeremiad, he'll steer clear of certain topics. Like, for example, the following (taken at random from his columns of the past year):
* "Ashe may be term-limited, but one hopes he has some consideration for his legacy as mayor of Knoxville. If he continues his in-your-face tactics, he puts the capstone of his career (a successful convention center and downtown redevelopment) at risk. "—Sept. 2, 2000.
* Making predictions for 2002: "TVA Chairman Victor Ashe announced that the agency has annexed two coal-fired plants and a nuclear plant owned by the Southern Co. Ashe said TVA needs more capacity because of deregulation and that the three new plants would save the agency several billion dollars. 'We felt like building new capacity would be cost prohibitive and take a lot of time. This bold new strategy will benefit the ratepayers in the valley. If Southern Co. doesn't like it, they can sue us.' Ashe is still settling into the chairman's role. He spent the previous year as Bush administration ambassador to Pago Pago but had to be recalled after the riots that ensued when he tried to annex Fiji." —Aug. 19, 2000.
* "Ashe hasn't been in the state Senate for two decades, but members still rise to pay tribute to him. When they want to kill a bill, they take the floor and announce to their colleagues: 'Victor wants this.' "—May 6, 2000
Baxter for mayor?
When Bill Baxter, the outgoing state economic development director, was honored Tuesday by his buddy and fellow Republican Mayor Victor Ashe on Baxter's return to Knoxville, the political swells rolled into the Tennessee Grill 230 strong for a 7:30 a.m. breakfast.
There were enough movers and shakers there to rock the whole Boat House. So when Baxter, who has been mentioned as a potential candidate for governor, delivered his address, extolling his hometown as the best place ever, the idea popped up that it sounded like a candidate's speech. County Commissioner David Collins retorted, "Yeah, a candidate for mayor of Knoxville." Virtually everyone in earshot went, "Oooooh," as though they hadn't thought of that. Interestingly, one who did not sound surprised was Darrell Akins, who hasn't exactly built his public relations/political insider empire on idle observations. (Collins said later he didn't have any information that Baxter was interested in the mayor's office and was only joking.)
The Denver Connection
What does Janet Reno's approval of a partial merger of the two newspapers in Denver have to do with downtown Knoxville redevelopment?
Quite possibly, a lot. When the outgoing attorney general last week blessed a joint operating agreement between the Denver Post and the Rocky Mountain News, she stopped a decade of bleeding on the part of E.W. Scripps Co. According to a story in the News-Sentinel, Scripps' Rocky Mountain News has lost $123 million trying to go it alone.
Scripps' Denver difficulties have reportedly been a deterrent to a commitment on the company's part to a Scripps Cable Network center that would complement Knoxville's new convention center. With these difficulties out of the way, prospects may be brighter for a long-awaited decision to go forward with a visitor attraction here that could provide a major spur to convention center bookings and downtown redevelopment.
That's "Big OrangeTM" to You
Look for Pat Summitt to get milk on her face sometime soon and maybe you'll spot Phillip Fulmer on your TV screen sporting Adidas wear.
UT is about to go the way of most other major sports schools by allowing its coaches to do paid endorsements. President J. Wade Gilley favors lifting a ban on such commercialism imposed by his predecessors but only so long as he retains control over what kinds of endorsing the coaches can do.
You probably won't see Fulmer munching Golden Flake potato chips the way that Steve Spurrier and Bobby Bowden do because promoting one brand of a product is likely to be out-of-bounds as a rule. But Adidas could be an exception because it's already paying UT $2 million a year for an exclusive on athletic shoes and uniforms.
Summitt still might garner upwards of a $1 million a year promoting healthy things like drinking milk. Fulmer would probably need another national championship to get into that bracket, and Jerry Green might not make it even if his team wins it all. It's not clear whether the coaches would pocket all the money or share some of it with the university.
Family Values
One of the first faces visitors see when they hit the Sevier County line is a smiling Dolly Parton, touting the family fun and adventure awaiting them at Dollywood. Ironically, though, these days, Sevierville's favorite daughter's own family isn't having much fun at all. Dolly and eight of her siblings have filed suit in Chancery Court to declare their mother, Avie Lee Parton, 78, incompetent. Two other siblings, twins Frieda and Floyd, did not sign onto the suit, and are supporting their mother's wish not to have a conservator appointed to administer an estate the value of which is estimated at around $1 million.
The first plaintiff named is Willadeene Buzzeo, Dolly's eldest sister, and the suit is supported by an affidavit from Avie Lee's family doctor, Samuel W. McGaha. Avie Lee's husband, Lee Parton, died late last year. Various Parton children, Randolph, David, or Cassie, who works for Dolly, have been suggested as conservator.
Knoxville lawyer Dennis Francis represents Avie Lee, but wouldn't comment on the case, beyond saying that his client prefers to remain in charge of her own life.
We Get a Kick Outa Mia
You never know who you'll run into at a Lady Vols' basketball game. Last week, at a home stand against LSU, people were doing double-takes over a small, dark-haired young woman in a blue turtleneck sweater. By half-time, the buzz reached the Jumbo-Tron camera guys, who trained the lens on her in the second half of the game. It was USA Senior National Team soccer star Mia Hamm, in town to visit her old friend and former University of North Carolina teammate Angela Kelly, who coaches soccer here.
Marshaling forces
One of the favorite insider "spoils" of the presidential election is up for grabs, and maneuvering is in full swing. The job of U.S. Marshal for the Eastern District of Tennessee was most recently filled by former Knox County Sheriff Joe Fowler, a Democrat. His successor might just be Jay Witt, a longtime local lawman with strong GOP credentials. Witt, an employee of the Knox County Sheriff's Department, has formally applied for the marshal's job. Other names being floated are Sterling Owen IV, a retired FBI agent who has been flirting with the possibility of running against Sheriff Tim Hutchison; Wayne Simms, a deputy marshal stationed in Oklahoma whose father, David Simms, is an active local Republican; and Bob Waggoner, a member of the highly political Waggoner family whose grandfather was a sheriff and whose sister is a judge.
January 11, 2001 * Vol. 11, No. 2
© 2001 Metro Pulse
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