For years a South Nashville neighborhood has been waiting for a sidewalk to be completed.
Many pedestrians wonder, what is the hold up?
Why build a sidewalk along Edmondson pike that suddenly ends in a quagmire of hub caps and weeds and jagged insanity.
It should be a no brainer. Finish the sidewalk. It’s only about 20 yards long.
There’s nice smooth sidewalk before the abrupt eye sore that lines one side of this busy thoroughfare.
There’s nice smooth sidewalk after the debris filled danger zone.
Right in the middle, like a festering boil on a super model’s face, is this stretch of Earth that nobody wants to take responsibility for.
Metro Public Works tells me that the builder should finish his work. The builder so far has refused.
While this battle plays out in the legal system, some pedestrians who live along Edmondson Pike complain that someone is going to be hurt or killed.
“As you saw I stepped over car parts.”
21 year old Mary Bishop frequently walks this way to work.
The mother of a small child says she pushes her son in his stroller and she thinks about the danger the unfinished sidewalk presents for her.
How unsafe is this?
“Very unsafe. Its dangerous going across the street hoping a car will slow down.”
While interviewing Bishop, a young man in a McDonald’s uniform begins walking through the danger zone. His arms are outstretched as if he is tight rope walking in the circus.
“Hey be careful,” I shout.
The young man tells me he walks this way every day.
“That is dangerous?,” I holler.
“Yeah,” he says insouciantly.
George Stripling lives nearby too.
“People drive crazy around here.”
The 38 year old says this sidewalk to nowhere has been here for years, and he is fed up.
“What would I say to my city leaders?,” he ponders. “What is the problem? We pay taxes! Get it done.”
According to Metro officials, this sidewalk silliness started in 2003 when the developer received his permit to build this shopping center.
Metro City Engineer Mark Macy says the builder is required by code to complete the sidewalk, but has refused to because of its precarious perch on top of a culvert.
“Why can’t Metro pay to finish the job, and then chase down the builder for the money spent?,” I ask. “At least it will be safer, and nobody will get hurt, right?”
“I wanted to do that,” The city engineer tells me. “But I was advised by my attorney’s not to do that.”
“What is the hang up?,” I blurt out. “It is just a freakin’ sidewalk, right?”
Take the pulse of America and you’ll quickly see taxpayers are angry. Citizens are frustrated. Americans want answers.
While they may say greed and myopic financial maneuvers are at the heart of this messed up economy, there’s no doubt that the bailout - if there is one - will only come through the purse strings of the American tax payer.
The question is what is it going to cost?
Astronomical, almost mind numbing figures are being thrown around. $700 billion. Maybe a trillion dollars when it is all said and done.
Some see the bailout as a necessary evil.
We meet just such a man on the corner of 4th and Church in downtown Nashville. His name is Chris Purnell who has followed this issue and has passion about it.
I start the discussion by posing the thought that the bailout reeks of economic socialism:
“The money in your pocket will be so devalued, that those George Washington’s in your billfold are not going to be worth a fraction of what they are right now.”
Purnell agrees. “But if we do allow these corporations to fail,” he says pensively, “then that is a bad thing. What happened in the great depression, the way they structured that buyout, it actually netted us an opportunity, to get something back. But they need to be careful.”
“So if this economic life preserver gets tossed into the financial quagmire, you and I will be footing the bill for this massive tax payer buyout of unheard of proportions, you are ok with it?”
He laughs at the absurdity of the figurative language, but he answers all the same.
“No, I am not ok with it from just the standpoint of it being a buy out. But we don’t need to honor these people who created this disaster and allow them to profit from it.”
I wait for a passing bus to zip by.
“It is about stability,” i shout. “I don’t even know what you do for living, but whatever you do, it would all crumble. You and me and this corner and everybody on it. If the market goes down the drain, well….”
He shakes head as if he has mentally envisioned this swirling vortex of financial plague.
“We need to provide stability,” he says. “Otherwise it is chaos. I think we have to do it. I think it is a necessary evil. Sure I mind it. I wish we were not in this situation, and it requires desperate measures, but we have to consider every American when doing this.”
While whirling around this corner I encounter a state worker named Jenna Gilliam. She is well prepared to answer my queries.
“They are talking about throwing up to a trillion dollars to bailout these big corporations; are you for it, or against it?”
“I am against it.”
“Why?”
“It is not comprehensive enough. The bailout is not enough detail and they are not telling us enough about it.”
“Where do they come up with a trillion dollars anyway,” I ask. “How many zeros in a trillion? Where did we come up with this number? From what I know, it’s more money than we spent on the whole Iraq war, and to me it seems like they made it up over night. I understand that the fear is the bedrock foundations of America might fall into the ravine of despair if we don’t prop them up, but all in all, in a capitalistic society, that is not the way it is suppose to work. I mean, you sort of let things let things like this, as terrible as it might be, well you let them play out.”
