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Daily Dose for September 21, 2007
Odom Calls for Probe on Hunting Plate
Odom Calls for Probe on Hunting Plate -- State Rep. Gary Odom has called for an investigation into the actions of former Knoxville Representative H.E. Bittle, who while in the legislature drafted legislation to direct the proceeds from the sale of a custom hunting license plate to his own foundation. Odom called on the comptroller and Tennessee’s attorney general to investigate the Knoxville-based foundation. Odom was a co-sponsor of the bill that created the plate in 1999, but he said this week that he wasn’t aware Bittle was running the foundation or that the money would be used to buy property and build a lodge.
GOP Donor Gregory Mounts Offensive -- Former King Pharmaceuticals CEO John Gregory, a major TN GOP donor, has issued a set of talking points for Republican donors to deflect criticism of his donations. Gregory said he was prompted to issue the talking points after an incident where a staffer for Congressman David Davis was caught trying to revise Wikipedia entries for several recepients of Gregory donations. In the memo, Gregory defends charges brought by the feds that he defrauded Medicare. TN GOP Chair Robin Smith said state Democrats are using Gregory's name as a shield to deflate criticism of their acceptance of donations from crooked powerbroker Norman Hsu.
Shelby Co. Clears Up Voting Machine Mess -- At a special meeting Thursday, the Shelby County Election Commission passed a motion that appeared to placate City of Memphis attorney and the chairman of the Willie Herenton for Mayor campaign over problems they say voters have encountered with the touch-screen voting machines. The commission promised to intensify voter education efforts, to ask the state Election Commission if it is possible to expand the dimensions of boxes listing candidates' names and to seek two additional poll workers at each early-voting station. Herenton's opponent call the whole episode a ploy to lower voter turnout against him.
Defending the Lottery -- Rebecca Paul Hargrove, the head of the TN Lottery, spoke to the Nashville City Paper with the recent string of lottery gaffes. The lottery experienced three problems this month - the first, caused by the switch from ping pong balls selecting the Cash 3 and Cash 4 numbers to a computerized system. An error in the program temporarly prevented duplicate numbers from being selected. The second incident occurred after a misprint on Powerball tickets and the third happened after the lottery broadcast the wrong numbers briefly for Cash 3 and Cash 4. Hargrove: “The first issue was an issue. The other two were pretty minor. And had they happened at any other time, probably wouldn’t have been a blip on anybody’s radar screen.” Lottery sales apparently haven't been hurt by the gaffes, but that hasn't stopped State Sen. Jim Kyle from calling for a meeting of the legislature's lottery oversight committee next month.
KNS Lawsuit Heats Up -- Yesterday's testimony in the Knoxville News-Sentinel's suit against the County Commission for Open Meeting law violations was heated. First jurors heard a heated exchange between Herb Moncier and County Commission Chair Scott Moore about whether Moore knew Chuck Bolus, his former campaign treasurer, would be sworn in to cast a deadlocked vote on one of the appointments. Moore said he didn't know - which could come back to bite the Commission if shown otherwise. Then, attorneys arguing against the News-Sentinel accused KNS Editor Jack McElroy of using the lawsuit to try to drive increased advertising revenue, which included citing McElroy's role at a Colorado paper which covered the Columbine shootings.
