Obion County, TN home burns while South Fulton firefighters watch, again. The City of South Fulton FD offers surrounding Obion County residents firefighting services for a $75 annual subscription, but not all county residents choose to subscribe (
previously).
The last time this happened, the city of South Fulton, Tennessee, received a lot of heat nationwide for this policy. That was more than a year ago but nothing has changed.
The mayor said it comes down to simple business. If they don't collect fire fees, the fire department can't survive and if they make exceptions to the rule, no one will ever pay the fee.
Obion County
lacks a fire department (pdf) and county residents, who do not pay taxes for firefighting, are provided firefighting services through local cities and towns, either by annual subscription or a per-call fee.
posted by 6550
on Dec 8, 2011 -
227 comments
"A pious, peaceful man,
York had fought his country's enemy only after great deliberation and had to be convinced that war was sometimes necessary."
1 On this day let us remember
Sergeant York.
1 Celluloid Soldiers: The Warner Bros. Campaign Against Nazism By Michael E. Birdwell.
posted by unliteral
on Nov 11, 2010 -
14 comments
I'm Basil Marceaux dot com, the
Republican candidate for
Governor. I like to recall all
permit, and registration, for guns. Everyone carry guns. If you kill someone though, you get murdered,
you go to jail, and uh, I'd like to put...
plant grass or vegetation across in the state on any vacant lot, and
sell it for gas, so we can use it for
our expenses. Also, I'm gonna
remove all gold fringe flags from the state and fly the
real flag with three stripes. I also wanna stop traffic stops; set it up like the Supreme Court ruled in
Knowles v Iowa: you can't find
innocent car,
you can't look. I want you all to
vote for
Basil Marceaux. I want to say the Pledge of Allegiance to a Republic in the morning when you
come out... and
we all pray to God and say Amen and everyone... have a nice day. And
I'll see you all at
the polls. Thank you...
have a nice day.
[more inside]
posted by joannemerriam
on Jul 27, 2010 -
93 comments
The joy of Bourbon drinking is not the pharmacological effect of C(2)H(5)OH on the cortex but rather the instant of the whiskey being knocked back and the little
explosion of Kentucky U.S.A. sunshine in the cavity of the nasopharynx and
the hot bosky bite of Tennessee summertime--aesthetic considerations to
which the effect of the alcohol is, if not dispensable, at least secondary.
Bourbon, an essay by Walker Percy. A warning: "Not only should connoisseurs of Bourbon not read this article, neither should persons preoccupied with the perils of alcoholism, cirrhosis, esophageal hemorrhage, cancer of the palate, and so forth..."
[more inside]
posted by a.steele
on May 19, 2010 -
77 comments
Hillbilly Truffle "In France, they call them Périgords—and they’re known as the diamonds of the kitchen. You probably know them as black truffles, those baseball-sized fungi that are sniffed out of the earth by pigs or dogs, get sold for thousands of dollars, and transform any meal into a luxury item. So what happens when—sacrée merde!—an obsessed Yankee learns to grow them in the scrub woods of Davy Crockett’s Tennessee?"
posted by vronsky
on Nov 30, 2009 -
66 comments
Multiple stories (
1,
2,
3,
4,
5) from and about Tent City, a homeless encampment in Nashville, Tennessee.
posted by Brandon Blatcher
on Sep 28, 2009 -
18 comments
Slugburgers, hamburgers in which the meat has been supplemented with bread, meal, or crackers for filler, come from a triangular region that cuts across northern Alabama, northern Mississippi, and southern Tennessee and roughly corresponds with
the Tennessee Valley. They're called slugburgers in
Moulton, Alabama;
Decatur, Alabama; and
Corinth, Mississippi; doughburgers in
Tupelo, Mississippi; and breadburgers in
Cullman, Alabama. This regional take on the hamburger
became popular during the Great Depression, when the price of meat made it necessary to use fillers to extend supply. Though the exact origin of the term is disputed, it is most commonly held that Slugburgers got their name from the coin used to pay for them: when each burger cost 5¢, you could pay for one with a nickel which was then also called a slug. Corinth, Mississippi, has held
an annual Slugburger Festival since 1988. Take
a photographic tour of the Slugburger Trail.
[more inside]
posted by ocherdraco
on Sep 18, 2009 -
78 comments
Music in the Digital Library of Appalachia provides an unprecedented resource for study of repertoire, technique, lore, and the musical interchanges among the region's traditional musicians. Once you know what you like, it's easy to find the music live with
Blue Ridge Music Trails. Meet musicians who have grown up with that music, visit settings in which Blue Ridge folk music thrives, see traditional dancing, and in many cases, take part in the festivities.
The Crooked Road, Virginia’s Heritage Music Trail, winds through the mountains of Southwest Virginia. Along the trail, the Bluegrass, Old Time, and Traditional Country music is as beautiful and rugged as the landscape itself.