I have hit a nerve with the TDOT planner.
“Right. That is what it seems like to me too. I have nothing against socialism, but we were founded on free market capitalism. and that is what I think should happen.”
“And what about bailing out the guys who run these corporations? I think they should be kicked to the curb not given a golden parachute.”
On target again with this educated tax payer.
“When I spend money I pay it back,” she says quickly and concisely as if reading from a prepared text.
“Who is looking out for you?” I ask as a people begin to loiter around us watching. “If you don’t pay your light bill or your mortgage, is there someone there ready to bail you out? Would they give you money?”
“I wish they would! That would be fantastic. Want to know where is this money going? If they are going to throw 700-billion at something where is my money going.”
Finally; I talk with a sage financial analyst on West End.
“The best course of action again, is to make sure they are diversified,” Brock Kidd tells me.
The senior VP at pinnacle asset management is conservatively dressed and knowledgeable about the market.
But he is no fortune teller and these are unpredictable times.
The young executive in the white shirt and bold tie tells me that history is a good barometer of how America will weather this financial storm.
“Make sure you are properly diversified. Thinking is: If part of your assets are going down. The other part is making up for that on the upside. The theory behind that has proven true over time. Over long periods of time. 90-percent of returns are due to you being diversified, not on market timing, the truth is that is not what is important. What is important is making sure you are diversified. Do not panic.”
Some have called this a financial 9-1-1.
“After 9-1-1 people were petrified but had you gotten in on 9/12 what would have happened?”
Kidd’s face lights up.
“Great question. Had you gotten in 2 years later, you’d be up.”
“The Perception is right now, that doors are shutting in the financial markets,” I say. “But that could be an opportunity, right. I mean, buy low and sell high.”
“Absolutely: Definitely. If you are a long term investor. In it for 3-5 years. Stocks right now are as low as they have been in generations. If you look at corporate profits, they are very cheap. There is still a lot of fear, and risk in the market, and that will be here for a while as long as that uncertainty is there, but there is a time when the market will come back. For investigators with a long term horizon, they will be rewarded for it. That has always been the case, always the history in our country. I am confident, over time, investors will be rewarded.”
I present that suggestion to Gilliam, the young state worker who questions the bailout on almost every level.
“Some say when it looks darkest it is really the brightest, because you can get in for a good deal. Do you feel like you need to get into the market now?”
She stares right at me, stoically and let’s loose a volley of reality that hits me square in the eyes.
“I don’t have any money, so I can’t get into the market. If you are rich, fantastic. But I pay my taxes. I work for the state. I have no money to buy stocks at their lowest.”
“So you are looking at this saying I am living day to day, working day to day to keep the lights on and food on the table. Wouldn’t it be nice to throw a couple of thousand bucks into a McDonalds or an Exxon hoping it will go up in a few years?”
“Yes, that would be nice, but I have student loans to pay off, they are not going to bail me out of my student loans. Those politicians in Washington don’t realize what we are doing day to day. They don’t know there is only so much money to pay our bills.”
Few stories affect every American citizen.
This one does.
You need to be involved, or at least knowledgeable about what’s happening.
Maybe waiting for an hour in chaotic lines for expensive gas?
What’s more messed up than that you ask?
How about putting gas in your car that ruins your car?
This next story makes me cringe. Darryl Rogan says he cringed too.
After locating gas at a Hermitage Home Depot fuel station, and waiting in line for gas, the city fire marshal began pumping premium Home Depot gas into his Lexus.
The pump was at about 12 dollars when a fellow motorist yelled for him to stop pumping.
Stop pumping?
What the hell for, He thinks to himself.
Because there is water in the gas tank, the man shouts.
Ouch!!
Welcome to the world of $700 for a few gallons of gas.
$700!
Well, yeah. After he paid to tow his car to the dealership, then rent a car to get around for a few days, and then eventually pay Lexus to drain his tank, and cleanse his engine.
Yeah - $700.
“I started my car for like three seconds. Then it cut right off,” Rogan says.
Rogan shows me the sign that the management placed on the pump.
It reads: “Do not use mid or premium.”
“This is the sign they put up after the 3 cars stalled?” I ask.
“This says the cars all ready used this grade of gas had stalled at their pumps. I took this sign as evidence, to prove this is not some made up story,” he says with a chuckle.
“So not only is finding gas hard, not only is gas expensive, but now you can’t even be sure that the gas you are putting in your tank is contaminated.”
He shakes his head. “Confidence is shot in the whole thing. The gas shortage and the credibility of getting gas if you can find it.”
He tells me that he turned in all his receipts to managers and gets little satisfaction.
“They have not tried to do anything to expedite this,” he laments. “I have not gotten a call from anyone from home depot. I gave them all the information and all my expenditures for the car and the rental and the gas and no one has contacted me. I took them receipts, and I am caught up in the corporate red tape. I feel like I am being passed on from person to person to person.”
