SUNDAY, JUNE 3, 2012 New Tennessee law may aid pain pill epidemic (Times Free-Press/Martin)

Last year, the top 10 medical prescribers in Tennessee wrote prescriptions for more than 20 million doses of restricted pain medication, with the top prescriber in the state doling out more than one-quarter of those. That is more than three pills for each of the state's 6 million-plus residents, but it's only a small fraction of the doses handed out by more than 30,000 medical prescribers statewide. Together, all prescribers in the state wrote nearly 18 million prescriptions for controlled substances such as Oxycontin and hydrocodone, according to an April report to the Tennessee General Assembly. Excluding certain drugs that were added in 2011, the number of prescriptions written increased about 23 percent from 2010 to 2011. The numbers put Tennessee among the top states in the nation for so many things -- prescriptions written, oxycodone and hydrocodone sales and drug overdose deaths. But officials say a new law puts Tennessee in the top spot for something else -- being one of the first states to require doctors to check a drug monitoring database before they prescribe pain medication as part of a new treatment. http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/2012/jun/03/new-law-may-aid-pain-pill-epidemic/? local

Tennessee better than most at maintaining bridges (News-Sentinel/Ahilen)

The short Jackson Avenue ramps up to Gay Street and down again hold equal parts fascination and decrepitation. Built in 1919, the tee-beamed concrete structures seem holdovers from another era. Only small, torn-up patches of asphalt dot the red brick pavement. Cement railings are crumbling in spots but offer architectural design not seen in most bridges. Underneath, more large cracks, a tunnel to an alley, an iron fence to discourage vagrants and a musty, mysterious aura. It's easy to envision Cornelius Suttree the main character in 1950s-based Cormac McCarthy's novel based in Knoxville trudging up and down the ramps with fish to sell. The structures' disappearance would be sad, but they definitely need some major work. How major? The Tennessee Department of Transportation uses a "sufficiency rating" to judge the state of bridges. Below an 80 on a scale of 100 makes the bridge eligible for renovation. Below a 50 makes the bridge eligible for replacement. The Henley Bridge which is essentially being rebuilt was rated a 24.5. The Jackson Avenue ramps got a rating of 2. http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2012/jun/03/tennessee-better-than-most-at-maintaining/

Tennessee Republican lawmakers face challenges from within (TFP/Sher)

After winning a decades-long struggle for control of the Tennessee General Assembly in 2010, many Republican incumbents are discovering a downside to their success this year. Twenty-three lawmakers are fending off election challenges -- not so much from Democrats as from fellow Republicans. Twenty of the 64 House Republicans -- almost a third -- face intra-party challenges from opponents of varying degrees of ability, support and financial resources. In Southeast Tennessee, Republican Reps. Richard Floyd, of Chattanooga; Jim Cobb, of Spring City; and Kevin Brooks and Eric W atson, both of Cleveland, face contests in the Aug. 2 primary. In the Senate, three of the 20 incumbent Republicans face GOP challengers. None is in Southeast Tennessee, although there is a free-for-all in Senate District 10 in Hamilton and Bradley counties. The scramble was set off when Republicans drew new district lines to favor their party and incumbent Sen. Andy Berke, a Chattanooga Democrat, decided to give up the seat and run for Chattanooga mayor. The House leadership's top priorities this year are keeping their already-elected colleagues in office and picking up more seats for the GOP. http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/2012/jun/03/republican-lawmakers-face-challenges-from/?local

Tennessee state election fights to stay in parties this year (N-S/Humphrey)

