Free Republic

Tennessee's new law allowing people with handgun permits to be armed in bars and restaurants that serve alcohol is unconstitutionally vague, a judge ruled on Friday. Chancellor Claudia Bonnyman said the law, enacted earlier this year over the veto of Gov. Phil Bredesen, is "fraught with ambiguity." She ruled after an hour of arguments in a lawsuit brought by a group of plaintiffs, many of them restaurant owners. More than 257,000 people have handgun carry permits in Tennessee. Tennessee previously banned handguns in all locations where alcohol was served. The new law made an exception for establishments that serve at...

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Opponents of the so-called guns in bars and restaurant law won their battle in court Friday. Nine local restaurant owners filed a petition in August asking for a hearing on an injunction to challenge the law. In court on Friday, a judge found the new state law to be unconstitutional due to vagueness. The law, which allows gun carry permit holders to take their weapons into bars and restaurants where alcohol is served, went into effect in July. The law will be put on hold until lawmakers return to session in January. Some lawmakers said they would...

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Were ethical lines crossed when the city purchased the property that will be the future site of the new west police precinct? One concerned citizen thinks so and is taking his complaint to the Tennessee Ethics Commission Related: Watch This Story His question about the property comes down to who owned it, a familiar name on the trust with Metro ties, and a price tag he says is way too high. Mike Peden believes something isn't right when it comes to the old Ford dealership on Charlotte Pike. Metro just bought it to become the future site...

The Justice Department intends to drop manslaughter and weapons charges against one of the Blackwater Worldwide security guards involved in a deadly 2007 Baghdad shooting, prosecutors said in court documents Friday. The shooting in busy Nisoor Square left 17 Iraqis dead and inflamed anti-American sentiment abroad. It touched off a string of investigations that ultimately led the State Department to cancel the company's lucrative contract to guard diplomats in Iraq. Iraqis have said they're watching closely to see how the U.S. judicial system handles the five men accused of unleashing an unprovoked attack on civilians with machine guns and grenades....

A police chase more than two years ago ended in a deadly shooting and now a $70,000,000 lawsuit is in federal court against the Hamilton County Sheriff's Department. The suit claims three deputies opened fire on Tommy Jones who was running from them. The Sheriff's Department says Jones threatened at least one deputy with a knife but a witness disputes that. Jones' family contends this has been a cover-up to protect the deputies and a witness tells us officers have intimidated him. The Sheriff's Department says when all the facts come out, people will see why the deputies fired that...

Can't post a link to Tennessean stuff here so copy-n-paste http://www.tennessean.com/article/20091120/NEWS03/91120031/Guns-in-bars+law+unconstitutional++rules+Nashville+judge

<p>Contact your Senators and let them know what you think!</p> <p>U.S. veterans or subsidies for United Nations (U.N.) bureaucracy.</p>

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- The first national tea party convention is going to be held in Music City with keynote speaker Sarah Palin. The former vice presidential nominee is on a three-week book tour promoting her just-released best seller titled "Going Rogue." Palin will be in Nashville for the tea party convention held Feb. 4-6 at Gaylord Opryland. Tickets are $549 a piece. For more information about the event and tickets, visit http://www.nationalteapartyconvention.com

Fine print in law means thousands in state get 14 more weeks, not 20 You will need to copy and past the link, due to the Tennessean's fussing about their articles being posted here... http://www.tennessean.com/article/20091118/BUSINESS01/911180401/Jobless+Tennesseans+won+t+get+as+many+extra+benefits

Attorney Matt Brown said Monday a fatal shooting at Riverside Park on Nov. 5 was a case of self-defense, noting that Edward Jackson III was being beaten by two other men. However, prosecutor said the 18-year-old Jackson came to the park armed with a semi-automatic handgun. He said it was a jury question whether he is found guilty of criminal homicide, a lesser charge, or exonerated. General Sessions Court Judge David Bales bound the case to the Grand Jury on the criminal homicide count. He said he was "another case involving the plethora of guns, many of them unregistered, in...

