No WhiteWash!

A Bristol, Tennessee employer is looking to hire 200 people.

Kelly Services contacted 11 Connects today about the job openings at Touchstone Wireless.

Interested applicants can apply by calling Kelly Services at (276) 466-2843, or in person at Kelly’s offices located at 1969 Lee Highway in Bristol, Virginia.

There will also be a job fair at Touchstone Wireless, 2536 West State Street, on Wednesday from 5:30 to 7:00pm.

via Touchstone Wireless looking to hire 200 people | TriCities.com.

A red light camera in Kingsport, Tennessee wrongly accused Ray Tolley, 89, of running a red light. According to WJHL-TV, Tolley received a ticket in the mail accusing him of blowing through an intersection on red in a white Ford Mustang. Tolley owns a blue 1990 Ford pickup truck, and the octogenarian rarely drives. His son, David, who was forced to fight the ticket on his father’s behalf, discovered the license plate on the pickup was off by one digit. The Kingsport police, who claim to diligently review every ticket, did not notice that the ticket claimed the Mustang in the photograph was a "pickup" truck.

via California, Tennessee: Bogus Red Light Camera Tickets.

It appears that the Kingsport, TN Police did review the evidence and found that a white Ford Mustang and a black 1990 Ford pickup is close enough. 

89-year old Ray Tolley states that he visited Kingsport about 35 years ago and his pickup has not been started since last fall.

It appears that the Kingsport Police is rubber-stamping the data submitted by camera vender Redflex as the gospel.  The photo on the right is from the Kingsport Police Department web page.

Kiplinger’s Personal Finance recently published a list of Best Cities for the Next Decade.

Learn more about how they picked the Best Cities for the Next Decade.

Also they published a list  367 U.S. metropolitan areas that can be sorted and ranked by different criteria.

In the example below, all metro areas in Tennessee have been extracted.  The table below was sorted by median household income.  We see that the Kingsport-Bristol-Bristol, TN-VA has the lowest median household income for the Tennessee metro areas ranked and also has a higher cost of living than the other Tennessee metro areas listed below.

Furthermore, Kingsport-Bristol-Bristol, TN-VA median household income rank is 353 out of a total of 367 U.S. metro areas.  This shows that there were 14 metro areas that had a lower median household income than the Kingsport-Bristol-Bristol, TN-VA metro area.

Click here for the entire list of 367 metro areas.  The list can be sorted online or downloaded in spreadsheet format.

I am sure that our local City, County, and State elected officials will want to keep this data from getting out.

Nate Morabito, a reporter with WJHL has complied the yellow light times for the cities in Sullivan and Washington Counties that have red light revenue cameras.  Go to the following link to read the entire article.  Caution:  Not every yellow light timed the same | TriCities.

Drivers, be aware that you stand a better chance of getting a red light ticket and rear-ended in Kingsport because of their shorter yellow light times.

Go to the link below to access the database to get the yellow light times for Johnson City, Jonesborough, and Kingsport.

Information provided by the City of Kingsport, the City of Johnson City and the Town of Jonesborough.

Read more via Caution:  Not every yellow light timed the same | TriCities.

Bristol, Tennessee made the top ten list for the “Best Schools for Your Housing Buck” for median home prices under $100,000.

See the links below for more information on other cities.

List Reveals Parents Can Find High Quality Schools in Cities and Towns With Homes They Can Afford

GreatSchools (www.greatschools.org), the leading source of information for school performance, and Forbes.com (www.Forbes.com), home page for the world’s business leaders, have debuted “Best Schools for Your Housing Buck”. The list is a unique ranking of the top 25 U.S. areas where parents can find the best schools at every housing price range, including the 2009 national median home price of $178,000. You can read the entire article, which includes the list of schools, on Forbes.com at: www.forbes.com/greatschools.

“Best Schools for Your Housing Buck” dispels the common notion that high performing schools can only be found in expensive communities. While affluent cities and good schools often go hand in hand, the list demonstrates that if parents are relocating, they don’t have to compromise on their child’s education. They can find a great school within their housing budget.

