Metro Pulse/Ear to the Ground

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Bring Us a Figgy Pudding

There was substantial agreement at City Council Tuesday that passage of the Living Wage resolution sponsored by Council member Mark Brown would cost the city between $73,000 and $93,000 annually. By a 7-2 margin, Council rejected Brown's resolution, which would have resulted in raising the pay of those at the bottom of the pay scale to $19,000 a year. Later that evening, Council voted to renew the $50,000 contract of Nashville lobbyist Tony Thompson. Republican Thompson, the son of U.S. Sen. Fred Thompson, will be charged with lobbying a Democrat-controlled House of Representatives, a Democrat-controlled Senate and a Democrat governor.

Haslam for Memphis Mayor

The link to a curious website was being emailed all over town earlier this week. The front page of the site featured a photograph of Knoxville mayoral candidate Bill Halsam standing in front of a photograph of Knoxville's skyline. It also featured links to things like Haslam's qualifications and positions on the issues. That's where things got strange.

According to the site: Haslam was the Shelby County campaign manager for Dole/Kemp '96; he was once on the board of directors of the Liberty Bowl; and he graduated from the Memphis State Law School. None of this is true. As for the issues, the page boasted that Haslam wants to strengthen the military, arm airline pilots, and he supports tighter controls on immigration. Curious things for a mayoral candidate to emphasize.

As it turns out, the web page was a snafu. According to Haslam, the organization putting together his website had previously built one for David Kustoff, who ran for Congress last year in Memphis. The site was still under construction and was undergoing a trial run. "It was an innocent mistake on their part," says Haslam. "I was a little worried about it happening, but I figured that no one would see it. But I'm a little bothered that people would have sent a link to it around town with a malicious purpose."

Doing the Right Thing

On Tuesday The New York Times ran a story with details about why respected 30-year Park Service veteran David Mihalic, superintendent at Yosemite, turned down the plum job of superintendent of the nation's most visited national park. It was, as reported, about the road.

The proposed North Shore Road through the Great Smoky Mountains National Park to Swain County, N.C., a project "promised" in 1943 but rejected by the Park Service on environmental grounds almost 40 years ago is, according to the article, still "backed by some influential Republicans in North Carolina and Tennessee."

Senator-elect Lamar Alexander, who has publicly voiced his strong objection to the road, was presumably not one of them. His often-voiced devotion to the Bush administration may make his future stance on this issue interesting to watch.

Bush administration Park Service Director Fran Mainella refused to meet with Mihalic about the road issue, but Mihalic said deputy director Randy Jones told him in no uncertain terms that if he accepted the post, his job would be to "get it done." Other Park Service officials say Mihalic is making that up.

Mihalic, an Oglala Lakota Indian, told the Times, "I do believe the only thing I've got is my integrity." About his unexpected retirement from the Park Service at age 56, he said, "I think it was the right thing to do for the Smokies and the right thing for me personally."

Digging up Bones

The rumor rampant on downtown streets and K2K last week was that excavation workers on Market Square had discovered a human skeleton, and were hushing it up to prevent delays in the project. It was a plausible story; it wouldn't have been the first time an old skeleton had been found in the vicinity of the Square. The story did have some truth to it. Greg White, co-owner of the Preservation Pub on the Square, was rooting around in his basement and found a longish bone in his basement. To be on the safe side, he called the police. Unfortunately for those who love a good murder mystery, the grisly remnant turned out to be an old pig bone.

Bearing Gifts, We Traverse Afar

Unless Mayor Victor Ashe rescheduled his annual Christmas visit to his mother's home in Florida, then he will be 0-for-2 in attendance of regularly scheduled City Council meetings in the month of December. Council will meet at 10 a.m. on Christmas Eve. A resolution sponsored by Joe Hultquist to change the date failed by a 5-4 vote Tuesday. Hultquist was joined by Rob Frost, Steve Hall and Mark Brown in voting to reschedule the Christmas Eve meeting. Ashe was absent from the meeting. His presence was required in Hong Kong.