WASHINGTON, Nov 16 (Reuters) - Two U.S. Senators on Monday unveiled bipartisan legislation aimed at doubling nuclear power in 20 years and increasing funding for research into low carbon sources of energy. Sponsored by Tennessee Republican Lamar Alexander and Virginia Democrat Jim Webb, the bill would provide $100 billion in loan guarantees for carbon-free electricity projects, adding to the existing $47 billion loan guarantee program. Although the additional loan guarantees would not be limited to nuclear power, the nuclear industry would likely be the major recipient of the extra money because it is one of the most established low carbon...

Local police departments report a growing crime that is wasting time. They tell FOX 17 News more and more people are filing false police reports, which takes time away from the search for real criminals. Police are supposed to solve and prevent crimes, but lately Mt. Juliet police are hitting a lot of dead ends. "We've been seeing a lot of false reports coming into our department," says Mt. Juliet Det. David Stolinsky. Police say it is yet another economic indicator. With bad financial times comes more and more phony crimes. "It all revolves around money, whether it be the...

Federal agents from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and local police today seized wood, guitars, computers and boxes of files from Gibson Guitar's Massman Road manufacturing facility. Sources say the Nashville-based guitar manufacturer is being investigated for violating the Lacey Act, a key piece of environmental law, for importing endangered species of rosewood from Madagascar. Rosewood is widely used in the construction of guitars and sells for $5,000 per cubic meter, more than double the price of mahogany. The island nation off Africa's east coast is a key producer of the hardwood, the export of which has links to...

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - A serial rapist convicted in a string of attacks in the 1980s could soon be free. Police called Gary Wayne Garrett the Airport Rapist. In 1986, a judge sentenced Garrett to 119 years for attacking several women, but in less than two weeks he comes up for parole. One of Garrett's victims said she was attacked more than 24 years ago, but she's still scared. "I still can't sleep in the dark when no one's at home. If I'm at home by myself I sit up until my husband or someone else comes,” said victim Amy. She...

A Middle Tennessee State University nursing professor, sentenced to a year and a day in prison for her involvement in a $2.4 million bank and wire fraud scheme, still holds her job with the university.

Volkswagen has received more than 65,000 applications in total as the company closed its application line for production team member positions on Sunday. During the three-week period since Oct. 26, more than 35,000 people applied for production team member positions at Volkswagen’s new production plant which will go into operation in 2011. In addition, the company has received approximately 30,000 applications for skilled maintenance and professional positions to date. “We are overwhelmed by the response and we are very satisfied with the result. It gives us the confidence that we will be able to hire all the capable and flexible...

McMINNVILLE, Tenn. -- Four former lawmen have been arrested and are accused in an August prescription drug scandal. Daniel Clayton and Daniel "Cam" Conry both worked for the McMinnville Police Department. David Seibers was a Warren County Sheriff's deputy, and Larry Pedigo was a deputy in DeKalb County. The men have all been indicted on charges related to the August raid of the Americare clinic in McMinnville. The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation said the men were all receiving prescription drugs illegally. The men had already either resigned or were fired from their law enforcement positions after the raid occurred this...

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- A trip to Sears has a father and son accusing security of going too far to prevent shoplifting. According to Goodlettsville police, Danny Dixon, Sr. and Danny Dixon, Jr. shopped at the Rivergate Mall Sears on Saturday. After purchasing several items they left the store. But because a cashier didn't mark their boxes properly as paid, a security guard confronted the pair in the parking lot, believing they were shoplifters. "There was no reason why he did what he did," said Danny Dixon, Sr. "He shouldn't have put a hand on us." Store surveillance video captured the...

Demonbreun Near Music Row To Get Parking Meters Meters To Cost $1 An Hour, With 2-Hour Limit NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- The heart of downtown Nashville isn't the only popular place drivers will have to pay the meter to park. Video: Demonbreun Soon To Get Parking Meters Business owners along Demonbreun near Music Row learned Thursday that parking meters are going up on both sides of the street. "We asked them, you know, 'Hey, what's going on?'" said Bob Franklin, owner of Tin Roof. "And that's when we were notified that they're installing parking meters." According to the parking commission's Web...

Leon Houston walked out of court and headed home a free man today after a Roane County jury found him not guilty on all charges in the May 2006 deaths of a Roane County deputy and his ride-along friend. “It’s a heavy burden that’s off my shoulders,” he said. “God answers prayers. I just thank him for bringing me through this. It don’t seem real.” Family and friends lined up to greet him with hugs and congratulations. The jury began deliberations about 8:40 a.m. today and announced its decision about 4:35 p.m. The verdict came after two trials in the...

