Rep. Donna Rowland’s Bible Theme Park Update

  by Christian Grantham - January 24th, 2008 - 8:37 am| County Government, Property, State Government | 6 comments

WGNS in Murfreesboro passed this along. The proposed Bible Theme Park in the Blackman community takes another step behind the scenes toward becoming a reality.

Dear Friends:

Many of you have asked in passing for any update on the proposed Bible Theme Park.  I promised to keep you informed as new information was provided to me.

I was recently copied on a letter dated 1/17/08 from TDOT to Mr. Bar-Tur.  The letter acknowledged receipt of the concept drawing providing access to the proposed Bible Park USA.  In the letter, TDOT states that, based on the conceptual drawing, it would be able to permit the construction of a roadway across State Route 840 in the vicinity of Manson Pike.

Should you need additional information on the status of this project, if any information is available, the local planning department or county commission may have be of assistance.

Sincerely,
Donna Rowland
[Bible Theme Park UPDATE - WGNS Radio - 01-24-08]

Apartment complex sinkhole

  by Christian Grantham - December 7th, 2007 - 10:38 am| City Government, Property, Public Safety, WKRN | one comment

Marty Potter just wants someone to fix it before someone gets hurt. Andy Cordan has the bigger picture tonight on News 2 at 5.

“I’ve called Metro Codes,” he pauses; his eyes search the sky as he counts inside his head. “At least seven or eight times,” the 37 year old tells me. “I finally called the police,” he says. “The officer got down on the edge and shined his mag light down there. He told me to call Codes. Finally someone at Codes told me to call waste water. So I’ve been calling them and nobody has returned my calls.”
[Sinkhole - ThatIsMessedUp - 12-07-07]

NES cut her tree down

  by Christian Grantham - December 3rd, 2007 - 12:51 pm| City Government, Environment, Law, Property, Public Safety | no comments

Nashville Electric Service cut Sandra Brown’s tree down. Tune in to her story tonight on News 2 at 5.

 
“I am a single older woman who has worked all my life to buy that little biddy land with the trees,” she says forcefully, her anger almost papable. “And I don’t appreciate you doing that like I had no rights and no feelings,” she says, the tears welling again, as she clenches her fist and talks to the camera as if it were the president of the Nashville Electric Service. “And it was an old tree to you all but it meant something to me.” She bangs her chest with her clenched fist. She holds it tight against her chest as if to keep her rapidly beating heart from exploding. “That tree enriched my life!  It enriched my grand baby’s life!  It is not right! You need to stop and think before you something like this. There are people on the other end of what you are doing.”
[Who said you could cut my tree? - ThatIsMessedUp - 12-03-07]

Learn more:

• Metro Tree Advisory Committee
• Track NES’s Tree Trimming Crew activity on this map
• list of “powerline approved” trees (.PDF) from the Nashville Tree Foundation
• NES: Power stays on thanks to tree trimming (June 2007)

Oak Hill retains attorney to investigate City Manager Bill Kraus

  by Christian Grantham - November 16th, 2007 - 9:02 am| City Government, Crime, Property, Taxes | 2 comments

VolunteerVoters reports the City of Oak Hill has retained legal counsel to investigate the legal impact of City Manager Bill Kraus’s criminal history. Word of the city retaining Mark Peters of Waller, Lansden and Dortch came at last night’s Oak Hill Board of Commissioners meeting.

Questions raised at the meeting included how Kraus’s legal status could affect the city’s insurance, the validity of its city audits, and whether according statute a convicted felon could legally continue to serve as City Manager.
[Oak Hill Board Of Commissioners Declare The Need For Further Study On Fate Of City Manager - VolunteerVoters - 11-15-07]

The city of Oak Hill issued a statement earlier this week stating they were unaware of Kraus’s criminal past as revealed in a 1998 L.A. Times article when they hired him in 2003.

It has come to the CIty’s attention that its City Manager Bill Karus did not discuss certain real estate legal events, which occurred over 20 years ago in California, when he was hired in 2003. At the time of his hiring in 2003 adequate references and credentials were checked and satisfactory responses were obtained. At the time of his hiring Dr. Kraus was already teaching at Austin Peay State University and Vanderbilt University.
[The City Of Oak Hill Confirms City Manager Did Not Discuss Past Legal Trouble During Hiring - VolunteerVoters - 11-12-07]

Oak Hill Mayor Alsup then issued a statement in support of Kraus as city manager.

