This is a compilation of Tennessee news and political stories assembled daily by staffers in Gov. Bill Haslam’s office. APSU’s Hemlock Building continues to thrive (Leaf Chronicle) Jordan Bush, 22, will graduate from Austin Peay State University in May with a degree from the chemical engineering technology program. Most of his program classes have been in the Hemlock Semiconductor Building at APSU. But he’s not worried about finding a job, despite the shuttering of the plant that bears the building’s name. Like many who entered the program, Bush admits he was first drawn to the program after Hemlock announced it was building a $1.2 billion polysilicon plant in Clarksville that would employ 500 workers to manufacture polycrystalline silicon, a critical base component in solar energy panels. Jefferson Co. officials crave mega-impact of megasite (News-Sentinel/Marcum) The BMW plant near Greenville, S.C., is a success story that would be great to repeat in Jefferson County, says Garrett Wagley, director of economic development with the Jefferson County Chamber of Commerce. The plant pumps about $1.2 billion a year into South Carolina’s economy in terms of wages and salaries. It employs 7,000 people but supports about 23,000 jobs statewide, according to a 2008 University of South Carolina study. Since it began production in 1994, the plant has produced economic benefits that weren’t even expected at the time, said Nancy P. Whitworth, Greenville’s director of economic development. DCS failed to warn caretakers about man who later shot them (TN/Wadhwani) Neighbors took in girl but weren’t told of risk. Then her father shot them all. For more than three years, Susan Randolph has wanted to talk publicly about the weekend the Department of Children’s Services came into her family’s life and turned it upside down, leaving in its wake the deaths of her husband and a teenaged girl. She hasn’t been able to until now. Last week, state lawyers abandoned efforts to keep secret a judge’s ruling that DCS was liable for the deaths of Todd Randolph, 46, and Stevie Noelle Milburn, 15. TN court-appointed attorneys paid less than in most states, study finds (TN/Allyn) Being a low-income criminal defendant in Tennessee can often mean having disappointing legal representation, according to a recent study. A study released by the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers found that Tennessee pays court-appointed attorneys one of the lowest rates in the country. The study, tied to the 50th anniversary of Gideon v. Wainwright, the U.S. Supreme Court decision that entitled poor people charged with crimes to court-appointed attorneys, suggested that states with low compensation and pay caps hinder poor defendants. Casada says open meetings bill can be fixed (Associated Press/Johnson) Proposal would let local officials hold private meetings A Republican lawmaker who last year backed off a bill that would have allowed local officials to hold more closed-door meetings has renewed the effort, saying he’s asked county commissioners to bring him a proposal that has a chance of passing a key subcommittee. State Rep. Glen Casada of Franklin has a bill scheduled before the House State Government Subcommittee on Tuesday that could be amended to address local government officials’ call for a bill to allow them to meet privately as long as a quorum isn’t present. Mountaintop removal foes air “Red” ad (Tennessean/Sisk) Legislation to ban mountaintop removal in Tennessee died its expected death in the state legislature Wednesday, but not before advocates tried out a new tactic to gin up public support — playing to anti-Chinese sentiments. In the days leading up to Wednesday’s decisive committee meeting, the Tennessee Conservative Union hit lawmakers who oppose the Tennessee Scenic Vistas Protection Act, Senate Bill 99, with an ad that warns the “Red Chinese” are prepared to destroy Tennessee’s mountains. University’s “Sex Week” draws outrage (Tennessean/Sisk) An upcoming event at the University of Tennessee called “Sex Week” last week drew the reaction you might expect from some conservatives in the Tennessee legislature — shock, outrage and a veiled threat of withheld funding. After learning about plans to hold a week of sex-related workshops, games and other activities on UT’s Knoxville campus, Tennessee lawmakers teed off. The $20,000 event, funded partly through student activity fees and partly with university money, includes a poetry workshop led by a self-described sex expert, a discussion on how to talk to parents about sex and a scavenger hunt for a “golden condom.” To tweet, or not? Local politicians have mixed feelings about social media (DNJ) Residents looking to connect with local elected officials via social media may run into a bit of hit and miss now, but the trend is catching on. State Sens. Bill Ketron and Jim Tracy, for instance, use Twitter regularly to communicate news and events from the Hill. Murfreesboro Mayor Tommy Bragg, on the other hand, has both Facebook and Twitter accounts but rarely posts to either. In fact, Bragg has made only one Tweet since creating his Twitter account, and that was in May of last year. Election commissioner defends vote (Tennessean/Cass) Patricia Heim, a Republican member of the Davidson County Election Commission, upset many conservatives by voting against a plan to study the citizenship status of recently registered voters who were born outside the United States. Before the commission voted unanimously Thursday to rescind its previous 3-2 vote — in which Heim and Democrat A.J. Starling had been in the minority — Heim read a statement defending her vote and her priorities: “I take seriously my responsibility as an election commissioner to make sure Davidson County’s list of registered voters is routinely examined and appropriately vetted to ensure it is limited to eligible citizens of Davidson County,” Heim said. More people moving out of Shelby than into it, estimates show (CA/Charlier) Although the bottom line shows some growth in population, Shelby County remains saddled with a negative balance sheet in terms of the number of residents moving into the county compared with the number leaving. Census figures released last week show that between 2006 and 2010 an estimated [...]
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