• Best cities to live and learn
• Top public schools: Small U.S. cities
• Top public schools: Midsize U.S. cities
• Top public schools: Large U.S. cities
• Top public schools: Under $100,000
• Top public schools: $200,000-$399,999
• Top public schools: $400,000-$599,999
• Top public schools: $600,000-$799,999
• Top public schools: $800,000 or more
• Top Cities 2010 methodology

Read more via GreatSchools – Public and Private School Ratings, Reviews and Parent Community.

It appears that Keith Wilson, former NETWORKS chairman and publisher of the Kingsport Times-News is using his newspaper to drum up support for increased funding to make the Kingsport schools the best in the state.

Keith Wilson quoted some statistics below on how Kingsport schools ranked in the state and he would like to use NETWORKS to market Kingsport schools “in soliciting new business and industry and trying to keep existing business and industry”.

NETWORKS is a joint economic development partnership of Bluff City, Bristol, Kingsport and Sullivan County, Tennessee.

There is nothing wrong about using Kingsport school statistics to attract new business, but if the Kingsport schools rank was so good now, then why hasn’t NETWORKS used that to attract new business and industry in the past.  How successful were you Mr. Wilson during your term as Chairman of Networks in getting new business and industry by promoting the Kingsport schools?

NETWORKS envisions making Kingsport schools best in Tennessee (Please read the entire Kingsport Times-News article)

Wilson cited statistics compiled by the SCORE program of former U.S. Sen. Bill Frist, which Wilson said showed that among 119 K-12 public systems statewide Kingsport schools had the sixth-highest per-pupil expenditures in the state, the third-highest percentage of local funding in their budget, and the 38th-highest graduation rate.

It also was the 14th most economic advantaged system, was 18th in growth from third to eighth grade scores, and ranked sixth in the three-year ACT score average, he said

I smell a tax increase that would affect only the City of Kingsport property owners. Somehow, I don’t think the Kingsport citizens would approve of a tax increase while Bristol, Bluff City and Sullivan County residents got the benefits of a new business or industry located outside of Kingsport city limits.

Kingsport BMA needs to be reminded that the household median income for Kingsport is $34,391 and the Individuals below poverty level 18.0%. Two people in the same household making the minimum wage would make $30,160 per year.   Kingsport citizens cannot afford a tax increase to fund the NETWORKS marketing scheme that Keith Wilson is proposing.  The City of Kingsport also  has 20.1 percent of its population that are over 65 years of age and this group cannot not afford a tax increase.   The NETWORKS marketing scheme should be funded by business or a personal tax on the “elite”.

Mr. Wilson, what were you doing during your involvement with NETWORKS when the opportunities below went somewhere else?

• Small NC town to get $1 billion Apple data center
• Gov. Bredesen – works to attract investments for West TN, but plant flowers in East TN
• Silver Eagle Bus Manufacturing lands in Gallatin
• Bredesen, Kisber Announce New Investment in Renewable Energy Sector, Creating 500 New Jobs
• Volkswagen Group of America Selects Chattanooga Location
• East TN lost another one!
• New York Site Edges Bristol, VA In Competition For Yahoo! Data Center
• Multi-Million Dollar Capital Investment to Create Over 400 New Jobs in West TN
• Southern towns: Harley plant welcome
• German firm buys Chattanooga Aerisyn operation
• State panel approves purchase of land for Haywood megasite
• Governor Bredesen, Commissioner Kisber Announce Unilever Expansion in Covington
• BJS North America East Celebrates Grand Opening in Jefferson County

Keith Wilson is not listed on the NETWORKS Board of Directors.

In my opinion, the NETWORKS organization which is supported with taxpayer money, is just simply ineffective in getting new businesses that offer good jobs for the area.

See also the following link;  Kingsport leaders tentatively on board with NETWORKS plan for schools

RATES INCREASE in 95 COUNTIES

NASHVILLE – Tennessee’s seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate for January was 10.7 percent, unchanged from the revised December rate of 10.7 percent. The national unemployment rate for January 2010 was 9.7 percent.