I speak to the mechanics who fix Rogan’s car and they tell me there was in deed water in his tank.
The experts tell me that since water weighs more than gas, it sinks to the bottom of the tank. That’s where fuel injectors suck it into the engine causing major damage.
As I walk with Rogan to the pump, we see fuel tanks that do have residual water build up on the gas tank tops.
We wonder if the seals somehow leaked?
Or did the fuel tanker that delivered the fuel all ready have water in it?
Or did moist air get into the tanks and form condensation?
According to the state; all are possibilities.
According to the dept of agriculture which tests 5,000 gasoline stations in Tennessee, water is found in fuel in about 5% of the tanks they test.
While condensation is the most routine way water gets in gasoline tanks, a broken seal would cause the most amount of water to enter the most quickly.
At the request of That Is Messed Up, the state tested the Home Depot pumps and found a violation, as much as 3/4 of an inch of water in the premium tank, the very tank that Rogan used.
The state considers anything over a quarter inch a violation.
A week later, Messed Up gets Home Depot managers to address Rogan’s concerns.
They tell Mr. Rogan that his complaint is now rapidly moving up the chain of command.
A day later, I get some good news from a corporate spokesman in Atlanta who tells me that Home Depot will pay for Mr. Rogan’s automotive repairs.
The PIO sends me this statement:
The Home Depot is working with Mr. Rogan and has agreed to pay for the costs of his vehicle repairs. We stand by the quality of the fuel product we provide at our Home Depot Fuel locations. We have a complex gauging system, receive our fuel from pipeline terminals, and store our fuel in water-tight tanks in accordance with industry regulations. We invite any customer with a question about our fuel to contact their nearest Home Depot Fuel station immediately.
While we are unaware of any compromise in the quality of our fuel there, we are happy to work with
Randy Jennings with the state tells me a lot about this issue. Here are a few points he made:
On the whole, with approx. 5,000 conveyors of motor fuel, water in gasoline tanks is relatively minor. It is Not something we get on adaily basis.
Water can get into tanks in several ways:
If they have bad seals at the drop point, and water seeps in, it can be serious.
Bad seals tend to be more problematic. A lot of water at once can infiltrate the system.
Condensation can form in the tanks. This is the most routine way water gets in. These tanks are vented. They can let air in or out. The moist air can condense into small amounts of water. Condensation creates small amounts over time. Now that we have ethanol in gas, ethanol absorbs the condensation and moisture.
Water can also be in the gasoline that is delivered by the tanker truck. This does not happen very often.
We are out there every week, collecting samples of fuel.
8,000 samples last year were collected.
Water accounted for 400 violations.
What we want to remind people is: we are out there. We go out there every day. Problems can happen. We try and cover the entire state. We like to hear from consumers and when we do we react quickly.
As far as the home depot tanks in hermitage: We found, there is no fuel in the regular or premium tanks at this moment.
But we did find water. We found 3/4 of inch of water in the premium tank.
Just ask residents like Chris Morris who is championing a campaign to slow motorists down
“The speed limit on Eastland is 30mph,” the I.T. specialist tells me.
Because motorists routinely drive too fast in this trendy part of town, residents have posted their own signs trying to get drivers to slow down.
“With kids crossing the street, and well, people are very protective of their kids.”
Morris works at a local school. The children behind us are playing as we conduct the interview.
“It should be safe to the cross the street,” he says.
Morris tells me that the sign they chose is showing up in neighborhoods all over East Nashville.
“Our sign is clearly not a speed limit sign. It says drive 25 which is a perfectly legal thing to do.”
I see plenty of these signs along Eastland Avenue. They are eye grabbing with their canary yellow and large 25 inside a circle. The slogan is catchy too. Super Heroes Cross Here.
“It is a suggestion certainly implicating a limit,” he says. “I saw a study where the average speed on Eastland is 47 and the speed limit is 30″
I notice cars do drive quickly along this thoroughfare.
I try driving 30 miles an hour, and cars race up on my bumper. I wave them around. They seem angry.
I follow behind a car which races past me. By the time I pace his speed we are doing 44 miles an hour.
I check with the city to see what the sign ordinance stipulates:
The first paragraph of the law reads in part: no person shall display any unauthorized sign which purports to be or is an imitation of, or attempts to, direct the movement of traffic.
According to Morris, the drive 25 signs do not break the law.
“I don’t think it is illegal. For one they don’t look like speed limit signs. Two they don’t say they are limit signs they just encourage people to drive a safe speed and three; they are not posted in the right of the way”
While some published reports have indicated that metro government is concerned over these signs, the city traffic operations manager says that is not the case.
“We don’t want a sign that truly looks like a speed limit sign and in this case it is a question of interpretation whether they are in conflict. We have received no complaints, so, thus far, no harm no foul.”
“Do you have any intention of picking them up?” I ask.
“We have no plans at this time to do that.” Chip Knauf, says.
