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Daily Dose for November 13, 2007
Burchett to File Sunshine Legislation
Burchett to File Sunshine Legislation -- State Sen. Tim Burchett says he will file legislation in the upcoming session to clarify the state's Open Meetings Act. The legislation would define sunshine law terms to make clear what constitutes a meeting, deliberation, public notice and other terms that came up in the legal fight between the Knoxville News-Sentinel and the Knox Co. Commission. The crux of Burchett's proposal consists of recommendations from the Tennessee Coalition for Open Government and was pushed by a group of Knox Co. citizens who recommended the legislation. Citizens also seemed to like Rep. Bill Dunn's idea for an electronic forum where elected officials could chat about local issues and have their conversations logged for the public.
Thompson Revived by RTL Endorsement -- The pundits are clamoring that Fred Thompson may have revived his struggling campaign with a key endorsement coming yesterday. Fred Thompson picked up the endorsement of National Right to Life, the largest pro-life advocacy group in the country. With 3,000 local chapters in 50 states, National Right to Life is the nation's largest anti-abortion group. The group's political arm spent $4.4 million in the 2004 election cycle to help pro-life candidates. Thompson unveiled his plan on South Carolina to expand the military and increase military benefits. A solid showing in Iowa and a win in South Carolina may be threated, though, for Thompson - who trails in Iowa behind Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee and is faltering in polls in South Carolina.
Sundquist Warns Frist on 2010 Gov's Race -- Despite Bill Frist's surprise admission last week that he was looking at running for Governor in 2010, former Gov. Don Sundquist says Frist ought to watch out for a crowded Republican field. Frist told reporters last Friday in Knoxville after a speech on health care at the University of Tennessee that he was considering running for governor. Sundquist speaking to the West Knox Republican Club last night, mentioned U.S. Rep. Zach Wamp, Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey, U.S. Rep. Marsha Blackburn and Shelby County District Attorney General Bill Gibbons as candidates.
THEC Comes Out with Tuition Recommendations -- The Tennessee Higher Education Commission came out with its proposed tuition recommendations. The THEC is recommending a tuition freeze for the state's community colleges and technology centers for the 2008-09 academic year, because TN's community colleges are above the regional average. THEC is recommending a 7 percent to 9 percent tuition increase for the University of Tennessee and the University of Memphis. A 5 percent to 7 percent increase is recommended for all other state universities. The commission will vote on the tuition recommendations Thursday at its quarterly meeting in Nashville.
Metro May Recommend Fundamental Schools -- Metro Director of Schools Pedro Garcia seems warm to the idea of adding "fundamental" schools to Nashville's attempts to fix failing Metro schools. Fundamental schools, according to Garcia are schools which call for more parental involvement in education, increased emphasis on student personal responsibility, and more stringent dress codes. In one of the fundamental schools Garcia visited in Florida, parents are required to attend monthly meetings with teachers, as well as a scheduled conference each grading period, and failure to attend school functions can result in removal of a student from the fundamental program. Nashville Mayor Karl Dean continues to hold public forums on how to improve Metro schools, following up on a promise to increase the Mayor's office involvement in improving Nashville's school system.
