Right below Ms. Dodson’s entry is a 1/4 page ad submitted by Jack Pine, containing the text of the letter Ms. Dodson rejected.

Mr. Pine’s letter DOES express an opinion. It’s his opinion that the Veteran’s Day festivities were “great.” It’s his opinion that without the fine service of police, sheriff, and highway patrol personnel, the event would not have been the success that it was. It’s his opinion that the Ladies Auxiliary and Veterans Day Committee did a “fantastic” job. How is his praise for these folks any different from, say, a letter praising a politician?

I wonder, if Mr. Pine had written his letter without using the words “thank you,” would Ms. Dodson have scraped up some other grounds to reject it?

If the Tribune was bulging at the seams with letters about “issues, views, and opinions,” then I could understand Ms. Dodson putting her foot down about “thank you” letters. I admit, we can’t expect a newspaper to publish every single letter that comes along. But I rarely see a letter of any kind, much less one about “issues, views, and opinions,” in the Dunlap Tribune. (There were no letters in last week’s issue that I could see – oh, except for those two thank you letters on page 8.)

I’ve often wondered why it’s so rare to see letters to the editor in the Tribune. When I published my newspaper, The Voice, I always had letters – good letters, thoughtful letters, letters about “issues, views, and opinions,” and, yes, sometimes even a thank-you letter. I always made room for more, even if I had to squeeze them in. To me, it was a source of pride – if people wrote to me with their thoughts, that must mean they valued the newspaper as a tool of communication and trusted me as an editor.

So what’s the big deal about publishing Mr. Pine’s letter? Ms. Dodson is circumspect in her letter “From the Editor.” She focuses on the rules rather than the reasons behind them. But she apparently told Mr. Pine that her decision was driven by money.

I seriously doubt the Dunlap Tribune is in straits so dire that it can’t offer Mr. Pine a little space for his community-minded thoughts. The Tribune and the Shopper are the main advertising vehicles in the area. Given the ratio of “news” to advertising, the paper can’t be doing all that badly (unless it’s being seriously mismanaged).

But what do I know? My newspaper was never about making money, so perhaps the Tribune is facing pressures I don’t know about. If Ms. Dodson’s motivation for rejecting Mr. Pine’s letter is in fact the bottom dollar, however, then I have to wonder:

Does the middle school pay to publish the ENTIRE honor roll? Does the Chamber of Commerce pay to publish all its feel-good weekly reports – which sometimes includes thank-yous? Do the businesses mentioned in those reports pay for the plug they get? This week, former Chamber director Howard Hatcher gave us a long list of things for which he’s thankful. Did he pay for the privilege? Did Wal-Mart pay the Tribune to publish a picture of one of their bakery employees talking to school children? Every year, the Tribune publishes pages and pages of letters to Santa – and I’ve noticed that some letters appear two or three times. Does the Tribune bill their parents?

And how much did Ms. Dodson bill herself for the valuable newsprint that her letter “From the Editor” took up?

I know it’s not polite to call people out, and you’re probably correct to think this is a very minor point to get all worked up about. But I’m tired of the airs that the Dunlap Tribune puts on. It’s not a serious news organization – it’s a community bulletin board. It should start acting like it. If one of its most faithful writers (Mr. Pine has had several letters published in the past) wants to express his opinion that the county’s Veterans Day celebrations were a fitting tribute to our servicemen and women because of the hard work of dedicated volunteers and our local law enforcement and emergency personnel, then what’s so wrong with that?

WTCI (Channel 45 for broadcast, or Channel 4 for Bledsoe subscribers) will air the program on Saturday, May 23, at 3:30pm (central time!) and again on Tuesday, May 26, at 10:00pm (central time!). Check it out – you’ll probably see people you know!

For those of you who haven’t seen it, here’s a little summary:

“Coke Ovens Slaves: The Story of a Bluegrass Festival” is a half-hour documentary that celebrates the musicians and volunteers who are keeping history and heritage alive in the Sequatchie Valley. The Coke Ovens Park in Dunlap, Tenn., was once the town’s unofficial trash dump. Hidden under decades of rubbish were stone ruins – the remains of the coal and coke operation that dominated life in the area in the early 20th century. In the 1980s, a group of residents, with the support of the vibrant local bluegrass community, formed the Sequatchie Valley Historical Association to clean up the site and preserve the coke ovens. Today, the 77-acre park is home to a museum and an annual bluegrass festival. The documentary features music performed at the June 2008 festival by musicians from around the region.”

My daughter,Charli, ran for city commission. She put on a solid campaign based on issues. Of the candidates who are not from around here, she came in first. Four candidates who are from around here thrashed her soundly.