According to the watch dog group: keep kids alive drive 25:
A pedestrian hit in a 30 mph speed zone is 3 times more likely to die than one hit in a 25 mph zone.
I know I did this morning as I waited in line wondering how the woman in front of me manages to put her pants on by herself, no less pump 10 gallons of petrol.
and while i’m angry, does anyone wonder why all the politicians are blowing hot air out of both sides of their pie holes?
i mean, what is up with the distribution?
I understand the pipe line this and the hurricane that and supply and demand, but come on.
Why do other cities have gas and we have none?
I called a relative in California and they said, “What gas shortage”
Man, news is local isn’t it?
The gas crunch appears to be endemic to this region and this region only.
The question is why?
Hang in there everyone, this can’t last much longer, can it?
a.c.
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Good morning Andy,
I had a terrible experience on Friday, September 19th, 2008.I wanted to share this with you in hopes that you might be able to spread the word to others of unethical business practices going on in the City of Columbia, TN.
I had a quarter of a tank of gas on Friday, September 19th, 2008.My friend knew that Antioch, Brentwood, and Franklin all had no gas.My friend lives in Spring Hill, TN.She had filled her car up with gas at the Loves Gas Station on Bear Creek Pike and Highway 65 in Colubmia, TN.While she was there she saw a gas tanker filling up there pumps, so she knew that they had gas.My father also filled up at the same Loves Gas Station on Friday, September 19th, 2008.So, my friend tells me to come down to Columbia, TN and she will fill up my car.We went out and I took her home.
I stopped at this Loves Travel Stop around 12:30 to 12:45am on Friday, September 19th, 2008.I was quite shocked to see bags over all of their pumps.I went inside and asked them what happened, seeing as how they had just had a delivery that day.They told me they were out of gas and they had no idea who had gas.I found this really strange.I used their bathroom and come out to hear my friend telling this woman with shoulder length blonde hair that she saw a gas tanker here at this station around five pm that same day.This woman (who is an employee of Loves) actually tells her that “Those gas tankers don’t hold very much.”I started laughing.That was the funniest thing I’d ever heard.Well, it was late and I still needed gas so we were forced to go further into Columbia and luckily I found a Shell gas station with gas.My friend filled up my tank and I took her home.On the way home, in Antioch, I almost ran into a line of stopped cars in the right lane of Bell Road right before I-24.I thought there had been a wreck.Come to find out, the Shell gas station right there on the right side, was selling gas with their lights out at 1:37am!!!I could have slammed into the back of those cars if I hadn’t been going the speed limit (as many people on Bell Road often do not do).I looked across the street at the other Shell gas station with the Dunkin Donuts and they had their lights on and were also selling gas.They had a line about two miles long.Could this perhaps be why there is such a gas shortage in the state of Tennessee?Unethical stations want to sell their gas at a more profitable time and if you don’t have gas in your car, well screw you Joe public.So anyway, the next morning I get a call from my friend who says she just rode by this Loves Gas Station in Columbia at Bear Creek Pike and Highway 65, that we were just at eight hours earlier.She said it was around ten am.She said, mysteriously somehow they now had gas.I find that really interesting, seeing as how they told me they were out after getting a full tanker delivery around five pm on Friday, September 19th, 2008.I called the location and spoke with a manager named Bill.I advised him everything that I am telling you.He asked me what time my friend drove by on Saturday, September 20th, 2008.I told him she drove by around 10:00am.He stammered with his words and said really fast.“We got a delivery around 9:00am”That was the biggest lie I have ever heard in my life.These unethical gas stations are only making this gas crisis worse.
The news keeps saying how this crisis is getting better, but it’s not.
Someone needs to share this with the people of Nashville so they know they underhanded evil people are just trying to take advantage.I have reported these stations to their corporate and my next email goes to the State Attorney General.Thanks for listening and I hope you can help me.Have a nice day.Thanks for what you do.
Rachel Rogers
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9/20–2:30 PM the Expressway Citgo at 937 Louisville Hwy ph. no. 855-1247 in Goodlettsville had Reg gas posted at $4.69 while the shell accross the road had Reg for $4.09. the shell station had long lines and I believe the Citgo was just waiting till they ran out and catching people in a bind. These stations are at the Hwy 31 exit off interstate 65 North.
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Why is Governor Bredesen not requesting assistance from the Federal Government and/of surrounding states that are not experiencing this crisis?
I read his brief statement that the “pipeline” was functional now and we will see relief in several days.In my opinion there is nothing to indicate the Governor and his staff, our Senators and Council did nothing to help the citizens of Tennessee.If they did so, they were certainly quiet about it - not likely for any politician!
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My next question is - what do they plan to do in the future to prevent this type of issue in the event we face another gas shortage and we are the only state in the United States with this issue???????From their history, their true loyalties lie with the lobbyists for the oil companies.The price gauging hot-line is a joke!How can we be price gouged if there is no fuel to sell us??????????????
