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This is certainly sad news coming from Johnson City. The hotly debated beech trees located at the corner of Market Street and State of Franklin will be cut down by developers. After many years of discussion on the hot topic, the 300-500 year old trees are finally coming down for the sake of profit. It is certainly disappointing that our community leaders are encouraging the removal of these trees; they are giving up a part of our environment for the sake of development and commerce. Northeast Tennessee is certainly known for its beautiful surroundings, but do our elected officials want to continue that reputation? With the removal of these extremely historic trees, one would certainly not sense the ecological-friendliness of our leaders. We need to tell the people that represent us that we care about our surroundings and that we want to preserve our historical and environmental heritage! Myself, I would much rather see those trees sitting on an empty lot than not seeing them at all and with a concrete parking lot in their place!

From Raising Kaine
As of 5 AM (99.6% of votes in)
****Tim Kaine (D) 1,019,206 (51.71%)****
Jerry Kilgore (R) 907,039 (46.02%)
Russ Potts (I) 42,918 (2.18%)

****Bill Bolling (R) 978,835 (50.66%)****
Leslie Byrne (D) 949,811 (49.15%)

****Bob McDonnell (R) 966,284 (50.05%)****
Creigh Deeds (D) 962,806 (49.87%)

House of Delegates: 58 Republicans (a loss of 2 seats), 39 Democrats (a gain of 1 seat), 3 Independents (a gain of 1 seat)

So here are a few thoughts. My Top 10, actually, in semi-disorganized order.

1) Governor. I’m very excited and happy that Tim Kaine won. Even better, Kaine didn’t just win, he won CONVINCINGLY, by nearly 6 points (actually, 5.69 points) over Jerry Kilgore. This was, no doubt in my mind, a strong repudiation by Virginia voters of Jerry Kilgore and his relentlessly negative, nasty campaign. This was also one of the first defeats in memory for Scott “Black Hands” Howelll, hopefully the first of many and he continues to practice the politics of division, race baiting, and smears across the nation. Finally, this was a clear and strong affirmation of Mark Warner’s loyal lieutenant, Tim Kaine, a clear and strong reward for Kaine’s positive campaign, and a clear and strong mandate to continue the Mark Warner policies the next 4 years.
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By Chief Mocephus
Yes we went to see Willie. Why not? He’s a legend and one of my favorites even if he has his bad marks against him. Like making a song with that windbag Toby Keith and taking part in the biggest sellout of something beloved from my childhood. But most of my favorite musicians have black marks[1].

The show was okay but not great. Willie and the harmonica player really could pull off the show themselves and it would be fine. Old Paul the drummer was just not sounding good. Paul’s little brother (forget his name) played drums on a few tunes and was much much better.
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By Jama Oliver
LEWDacris puts on misogynistic concert, crowd approves
Music Review
By: Eddie Jenkins
Heading into the Ludacris concert Thursday that has been marred by controversy almost since its inception, I knew most of what I was in store for but there was still a bit of an unknown. When I arrived at about 7:15 p.m. there was a large crowd of people wrapped around Burleson and Ball halls all the way to Warf-Pickel Hall. The concert sold out Thursday after ticket sales had trickled down after the first day of sales.
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A Letter to the Editor By Steven Edwards
From Jama Oliver
I must say, although I still do not believe that Ludacris is educational, culturally significant, or worth the $170,000 ETSU spent to get him here, Steven raises a very interesting point. See my additional comments at the end. –Jama

Dear Editor,
I found this quote from a poster on Jama Oliver’s web page, www.jamesoliver.us/jama/?p=6#comments, concerning the recent Ludacris disaster: “I, as well as a number of my friends, pay money for an education, not for concerts.”
Yes, you do. You pay for a certain type of culture: an area where the free exploration of ideas is not hindered by parents, authority figures and government watchdogs. An “education” is not just learning that Plato was Aristotle’s teacher. An education is the intellectual, emotional AND moral growth fostered by the interaction of ideas. This includes the interaction of my world-view with Karl Marx, G. H. W. Bush and, yes, Ludacris.
That nearly everyone might walk away from the concert sharing (for a time, at least) the Ludacris view on women is irrelevant, in the same way that the possibility of everyone leaving a Howard Zinn lecture an anarcho-socialist is irrelevant. What matters is that Ludacris (and Zinn) CAN come here on everyone’s dime.
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From Harold Ford Jr. For U.S. Senate 2006 Unofficial Grassroots Blog
It looks as though the dysfunction in the Republican U.S. Senate primary is only getting started.

The attacks on each other seem to be increasing both in number and in harshness by the day. Just like a dysfunctional family, they just can’t seem to get along–on anything.

On Blogging For Bryant, Jay Bush asks “Does Hilleary Care He’s Splitting Conservatives?”.
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By IndependentConservative
Officials in Johnson City, TN tried to help students at East Tennessee State University by denying one of their elected favorite artist Ludacris use of Freedom Hall for a planned concert. They cited security concerns as the reason for the denial. (Personally I would not mind if they denied him access simply because he is the embodiment of the word obscene.) Despite this good deed on the part of the town’s elected officials the school’s officials are determined to be facilitators for the smut their students crave!
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By Jim Gass
The Ludacris concert has been cancelled. This is due to lack of venue. The SGA looked into having the concert on the intramural fields and in the mini-dome. Everclear came to the Intramural fields last year and apparently there were problems with that which make that venue not possible. The fire marshall said no to the mini-dome. So, the SGA decided to use Freedom Hall in Johnson City. They then formally announced the concert to the student population, causing great anticipation in some, great anger in others, and much publicity between the two sides.
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By Jama Oliver
This is a letter, a copy of which was sent to me, from a student who doesn’t feel that JR or the SGA is doing a good job of representing him. For those of you who are not students at ETSU, our SGA president sent out an email on Oct. 6 ensuring “outraged students” that the SGA will be fighting to ensure that we get our Ludacris concert. Sweet fancy Moses…
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