Columns

Gentle reader, you no doubt are familiar with the hymn, “Will the Circle be Unbroken?” We, of course, know not the answer to that question about the future, but we do know that as to the present, the answer is definitely “no,” for we find that with each passing year our circle of friends and acquaintances is broken in more and more places.

We have not previously published much laudatory verbiage concerning Kentucky’s junior senator, Rand Paul, but his recent accomplishment has shown that he has inherited at least some of his daddy’s political skills. We refer, of course, to his day-long filibuster.

Many of you know Wayne Pugh or Rockwood. I consider him a friend — I hope he feels the same way about me.

Wayne and I have a lot in common, including the love of railroads and one very big storm.

While many in East Tennessee consider the March 1993 blizzard the worst winter storm they ever saw, for me and Wayne, a January 1978 storm gets top billing.

Wayne, who was with L&N Railroad at the time, shared his memories with me recently.

By Kent Flanagan, Tennessee Coalition for Open Government

Tennessee Department of Children’s Services has one of the toughest, most unforgiving jobs in state government — to protect the most vulnerable children in our society from harm — but few Tennesseans know much about the agency.

Most details about Children’s Services operations are denied to the public by confidentiality required under state law to protect the privacy of the children and the families that come into contact with DCS.