Dr. William Kraus has made enormous contributions to the City of Oak Hill since he came here in 2003. In that time, thanks to his outstanding management skills and fiduciary responsibility, the City’s financial reserves have increased significantly, the City’s business is conducted more efficiently and professionally, and security measures to protect both privacy and assets have been enhanced. He works tirelessly on behalf of the City, and I have complete confidence in him. 
[The Oak Hill Redemption: Mayor Alsup Reaffirms Support For City Manager - VolunteerVoters - 11-14-07]

Information about Kraus’s criminal history was recently brought to light by News 2’s Adam Kleinheider. Kraus is a vocal opponent to an expansion at the Governor’s Oak Hill residence. The Governor’s office has denied any role in sharing information about Kraus’s criminal record. Tennessee Republican Party Communications Director Bill Hobbs has publicly called for VolunteerVoters to reveal its source.

“How did the info surface? Did you find it on your own or did someone point you to it, and if it is the latter, who?”
Bill Hobbs - November 12th, 2007 at 12:43 pm

UPDATE 9:30a.m. - Channel 5 (WTVF) reports on this story saying the cause of the investigation is an ”undisclosed legal issue involving the city manager.” Kraus’s daughter works as an investigative reporter at WTVF.

Oak Hill responds to news of city manager’s criminal record

  by Christian Grantham - November 13th, 2007 - 6:06 am| City Government, Crime, Property, Taxes | 3 comments

The City of Oak Hill has responded to a blog post by News 2’s Adam Kleinheider profiling Oak Hill City Manager Bill Kraus. Kraus is a vocal opponent of expansion plans on the property of the Governor’s Oak Hill residence.

It has come to the City’s attention that its City Manager Bill Karus did not discuss certain real estate legal events, which occurred over 20 years ago in California, when he was hired in 2003. At the time of his hiring in 2003 adequate references and credentials were checked and satisfactory responses were obtained.
[The City Of Oak Hill Confirms City Manager Did Not Discuss Past Legal Trouble During Hiring - Volunteer Voters - 11-12-07]

The “certain real estate legal events” they refer to is just one brush with the law during Kraus’s political career. According to the L.A. Times, his role in a real estate fraud ring led to Kraus pleading guilty to federal mail fraud charges in 1987. Friday, Kleinheider retraced Kraus’s political life back to a time when he was once barred from public office.

Kraus left his job as Norwalk city administrator in 1983 amid a city investigation of his business dealings.

Three years later, the district attorney’s office charged him with failing to report $ 60,000 in personal loans, and he pleaded no contest to one misdemeanor count. He was sentenced to a $ 1,000 fine or 330 hours of community service and barred for three years from serving in public office.

In a separate case, Kraus pleaded guilty in 1987 to a federal charge of mail fraud for his role in a fraud ring selling artificially inflated real estate in Utah and California. After cooperating with authorities, Kraus was sentenced to five years probation, a $ 1,000 fine and $ 20,000 in restitution.

After those convictions, Kraus was expelled from the International City Management Assn., a Washington-based trade organization of city administrators and managers.
[Official Quits After Record Is Revealed; Government: Baldwin Park leaders say they were unaware of interim city manager’s fraud conviction when they hired him. - LATimes - 04-24-98]

In 1998, Kraus resigned his position as interim city manager for Baldwin Park, CA because of this article.  Kraus responded to the L.A. Times article and blog post over the weekend.

“These are things that happened 20 to 30 years ago,” said Kraus, “I didn’t see the relevance then and I don’t see the relevance now.”
[Los Angeles Times Article Reveals Oak Hill City Manager’s Past - Volunteers Voters - 11-09-07]

TN Republican Party Communications Director Bill Hobbs jumped into the story yesterday asking Kleinheider several times how he came across this information and to reveal his sources.