I stood with Charli most of the day at City Hall. It started with heavy rain and a power outage. (My mother voted by flashlight.) Candidates were set up behind the 100-foot line and greeted their friends, acquaintances, and neighbors who had not voted during the two weeks of early voting. Food, non-alcoholic beverages, and kids were on the scene. Cellphones were on meltdown as candidates and boosters called in the votes.

And they came, 450 or so, before the doors were closed at 7pm. Within 30 minutes the results were in. Dwain Land will be the mayor and Jeff Harmon and Judy Layne will replace Jennifer Greer and Rachel Hixson as city commissioners. My congratulations and best wishes go out to each of them.

After  my last post, some of you commented here on the blog, but many of you called or wrote me personal emails. You were concerned for me, and you did what concerned friends do. You supported and encouraged me.

And then I started thinking. Remember those folks I mentioned in that last post? The ones who would rather talk about us that to us? Well, I let their comments overshadow all the great support and encouragement I have gotten from so many of you, my friends and readers, over the last couple of years. I should never have let that happen. What was I thinking?

We did have a step-in-dog-doo day, but we all have those now and again. I don’t apologize for telling you about it, but I am sorry I left you with the impression that I’d had all I could take.

So, to all of you who commented or wrote or called or just wondered what I was thinking, I apologize.

And, to those who smiled at the thought of me leaving, well, sorry if I got your hopes up.

Blogging without motivation and inspiration is especially hard. I read aloud what I’ve written and it all sounds like so much pining and whining and moaning and groaning and griping and sniping. But Bert needs a fix, so, here we go.

Last week Jim and I had what came to be known as a “step-in-dog-doo-day”. It began with a phone call that  reminded me that those folks who would rather talk about us than to us are still out there. I suppose the coming election has gassed them up again. I know this will pass but each time it happens, I need a little longer to recover.

On that same step-in-dog-doo-day, I heard the first rumblings that Seymour Tubing might lay off some workers. Turns out it was much worse that that.

Then I attended the Chamber of Commerce Leadership Class where the “instructors” for the day were some of the very capable folks who keep the city of Dunlap up and running. First on the list was Mayor Wagner. He didn’t show up. Seeing as it was already a step-in-dog-doo-day, I wasn’t surprised. Jim and I spent our lunch time talking about where we should live next, because by that time we were giving relocation some serious thought.

When I got to the office, I checked my email and found that someone had sent me links to some websites with local content. Man oh man, it’s hard to believe that such a small community is capable of such an outpouring of nastiness as I saw on those sites. I am astounded at what people will say when they think they cannot be identified. One read was all it took for me. I will not visit any of those sites again, and if I could remove the links from them to this blog I surely would. Reading them was like stepping in dog doo. Icky!! Yucky!! Disgusting!!

We concluded that strong medicine was needed and decided to get in the car and head up the mountain to the Bread Basket where there is an abundance of tasty delights, the over-consumption of which might lift our spirits (not to mention our blood sugar and cholesterol levels). I love those cream cheese cookies called Maydays. We needed to run home first, though, and that’s when Jim actually did step in dog doo. You know we don’t own any dogs, so this little gift was left by a free-roaming pooper.  I could tell by the look on Jim’s face that he would be doing more property searches on the Internet that evening.

It took a dozen Maydays, but eventually I did find myself on the road to recovery. I reached the point now where I was thinking as much about how to stay here as I was about how to leave. Things started to look more hopeful.

Then, last night, I attended the county commission meeting.

I have two things to note from that meeting. First, Chairman Tommy Johnson reminded us that the loss of personal property tax from the closing of Tecumseh and Seymour Tubing will cause the county to begin the 2009/2010 budget formulation process in a $145,000 hole. That’s the equivalent of 6 cents on the tax rate.

Second, County Exec. Michael Hudson informed us that he is doing everything he can to bring jobs to Sequatchie County. He specifically mentioned a county website and talks with a Mr. Poole from a state agency.

I suppose it was nice of Mr. Johnson to give us taxpayers a heads-up, and nice of Mr. Hudson to offer his reassurances, however thin. But I am simply unimpressed. I know the national economy is essentially having a step-in-dog-doo year and there’s nothing they can do about that, but they can’t claim they were blindsided. Why weren’t we prepared for this? Why wasn’t the county aggressively pursuing employers before the dog-doo hit the fan? Why are they just now talking about a county website – the most basic and necessary tool of self-promotion in the Information Age?

My theory? Arrogance. They think they don’t need to take action, much less be pro-active. They believe their jobs are secure – regardless of whether their constituents can find jobs. And the county commissioners aren’t concerned about their tax bills – they know they can pay their taxes, because they get paid to be county commissioners, whether they show up to meetings or not.

City residents: GO VOTE.

That’s all I got.

I don’t know whether Mantria’s application to construct an air contaminant source on Fredonia Mountain will be approved or not.

