All of the sudden, the News Sentinel sees the problem
Like many people in Knox County I was shocked to read the editorial in the Knoxville News Sentinel today. The title is, “Is county mayor’s office out of control?”
How convenient. After five years of being the chief cheerleader for the County Mayor now the editorial staff of the News Sentinel wakes up and smells the coffee. This occurs after some serious investigative journalism from WBIR television in Knoxville which has accounted for the resignations of three people very close to the County Mayor. To the Sentinel’s credit reporter Scott Barker has also followed the story closely.
Better late than never but the question does arise, what took so long? Knox County Commissioner Paul Pinkston spoke with WNOX’s Hallerin Hill Tuesday morning and suggested that the Mayor’s office had wined and dined various members of the local press in Knoxville to gain favor. Pinkston also opined that columns concerning the Mayor written in the Knoxville News Sentinel appeared to have been written by Mayor Ragsdale’s right hand man Dwight Van de Vate, the Communications Director for the Mayor. You can hear Commissioner Pinkston’s interview with Hallerin Hill here.
As everyone awaits the audits of the troubled P-cards there is apprehension about the audits of the privately funded “Hospitality fund” which is used for entertainment. Will this audit prove that there was an effort to garner favor with the local press by expensive meals and drinks?
July 26th, 2007 at 5:18 pm
Hey, I’m Kyle, and I post at the Vigilant Freedom Blog. We’re working to create a list of conservative bloggers in certain states (including TN) as part of an upcoming support the troops campaign alongside groups like Gathering of Eagles, and Vets for Freedom. If you’d like to include your blog you can email me at Kyle@vigilantfreedom.com
For more information you can check out our post at
http://www.vigilantfreedom.org/910blog/2007/07/24/help-wantedstate-bloggers-for-pro-surge-push/