Blackburn to bring U.S. Senate campaign to Knoxville

Victor Ashe
Shopper News columnist
President Donald Trump shares the stage with Gov. Bill Haslam, Rep. Diane Black, Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue, Sen. Lamar Alexander, Rep. Marsha Blackburn and other lawmakers at Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center Monday, Jan. 8, 2018 in Nashville.

Congressman Marsha Blackburn brings her campaign for U.S. Senate to Knoxville on Saturday, Feb. 3, with an event hosted by state Rep. Jason Zachary. Blackburn faces former Congressman Steve Fincher in the August primary, and then one of them faces former Democratic governor Phil Bredesen in November. Having Zachary helping her campaign will be a plus.

Bredesen is considered a very credible Democrat among moderate Republicans who twice voted for him for governor. They do not regret their vote, and Blackburn will have her work cut out for her to bring these Republicans into her camp this November.

Knoxville’s Bill Baxter, who lives in Fountain City and is owner of Holston Gas, has purchased the Cowboy Bar in Jackson Hole, Wyo. Baxter also owns the historic Wort Hotel. Both are icons in Jackson Hole’s extensive tourist industry. Jackson Hole is the gateway to Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks.

Bill Baxter, in the Silver Dollar suite of the Wort Hotel, chats on the phone with his wife, Ginger, who was expected to arrive in Jackson, Wyo., the next day.

Baxter, 64, who was Tennessee’s economic and community development commissioner for Gov. Don Sundquist, also was chair of the TVA board before it was enlarged to nine members. He was once named Fountain City Man of the Year.

More:Knoxville's Bill Baxter buys iconic Cowboy bar in Wyoming

Keel Hunt, who authored “The Coup” about Lamar Alexander’s early installation as governor in 1979 as Ray Blanton was forced from office, is writing a new book expected to be published this summer. It covers politics in the 1980s and 1990s in Tennessee.

Hunt lives in Nashville and is a former reporter for the Tennessean. He served on the staff of then-governor Alexander. His writing style is thorough and well balanced. The title has not been disclosed.

 

Tennessee’s ECD Department will pay the Salveo group $213,000 a year to employ two people to work Spain and France for potential economic prospects in Tennessee, according to Allen Borden of ECD. Tennessee has had representatives in South Korea, Germany, Japan, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands and Great Britain. Tennessee spends more than $1 million in salaries and contracts to personnel who work these nations.

Gov. Bill Haslam is expected to lead a delegation to Europe in May for investment prospects. Tennessee has been rated No. 1 among the 50 states in foreign investment by the IBM global trends report for 2017.

The new U.S. attorney, Doug Overbey, will have his official investiture and celebration reception on Friday afternoon, Feb. 16, at 2:30 p.m. in the ceremonial courtroom of the Howard Baker Courthouse on the fourth floor.

Doug Overbey

Overbey was sworn into office in December after confirmation by the U.S. Senate and has been working ever since then. This event allows his many friends to join him in celebrating his tenure. He serves at the pleasure of the president.

City Councilman George Wallace in a recent interview says he is actively talking to more than 100 people in deciding whether he will run for mayor in 2019. Others who are considering the same path are fellow council member Marshall Stair, businessman Eddie Mannis and mayoral assistant Indya Kincannon.

Stair has made the decision to run. He and his wife, Natalie, are expecting their first child (a girl whose name will be Stella) by the end of January. By the time you read this, she may have been born.

Also being mentioned for mayor are former vice mayor Joe Bailey and state Rep. Eddie Smith. It could be a crowded field in 2019. Amelia Parker, who won more than 2,000 write-in votes for City Council against Lauren Rider, is mentioned for both mayor and at-large City Council. Longtime city political observers are still scratching their heads as to how Parker won 2,000 write-in votes and who her voters were. Nobody, but nobody, expected Parker to win 2,000 write-in votes. But it is an open question as to whether this movement will last or vanish.

Councilwoman Seema Perez benefited from this movement in her election to council over James Corcoran.

Stair and Wallace, who both voted to place Harry Tindell on the ballot over Parker when there was a tie vote for second place in the primary, may have trouble explaining to Parker supporters why they did not give their support to Parker. They will surely be asked at some point. Council was unanimous for Tindell.

UT’s lobbyist in Nashville, Anthony Haynes, has hired a new assistant, David Mills. The workload in this office has to be one of the lightest in the entire UT system with staff virtually free to roam the eight months a year the Legislature does not meet. Mills, who formerly worked for Vanderbilt University, will be paid $120,000 a year, which is on the low side of UT salaries at the administrative level.

More:Would downsizing UT board of trustees fix problems?

More:Victor Ashe: UT board must step up to rein in athletic spending

BIRTHDAYS: Jan. 31 – Former state representative and General Sessions Judge Jimmy Kyle Davis is 67.

Feb. 1 – Knoxville insurance executive Bo Shafer is 81. Fifty years ago, in 1968, Shafer was the Democratic nominee for state representative in West Knox County against the late Jack Comer, who won as a Republican. Comer had been a Democrat prior to seeking this office. He served two terms before being defeated in 1972 by this writer.

Feb. 3 – Retired Knoxville attorney Bernard Bernstein is 87. Bernstein was elected a delegate from West Knoxville to the 1977 constitutional convention. Knoxville businessman and GOP financial backer Wes Stowers is 64.

Feb. 4 – Farragut Mayor Ralph McGill is 75. He is only the third person to serve as Farragut mayor, Robert Leonard and Eddy Ford being the first two. Former vice president Dan Quayle is 71 and former Ijams Nature Center executive director Paul James is 48.

Feb. 5 – State Rep. Jimmy Matlock is 59. Matlock is a Republican candidate for U.S. Congress along with Mayor Tim Burchett and Blount County Republican Jason Emert. Beck Cultural Center Director Renee Kesler is 49, former County Commissioner Phil Guthe is 64, and former UT women’s athletics director Joan Cronan is 74.