I’ve got a few little blurbs I wanted to get out, so I thought I would just throw them down here.

  • I was really disappointed to see that Knox County Sheriff Spangler renewed the KCSO’s involvement in ICE’s 287(g) program for another year. I strongly believe this program is bad for the country and for Knox County. I’ve posted about this on Facebook a couple of times and wrote on this blog at some length. Ironically, I made that post here on the same day that Sheriff Spangler announced the renewal. I’ll note with interest that last year, Sheriff Spangler signed the renewal on May 14, 2019, but didn’t actually announce it to the public until June 28, 2019 – two days before the agreement was set to expire. This time, at least, he didn’t wait til the last second to announce. Small consolation, though. I’ll repeat here what I’ve said elsewhere. I oppose this program and, if elected, I will work to provide oversight and anything else I can do to help end our county’s involvement with this odious program.
  • Speaking of the 287(g), there was a small protest, followed by a parade of cars on Friday. I went down to the protest site in solidarity with the protestors, but did not take part in the parade of cars. There was some coverage on the local news. You can see those here and here. And if you want more information about the program, go check out AKIN’s website.
  • I had another edition of #indiwalksknox #crocs4knox this morning. We decided to try out IC King park. I missed the entrance on first pass coming north on Alcoa Highway. When we got there, it was clear this part of the park (there’s some mention of trails and a dog park) wasn’t really what the Yellow Lab was looking for. Well, strike that. She would have loved to jump in the water, but it wasn’t super conducive for doing that. I noticed there was a south entrance to the park that was blocked off. Maybe things aren’t entirely opened back up? I’m not ready to write this park off yet, but it didn’t have what I was looking for today. On the other hand, if you’ve got a watercraft of some sort or want to fish off a pier, this might be the place for you.
  • But with a hyperactive lab in the van, I knew I had to go somewhere. I decided to run down to Sequoyah Hills Park. Yeah, I know this is a City administered park, but I had to get the dog out of the van before she blew a gasket. We had a nice 2 mile or so walk and the Lab got to go chase sticks in the water a bit. Dr. Frommeyer is on call today and the 10 year old is with her dad for a week, so it’s just me and the grandmas and the dogs today. It was nice to get out and get some exercise.
  • As of the writing of this, there are 83 days left until election day. And about 63 days left until early voting. It’s coming up quickly!
  • This week, I’ll be doing an online Town Hall with the Knox County Democrats. I’ll make sure to share on social where you can watch. On June 2, there may another big online event that I’ll be involved with. Stay tuned for more on that.
  • Important dates:
    • You can request an absentee ballot from now until 7/30/20
    • Tuesday, July 7, 2020 – Final day to register to vote before election
    • Friday, July 17, 2020 – First day of Early Voting period (Registered voters can vote at ANY Early Voting location)
    • Saturday, August 1, 2020 – Final day of Early Voting period
    • Thursday, August 6, 2020 – Election Day (Registered voters MUST VOTE AT THEIR ASSIGNED PRECINCT)
  • Til next time…