This article is about 3 or 4 years old but it underscores the unbelievable level of corruption that has plagued this state law enforcement agency. Click on the link above for the full article in pdf. The Tennessee Highway Patrol has 48 officers with charges on their record ranging from suspended driver's license issues to felonies, according to a background check of the entire department ordered by Gov. Phil Bredesen yesterday. That's about one of every 18 officers on the force of 855.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- A state trooper has been suspended for 15 days without pay and will be required to attend diversity training after he accidentally sent an e-mail proclaiming white pride to 787 state employees. The e-mail from Trooper Brent Gobbell states, in part, "You rob us, carjack us, and shoot at us. But, when a white police officer shoots a black gang member ... you call him a racist." It also includes a list of racist epithets. The message concludes, "There is nothing improper about this e-mail. Let's see which of you are proud enough to send it on...

AIP News exclusive commentary by:  Tom Kovach Yesterday, the Canada Free Press reported that the National Education Association had listed as "recommended reading" the pro-Communist book Rules for Radicals by Saul Alinsky.  The CFP report did not mention that it was the number-one choice on the NEA's list.To prevent the NEA from later altering its Web pages and backing away from this stance under public scrutiny, I have copied the relevant Web pages and converted them to PDF documents.  First, here is the NEA's "recommended reading" list for its members.  (NOTE:  the page's appearance was slightly altered in the PDF conversion...

As America debates whether to send tens of thousands more troops to Afghanistan, in the ninth year of a war for ends we cannot discern, a riveting new history recalls times when Americans fought for vital national interests. "A Country of Vast Designs: James K. Polk, the Mexican War, and the Conquest of the American Continent" is Robert Merry's brilliant biography and history of that time. Merry goes far toward righting the injustice done by historians who have denied this great man his place in the pantheon of presidents, because they believe "Jimmy Polk's War" to have been a war...

A former inmate of the Wilson County Jail is alleging his civil rights were violated when he was denied medical attention during at stay in the facility in 2008. According to a lawsuit filed this week in U.S. District Court, Gregory Sells says he was denied proper medical care by the Wilson County Sheriff's Department when he came down with a serious staph infection at the jail. As the events are laid out in the filing, Sells was incarcerated in September 2008 for child support violations and was “otherwise healthy and suffering from no known illnesses.” While housed in the...

DICKSON, Tenn. -- Police officers in the City of Dickson know about the green file. Sheriff's officers in Dickson County know about the book. They've been here for years growing fatter and fatter. They are all of the domestic violence arrests and some DUI arrests that the local magistrates have thrown out. In the United States, a judicial magistrate must confirm there is probable cause after police make an arrest. They do not decide guilt or innocence; that comes later when the case goes to the court system. So if the judicial magistrate decides to set free those arrested, the...

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Ebodio Castillo spent his final night gasping for breath, crying in pain and begging for help but was ignored in the jail where he was serving a five-day sentence for a driver's license violation, more than two dozen fellow inmates say. The experience so rattled other inmates at the Warren County Jail that 14 took the unusual step of signing a letter to a local newspaper, and others wrote separate letters and gave interviews to The Associated Press. An autopsy concluded Castillo, 51, died of complications from bronchopneumonia the day before he was to be released. His...

SPRING HILL, Tenn. - General Motors will shut down its' production of the Chevy Traverse at the Spring Hill plant on Wednesday, November 24; the day before Thanksgiving.About 1,000 of the remaining 1,800 GM workers will lose their job. "A lot of them was hoping that they was going to get their time out, you know, here and be able to retire and it hasn't happened," said Spring Hill barber Diane Colley. Colley said some of her clients have chosen the option to transfer to another GM plant. "They really didn't want to leave it, but they've got to work,"...

An eight-year-old boy Tuesday afternoon reportedly stabbed a Metro Police officer who was investigating claims of animal cruelty in front of an Old Hickory-area middle school. School Resource Officer Randy Fowler was apparently stabbed several times in the leg with a pen by the boy, according to police reports. Both the boy and his mother, Rachel Swafford, 31, were arrested. Fowler, assigned to Dupont-Hadley Middle School, was alerted by students and staff that a juvenile was repeatedly kicking an adult female dog in the street just off school property. According to police, the boy ran when he saw Fowler approach...

