R. Neal

September 5, 2006 - Winn-Dixie, a Florida based grocery chain, filed bankruptcy in 2005. As part of their reorganization plan, they want back some of the property taxes they paid in Mississippi:

August 31, 2006 - Clayton Homes, headquartered in East Tennessee, is the nation's largest mobile home manufacturer. Clayton is a successful local family owned and operated company - so successful they were recently purchased by Warren Buffet. Apparently they aren't too happy with FEMA:

August 29, 2006 - One year ago today, Chris Kromm had asked me to guest blog for a week at Facing South while he was away on vacation. August 29th was my first day. I had several topics lined up to discuss, but the news of Katrina quickly took over. Here is a flashback to Facing South's day-by-day chronicle of the events as they unfolded... Mon. Aug. 29: Katrina and New Orleans Those of us who have lived in Southern coastal states are all too familiar with hurricanes, but we haven’t seen anything like Katrina in over a decade. The last Category 5 hurricane to make landfall in the U.S.

August 24, 2006 - The Washington Post reports:

August 24, 2006 - (And who is helping them?)

August 22, 2006 - Here in East Tennessee, every time there's a new major revitalization plan for Knoxville there is mention of light rail. (Along with a "discovery" center, but I digress.) People nod and say "that's nice" and go look at the maps to see how many of their homes and natural areas will be replaced with condos and office/retail/strip-mall developments.

August 22, 2006 - Hope you got to see parts one and two of Spike Lee's documentary When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts on HBO last night. Parts three and four will air tonight at 9 PM. The entire four-part documentary will air again on Tuesday, Aug. 29 at 8 PM.