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The state senate bill that created an annexation moratorium does not necessarily protect all of Midtown’s Hwy. 70 corridor from Harriman’s reach after all.
Instead, the bill’s moratorium against any city extending its corporate limits by annexation ordinance from April 1, 2013, to May 1, 2014, only extends to property used primarily for residential or agricultural purposes.
It says nothing about commercial properties.
Also, the citizen voting requirement for annexation is a no-go.

A Roane County sheriff’s deputy said he had to scramble when shots were fired near the Tiger Haven big-cat rescue in East Roane County.
Toby Dean Rhynehart, 535 Dogwood Road, has been charged with reckless endangerment in the incident Tuesday.
Rhynehart’s property abuts Tiger Haven, which houses several types of large cats, including tigers, lions, leopards and cougars.
For years, Rhynehart and other neighbors have accused the sanctuary of being dangerous and a public nuisance.

A report by the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration found the Internal Revenue Service improperly singled out Tea Party groups applying for tax exempt status.
Officials with the Roane County Tea Party say their organization was one of those groups.
“It’s upsetting that the IRS can be used in this manner,” local Tea Party communications director Chuck Smith said.
The inspector general report said the IRS Determinations Unit would identify applications from groups that had Tea Party in their names.

Forget the interim part: After a short stint filling in, Kingston’s Jim Henry is now the commissioner of the Department of Children’s Services.
Gov. Bill Haslam announced the full appointment Tuesday to the beleagured department.
Henry, the first commissioner of the Department of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, had also been serving as interim director of DCS since February’s resignation of former DCS commissioner Kate O’Day.