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- A Metro police officer is leaving the department after an incident on Friday involving his gun and comments he allegedly made to co-workers a day after the shootings at Fort Hood, Texas. Video: Officer Resigns After Alleged Fort Hood Comment West precinct Officer Bruce Landes is at the center of a criminal and internal Metro police investigation after officials said he threatened another officer at roll call last week at the Edgehill police substation. "During banter with Landes, he pulled the gun from the vicinity of his waist band and pointed it in the direction of another...

In a breathtaking example of hypocrisy, Jim Cooper testified today - presumably with a straight face - that deficit spending of the sort that has lead to $55 trillion dollars in unfunded mandates threatening to cripple the US Economy is a "fiscal cancer." While he does say that the Health Care bill passed in the House on Saturday won't help address the problem, he neglects to mention he voted for it. Instead he recommends another Congressional panel to make recommendations.

NASHVILLE — Republican legislators are at odds over whether to criticize the state’s largest anti-abortion organization for supporting a Democrat. House Republican Leader Jason Mumpower drafted a letter to Tennessee Right to Life President Brian Harris saying the endorsement of Democrats would harm prospects for anti-abortion legislation. The Knoxville News Sentinel reported Monday that he e-mailed the letter last week to House Republicans, inviting them to add their names to the letter. But several have objected, including House Speaker Kent Williams and Knoxville Reps. Bill Dunn and Stacey Campfield. Mumpower cites the group’s endorsement of Democrat Ty Cobb in a...

tennessean.com cannot be posted due to copyright complaint.

The Great Smoky Mountains aren't so great after all, according to National Geographic Traveler magazine. The online version of the publication's sixth annual rating of 133 worldwide travel destinations characterized the Great Smoky Mountains National Park as "a national treasure surrounded by a bathtub ring of ugly, unplanned development."

I just surfed through the websites of the local TV stations and the two main newspapers here, The Tennessean and the Trashville City Paper and not a single one of the TV stations or newspaper websites has one article or story on anything to do with unemployment, let alone the fact that the numbers are now at 10.2%. Its disgusting!

<p>Below is a list of selected Democrats and their positions on the House healthcare reform bill based on media accounts, press releases and spokesmen for the lawmakers.</p>

While roaming the grounds of the US Capitol yesterday, Kristinn Taylor obtained a list of possible democrat defectors of the now infamous “Healthcare” bill. Kristinn was asked to post this list of wobbly democrats on FreeRepublic in an effort to mobilize our forces and overwhelm these members with phone calls and e-mails asking them to vote NO on the socialization of our healthcare. We also learned that Nancy Pelosi had just scheduled the vote for tomorrow; Saturday, November 7, 2009 at 6:00 PM. For all those who were unable to answer the call to surround the Capitol yesterday, here is...

CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. - Strange things happen to those who enter one Mid-state house. Invisible fire ants bite your feet. Fillings in your teeth throb with pain. Then there's the mysterious light. The invisible field of pure energy in a Clarksville family's backyard can do some shocking things. A fluorescent light bulb was almost fully illuminated with no batteries and no plug. Mike Virtue and his family enjoyed spending time in their backyard, but that was before he said crews removed three large trees. Mike said the trees provided a buffer, and he noticed when they were gone. "Even in sneakers...

Wondering how TN's US House Dems are breaking on the Health Care Reform vote on Saturday? I'm aggregating their office's responses at the blog. Enjoy!

DICKSON, Tenn. -- Tina Young teaches kindergarten at Oakmont Elementary School in Dickson. When she went to Walmart during her lunch break Oct. 20, she was stopped for stealing a $62 wrinkle cream. Video: Dickson Teacher Has 6 Arrests On Record When Dickson police arrived, they discovered there was more there than just a potential shoplifting. Jenkins is still at work at Oakmont Elementary, despite what her arrest revealed: The schoolteacher is also Nashville resident Tina Tope and has at least three DUI convictions. She was also convicted of stealing steaks from the east Nashville Kroger this summer. "You just...