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I lived through the ’70s gas crisis and we were promised safety nets would be put in place so we would not face the horrible lines full of frustrated, sometimes dangerous drivers having been pushed to their limit.I suppose that was all forgotten.
Does the Governor and his executive staff have to worry about getting gas
in their vehicles ?I bet NOT!
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My husband is an OTR driver and got a tip from a fuel company driver.Sure enoughin his travels between Nashville and the south GAcoastal area and back to NW AR he saw just what he was told-loaded fuel barges just sitting on the rivers.This is the same thing that happened when i was a child and the full tankers were seen off the coastal beaches just sitting out there loaded.
According to fuel company drivers there is no shortage or crisis.Just a ploy to keep prices up asthe price of crude drops. Funny but some distributors have kept their clients fuel supply up.Have seen them deliveringin both Clarksville and Dickson while other suppliersrefuse to deliver.Whenis the state going to get companies like Beach for price gauging(as they are one of the worst calling the stations even when there has been no new delivery and telling them to raise their prices .
Hollingsworth out of Springfield was fueling its customers.So much for the no fuel till next week!
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On Friday I left one store in Hendersonville with large gas lines and drove across 386 to see a gas tanker pumping gas into the tank of the Daily’s store. Assuming they just had not had time to take the bags off I pulled up, swiped my card and began to fill up. The manager came out and asked me what I was doing. I told her I saw the tanker and thought I would get gas there. She insisted I stop immediately claiming they did not have gas. Keep in mind I just pumped $30 worth with no problem. She put the bag back on the nozzel and when I went by this afternoon they were still claiming they had none. I just don’t get it. I think that’s messed up
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Yes sir I live in the area of Trinty lane and Dickerson Pike, Pilot is only charging 3.79 for gallon of gas. The other station right down the road is charging 4.29 per gallon is that wrong or what?? I think the goverment needs to step in and do something about this. This is bullshit when end the end we I you have to pay our hard earned tax dollars for this shit. what can we do to get our prices back to were it was before?? and don’t say supply and demand please. The gas prices in Texas is only 3.20 a gallon so there yeah go thanks Kriss Brown
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Andy,
I, like many other people were
searching from pump to pump looking for gas this afternoon.One station’s pumps had a sign that said, Premium only available, so I stopped and tried a couple of different pumps - but no gas.
In trying to use these pumps, I first swiped my debit card to pay, but I got no gas.The transaction was cancelled.
The pump was empty.Fine.
I get home and check my bank line account and notice that this same gas station where I received Nothing - notta, no gas had just debited my account for $100 x 2.I called my bank and they said there was nothing they could do.My account was now short $200(pending) until Monday night at midnight.My money is not available to ME because the gas station now has my debit swipe although I got nothing in return.Thats messed up.
That’s stealing - holding my funds, especially for these random amounts and I got nothing, not a dime’s worth of gas.I’m amazed.
Gas is hard to find and if you can find it, prices are sky high.
Police in LaVergne said that could be the reason why there has been a growing number of gasoline siphoning reports.
Just how low are gas thieves?
Carrie Wheeler can tell you first hand.
Wheeler owns Just Like Home day care in LaVergne
“What is this big blue thing?” I ask.
She smiles looking at her school bus painted blue.
“It’s the cool blue bus. Not a school bus, but a cool bus.”
Wheeler tells me that every afternoon, her day care picks up 24 kids from four area schools, bringing them to the facility where they work on art projects and do homework under a veil of supervision.
“Yesterday, we went to pick up the kids,” she said. “But the driver said we need fuel.”
Wheeler said she noticed the gas cap was missing.
“We were highly upset.”
That was the tip of the ice berg.
While at the pumps, down the street, she began gassing up. Every drop of fuel pours onto the ground.
“What the …,” Wheeler says out loud.
“This is the hose that was severed in two,” Wheeler showed me, holding up the rubber hose that has been almost surgically severed.
“They are taking from kids… from innocent children.”
She is pulsing with anger as she tells me how low down dirty gas thieves crawled under the big blue bus in the dead of night and then cut the fuel line, draining the tank.
“I am highly upset. Yesterday I was fired up,” she continued. “…The fact that they took the time and they had the tools in their vehicle to do this!”
She is fuming just thinking about it.
“We contacted the police and they say this is going on. They are taking from kids. They are taking from innocent children. That is the thing. I think it is Messed Up because it affects the children. If we could not pick them up how would they get home? Parents would have to leave home to pick up their kids because we could not provide safe transportation for them. That is Messed Up right there. Stealing in general is Messed Up, but it is hard in the world today, but to take from children, that is Messed Up right there.”
According to LaVergne police, gas stealing is a crime that is growing.
Stace Thompson is a captain on the LaVergne Police Department.
“Nobody saw anything, and we have little visual evidence to go on,” the handle bar mustachioed cop tells me. “Sadly, no one is immune.”
He rolls his eyes with a slight smile.
