Metro Pulse/Ear to the Ground

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Exposed: The Ladies' Man!

Knoxville's bachelor Sen. Tim Burchett showed up big at the Martin Luther King parade Monday when he walked up to the crowd in front of Tabernacle Baptist Church sporting a new elbow ornament. The state senator introduced to the assembled fellows as his new girlfriend an attractive brunette, but the guys on the pavement weren't buying it, and met Burchett's announcement with loud guffaws. About 90 seconds later, their mirth escalated when along came Mayor Bill Haslam to claim his wife, Crissy, whom Burchett had temporarily commandeered.

Vote Where You Live

The Oakwood-Lincoln Park Neighborhood Association hosted a candidate forum last week, and OLNP President Paul Kelley invited all five of the contenders who are vying to succeed him as the District 2 representative on the Knox County School Board to come by and state their cases. The event was well-attended by candidates and neighborhood types, but the guest who dominated the event was former county Republican Party chair R. Larry Smith, who peppered the candidates with questions from whether they favor an appointed or an elected superintendent to what their party affiliation is. School board offices are non-partisan, and the question was not well-received by the audience, one member of which deemed it "inappropriate" while others nodded in agreement. After the meeting, Smith, who lives in Halls, said he asked the question so he can determine which candidate will be most conservative with his tax dollars. He said he planned to vote in this district-only race because he has recently bought a building in North Knoxville, which entitles him to vote on property rights.

Better not try that. This is a county election, and it's only in city elections that voters may elect to vote where they own property.

In This Corner...

Developer Scott Davis, a former County Commission member with politics in his blood, has been the subject of a rumor that he's going to run against District 14 state Rep. H.E. Bittle in the state Republican Primary. Davis, who in his youth was known to engage in an occasional fisticuff, would be taking on "Battling Bittle," who once asked someone to hold his coat while he whipped the butt of former state highway boss Bruce Saltsman. Davis is a welterweight who is younger and quicker than the Hardin Valley Battler, but he's at a considerable size disadvantage. Perhaps he's having misgivings about taking on Bittle, whom he says he's going to ask for a sit-down conversation before he makes up his mind. Davis says he's given up fighting, by the way: "Too hard on the hands."