News Briefly
CMA Music Festival (a.k.a. Fan Fair), Bonnaroo and Ronald Reagan's funeral
All three are over.
Tending to the children
Gov. Phil Bredesen has created a new Governor's Office of Children's Care to coordinate and manage state services for Tennessee's youngest citizens. Interestingly, the man who will run the new state department is Manny Martins, who, until recently, had been running the state's beleaguered TennCare program. TennCare, the state's health insurance program for the poor, has been taking on water for years now and is in the middle of a major overhaul. Martins' new office will focus on kids who need help from multiple state departments.
Dr. Dorothy Brown, R.I.P.
She was the first female surgeon in the South. She was the first female elected to the Tennessee state legislature. Local community leaders eulogized Dorothy Brown for her strength and wisdom after she died this weekend. She was 90.
Bridge over troubled railroad tracks
Soon, they'll be calling Bill Purcell "The Bridge Mayor." He has christened both the Shelby Street Pedestrian Bridge and the Gateway Bridge. Now comes news that the Demonbreun Street bridge is to be torn down and rebuilt during his administration. Problems have plagued the bridge, which spans the gulch just South of Broadway, for years, including potholes the size of Volkswagens. It is 74 years old.