Not even a police captain.
“What happened to you?” I ask.
“Someone got my lawn mower after I mowed the grass.”
“They stole your gas?”
“I’m afraid so, Andy.”
“So these low down dirty scoundrels, they are bold enough to go to the captain of the LaVergne Police Department’s house and steal gas from his lawn mower? What does that say?”
“Gas is a precious commodity,” he says.
Thompson says protect yourself as best you can.
Be vigilant, watch out for your neighbors, and get a locking gas cap.
How to stop a thief who will go under your vehicle and steal gas out of your tank that way?
In the shadow of downtown Nashville there exists a zone where male prostitutes gather.
Residents and business owners say the nonstop parade of illicit activity is not only affecting the quality of life but is seriously Messed Up.
Chris Dugger runs Ruby-Green Art Gallery on 5th Avenue South.
“It’s uncomfortable when I drive here at night,” the gallery operator told Messed Up with a grin.
Dugger said on any given night male prostitutes walk the streets that surround his studio.
“House Messed Up is this?” he asks out loud. “It keeps people away for sure.”
Dugger said he has grown use to it but many of his art clients have not.
“If they were women, they’d run ‘em off, but they’re men, they get away with it. If you drive down 5th Avenue slowly some customers who do because they are looking for our shop, they get a lot of stares from the guys hoping maybe they are looking for them.”
Police are quick to respond, telling me Metro has made 50 prostitution arrests on the street in the last year.
“I understand the frustration but it is not going unaddressed,” Lt. Brian Johnson says.
The central precinct supervisor shows me stacks of prostitution arrest reports from the area. Many of the men are repeat offenders.
“What we do to stop it,” Lt. Johnson said. “We send Crime Suppression Unit out there using undercover officers who work it and we pick up the male prostitutes. We use confidential informants as well.”
I’ve seen this in action. In 2004, News 2 had exclusive access to just such a raid in the very area Dugger is complaining about.
The officer was wearing one of our microphones and we videotaped from the second floor of a nearby building.
We watched as a Metro cop posing as a “John” pulls up to an alleged male prostitute.
Within 20 seconds he gets in the car and they drives away.
We follow them to a remote location where money exchanges hands, and officers take the suspect down.
He is a young man from California. He tells me he is doing whatever he can to survive.
Police tell me many of these men are repeat offenders.
A check of the man’s arrest history shows a number of drug paraphernalia charges, resisting arrest and failure to be booked.
The only prostitution charge is the one we are on.
He is arrested numerous times from May 2004 till November 2005 then he disappears from the criminal history log.
What has happened to him since is unknown.
Either way, it does show the recidivism that cops talk about.
Perhaps it is the lenient sentence for prostitution, which is just a misdemeanor. It means offenders serve little to no time and are right back on the street.
Gas prices spiked over the weekend. Some filling stations ran out of gas. Many experts blame Hurricane Ike. Many motorists blame big oil, which they allege looks for any opportunity to “stick it to the man.”
I spoke to Mike Williams, Executive Director for the Tennessee Petroleum Council.
He tells me almost all gas stations in Tennessee are owned by independent contractors. They price their product the way they see fit. Prices differ for many reasons including the different contracts that various independent gas stations have with their suppliers.
Gas stations affiliated with major brands like Exxon or Shell get priority over non-affiliated stations.
If these unaffiliated “Joe Blow” stations want gas, if they can get it, they have to pay the “spot” price which obviously is higher, and that will be reflected in their price.
There is no product coming into Tennessee right now.
Why? Because almost all of Tennessee’s gas comes from one pipeline that originates in the Gulf of Mexico.
The gas starts in Houston then goes to Atlanta, to Chattanooga and then to Nashville.
The problem in a nutshell: Hurricane Gustav shut down refineries and then of course Ike barreled through the region again disrupting production.
This is all about simple economics: When supply drops and demand increases, prices go up.
Friday prices spiked because so many people decided to fill up. We had plenty of gas to get through the weekend then we ran low because citizens got scared and began hording gas and topping off and filling up tanks. So we ran out. Suppliers couldn’t keep up with the demand.
Topping off hurts everyone, Williams says.
Is the media to blame? Williams says no but any time there is a rumor, whether on the internet, or through the media, it often becomes a self fulfilling propriety which is what we saw this past weekend.
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Emails have been pouring in – Below are some:
“Currently gas prices in Cookeville are posted at $3.89 all the way up to $5.04 per gallon.
-Jennifer Thompson
There is a rumor flying around Clarksville today that this afternoon Gov. Bredesen is going to announce this afternoon that there will be NO gasoline available to TN within 48 hours. Any truth?
-Carol Sims
Hello, I am just sending this message because of the sudden price gouging that is happening here in Lawrence County. I was driving thru Lawrenceburg at about 1 this afternoon when I noticed that the gas at the Rick’s BBQ Country Store was at $3.79. When I drove on about 5 miles toward Ethridge, the gas at the Rick’s location there was at $4.09. That seems like a big jump in less than 10 minutes of travel. Thirty cents is a lot of difference in about 5 miles.