Republican domination of the state Legislature and the redistricting plans enacted earlier this year have

apparently combined with intra-party philosophical and personal disputes to produce an unprecedented surge in challenges to incumbent state legislators in this summer. Twenty-three incumbent Republican legislators face opposition in the Aug. 2 primary election. That compares to just five primary challenges to GOP incumbents in both 2010 and 2008. On the Democratic side, seven incumbents face primary challengers this year compared to just three in 2010 and five in 2008 primaries. The upsurge in Democrat primary contests may be attributed directly to the Republican-controlled redistricting, which is forcing Democratic incumbents to run against one another in the three House districts and one Senate district. Setting aside those four incumbent-versusincumbent races, only three sitting Democratic legislators have primary challenges on Aug. 2. Redistricting appears to have had a less direct impact on the surge in challenges to Republican incumbents. In several cases, a redrawing of district lines has left incumbents with new constituents, perhaps making them appear more vulnerable. http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2012/jun/03/tennessee-state-election-fights-to-stay-in-this/

Opponents of property tax increase use email to tell Dean what they think (TN/Cass)
Emails to Dean may signal fireworks at next council meeting Theres passion: Im OUTRAGED over the possibility of you raising taxes, Patricia Martin writes. Theres economic insecurity: I cannot take on any more expense without it being a heavy burden at this time, especially at this time, writes Kelly Evans. And sometimes theres a glimmer of support: I place my trust and confidence in your vision and fully support your efforts to make Nashville one of the best places in America to live, work and play, Kenneth Wilson writes. Those are excerpts from three of the 296 emails Mayor Karl Deans office says it has received since Dean announced on May 1 his proposal for a 53-cent property tax increase to help fund a $1.71 billion operating budget plan. The vast majority of the missives express opposition to the mayors plan, perhaps signaling whats to come when the Metro Council holds a public hearing and takes its second of three votes on the budget Tuesday, starting at 6:30 p.m. But Deans administration, which called the volume of emails a modest number for an issue like this, said it still believes the balance of public opinion tilts toward the tax increase. http://www.tennessean.com/article/20120603/NEWS0202/306030070/Opponents-property-tax-increase-useemail-tell-Dean-what-they-think?odyssey=tab%7Ctopnews%7Ctext%7CNews&nclick_check=1 (SUB)

Chattanooga mayoral races pricey; Berke is off and running (TFP/Hightower)

If history repeats itself, it will take hundreds of thousands of dollars to even be considered a candidate for Chattanooga mayor. And state Sen. Andy Berke, D-Chattanooga, is firing the first shot on fundraising. "We know we'll need the resources to compete," Berke said last week. "We think we'll be able to do that." Election records over the last decade show it has taken hundreds of thousands of dollars to be noticed. Bob Corker, now Tennessee's junior U.S. senator, holds the record for fundraising in a Chattanooga mayoral race. Running in a pack of 12 candidates, Corker raised about $646,000 for his 2001 campaign. In a runoff, he garnered 16,500 votes against Irvin Overton, who raised almost $161,000 and ended with 9,200 votes. But raising the most money still does not guarantee a win. In 2005, eight candidates wore themselves out before Ann Coulter, with a $587,000 warchest, lost a runoff to Ron Littlefield, who rang up $359,000. Littlefield raised $202,000 in 2009 and overwhelmed sole opponent Rob Healy, whose financial reports could not be accessed Friday on the election commission website. http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/2012/jun/03/mayoral-races-pricey-berke-is-off-and/?local

Murfreesboro mosque ruling stirs confusion (Tennessean/Sisk)

A Rutherford County judges ambiguous ruling in a high-profile mosque case has left him open to charges of discrimination from religious freedom and First Amendment experts, who say the local Muslims and a community newspaper are being treated unfairly. Chancellor Robert Corlews decision last week that county officials violated Tennessees Open Meetings Act has thrown open the issue of whether government officials have a special duty to tell constituents about matters that might upset them even if there have not yet been any complaints. The ruling also could fan an ongoing debate in the state legislature over whether paid advertisements in newspapers, particularly those with low circulations, should continue to be the main way local governments tell the public what theyre doing. Corlews ruling offers mixed messages, religious and good-government groups say. On the one hand, it upholds public notice and religious freedom laws. But the decision does so in a way that suggests not all religious organizations and newspapers are created equal. Its problematic from a number of perspectives, said Larry Crain, senior counsel for the Church Law Institute, a Brentwood organization that advises churches on 2

legal issues. If that ruling is allowed ultimately to set precedent, it will affect a cross section of religious communities nationwide. http://www.tennessean.com/article/20120603/NEWS01/306030078/Murfreesboromosque-ruling-stirs-confusion?odyssey=tab%7Ctopnews%7Ctext%7CNews&nclick_check=1 (SUBSCRIPTION)