County non-seasonally adjusted unemployment rates for January 2010, released today, show that the rate increased in all 95 counties.

Lincoln County registered the state’s lowest county unemployment rate at 8.3 percent, up from 7.3 in December. Marshall County had the state’s highest unemployment rate at 20.3 percent, up from 18.7 in December, followed by Henderson County at 19.9 percent, up from 18.5 percent in December.

Knox County had the state’s lowest major metropolitan rate of 8.6 percent, up from 8.1 in December. Davidson County was 9.6 percent, up from 9.2 in December. Hamilton County was at 10.0 percent, up from 9.2 in December, and Shelby County was 11.4 percent, up from 10.6 in December.

NOTE: Information will be available on the Internet; enter http://www.tennessee.gov/labor-wfd/labor_figures/january2010county.pdf

Data is from the following links –   Jan 2009, Feb 2009, Mar 2009, April 2009, May, 2009, June 2009, July 2008, August 2009, Sept 2009, Oct 2008, Nov 2009, Dec 2009, Jan 2010

The Kingsport, Tennessee area have gotten themselves more National attention with the recent Gallup-Healthways surveys.

WebMD article below gives (America’s Most Obese Metropolitan Areas) a summary of Gallup’s findings.

Please go to the Gallup link (What America’s Most Obese Metro Areas Have in Common) for more detail.

Do we need more restaurants in the Kingsport area?

America’s Most Obese Metropolitan Areas

March 3, 2010 — A ranking of No. 1 — or being in the Top 10 — isn’t always something to crow about.

The latest Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index lists the 10 most obese metropolitan areas in the U.S. and finds that adult obesity rates in each are significantly greater than the national average of 26.5%.

Here’s a list of the 10 most obese metro areas, with those ranking highest having the greatest obesity rates.

1. (tie) Montgomery, Ala., and Stockton, Calif.: 34.6%
2. Visalia/Porterville, Calif.: 34.1%
3. York/Hanover, Pa.: 34%
4. Flint, Mich.: 33.9%
5. McAllen/Edinburg/Mission, Texas: 33.7%
6. Bakersfield, Calif.: 33.6%
7. (tie) Lynchburg, Va., and Huntington/Ashland, West Va., Ky., Ohio: 33%
8. Kingsport/Bristol, Tenn., Va.: 32.9%

Eating Fruits and Veggies

The latest Well-Being Index also examines factors that are linked to obesity.

Here’s a look at how metro areas ranked according to the percentage eating fruits and vegetables frequently — listed from worst to best. The nationwide percentage is 56.8%.

1. McAllen/Edinburg/Mission, Texas:  45.7%
2. Montgomery, Ala.: 52.7%
3. Bakersfield, Calif.: 53.1%
4. Stockton, Calif.: 54.8%
5. Flint, Mich.: 56.4%
6. Visalia/Porterville, Calif.: 56.6%
7. Lynchburg, Va.: 56.8%
8. York/Hanover, Pa.: 59.0%
9. Huntington/Ashland/ West Va., Ky., Ohio 60.2 %
10. Kingsport/Bristol Tenn., Va.:  62.2%

Exercising Frequently

Here’s a look at the rankings — from worst to best — of the percentage of people exercising frequently. The percentage nationwide is 49.9%.

1. Montgomery, Ala.:  43.3%
2. Flint, Mich.:  44.5%
3. McAllen/Edinburg/Mission, Texas: 45.8%
4. Lynchburg, Va.: 46.1%
5. Huntington/Ashland, W. Va., Ky., Ohio:   47.7%
6. York/Hanover, Pa.: 47.8%
7. Bakersfield, Calif.:  48.4%
8. Kingsport/Bristol, Tenn., Va.: 48.5%
9. Visalia/Porterville, Calif.:  49.2%
10. Stockton, Calif.:  51%

Gallup-Healthways says in a news release that eight of the 10 most obese areas rank in the bottom two-thirds in terms of having easy access to fruits and vegetables and nine rank in the bottom two-thirds for having a safe place to exercise.