Another thing that got me was that the next store down had gas at $3.69. I think that this is truly messed up. I know that the Hurricane may be causing some problems but I don’t think that will cause the gas to go up that much that fast, 10 minutes or less. I don’t think so.
-Robert Pope
The Mapco in White House has always been the first to jump their gas prices when crude has risen and the last to lower their prices when it went down. That was bad but what they have done now is criminal. Of course, I can’t prove this but I KNOW it’s true. When I went to work this morning at 4 a.m. I noticed they had no price on their sign and their nozzels were bagged! I suspect they have gas in their tanks and when everyone else gets the price to the max, they will have gas then at the premium price! Nowhere else has been out of gas although there have been lines. It is obvious what these crooks are doing and if there is any way you could look in to this I’d be eternally grateful!
-Eddie Guinno
Gouging? Fuel at $3.75+ just before Labor Day, Drops to $3.30 after labor day and back up to $3.99 today. Call to Hollingsworth Oil in Springfield today- We are not running out of fuel but major fuel brokers are putting some local distributors on ration to prevent exhaustion.
-Michael Werner
I’m sure y’all have gotten this a lot since yesterday. I know I have personally watched a Wal-Mart in Shelbyville raise their price. When I came home yesterday afternoon it was $3.45,last night at 10PM when I went to work it was $3.59,this morning at a.m. it was $3.65,now at almost 4 p.m. (less than 24 hrs since it was $3.45)now it is $3.87. There was a refuel truck there last night and there is no way they should be able to hike gas prices over 40 cents on 1 gas truck since they have already paid for that gas. This is really messed up that they are taking advantage of a bad situation and ripping people off. Please take time to look at this problem since I’m sure Shelbyville isn’t the only place this is happening.
-Jason Bradshaw
According to the reports the gas stations here are raising prices and some will only take cash, is it legal? Maybe someone should report this to authorities. This is word on the streets of Maury County.
-Sheila Murphy
I understand that due to Ike forming in the Gulf gas prices may spike. However there are a couple of issues I have a problem with.
1) When the price of oil drops, such as it has over the last couple of months, the price at the pump takes quite a while to reflect a price drop, however, when there is a “concern” such as the effect Ike may have on the offshore as well as the on shore refineries the raise in prices is basically immediate. Why is this?
2) Price gouging during these situations at the service stations. Example: in Madison there are two Mapco service stations approximately 2 blocks apart. The price for a gallon of regular gas at one is $3.59 while at the other it is $3.79… a.20 cent difference and this seems to be the trend through out the area.
-Joseph Cronin
I stopped at the BP gas station on Providence Blvd in Clarksville TN 3 days ago. I went into the store to prepay $20 and pay debit. I have a charge on my statement for the $20 plus an additional authorization hold for $75. It’s currently still being held. It put my account negative and I’m unable to purchase diapers and wipes for my daughter. Now that’s messed UP!!
P.S. I’ve heard about Kroger doing this from the people on post (Ft Campbell).
-Megan Pitt
Andy, my father lives in Tulsa, OK and his gas prices have not gone up at all in the last 24 hours. His price for regular is $3.49. For the last month I have noticed that within a 5 mile radius of my home in La Vergne that I can find gas prices fluctuating up to .30 cents on a regular day. Now I am seeing a .70 cent jump since this time yesterday. In Smyrna the gas is currently $4.09, however if I go 2 miles into La Vergne the Exxon has it for $3.79. How is this legal? Besides I was under the impression that our gas supply was affected by the pipelines and oil rigs located in and around New Orleans. Galveston sends it gas to places to the west of us like say Tulsa, OK. Shouldn’t our local lawmakers be looking out for us? I feel that we are being gouged on a regular basis her in middle Tennessee. Can we sue somebody or get some one to pay attention to the common man being taken advantage of?
-Trent Smith
Report suspected price gouging:
Online: www.tn.gov/consumer
By Phone: 615-741-4737 or 1-800-342-8385
Belmont University has been dancing on the national stage recently. The eyes of the nation are on Belmont - a presidential debate in October - an NCCA Basketball entry during March Madness.
And while the university’s national prominence is growing, physically, campus size is restricted by surface streets.
Belmont is like a erudite sardine, packed in a tin can wrapped in thoroughfares named Wedgewood, 12th Avenue and Belmont Blvd.
This restrictive geographical boundary is what presents unique parking challenges for a growing number of students.
I visited the campus the other day and saw a lot of jostling for parking position.
There was a slight drizzle in the grey sky, but the air was warm.
Students dressed in flip flops and short skirts and sweat pants and t-shirts bustled back and forth toting back packs.
All around them, cars circled concrete parking lots, waiting to pounce, like buzzards hunting for road kill.