Shelby County Election Commission reclassifies 180,000 voters (CA/McMillin)

In the 2008 presidential election, when Shelby County counted a record 401,081 votes cast on the Nov. 4 ballot, the final turnout of 66.9 percent was considered strong but still meant some 33 percent of the nearly 600,000 people on the county's voter rolls chose not to participate. Was it apathy? Or, as recent aggressive moves by the county Election Commission suggest, was it something more simple -- absence. A spring cleaning of the county's voter rolls, based on identifying names of people who had not cast ballots in any federal election since 2006, has resulted in voting rolls that as recently as March showed 611,937 voters now listing just 431,054 names. The commission says there is a simple explanation for how some 180,000 names vanished from the publicly available voting rolls. The most substantial change involved moving 151,826 people who have not voted in any of the two most recent federal election cycles to "inactive" status. Those voters remain eligible to vote, but since they have not voted in any federal election over a four-year stretch, they are no longer considered "active" voters, and the commission, under the control of county Republicans since 2010, has decided to include only the "active" voters on its registered voting statistics. http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2012/jun/03/panel-moves-inactive-voters/ (SUBSCRIPTION)

Whose money is it, anyway? (State Gazette)

It has been a tumultuous week for the Dyer County Budget Committee, which finalized the 2012-2013 budget on Wednesday and recommended a 9-cent reallocation of revenue from education into the debt service fund. The move has been met with mixed reviews, as the county could not continue to ignore the debt service fund, which would be out of money by 2015, but the fund was made solvent through 2017 at the expense of education. Or was it? That was the question posed by Commissioner Jim Horner during the budget meeting on Tuesday, May 29. Horner's critique titled, "Whose money is it and are we hurting the education of our children?" was presented to a room full of spectators as the committee was still mulling over the decision whether to divert funds away from education. Horner outlined 12 points: * Dyer County total debt is approximately $49,455,539 as of 6/30/12. * Dyer County Schools debt is approximately $42,288,013 as of 6/30/12 which means approximately 85 percent of Dyer County's debt goes to education. * We owe approximately $14.5 million on the new Millsfield and Newbern Elementary schools in which the property taxes were raised 11 cents almost two years ago and expected to be paid off in 2025/2026. http://www.stategazette.com/story/1855962.html

High-end fundraisers becoming norm for Tennessee lawmakers (Gannett/Bewley)

As summer heats up and Election Day draws near, opportunities to hobnob with Tennessee lawmakers wont be hard to find. Supporters can go shooting with Rep. Stephen Fincher, spend a weekend in Nashville with Sen. Lamar Alexander, cheer on the Nashville Sounds with Rep. Jim Cooper, dine at Ruths Chris Steak House with Rep. Scott DesJarlais, or head to the Honors Course in Ooltewah for a golf weekend with Sen. Bob Corker. But the price tag isnt cheap. In exchange for some time with the lawmakers, individual backers must contribute anywhere from $250 to more than $1,000. Political action committees are asked to hand over at least $1,000. Its not cheap for lawmakers, either. Unless such events are hosted by companies, party committees or other sponsors as many are the expenses come out of a lawmakers campaign coffers. Political experts say the cost of putting on fundraising events has shot up over the last two decades as lawmakers feel pressured to host increasingly glamorous or unusual events. Races are more expensive today, said Steven Livingston, a professor of political science at Middle Tennessee State University. If youre going to ask someone for a huge sum of money, you cant do it over a ham sandwich. http://www.jacksonsun.com/article/20120603/NEWS01/306030007/High-end-fundraisers-becoming-normTennessee-lawmakers

Cohen Opens HQ, Pledges Support to Other Democrats (Memphis Flyer)

