Metro Pulse/Ear to the Ground

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Mayoral Monkeyshines

There was a little something to offend most everybody at the Society of Professional Journalists' "Front Page Follies" celebrity-lampooning shindig Saturday night. Some indignant throat-clearing ensued when auctioneer Bear Stephenson, in the process of describing a Charlie Daniel cartoon depicting mayoral candidates Bill Haslam and Madeline Rogero, said it was a picture of "the mayor and Madeline Rogero." But later, during the "Anything you can do, I can do better" skit about the mayoral race, it was Haslam's turn in the barrel as the Rogero character, played by Ann McKinney, poked fun at Haslam's recent resignation from Cherokee Country Club and called him a "fat cat." "Rogero" claimed she was no longer a Democrat: "I had a membership in the Democratic Party. But I let it go. After all, it was just for social reasons. And my family really wasn't using it very much."

High Rolling

The aforementioned Charlie Daniel cartoon was auctioned, along with one gigging TVA. The deal was the winner got to choose one of the two, with the other one being made available for the same price. Bidding was brisk as Rogero's husband Gene Monaco went after the mayoral cartoon. He dropped out when the bidding got to $400, remarking that it had gotten "too rich for my blood." The winning bid—that of $400—came from TVA board member Bill Baxter. The other cartoon was snapped up for another $400 by Jim Clayton, who had also donated two leather-bound copies of his autobiography "First a Dream," to be auctioned for a minimum bid of $500 per. The bidding wasn't what you'd call brisk, and Stephenson shouted, "Sold!" seconds after the first hand went up. He then held the second book up for the "same money" deal, and got another $500 bid. The eager readers? Lawyers Caesar Stair and Tom McAdams, whose firm represents Clayton Homes. We couldn't quite make out who came away with the workout date at a local gym with TV personality Michele Silva, but we did note that it was not City Council candidate Joe Bailey who coughed up the $165 for the early morning rendezvous—even though Bailey had squired Silva to the City People's progressive dinner the night before.

The Ballad of Wanda and Tim

Once again, the overall star of the show was News Sentinel(formerly known as The News- Sentinel) reporter Barbara Womack, who was particularly outstanding as the litigious County Commissioner Wanda Moody, who was singing "I keep hauling Tim to court, He's all out of sorts, from facing Herb Moncier." in a skit called "Moody Blues." Monty Howard co-starred, and cried politics as he played the frequently-sued Sheriff Tim Hutchison.

"It's not hard to figure out
What it's all about,
It's just politics through and through
That Commis'ner is no lady,
She's causin' these crazy Moody Blues."

The Bright Side: No Extra Traffic!

The Bowling News (Motto: "Exposed to Over 300,000 Bowlers") has run a lot of stories with Knoxville datelines lately. One in the June issue is headlined, "KNOXVILLE RESIDENTS HAVE ENJOYED HOSTING ABC TOURNAMENT." They got this on good authority, reporting the story from one source: "Polly Maples, who works at the Visitor Information Center at the Tournament."

Convention center officials have admitted that the ABC Tournament, now drawing to a close, may have been the biggest convention that will ever be booked at the new center. It reportedly drew hundreds of thousands of bowlers from around the country since February. While several downtown restaurateurs are still wondering when the bowlers are going to show up, Maples looks on the bright side. "When I drive around during the day, traffic isn't any worse now than it was before the Tournament."

The Bowling News's representative Knoxvillian goes on to say that "The people have been really nice and I know that a lot of the local restaurants have enjoyed the extra business they've seen."

What's With That 'Q'?

Knoxville entrepreneurs Scott and Bernadette West and partners Bill Kane and Leigh Burch unveiled their newest alcohol-themed science project Friday night in the Old City. The ThInQ Tank, located in the space most recently occupied by Banana Joe's, opened its patio to a group of invitation-only guests for a preview of the "thinking man's music venue." (Notice the "I" and "Q" in the bar's name.) The event featured two sets by the Tim Lee Band playing a makeshift rooftop stage to a crowd upwards of 500, and a multimedia projection of cult flicks on a 20-foot screen. The ThInQ Tank patio will be open on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights throughout the month of July before its target indoor open date of Aug. 1. Thursday nights will coincide with the Sundown in the City series, and Friday and Saturday nights will showcase live music and movies on the outdoor patio.

Joe, Joe, Banana-Fanna-Foe...

Mayor Victor Ashe spent part of the last City Council meeting needling South Knoxville Councilman Joe Hultquist. The mayor was clearly signaling his intent to use the newly acquired South Knoxville park to influence Hultquist to vote in favor of the Lakeshore gardens plan, leading one wag (who was chuckling about Ashe's street-renaming rampage) to predict that the new park will not be named Joe Hultquist Park. And despite Ashe's promise of more Name Game fun to come, we also won't hold our breath waiting for Danny Mayfield Way.

Back to the books?

County Mayor Mike Ragsdale, who effectively assumed control over the library with the appointment of new director, veteran Illinois library administrator L.J. Frank, seems to have done a lot to ease suspicious tensions about his long-term motives with his first-ever meeting with the library's department heads. Some librarians say they're looking forward to things getting back to normal after a year of administrative chaos which bred insinuations, counter-insinuations, and unflattering national attention. However, at the same time a rumor was afoot that Ragsdale, now the most powerful individual in the history of the public library, is not one of the tens of thousands of Knox Countians who own a library card.

That's wrong, he says, he does have a card. Part of the rumor asserted that his spokesman, Mike Cohen, didn't have a library card, either. Cohen adamantly denies that, identifying himself as a devotee to the Bee DeSelm (Bearden) branch. He says he has a fine to prove it.