On campus I witness angst and frustration.
On nearby surface streets, I watch as drivers zip along Bernard Avenue hunting for a place to park. Driver after driver, face stern and eyes wide open, buzz by a row of parked cars. Many of these vehicles are all ready decorated with violations courtesy of metro parking.
Back on campus, I meet a couple of nursing students. The women tell me that parking is a huge issue. The women tell me they leave for campus 45 minutes early just to make sure they can find a place and not miss class.
“It is really bad,” one nursing student laments.
“You’re a kid,” I say jesting to the other young woman. “Deal with it.”
Her eyes roll around her sockets.
“There is a parking problem here. To spend 45 minutes looking for a spot, I don’t want to deal with that,” she says.
Moments later, in the heart of campus, I watch as a car comes whipping into a primo spot.
Kevin Buster is a senior studying music business. He pops out, big smile on his face.
“Dude, congratulations. Excellent spot.”
My enthusiastic greeting from the periphery catches the young man off guard.
“It’s kind of a miracle I found it,” he says beaming ear to ear.
University officials take parking serious.
“What we do is look at available parking and use those spaces as best we can,” Greg Pillon, Communications director tells me.
I tell Pillon there has been some scuttle butt on campus that there are 900 new freshmen this year and that is why students believe parking is almost impossible to find.
The former Channel 2 producer laughs and says that is not true.
Pillon does confirm that the campus is growing and there are more than 5,000 students this year, with about as many freshmen this year as last.
“It is no secret we have a lot of new growth. 261 new students,” he says.
Pillon says there is parking, just not all of it convenient.
He also tells me that there are a lot of parking strategies that the university has implemented that the students might not be aware of.
“What we look to do is look at available parking and use those spaces as best we can and I feel like we are doing that. As director of communication, we do have communication problems. And I take full blame for that. We are trying to do a better job at alerting students of available spaces here on campus. We have reissued spots, we do have a brand new garage over at Threllkeld. that was under utilized. I was just there and we do have 77 available spots at that location. We built a new sidewalk. We are giving students a different opportunity to park over there. we are Trying to shift things around. But I am the first to say, that the kids may not know that.”
Pillon tells me about a new garage on the fringe of campus, near Thrailkill Hall, that staff would like to encourage students to use.
“This new garage built is immediately across from the soccer field. What we did recently, there was a structure here on campus, that was removed and a sidewalk built to make access from this parking garage easier to campus.”
Pillon has a campus map open and his finger moves back and forth from the parking lot on the other side of 15th avenue to the main campus some 3 blocks to the south.
His finger makes the trip from parking area of hope to congested class area in about a second. If only it were that easy, I think to myself.
I let Pillon continue:
“We don’t make these decisions haphazardly. There is a parking team that analyzes these decisions at any given moment that is made up of students, faculty and staff. And we have made a conscious effort to get people where they need to be. Based on the residence space and where they are living.”
Pillon tells me the university has satellite parking, but does not offer shuttle busses. Not financially viable he says alluding to the short 3 or 4 block distance.
As for the public streets surrounding the campus?
“We don’t encourage anyone to be on public streets. we figure we can handle parking needs here on campus. When people park on public streets. They are issued a warning saying these are public streets and we encourage you to park on campus.”
Pillon later sends me this email as if he has not loaded me up with enough important parking facts: I appreciate his steadfast dedication to this issue and his desire to make sure that I get it right.
“One thing I had every intention to mention and forgot when you gave me the opportunity is the fact that Belmont provides free bus service and train service to all faculty students and staff. This is in addition to the Zipcars on campus that I mentioned yesterday on our phone call. This strategy is designed to provide transportatio
When residents in a Metro Sub-division complained that they had been left high and dry by the builder and even by the city of Metro, Messed Up got involved.
Residents in Walton Oaks had unfinished streets, open storm water drains and uneven curbs.
The developer tells Messed Up, he ran into financial problems, filed bankruptcy and was never able to complete the job.
The city of Metro never stepped in because technically, the sub division was not finished and subsequently not a part of the city, and not eligible for tax payer funded work.
So here’s where it all stands:
As of 9-10-08, very little has changed in the sub division. The complaints we showed you in June still exist.
But Messed Up has learned that Metro Legal is forcing the sub division builder’s insurance company to take affirmative action.
Below is a letter that mandates action within a certain time frame.
It is slow to be sure, but progress is progress.
What do you think? Will the citizens of Walton Oaks ever get the amenities they were promised?
by
21 year old Mary Bishop frequently walks this way to work.
“What would I say to my city leaders?,” he ponders. “What is the problem? We pay taxes! Get it done.”Loading …
Purnell agrees. “But if we do allow these corporations to fail,” he says pensively, “then that is a bad thing. What happened in the great depression, the way they structured that buyout, it actually netted us an opportunity, to get something back. But they need to be careful.”
Finally; I talk with a sage financial analyst on West End.
