Metro Pulse/Ear to the Ground

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Something Old

Last October, City Council decided it wanted monthly updates on the progress of the Market Square redevelopment project. On Dec. 10, members received a memorandum from KCDC's chief redevelopment officer Dan Tiller telling them that demolition of the public floor space was 10 percent complete and that work was proceeding on utilities and storm drains. The last sentence of the first paragraph, however, has caused some belated guffaws: "The Market House structure has been removed and the old bell has been secured and stored."

Evidently the definition of "secured and stored" is flexible. The historic artifact is sitting in the mud on the north end of Market Square.

Something New

Joe Bailey, who narrowly lost out on a City Council seat in '01 (Barbara Pelot beat him for the District 2 slot by 31 votes), is out of the gate early. He's appointed campaign committees, named a treasurer (Bert Bertelkamp), and filed papers with the election commission declaring his intention to run for Seat A, one of three at-large City Council seats up for grabs this year. As yet, no opponent has emerged, however, it appears that term-limited District 5 incumbent Larry Cox intends to slide over and run at-large for Seat B. Jean Teague, who was forced to retire from the District 2 seat two years ago, is making noises about running at-large for Seat C.

High Hopes

If you're in the unfortunate position of needing a new driver's license, you might want to put off the ordeal for a few more weeks. Help just may be on the way. Last summer, as part of a series of draconian budget-cutting moves, Gov. Don Sundquist's administration cut the funding for Knox County Clerk Mike Padgett's drivers' license examination substations, which had taken a considerable load off the local state Department of Safety offices. As a result, the state offices were swamped with hapless citizens who were forced to while away large chunks of their lives waiting for the wheels of government to grind out proof of their driving privileges. Padgett mounted a petition drive to get the substations reopened. He collected some 200,000 signatures in hopes of making an impression in Nashville. Meanwhile, Sundquist's time was running out, and Padgett's son, Mark, was the East Tennessee coordinator of Phil Bredesen's gubernatorial campaign. So maybe it's the petitions, or maybe it's the young Padgett's efforts, but Mike Padgett is smiling these days. And while he won't elaborate, he gives a one-word answer to the question of whether his substations will be re-opening: "Soon."

Awaiting the grim reaper

Speaking of soon, one of Knoxville's last locally owned gas stations is living on borrowed time. The BP West Town will soon close to make way for the massive reconstruction of the I-40/West Hills interchange. Back when the station was profiled in an Oct. 31 Citybeat story, owner Scott Kaderly said he thought TDOT would shut him down by the end of November. Incredibly, he's still open, living day to day. "I'm thinking that they'll show up at my door soon, but I'm hoping that we'll still be pumping fuel through the end of February," Kaderly says.