News Briefly
UT presidential search commences
Applicants for the top job at the University of Tennessee came out of the woodwork. As of early this week, the list of 47 applicants had been winnowed to a mere dozen. One surprising cut was Jim Hall, a top official in former Gov. Ned McWherter's administration and an all-around good guy. Readers may remember Hall, who recently served as a Bill Clinton appointment to the National Transportation Safety Board, because he was often on the Today show talking to reporters at the scene of plane wrecks, train collisions and the like.
Predators make playoffs, make history
The city's professional hockey team, whose future in this market has been the subject of considerable bar talk, took another step in reaching fan legitimacy when it made the Stanley Cup playoffs over the weekend, the first playoff appearance in the Predators' six-year history. The best-of-seven contest against the Detroit Red Wings commences with away games on Wednesday and Saturday of this week before returning for a 3 p.m. matchup in Nashville on Sunday.
Sing on, beautiful voices
The famed Jubilee Singers at Fisk University have been given a huge assist from two Nashville couples. Mike and Linda Curb and Kelley and Lee Beaman have given the financially troubled school $1 million to endow a chair for the Jubilee Singers' director. The Jubilee Singers are an internationally recognized vocal ensemble and tour widely.
Little did we know
A report in The Tennessean discloses that those fake roses in glass tubes you see being sold in convenience markets are actually used for smoking crack. Metro police officers are ordering markets to quit selling them. Undercover officers recently wandered into convenience markets and asked for crack pipes. In some 23 places, store attendants then directed officers to the roses in the glass tubes.
