‘The biggest burglary in the history of Metro’

  by Christian Grantham - January 11th, 2008 - 11:26 am| City Government, Consumer Alert, County Government, Crime | one comment

The identification of more than 337,000 Davidson County residents was stolen on Christmas Eve, but to date no one in Metro government has been held accountable. Tune in to News 2 at 5 as Andy Cordan unleashes his anger.

And here is the symbolic sand in the eye to me. The break in happened on December 24th. Today, as I write this, it is January 11th.

I visited the Election commision this morning, and that damn window is still not fixed. A big board still marks the break in point, like an X marks a pirate’s treasure. Is there not a piece of glass in the entire city that could have been located by this time, some 18 days and counting.

To me it represents everything that is wrong with this story and the way it has been handled.
[MESSED UP METRO - That Is Messed Up - 01-11-08]

Bell Buckle seeks repeal of brown bagging ordinance

  by Christian Grantham - January 10th, 2008 - 9:45 am| City Government, Consumer Alert, Weirdness | 3 comments

Bell Buckle residents may soon be allowed to bring their own liquor or wine to restaurants that want to allow it. Here are more details on the story we reported this morning.

Bell Buckle’s board passed the first reading of an ordinance that would make “brown bagging” legal again.

“Brown bagging” is the practice of a customer bringing his own bottle of wine or liquor to a restaurant to consume with a meal.

The repeal was introduced by Alderman Mark Felices, who stated that he did not want to “change the character of the town,” but that it was a bad law because there was no way to enforce it.
[Bell Buckle may allow brown-bagging - Shelbyville Times-Gazette - 01-09-08]

Christmas shopping rage: “Shut up Brentwood twit!”

  by Christian Grantham - December 11th, 2007 - 6:05 am| Consumer Alert, Crime, Public Safety | 2 comments

That’s what 48-year-old Cynthia Strong of Bellevue told 32-year-old Tara Underwood after Underwood drove the wrong way while looking for a parking spot at the Cool Springs Galleria. Read the entire incident at ThatIsMessedUp complete with 911 audio.

Strong faces a maximum sentence of 11 months and 29 days in jail, though she has no previous record. She is due back in court on December 20.

“She was furious,” said Underwood.  “If my five-year-old had been back here he would have been terrified.  She is banging on the window freaking out.  I am afraid she is going to break the window out.  She started yelling at me screaming nasty, ugly expletives at me.  She totally threatened me, a lot.”
[Road Rage Turns Violent In Cool Springs’ Lot - WKRN - 12-10-07]

“I at no time did i utter a curse word at underwood before exiting my car. i did comment after she started her holiday cheer lecture and how someone else had taken her parking spot that i thought perhaps she was illterate since she was going the wrong way. i then proceeded to roll up my window when she called me a bitch. at that point, i parked my car and confronted her. when she stated she couldn’t hear me, i reached in her car window, snatcher her ear buds out of her ear and asked could she hear me now?!?!?”
[Cynthia Strong - December 10, 2007 @ 11:47 pm ]

“I actually thought she was rolling her window down to offer me her space that she had just left because it was a little further up from me. She is so deranged that she is actually DEFENDING her position. Maybe Ms. Strong is the one who is “not so bright here”. If she had displayed an ounce of self control or sense; she would have never come up to my car and verbally and physically attacked me. She had NO IDEA that my little innocent son was not in that car behind those tinted windows; NOR DID SHE CARE.”
[Tara Underwood - December 11, 2007 @ 1:20 am ]

CONSUMER ALERT: Cross Cut Tree Service

  by Christian Grantham - November 6th, 2007 - 7:24 am| Consumer Alert, Environment, Public Safety | no comments

Cross Cut Tree Service is being sanctioned by the Better Business Bureau of Middle Tennessee, the Department of Public Works, and the Metro Police Department. Two misdemeanor arrest warrants have been issued for company co-owners Mark Campbell and Frank Cross for littering and obstruction of a roadway.

In early September, cameras discovered a massive brush pile in northern Davidson County. Residents say Cross Cut Tree Service left the debris roadside for Metro Public Works to clean up.

When questioned about it, officials with Cross Cut said they left the pile because the homeowners wanted a price break on the job, and disposing of the debris costs more money. Eventually, Cross Cut cleaned up the pile, but now the company is facing more problems for allegedly dumping another load of logs on a street in East Nashville.

At the corner of Douglas and North Sixth, cameras discovered a pile of logs and brush blocking part of a public street and a nearby culvert.
[Tree Service Sanctioned By Metro Officials - WKRN - 11-06-07]

UPDATE 1:16p.m. - when you Google Cross Cut Tree Service, this report appears right under the tree service’s website. You can also read the Better Business Bureau of Middle Tennessee reliability report. Satellite views of both addresses listed (Greenbrier | Nashville) for the businesses show residential homes. A call made to one of the phone numbers listed got me in touch with a woman identifying herself as “the wife of the tree cutting service” who said they are trying to shut the business down.