Cohen cast himself not only as a candidate for reelection but, in both subtle and overt ways, as an organizing figure in local Democratic politics. We want to have a ballot this year that takes the best people into office, said Cohen in words that echoed the longtime practice of one of his predecessors, former congressman Harold Ford Sr., who published sample ballots at election time indicating his preferences for various positions. In the manner 3

of the senior congressman Ford, Cohen indicated he would not shy away from taking sides in a Democratic primary, and he did just that with respect to the race between his longtime Friend and ally, state Senator Beverly Marrero, and another incumbent Democratic senator, Jim Kyle, currently the leader of the state Senates Democrats. Cohen described Marrero as my good friend, my successor, the lady who stands up when people need to stand up, the person with courage, the person with the right voice for the City of Memphis and for Senate District 30, while he referred to Kyle, a longtime party rival, as someone who in redistricting took Senate District 30 and made it into something different. http://www.memphisflyer.com/JacksonBaker/archives/2012/06/03/cohen-opens-hq-pledges-support-to-otherdemcorats

Republican U.S. Senate candidate Zach Poskevich visits Jackson (Jackson Sun)
U.S. Senate candidate Zach Poskevich said he will take the servant-leader approach toward the people if he is elected to office. Poskevich, of Hendersonville, is running in the Republican primary against U.S. Sen. Bob Corker on Aug. 2. He stopped in Jackson on Saturday morning at the Madison County Courthouse for a meetand-greet as part of his tour of the 8th District in West Tennessee. Poskevich is a veteran of the U.S. Army. He has worked in finance, information technology and management. Poskevich said he has traveled to about 60 counties in the state since August. This is his first time running for office. He said he is affiliated with the Tea Party and that his goal is to restore the government principles of Americas founding fathers. This race is not about me, he said. Its about restoring biblical truths in America. There are no longer consequences for our actions. Poskevich said a major issue is the tax system in the United States. He said he is a supporter of the 99-9 tax plan endorsed by former presidential candidate Herman Cain and the fair tax plan. If our tax system was built on transparency and equality, people would know what their tax burden is, he said. http://www.jacksonsun.com/article/20120603/NEWS01/306030014/Republican-U-S-Senate-candidate-ZachPoskevich-visits-Jackson

MORE

OPINION Editorial: Bureaucracy reforms will improve state government (Jackson Sun)
One of the qualities Bill Haslam brought to the table when he was elected governor of Tennessee was his business experience. Haslam has used his business skills to better organize the state governments sprawling bureaucracy. In addition to making inroads to smaller government, his reorganization plan should make state government more efficient and accountable. Haslam recently signed bills passed during the 2012 General Assembly making major changes to the Tennessee Regulatory Authority, merging numerous boards, commission and licensing programs and transferring oversight of prison parolees from the Board of Probation and Parole to the Department of Corrections. The bills were part of Haslams legislative agenda for the recent session. Successful business owners rely heavily on organizational efficiency to ensure success. They operate with a constant eye toward getting the job done in the most economical way while still delivering quality and service. Wisely allocating team members, responsibility and accountability are hallmarks of business success. Government bureaucracies tend to multiply like rabbits. Each new administration and leadership team wants to leave its stamp on government. This is a natural result of a democratic system that sees regular changes in leadership. But managing what essentially is a $31 billion business with transient leadership is bound to overlook the many nooks and crannies of government put into place over the years. http://www.jacksonsun.com/article/20120603/OPINION/306020009/Our-View-Bureaucracy-reforms-will-improvestate-government

Free-Press Editorial: A 'rigorous' outlook (Chattanooga Times Free-Press)