(Memphis 10/22/09) A woman who rescues dogs wants answers from the Memphis Police Department after officers shot at least one of her pets and the other ran away frightened and possibly injured. Anna Bolton calls 7 year-old Violet the timid one, and 3 year-old Bing the playful one. That's why she can't understand why anyone would be scared enough to shoot Bing, let alone trained officers with the Memphis Police Department. Worse yet, when she got the call and rushed home to a swarm of squad cars, "Nobody had told me my animal had been shot... It's shocking and horrifying...

Memphis, TN - The City of Memphis tore down the wrong house and it cost taxpayers $29,000. The duplex used to be located at 1072 Garland Street. Records show Memphis Code Enforcement officers never notified the homeowner the house was scheduled for demolition. Memphis city council member Myron Lowery says “Paying for a $29,000 house is a big hit that never should have happened. Someone made a mistake and they should be disciplined for it.” According to city records, four years ago the city began condemning the property. Then it was sold to the current owner. Records show the owner...

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. – Jim Stevens said he's not particularly religious and is clueless about why an image resembling Jesus Christ keeps appearing on his pickup. Stevens, of Jonesborough, said nearly every morning, an image that looks to him like the face of Jesus Christ has appeared in the condensation on the driver's side window of his Isuzu truck. A Johnson City Press photo of the truck showed a facial image. Stevens said when he first saw the image, he figured it would evaporate and not return. But it kept reappearing for two weeks now.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- A killer out on parole has been charged with killing again. Tommy Page was convicted of the murder of a man in Nashville in 1995 and was on parole after serving part of an 18-year sentence. He's been arrested and charged with the March 4 shooting of Wayne Moore at an apartment on Litton Avenue. Metro police said Page and Stephen Lowery killed Moore during a dispute over a debt.

Junk Science: The oracle of climate disaster has a new book out on global warming that should be on the fiction list. He asks us to commit economic suicide while he rakes in millions from his green investments. 'Our Choice: A Plan to Solve the Climate Crisis," Al Gore's sequel to his 2006 tome "An Inconvenient Truth," came out Tuesday. Printed on recycled paper using low-VOC (volatile organic compound) ink, it will undoubtedly be a best-seller and on the desk of every attendee at next month's climate change conference in Copenhagen. In a press release announcing the book, the Oscar-...

(AP) FRANKLIN, Tenn. - Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen said the state is preparing for an increase in unemployment claims once the General Motors Corp. assembly plant in Spring Hill closes its doors later this month. The governor told reporters Tuesday that the state did its best to try to persuade GM to keep the plant open but that "it was probably always a hopeless quest." The plant was one of three finalists to build a new small car for GM, but the company ultimately chose a plant in Michigan. Auto assembly at Spring Hill is scheduled to cease around Thanksgiving,...

Politician Attends Strangers' Visitations On Office Time Families Of Deceased Say They Don't Know Vic Lineweaver NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Vic Lineweaver is well-known in town as a consummate politician, appearing often in parades and city events. But some families believe the juvenile court clerk's politicking is going too far -- during the time taxpayers pay him to be in the office. Video: Court Clerk Frequents Strangers' Visitations To ease the pain of losing his wife, Arlene, to cancer, Sam Meek looked at the guest book from her visitation to reflect on all of their closest friends and family who attended...

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - A new Nashville organization classifies itself as non-religious, but the group's billboard has stirred up a religious debate. The organization behind the billboard is called Secular Life. Secular Life is a group of about 340 people who consider themselves part of the non-religious community. On Sunday, they began advertising on a billboard in Green Hills, and already Secular Life is getting a lot of attention. "It just absolutely wrong place, wrong town, wrong timing," said Green Hills resident Donnie Cude. Something about the phrase "Not Religious, You're not alone", doesn't sit well with Cude. "It's a slap...

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - A new charge has been issued against a man police describe as a suspected serial rapist. Mauricio Morales is already in jail and charged with raping two Nashville women in separate cases. Metro police believe Morales is the man behind the rape of a 10-year-old girl in her own South Nashville home near Old Hickory Boulevard and Nolensville Pike. The alleged incident happened back in April. Crime Scene investigators collected evidence from her room and the TBI crime lab determined the DNA matched Mauricio Morales. A Grand Jury indicted him Friday on the new charges. Morales had...

More bleak data from the manufacturing sector: Tennessee factories has shed more than 56,000 jobs since September of 2007. The automotive sector accounts for more than 9,000 of those losses and has been laying off workers more quickly than the rest of the industry.