Lack of Public Water Plagues Rural Tennessee
(Tennessean/Wissner)
Cost to Connect all is $1.7B; some use risky sources Eva Shachno inspects the half-submerged pump humming
quietly in a creek near her home in northern Sumner county. A long, green garden hose snakes from the pump to a hand-built retaining pond
and then into her trailer, where she uses the untreated water for bathing and washing clothes. She fills up gallon jubs at the dog kennel where
she works to use for drinking, cooking and brushing her teeth. The Shachno household is among an estimated 112,000 across rurual Tennessee
that don't have public water. But extending water lines to every rural home in Tennessee...
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Low-Interest Loan for Hamilton Co. Sewage Treatment
(WTVC-TV Chattanooga)
Tennessee Governor Phil Bredesen has announced that seven communities, including Hamilton County, will receive
low-interest loans totallying nearly $40 million through the State Revolving Fund (SRF) Loan Program to fund much-needed wastewater construction
projects. The Department of Environment and Conservation...
Fans of Rail Want Amtrak Here
(The Tennessean)
It's been nearly 30 years since the last passenger train left Union Station, But advocates of city-to-city rail
hope it won't take another 30 years to get it back. A spider web of routes takes a broad circle around the city, passing through Louisville,
Ky., Memphis,...
Tennessee, Georgia Garner High Marks for Highways
(Times-Free Press/Davis)
Georgia came in sixth and Tennessee 20th in a recent national ranking of cost effectiveness
of state highway systems. The report from the Reason Foundation, a nonprofit, nonpartisan libertarian public policy research institution based
in Los Angeles,...(Report: Road Condition Improves But Traffic Congestion, Highway Fatalities Rise)
Effort Begins to Save
Depot
(Knoxville News Sentinel)
Building, a piece of Niota history, could be used as civic gathering place. NIOTA, Tenn.- The oldest standing
train depot in Tennessee is slowly falling apart, and unless something is done to shore up the brick building, it may have to be abandoned. So
Niota Mayor Martha Walden and the city commission have take the first step to raise money for restoration...
Agents Scour Nation's
Critical Facilities for Illegal Aliens
(CNSNews.com)
Illegal aliens have been found working at military bases, refineries, airports and even a
nuclear power station in the past few years, and their use of fictitious identification papers continues to bedevil even employers who try to operate
legally, federal agents say. Other critical infrastructure worksite investigations have uncovered vulnerabilities...
Fog Warning System
Upgrades Should Be Completed This Year
(Daily Banner)
Tennessee Department of Transportation officials expect upgrades and additions to the
Interstate 75 fog detection and warning system to be completed late this year, hopefully before the Christmas holidays. The fog warning system
covers a 19-mile stretch between Cleveland and Athens exits, focusing on the area near the Hiwassee River where a horrendous crash in 1990 claimed 11
lives and injured approximately 50 people...
Ocoee River Gorge
Impact Study Expected by September
(Cleveland Daily Banner)
DAYTON - An economic impact study on transportation needs through the Ocoee River Gorge is
part of an effort to balance transportation with economic and environmental needs. TDOT representative Paula Strauss told members of the
Southeast Rural Planning Organization Tuesday morning the results of an economic impact study on Corridor K...
Bredesen Recommends ARC Funds for Five Area Counties
(Times Free-Press)
Five Southeast Tennessee counties will receive a total of $15,000 to revitalize downtown
districts if a recommendation by Gov. Phill Bredesen is approved. The money, an Appalachian Regional Commission grant, would be combined with
$15,000 in local funds to improve public spaces...
Southern Connector Idea Resurfaces
(Johnson City Press)
TDOT gives Elizabethton residents chance to review new plans ELIZABETHTON - The Southern Connector, a project
thought long dead, has been resurrected by the Tennessee Department of Transportation as one alternative to finally pushing forward on devloping a
bypass around congested Broad Street and West Elk Avenue...
$54 Million Secured for Ongoing Dam Repairs
(Associated Press)
SOMERSET, Ky. - A federal spending bill includes $54 million for ongoing repairs at the
Wolf Creek Dam, with the funds targeted at stopping seepage and stabilizing the lake's level once the fixes are done. The money was part of the
fiscal year 2008 Energy and Water Development Appropriations bill...
Federal funds Tapped for
Transportation Improvements in State
(Memphis Business Journal)
Improvement projects worth more than $11 million have been proposed for roads and airports
across Tennessee. The Senate Appropriations Committee has approved the Transportation, Treasury, and Housing & Urban Development appropriations
bill for fiscal 2008. The bill includes funding for several Tennessee transportation and economic development initiatives...
Outgoing Council Approves Wastewater Facility
(Shelbyville Times-Gazette)
The Shelbyville city council took care of a number of items before swearing in new
members. Thursday, inluding financing a new wastewater facility and completing the process of changing the city's charter. Last week,
Shelbyville Power, Water and Sewer asked the city for approximately $25 million for a new sewage treatment plant, saying the existing plant has
served its purpose...
Bridge Demolition Scheduled for Sunday Morning
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - Interstate 40 will be closed for construction near Lebanon Sunday
morning. A state contractor is demolishing the Beckwith Road Bridge over the highway in Wilson County. The detour will begin at 2 a.m.
Sunday in both directions as earth is spread on the interstate to protect the surface.
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Guest
Columnist: Amtrak is Our Best Intercity Travel Mode for Future
(Tennessean)
Some say we can't afford to bring intericty passenger rail to Nashville. I say we can't
afford not to. Gasoline is above $3 per gallon. Runways and roadways are more clogged than ever, and will get worse. The Federal Aviation
Administration predicts crippling gridlock at airports, and the American Association of State and Highway Transportation Officials anticipates that,
by 2020, 90 percent of urban interstates will be at or above capacity...
Guest
Columnist: It's Time to Put The Brakes on Wasteful, Subsidized System
(Tenn)
Plenty of people are clamoring to make Nashville the next stop aboard the Amtrak express.
It's important to take a step back from the platform and see Amtrak for what it is: the most ineffective, inefficient and wasteful boondoggle of the
past 50 years. Amtrak is a classic example of government trying to do something it has no business doing...
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Editorial: City
Should Think About Intercity Rail
(Tennessean)
Nashvillians should not expect amtrak passenger rail service anytime soon, but that doesn't
mean the city shouldn't keep it on its list of priorities. Passenger rail is on the comeback - if not so much in reality as on the minds of
many thinkers about urban planning and transportation innovation. Most of the attention is geared toward the immportant issue of commuter rail
in cities where it is badly needed...
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