The Chattanooga area, and the state of Tennessee overall, are a great showcase of the global community that is expanding business to include this region and our tremendous resources. Competition in the business world no longer stops at your county. Every business is touched by markets from every direction of the compass rose. One of Italy's leading universities has announced a plan to "kit out its students with the right stuff to gain access to the global jobs market," a Reuters story from Milan reported. Politecnico di Milano, a 149-year-old university established in Milan, Italy's business capital, will kick off its 2014 academic year teaching all its graduate courses in English. It will be the nation's first institution of higher learning to do so and will join Italy's "most prestigious business school, Bocconi" that began offering undergraduate classes in English in 2001. "We need to prepare all our graduates for a professional world that demands a rigorous international outlook," Politecnico rector Giovanni Azzone noted of his university's transition. This trend in the global community was summed up by Fulvio Ortu, the dean of international affairs at Bocconi: "The lingua franca for business is English and you need to know it." http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/2012/jun/03/0603f-fp1-a-rigorous-outlook-chattanooga/?opinionfreepress

Clay Bennett Political Cartoon: Third District (Chattanooga Times Free-Press)

http://media.timesfreepress.com/img/news/tease/2012/06/03/120603_The_3rd_District_t618.jpg? ba5b5b122dd3d37cc13d83e92a6a0ec0d5bfa32a

Tom Humphrey: Poll indicates Democrats tend to suppress own vote (N-S)
A recent Vanderbilt University poll found that, if you count people who don't bother to register for voting, Mitt Romney and Barack Obama are locked in a dead heat for carrying Tennessee in this year's presidential election. The pollsters reported to the noted wonder of various political bloggers that a survey of 1,002 people living in Tennessee with a telephone showed that 42 percent supported Republican Romney and 41 percent favored Democrat Obama, with the remnant undecided or refusing to answer the question. If you narrowed that sampling to those who are registered to vote, however, the margin widened to 47 percent Romney and 40 percent Obama, the pollsters duly reported. And, though the pollsters didn't so report, one suspects that if you narrowed the sampling to "likely voters" that's when you ask the polled person whether he or she actually plans to vote in the election the gap would widen to something a bit closer to the 57 percent vote that John McCain had in carrying Tennessee over Obama in 2008. The flip side of this is that Obama appears to be positioned to carry our red state by a comfortable margin among non-voters. http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2012/jun/03/tomhumphrey/

Editorial: We must lighten college students' burden of debt (Tennessean)

U.S. total approaches $1 trillion, threatens standard of living for generations Today, perhaps more than at any time in our nations history, the generations who control most of Americas wealth and run most of its institutions generally, those age 30 and older appear willing to let younger Americans twist in the wind. This in spite of their own rhetoric, now clichd, proclaiming that we must adopt this position or reject that policy for the sake of our children and grandchildren. It is almost never we must hear each other out and work toward a consensus for those future generations. No, if we cared enough, wed attach a sense of real urgency to what really matters to the young such as, not burdening them with insurmountable debt for the rest of their lives. You can tell how superficial the concerns are over college student loan rates by how suddenly legislation ground to a halt in Congress and by how zealously the Obama and Romney campaigns use the loan rates to beat each other over the head. As the shouting grows, a very real deadline is looming. Unless lawmakers agree by June 30 to an extension of the current 3.4 percent interest rate on federal college loans carried by 7.4 million students, that rate will double. http://www.tennessean.com/article/20120603/OPINION01/306030019/We-must-lighten-college-students-burdendebt?odyssey=mod%7Cnewswell%7Ctext%7COpinion%7Cp&nclick_check=1 (SUBSCRIPTION)

Times Editorial: TVA's $2 billion mistake (Chattanooga Times Free-Press)

TVA's decades-long history of nuclear plant planning debacles, horrendous cost overruns and stunning delays in bringing plant construction to completion has accustomed the agency's ratepayers to mutely accepting just about any new setback related to the nuclear program. Every time a new mind-boggling revelation arises, ratepayers' armor of imperturbability just seems to get thicker. The latest TVA inspector general's report on the delays and cost overruns at TVA's W atts Bar Unit 2 reactor should at last provoke ratepayers' ire. The reactor was originally expected to be completed by October of this year at a cost of $2.5 billion. Yet on April 5, barely two months ago, the agency publicly admitted that the work schedule had doubled -- to late 2015 -- and that the cost had doubled, as well. Both the announcement, and the lateness of it so close to the anticipated completion date, were shocking. If the schedule had fallen so deeply off the tracks, and if the cost had risen so phenomenally, why was the announcement so late coming? Delays and cost overruns of this scope surely had a genesis that should have been perceived a long time ago. W hat had the construction managers been doing, or hiding, so long? TVA's inspector general's report doesn't come close to a definitive answer to those riveting questions. But it provides a synopsis of a record of denial, deceit and inattention by various levels of management that begs the question of whether TVA's word on any nuclear issue can be trusted going forward. http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/2012/jun/03/0603f-t2-tvas-2-billion-mistake/?opiniontimes