Seven of the 10 most obese metro areas rank among the bottom 25 places where residents say there have been times in the past year when they didn’t have enough money to buy food for themselves or family members.

Obesity’s Link to Health Problems

The researchers note that obesity often is a precursor to chronic health problems, including high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, and heart attack. These conditions were included in the Gallup-Healthways physical health index.

The report also finds that:

• Each of the 10 most obese metro areas are in the bottom two-thirds of all places in terms of diabetes.
• The Huntington/Ashland areas of West Va., Kentucky, and Ohio, with Montgomery, Ala., and the Kingsport/Bristol area on the Tennessee-Virginia line are in the bottom 10 among all metro areas surveyed in regard to blood pressure, with rates nearly 10 percentage points above the national average.
• Huntington and Kingsport, along with Lynchburg, are in the bottom 10 for high cholesterol.
• Huntington and Kingsport are among the bottom 10 for heart attacks, with rates almost twice the national average.
• Four of the 10 most obese areas are in the top third among all metro areas for not smoking, but the other six rank in the bottom two-thirds.

The Gallup-Wellbeing report is based on telephone interviews with more than 353,000 adults 18 and over between Jan. 2, 2009, and Dec. 29, 2009. It has a margin of sampling error of 0.2 percentage points.

via America’s Most Obese Metropolitan Areas.

Copyright ©2009, WebMD, LLC. All rights reserved

Rates Increase in 91 Counties, Decrease in 1, Remain the Same in Three

NASHVILLE – Tennessee’s seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate for December was 10.9 percent, up 0.7 percentage point from the revised November rate of 10.2 percent. The United States’ unemployment rate for the month of December was unchanged at 10.0 percent.

County non-seasonally adjusted unemployment rates for December 2009, released today, show that the rate increased in 91 counties, decreased in one, and remained the same in three counties.

Lincoln County registered the state’s lowest county unemployment rate at 7.1 percent, up 0.4 from its November rate. Lauderdale and Marshall counties had the state’s highest unemployment rate at 18.9 percent. Lauderdale was up 0.4 from the November rate, and Marshall County increased from 16.8 percent in November.

Knox County had the state’s lowest major metropolitan rate of 8.1 percent, up 0.4 percentage point from the November rate. Hamilton County was at 8.9 percent, up 0.5 percentage point from the November rate. Davidson County was 9.2 percent, up 0.4 from the previous month, and Shelby County was 10.3 percent, up 0.3 from the November rate.

Data is from the following links –  Dec 2008, Jan 2009, Feb 2009, Mar 2009, April 2009, May, 2009, June 2009, July 2008, August 2009, Sept 2009, Oct 2008, Nov 2009, Dec 2009

Rates Decrease in 50 Counties, Increase in 36, Remain the Same in Nine

NASHVILLE – Tennessee’s unemployment rate for November was 10.3 percent, down 0.2 percentage point from the October rate of 10.5 percent. The United States’ unemployment rate for the month of November was 10.0 percent.

County non-seasonally adjusted unemployment rates for November 2009, released today, show that the rate decreased in 50 counties, increased in 36, and remained the same in nine counties.

Lincoln County registered the state’s lowest county unemployment rate at 6.7 percent, down 0.2 from its October rate. Lauderdale County had the state’s highest unemployment rate at 18.6 percent, down 0.2 from the October rate, followed by Haywood County at 18.0 percent, up from 17.9 percent in October.

Knox County had the state’s lowest major metropolitan rate of 7.7 percent, down 0.1 percentage point from the October rate. Hamilton County was at 8.5 percent, down 0.2 percentage point from the October rate. Davidson County was 8.8 percent, down 0.1 from the previous month, and Shelby County was 10.0 percent, down 0.1 from the October rate.

NOTE: To see other Tennessee cities and counties, click on following link. http://www.tennessee.gov/labor-wfd/labor_figures/snovember2009county.pdf 

Data is from the following links – Nov 2008, Dec 2008, Jan 2009, Feb 2009, Mar 2009, April 2009, May, 2009, June 2009, July 2008, August 2009, Sept 2009, Oct 2008, Nov 2009