Daily Dose for October 25, 2007

Briley Explains His Alcoholism to the City Paper

Briley Explains His Alcoholism to the City Paper -- State Rep. Rob Briley says he was abused as a child and that has caused him to relapse into the alcoholism that plagued him in his early adult years. Briley says his alcoholism is a driving factor behind his divorce and his recent problems, culminating with his arrest after leading police on a high speed chase after crashing into another vehicle. Briley says his alcholism is caused by his memory of childhood abuse, as his own child approached the age at which he was abused. Briley would not comment on recent allegations in the Nashville Scene that Briley was having an affair with a lobbyist for the TN Trial Lawyers Association - although he did admit that the article caused him to want to run away from rehab. Briley: "The 7-year-old kid inside of me that had been trying to keep things secret for a long time wanted to run away, and that’s what we did." Complete interview here.

Shelby Co. Wants Special School District -- Shelby Co. is pushing hard to lift the state-wide ban on the creation of new special school districts so it can incorporate as one. However, Memphis city schools still opposes the move, which could spell political trouble. Still, top officials of both Memphis and Shelby County schools presented their cases to the joint House-Senate Oversight Committee on Education in Memphis yesterday. Shelby Co. received a load of support from the Tennessee School Boards Association, the Independent and Municipal Schools Association, the Tennessee Organization of School Superintendents, the Tennessee Education Association and a Cumberland County school board member all advocating passage of the bill allowing city and county school districts to convert to SSDs. The special school district designation allows the district themselves to vote on increases to property taxes benefitting education and are not effected by municipal annexation. Legislators seem more open to the idea of allowing existing school boards to convert to special districts this year than in years past.

Early Voting Starts Sat. in District 10 -- Early voting begins Saturday in the District 10 special election between Democrat Andy Berke and Republican Oscar Brock. Predictably, the pair differ on a number of issues, including a state minimum wage, education reform and abortion, some of which could be deciding factors in the fairly Democratic district. The Chattanooga Times Free Press has the details.

Littlefield Won't Hire Private Attorney on Rutherford Issue -- Chattanooga Mayor Ron Littlefield says he will not hire a private attorney to defend his decision to reward medical benefits to Marti Rutherford, a City Councilwoman who resigned from office shortly after it was discovered she didn't live in the district she represents. The council voted unanimously on Tuesday night to hire attorney Roger Dickson to seek to block the Littlefield action in reward Rutherford with the benefits. Ms. Rutherford turns 62 on Nov. 3 and needed to be with the city that long to get on the medical insurance, so Littlefield was going to put her back on the payroll for that long. The council registered strong objection and voted unanimously to fight the mayor.

Posted by Adam Groves | Email This |