“How did the info surface? Did you find it on your own or did someone point you to it, and if it is the latter, who?”
Bill Hobbs - November 12th, 2007 at 12:43 pm

“The reason he should reveal that much info is this: Kraus made an allegation in the story that the story was dug up to use against him during this fight over the Bredesen Bunker.”
Bill Hobbs - November 12th, 2007 at 12:55 pm

“I’m asking him to reveal if there was or wasn’t a source that brought him the old LA Times story on Kraus, and if someone brought it to him, did the person have a connection to the Bredesens. That’s all.”
Bill Hobbs - November 12th, 2007 at 3:38 pm

The criminal past of Oak Hill City Manager Bill Kraus

  by Christian Grantham - November 9th, 2007 - 8:59 pm| City Government, Crime, Property | no comments

Bill Kraus’s official title in Oak Hill is City Manager. Unofficially, he’s one of the biggest critics of a proposed underground facility at Tennessee Governor Phil Bredesen’s Oak Hill residence. But according to a 1998 L.A. Times article, Kraus was once barred from serving in public office for good reason. News 2’s Volunteer Voters explains.

UPDATE 11-12-07 5:38p.m. - Tennessee Republican Party Spokesperson Bill Hobbs demands WKRN blogger reveal his source.

UPDATE 11-12-07 5:54p.m. - The City of Oak Hill responds.

Clarksville man kills himself in city council meeting

  by Christian Grantham - October 5th, 2007 - 6:23 am| City Government, Property | one comment

The owner of Fort Campbell Boulevard’s Bo Barber Shop in Clarksville shot himself during a city council meeting Thursday night.

The council had just voted down the second reading of a request from Ronald “Bo” Ward, of 1517 Madison St., to have his home rezoned as commercial.
  
Ward, owner of Bo’s Barber Shop across from Gate 1 on Fort Campbell Boulevard, had said the rezoning would increase his property value, allowing him to secure a loan to offset debt he incurred when he expanded his shop.

Said Ward last month, “If this (zone change) doesn’t go through, I lose my home, I lose my shop, I lose everything I got.”
[Man kills himself at council meeting - Leaf Chrionicle - 10-05-07]

- 10-04-07 - Man Shoots Himself In Council Chambers

UPDATE 12:28p.m. - 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) Commander has issued a statement on the death of Robert “Bo” Ward.

“On behalf of the 101st Airborne Division and the entire Fort Campbell community, I extend my deepest condolences to the family and friends of Ronald “Bo” Ward.Bo’s tragic death saddens all of Fort Campbell.  Soldiers from across the Army, from Private to General, knew and loved him for his sincere and caring concern for our Soldiers and their Families.  He was an icon on Fort Campbell; known for his hospitality, warm smile, and engaging conversation.  When a Soldier got their hair cut by Bo, you got more than just a haircut - you got a story, a pat on the back, and words of encouragement from a patriotic citizen who genuinely cared about Soldiers. Bo Ward loved serving Soldiers and will be sadly missed by us all.  His contributions to Fort Campbell will have a lasting impact on the 101st Airborne Division, Fort Campbell, and Soldiers serving our nation throughout the world.”

Major General Jeffrey Schloesser
Commander, 101st Airborne Division and Fort Campbell

UPDATE 4:38p.m. - Visitation for Bo Ward is Saturday at 4pm - 8pm at Neal-Tarpley Chapel. Funeral is Sunday at 3:30pm at Neal-Tarpley Chapel.

- 10-05-07 - Clarksville Remembers Barber Shop Owner

Church upset with tow truck operator

  by Christian Grantham - September 25th, 2007 - 1:48 pm| Property | no comments

St Mark’s Methodist Church in Murfreesboro says they are upset with a tow truck operator who moved cars onto their parking lot without their permission. Erin Steinbruchel will have more tonight on News 2 at 6.

The incident happened during the MTSU vs. Western Kentucky game last Thursday when Nottingham Apartments called a tow service to remove cars they say were illegally parked on their property. Steinbruchel spoke with one female who believes she and her friends were parked in the Sun Trust parking lot before they were towed to St. Mark’s.

The tow truck operator apologized saying he did not authorize his employees to use the church parking lot. Check back later for video and more, or watch News 2 at 6.