Editorial: Contract flap was avoidable (Commercial Appeal)

The squabble that has arisen over Memphis City Schools Supt. Kriner Cash's contract didn't have to happen. Because of the actions of some Shelby County unified school board members, including chairman Billy Orgel, 6

the perception has been created that there is a movement within the 23-member board to pave the way for county schools Supt. John Aitken to lead the new merged city-county school district. Civil rights leaders and African-American clergy have weighed in with support for Cash, saying the process is unfair and calling Aitken the shoo-in for the top job. This is a controversy that didn't have to be. For one thing, neither Cash nor Aitken has publicly or expressly asked for the job, according to some school board members. If that's the case, why hasn't the board moved to begin a national search for a superintendent? The group planning the schools merger, the Transition Planning Commission, is crafting a school district that members hope will break the mold when it comes to educating children in Memphis and Shelby County. That gives the school board an opportunity to search for the strongest candidate to head the new district, and that's not necessarily Cash or Aitken. http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2012/jun/03/editorial-contract-flap-was-avoidable/ (SUBSCRIPTION)

Editorial: Commissioners must invest in Knox County's future (News-Sentinel)

Tomorrow will be an important day in the future of Knox County. County commissioners will have the opportunity to make a major investment in the school system, an investment that will cost everyone who pays property taxes a little extra but should pay big dividends in improved student performance in the years to come. The school system is asking for an additional $35 million each year above natural revenue growth. The money would go toward renovating some of the most dilapidated school buildings without adding to the county debt, hiring more teachers, establishing a teacher incentive pay plan, expanding the community schools program to increase participation of parents and community members in school life, an ambitious technology program and other needed efforts. The plan comes with a price tag, of course. If funded entirely by a property tax increase, it would add 35 cents to the property tax rate. That would be an additional $87.50 per year for the owner of a $100,000 house less than a quarter a day. We support this bold initiative. Knox County spends less per pupil than highperforming school systems in the area and its students, by many measures, have fallen behind their peers elsewhere. They need the community's support. http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2012/jun/03/editorialcommissioners-must-invest-in-knox/

Editorial: Mosque can blame ruling on county government (Daily News Journal)
Chancellor Robert Corlews decision to void approval of a mosque construction project is a harsh blow for local Muslims because it infringes on their First Amendment rights to worship freely. Only six weeks or so from completing the building on Veals Road just outside Murfreesboro, the Islamic Center of Murfreesboro was prepared to invite the entire community to a grand opening. That date is in limbo now that Corlew ruled that Rutherford County violated the Open Meetings Act by failing to provide adequate notice for the meeting in which the Regional Planning Commission considered the ICM site plan. Local Muslims are shocked and saddened by the decision because they see it as singling them out and attacking their rights as Americans. After all, they followed the rules the county put before them. But, in the same case, Corlew previously ruled that Islam is a religion and that the local congregation has every right to construct a mosque and worship. Thus, local Muslims have nobody to blame but the county mayor and Rutherford County Commission for failing to adequately notify the public about government meetings and agenda items. Corlew ruled that a small notification of the meeting date at the bottom of a Murfreesboro Post page hardly served as adequate public notice. Rutherford County switched its legal notices to the freely distributed Post in December 2006 because it charged less for the ads than The Daily News Journal. http://www.dnj.com/article/20120603/OPINION01/306030034/Mosque-can-blame-ruling-county-government ###