NEWS
PAGE 4A v INDEPENDENT APPEAL
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 11, 2012
Redistricting: A new state rep. for McNairy County? By Jeff Whitten Head News Writer
McNairy County will be getting a new state representative under a redistricting plan proposed by Republicans, who have the majority in the state legislature. Under HB (House bill) 1555/SB (Senate bill) 1513, McNairy County would move from district 71, represented by Vance Dennis of Savannah, to district 94, currently represented by Barrett Rich of Somerville, Tenn. Both are Republicans. HB 1555 is sponsored by Rep. Steve McDaniel of Parkers Crossroads and SB 1514 is sponsored by Sen. Mark Norris of Collierville.
The new district 94 would consist of McNairy, the extreme southern portion of Hardeman County and Fayette County. District 71 currently consists of McNairy, Hardin and the southern part of Decatur County. The current district 94 consists of Fayette and part of Hardeman County. McNairy County will stay in the state senate district it is currently in, but the contours of the district will change. Under SB 1514/HB 1557 also sponsored by Norris and McDaniel, McNairy County would stay in the 26th state senate district, currently represented by State Sen. Dolores Gresham of Somerville. However, this district will lose Crockett and Wayne Counties but
gain Henderson and Decatur Counties “I don’t think getting reelected is the issue. The issue is how can the people of the district be best represented,” said Gresham. Gresham said that she was not consulted on how her district was drawn, but said that she had seen the map and would do her best to represent her district, whatever its composition. She said she had an appreciation for the difficulties in meeting the criterion. When asked for the reasons for taking some counties out of her district and replacing them with others, she noted the demographic shifts to Middle Tennessee and said the changes were probably necessary to restore equal population to her district.
Dennis said he was consulted by the redistricting committee and expressed a preference not to lose McNairy County. “It’s been a real privilege and honor to serve McNairy County. I would have very much liked to keep McNairy County,” Dennis said. Dennis said that he regretted losing McNairy County, but that it was inevitable because of the growth in Middle Tennessee, particularly the Nashville suburbs. This required that districts be shifted eastward. Also, growth in Tipton County required that it have its own district. This, and a majority minority district in Hardeman County created by the courts, sealed McNairy County’s fate.
Church with the Oak Ridge Boys By Laura Specie Columnist
I have been sitting here trying to think of what to write this week. I have had a lot of different things on my mind. The economy, politics and money being a few of the things I have thought about. All are touchy subjects for a lot of people. Everyone has their own opinions about the state of things. Then, I thought back to when I was a kid around 12. I didn’t SPECIE worry about anything back then except trying to have fun being a kid, and going to church. I use to go to church with a “boyfriend” At 12, I didn’t know what having a boyfriend meant, but I loved going to church. It was a small church, maybe 50-65 members. My grandfather use to go with me as well. He was living with us after my grandmother passed
away. He enjoyed the people of the church so much. He enjoyed the sermons and the music. We had a revival one weekend and had a christian band called the “Keystone Quartet” I thought they were really good. The preaching was good.. Music was great. and I got to talk to the members of the band. My grandfather had bought me a couple of their albums. Got their autographs on one of them. At least 2 or 3 of them signed that album. That was in 1969-1970. I have those albums still to this day. Little did I know how important those albums would have for me later in life. Eventually, I grew away from the church, as a lot of teenagers do. Then we moved to Florida. Many years had gone by, and I forgot about those albums. I kept them, but didn’t play them as much any more. I hadn’t thought about them in a couple years. As I was unpacking my things here in Tennessee, I found those albums, and An album by the Oak Ridge boys that I had acquired. I was studying the picture of the Oak Ridge, and thought how familiar two of them seemed to me. I had seen
them somewhere before. Then it dawned on me where I had seen them. At my church... They were two of the Keystones. I looked at the other album with the autographs, and sure enough, Joe Bonsall, Richard Stuban, and Dave Will were three of the quartet. I don’t know what happened to Dave, but I knew who Joe and Richard were. Joe hand signed my album. Richard, I remember was in conversation with a member of the church, so I didn’t get his. I wish now, that I had. They had signed my album all those many years before. I was thrilled and thought about those days. When things were simple. When all you had to worry about was being a kid. A good memory to have. I did contact Joe via e-mail about my remembering him being at my church, and he had said that was when they were young and struggling. I wish I could get to shake his hand again...but I would say, that would be just a dream. Nice to dream sometimes isn’t it? The name of the album Joe and Dave signed? “Try a little Kindness” Have a great week.
Redistricting is required once every decade because the census is taken and shows changes in population. Under guidelines adopted by both houses of the legislature, districts must be contiguous or any part of the district must be adjacent to another part of the district, contiguity by water is acceptable. They must be single-member districts, plans for the Senate must contain 33 districts and for the house must contain 99 districts. The difference between the smallest and the largest should not be greater than 10 percent. Districts should comply with constitutional requirements of one person, one vote, the federal Voting Rights Act and the constitutions of Tennessee and the United States.