However, I do appreciate that Barry Stephens and some of his staff from the Air Pollution Control Division of TDEC came to Dunlap and held the meeting so that we could ask questions about the system and the approval process.

I do not appreciate that Mantria, in its monthly report that came out the next day, took credit for hosting the meeting. That is so clearly not true. Had citizens not flooded Mr. Stephens with letters, there would not have been a meeting at all.

I do not appreciate that the Mantria folks maligned The Sequatchie Outlander. Or maybe they didn’t. Maybe they were talking about someone else when they referred to “that blog” that would not post Mr. Wragg’s comment. You know, it’s interesting the way folks will complain that I did not post Mr. Wragg’s comment but never be gracious or courteous enough to acknowledge that I had already posted one lengthy comment from him and had corresponded with him personally via email to explain why I did not post that second one.

And you wanna know something else? When I didn’t post that second comment, Mr. Wragg tattled on me to the county and city commissioners and the mayor and the county exec and I don’t know who all. And, of course, all of you who know me know that scared the living daylights out of me and taught me a lesson I’ll never forget.

Yeah, yeah, and in that second comment, which is not the one the Mantria folks read at the meeting by the way, Mr. Wragg said he did not intend to go “back and forth” over these issues and that I was throwing him “under a bus” via my blog. So I agreed with him and didn’t post his second comment because that would give him two backs to my one forth. And then he went and threw me under the bus by tattling all over the county that I would not post his comment on my blog.

And furthermore, with all the splash and dash and ritz and glitz Mantria has all over the internet, why did he need my blog anyway? Did he think we can’t Google Mantria? No, but hey! Maybe he was going to say something totally new, something that would be revealed for the first time ever on MY BLOG. Oh man! I’m, sorry if I missed that opportunity.

And it seems to me that’s one of the problems with Mantria anyhow. All the information we get about Mantria is created by Mantria and disseminated by Mantria. There are lots of independent sources on biochar, but if you want info on Mantria you have to listen to Mantria folks or visit Mantria websites or read Mantria press releases or review articles based on Mantria websites and Mantria press releases and interviews with Mantria people.

And speaking of throwing someone under a bus. Considering who drives the bus around here, well, Mr. Wragg stands a better chance of surviving that than I do.  Yes, I can just hear it now.

Bumpety clunk!  Hey was that Troy Wragg?! Oh, so sorry Mr. Wragg!! Didn’t see you there. Can we get you some water? Some BBQ? Smells mighty good!

OR

Bumpety clunk!   Hey, was that Alice!? Let’s back up see.  Bumpety clunk!  Yeah, that’s her alright!  Bumpety clunk! Bumpety clunk! Bumpety clunk! Vrrroooom!!!

The meeting will be held in the same location as the Mantria meet-and-greet in October – the Public Meeting Room at Dunlap City Hall. It will be moderated by officials from the Air Pollution Control division of the TN Dept. of Environment and Conservation.

PLEASE NOTE: The address that TDEC published in the meeting notice is an outdated address for City Hall. The meeting room is NOT on Cedar Street. City Hall is now located next to the county library, and faces Rankin Avenue. The entrance to the Public Meeting Room is around back, adjacent to the library. There is plenty of parking there, and also across the street behind the Chamber of Commerce. The address, for those who want to map it out, is 15595 RANKIN AVENUE.

EVERYONE is invited to this meeting. As far as we understand, TDEC officials will open the meeting, invite Mantria to make a presentation, and then moderate questions from the audience. TDEC officials will respond to questions regarding TDEC’s role as it pertains to air pollution, but they will not be able to answer questions about anything else related to Mantria or the development on Cagle/Fredonia. It’s up to Mantria to decide which questi0ns Mantria will answer.

Please keep in mind that TDEC has NOT YET issued this air pollution permit. This meeting is an opportunity for citizens to voice concerns and ask questions about Mantria’s application. It’s unclear when exactly TDEC will make a decision about the permit. TDEC is still accepting written comments – if you would like to express your concerns in writing, bring your letter to the meeting.

After the meeting, please visit the blog and post your comments.

#1: Dunlap Liquor Ordinances: The city commission plans to take the first vote on one set of liquor ordinances, those dealing with package stores, TONIGHT (Thursday, Mar. 5, 6pm, City Hall). They will be choosing from options they discussed at a workshop on Feb. 23. They will discuss how to word the second set of ordinances, those dealing with liquor-by-the-drink ordinance, at a workshop on Monday (Mar. 9, 5pm, City Hall).  NOTE: The liquor ordinance is NOT on the city’s published meeting agenda for tonight. We don’t know if it was accidentally left off, or if it means that something has come up and the ordinances won’t be discussed tonight. If this issue matters to you, we suggest you attend the meeting regardless. To see the published agenda, go to the city’s website.