[previous 1, 2]
posted by netbros
on Mar 8, 2009 -
12 comments
Ava Marie Ciptak was born on Friday, October 10, 2008. Except that her name wasn't Ava Marie Ciptak. Her father, Mark, of Elizabethton, Tennessee, "sort of secretively went behind [his wife Layla]'s back and changed the paperwork" by using two separate birth certificate forms. Instead of naming his daughter John McCain — his initial plan — he named his daughter Sarah McCain Palin, "figuring hopefully [he] would get two weeks in the doghouse rather than two months."
posted by WCityMike
on Oct 15, 2008 -
84 comments
Eighty one years ago to the day, barber, banjoist and balladeer
B.F. Shelton travelled from his home in Kentucky to take part in a recording session in Bristol Tennessee. Now referred to as the "
Bristol Sessions", these recordings are widely viewed as some of the most important and influential in American music history. The four songs Shelton recorded that day, stark, simple and immensely powerful in their unadorned honesty, can all be heard
here. After Bristol, Shelton never recorded again.
[more inside]
posted by flapjax at midnite
on Jul 29, 2008 -
16 comments
Before you do anything else, just
listen to this. That's
eefing, a 100-plus-year-old vocal technique from rural Tennessee that's, well, the original hillbilly beatboxing. The undisputed master of the art was
Jimmie Riddle. His unique skill landed him
recording* and
TV (youtube) work. Want more weird sounds from the deep south? Try
Hollerin & Whoopin and
Ringing the Pig. *
[warning: on the "Little Eefin Annie" page, avoid the "click here to hear Rolf Harris Eeefin'!" link: it's a pesky popup.
posted by flapjax at midnite
on Jan 6, 2007 -
51 comments
Let me tell you what we're gonna do. We're gonna put them handcuffs in front of ya. Cut you a little slack. But if you don't start operating, we're gonna put the mother fuckers behind your back, and I'm gonna take this slapjack and I'm gonna start working that head over, you understand? ...you sign this son of a bitch, or I'm gonna hit you again.
Audio.
.pdf transcript.
Full Story.
posted by Kwantsar
on Apr 25, 2006 -
60 comments
Is every cop a criminal? At least
41 officers in the Tennessee Highway Patrol have a criminal record. Ranging from drunk driving and driving state vehicles without a valid license to assault and child abuse. Gov. Bredesen called for a comprehensive background check of the THP and was surprised by the "inherent cronyism" with the force. Further scandals have forced the Commander to
resign and the interim Commander is under
some doubt as well.
Will
this be the end of the Good 'Ole Boys in Brown?
posted by teleri025
on Dec 9, 2005 -
31 comments
Tennessee: 'Close Down Your Ex-Gay Ministry!' --remember Zach, the 16-year-old sent to Love in Action so that he could be cured of being gay? The state has finally ordered the places shut down. Original post on him here:
Pray out the Gay!
Unfortunately, this is the state's reasoning:
... The state inspected two facilities in Memphis on Aug. 19 and determined Love In Action International Inc. was providing housing, meals and personal care for mentally ill patients without a license, according to a subsequent letter to the organization from the Department of Mental Health. ... (and more
at Cherryblossom)
posted by amberglow
on Sep 20, 2005 -
65 comments
Erwin, TN . My hometown, small and wholly unremarkable. Unremarkable, of course, except for our history of
elephant hanging.
In 1916, after
Mighty Mary killed one of her handlers, the circus had to put her down. The problem: they couldn't poison her and they couldn't shoot her. The solution:
hang her from a railroad crane.
The story has become one of
local folklore. Any of your hometowns have strange histories worth sharing? (inspired by
MoFi)
posted by ruddhist
on Nov 30, 2004 -
62 comments
Husband Wanted. Girl looking for husband in Nashville, TN, puts picture on billboard. "I just want one man driving by this billboard who wants to marry me." Is this a Red state thing?
posted by metaforth
on Nov 25, 2004 -
59 comments
The Nashville Scene proudly presents the
12th Annual Boner Awards. Named for disgraced Nashville mayor Bill Boner, this is a rundown of all things "goofy, grisly and gnarly" that went down this year in Music City. From nude fender-benders to shop-lifting Vice Mayors, it's local interest, Nashvegas style.
(The previous few years are also available for the truly curious.)
posted by mikrophon
on Dec 18, 2002 -
11 comments
The best guitarist you never heard in your life. Shawn Lane is an underground hero in guitar circles. Born 1963 in Memphis Tennesee, he joined Black Oak Arkansas at the age of 13 , beat Ted Nugent in a cutting contest, and made Billy Gibbons fall off his bar stool.
Shawn now plays with the
Jonas Hellborg Trio - Windows media clip
here. I admit that fusion and guitar heroics are not to everyone's liking. But, if you like this kind of thing, you must agree that this guy is the the real deal.
posted by crunchburger
on Sep 20, 2002 -
19 comments
An All-American Fugitive When Margo Freshwater escaped from prison 32 years ago, she began a happy and law-abiding life, becoming a devoted mother, grandmother and wife. Now she's back behind bars . . . And unless she's given a new trial or is granted clemency . . . she will remain behind bars until she is an old woman . . . Meanwhile, the man who confessed to the killing probably will die a free man.
posted by mikrophon
on Aug 22, 2002 -
5 comments
There was not a cloud in the sky. Scary things afoot near Hartsville, TN. Electric bulbs light in your hand. Birds fried by electric surges midflight. Mysterious police dressed in black. Blown out transformers. And -- a Bigfoot.
posted by jfwlucy
on Jul 18, 2001 -
16 comments