This week in Civil War History
January 11, 1862 Simon Cameron resigns as U.S. Secretary of War. There were rumors of corruption in the department, as well as pressure from radical Republicans in Congress for his departure. He is appointed Ambassador to Russia and is replaced by Edwin Stanton. A congressman of Pennsylvania, Cameron’s home state Thaddeus Stevens, a radical Republican, told Lincoln, “I don’t think he would steal a red-hot stove.” When Cameron demanded that he take back the statement, Stevens said, “I believe I told you he would not steal a red-hot stove. I will now take that back.” Cameron had been censured by Congress for favoritism in awarding department contracts. “An honest politician is one who, when he is bought, will stay bought,” was one quote Cameron was famous for. Another famous quote by Cameron on the Smithsonian Institution was, “I am tired of all this sort of thing called science here... We have spent millions in that sort of thing for the last few years, and it is time it should be stopped.” Cameron had originally been a Whig, a Democrat and a member of the Know-Nothing party before becoming a Republican. He had unsuccessfully sought the presidential nomination in 1860, only to lose to Abraham Lincoln, as had Stanton. Cameron ran for the U.S. Senate from Pennsylvania in 1866 and served until 1877.
Michie, Guys express frustrations with cable service By Jeff Whitten Head News Writer
Adamsville is not the only city in the county that is unhappy with its cable service, and Charter is not the only provider to be the object of these negative feelings. Local officials from both Michie and Guys are having problems with Comcast, another major cable and internet provider in the county. Michie Mayor Mike Glisson has personally had problems with his the company. A cable sat exposed in his yard for 10 months before Comcast remedied the situation. He said most of the issues with Comcast in Michie pertain to service. Some people in the city cannot get cable service, despite a contractual commitment by the cable company to provide
service to everyone in the city limits. City attorney Paul Simpson sent a letter to Comcast notifying it of the situation in 2009. “There was absolutely no response,” said Glisson. Although Glisson said he did not have knowledge of internet problems, there have been problems with Comcast phone service. “There have been many, many problems,” he said. Similar problems with Comcast also extend to Guys. Mayor Keith Rinehart says it is his understanding that not only is new line not being run, but that service is not being extended to houses that are already on the line. “We’re asking that they service everyone in Guys,” Rinehart said. They have also refused to connect Alderman
FaithPointe Church
FaithPointe Church invites you to come and enjoy the Life-Changing Ministry of Jerry Savelle as he teaches you from God’s Word how to win in life. Childcare will be provided for ages 6 and under. Date: Tuesday, January 24th, 2012 Time: 7:00 PM Place: FaithPointe Church 440 Hwy 64 East Adamsville, TN 38310 For additional information call the church office at: 731-632-4999 or visit our website at faithpointechurch.com
Dr. Jerry Savelle was an average, blue-collar man who was struggling and needed God’s help. While he considered himself a “nobody,” when he became a believer God told him not to worry about it because He was a master at making champions out of nobodies. God has since taken Dr. Savelle from being a constant quitter to a man who knows how to stand on the Word of God until victory is experienced. Because of the lifechanging combination of God’s faithfulness and Dr. Savelle’s “no quit” attitude, his life is totally different than it was thirty-eight years ago. Since 1969, Dr. Savelle has been traveling the world teaching people how to win in life. Dr. Savelle has ministered in more than three thousand churches in twenty-six nations, and has overseas offices in the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, and a mission’s outreach in Tanzania, Africa. God has used Dr. Savelle to impact people who are burned out on religion and who have backslidden in their walk with God, as well as Christians who have a need to hear the Word of God presented in terms applicable to their lives, dreams, and destinies. He is the host of the Jerry Savelle Ministries television broadcast which airs in two hundred countries worldwide. Dr. Savelle is the author of more than forty books, including his bestsellers, If Satan Can’t Steal Your Joy, He Can’t Keep Your Goods and Called to Battle, Destined To Win. He and his wife, Carolyn, also serve as founding Pastors of Heritage of Faith Christian Center in Crowley, Texas.
Chris Howard’s house, which is already on the line. “About everybody in Guys has Dish Network or DIRECTV,” Rinehart said. The only reason he has Comcast cable is to also have their internet service, Rinehart said. Rinehart said that AT&T has fiber optic cable running through Guys, but residents cannot obtain internet service from them. While AT&T doesn’t offer DSL internet and has no immediate plans to do so, it does offer U-Verse high speed internet service and mobile broadband, according to Cathy Lewandowski, Senior Public Relations Manager, AT&T Strategic Com-
munications “Our deployment decisions are based on a number of factors, such as population density on an area and cost of equipment to provide the service. We monitor these and other factors for any changes and modify our plans when appropriate,” Lewandowski said. Comcast spokesperson Patricia Collins said that there were no specific requirements in the contract with the cities to build out the entire city. She said that line is run where there are 30 homes per mile and a line would be extended to any home that is 120 feet from the distribution cable or the line.
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