For those of you who haven’t been following this issue, there are two parts to it: how to regulate package stores, and how to regulate liquor-by-the-drink (e.g., in restaurants and bars). The discussion on the 23rd centered on whether, and how, to limit the number of package stores. Vice Mayor Dan Barker and Commissioner Jennifer Greer argued that the city doesn’t need to set limits – the marketplace will do that naturally. Comm. Greer argued that the city doesn’t put limits on any other kind of business, and noted that setting a limit on the number of licenses would require the city to come up with some criteria for selecting who gets a license – will it be first-come, first-served? Commissioners Rachel Hixson and Jeff Johnson favored imposing a limit. The board discussed capping the number of licenses, setting a high minimum inventory, and requiring licensees to be county residents. There was some question as to whether the city can legally impose a minimum inventory or a residency requirement, since state law does not specifically empower the city to do so. Ultimately, the commission asked city attorney Steve Greer to draft four versions of the ordinance: A) capping license only; B) capping licenses and requiring a minimum inventory; C) requiring a minimum inventory only; and D) no limits of any kind. The commission will choose one of those at tonight’s city commission meeting. The commissioners also discussed distance requirements – how far package stores must be from a school or public gathering place. Currently, the beer ordinance requires a 1,000-foot buffer. The commission briefly discussed shrinking that buffer, but no decision was made.

#2: Mantria Air Pollution Permit: Thanks to all the citizens who wrote letters expressing concerns about Mantria’s plans to build a waste-to-energy facility on Fredonia Mtn., TDEC has agreed to hold an “informational public meeting” in Dunlap on March 19, 6pm. The meeting will be at City Hall, in the big meeting room next to the library. There’s a notice in the Dunlap Tribune today about this meeting. The notice states that citizens have until March 19 to submit comments to TDEC. So if you didn’t get a chance to write in about your concerns, it looks like you still have time!! The notice also states that TDEC is leaning towards granting the permit. This is more or less what we expected, since Mantria’s application is for a “minor” source. However, we also feel that we deserve the opportunity to ask questions so that we can better understand how this facility will affect our community. I’ll provide more details as I know them. Also, for those of you who didn’t see it, Channel 9 made a visit to Fredonia Mtn earlier this week to talk to residents about Mantria. Our mountain-top neighbors did an excellent job expressing their concerns, and the story appeared Monday night on both Channel 9 and WSDI (Fox/61). Here’s a link to the story on Channel 9′s website.

#3: Library Needs Help: OK, so this is a new issue. There’s a front-page article in the Dunlap Tribune today about how the Sequatchie County Library is struggling financially. The library is not just a place to find a good read – as the article points out, it’s the only access to computers and the Internet that many people in our community have. In this tough economy, more and more people are going online to job-search and apply for assistance to make ends meet. In fact, the library is a critical hub for information and activity of all kinds. I know of at least one family, a mother and two children, who were homeless and on the street on a cold day in February, and they found shelter by asking at the library about local agencies that could help them (the library put them in touch with SETHRA). There are some simple ways that you can support the library through this tough time. A) Shop at the library’s Spring Book Sale, which starts on Friday (Mar. 6). B) Join the Friends of the Library. C) Write to our local commissioners and state legislators to encourage more support for the library. For more information, check out the Tribune article or call the library – 949-2357.

Enough about Mantria!! All the views are known, all the promotional spins and bravado from Mantria have been published. You’ve been led to the water now either drink or don’t.

There’s an election coming up in Dunlap and it is important. Pay attention. Decades of leadership (or non-leadership, depending on your view) is about to change. How it changes is up to those who make the effort to vote.

I now have 7 stray dogs running my property as if they own it. They don’t pay rent. They poop everywhere, making walking around the property an adventure. They bark at me! I own this place. I can’t shoot them – my family won’t let me, and the police chief said it is against the law. That’s funny. It’s also against the law in the city of Dunlap for dogs/animals to run free, but that law clearly isn’t enforced. I don’t expect that the law against shooting the dogs would be enforced either, except by those I love, and that’s not a trust I’m willing to break.

SO-o-o-o. Here’s my deal!

If you are running for Mayor or City Commissioner of Dunlap. and you don’t publicly announce (either in the paper, in your handouts, on tv/radio, or other campaign materials) that you will personally pursue and secure animal control measures that are effective within the first full fiscal year of your term, then I will MATCH your efforts and money to see that you are not elected.

If you want to be a leader of this community, considering all the financial challenges we face, and are not capable of tweaking the upcoming budget to find finances enough to accomplish this task, then you certainly aren’t qualified to lead this community for the next four years. Please be careful not to say “It’s expensive and we don’t have the money.” I’ve heard it before.