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| Louella T. Ballenger May 6, 1941- Dec. 21, 2020 |
Louella was the love of my life and I miss her dearly.
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Friday, December 23, 2022
In Memoriam: Louella T. Ballenger
Louella was the love of my life and I miss her dearly.
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Thursday, December 22, 2022
Volodymyr Zelensky addresses Congress. “Dear Americans… all those who value freedom and justice.”
by Rod Williams, Dec. 22, 2022- This is a moving speech. Zelensky explains that a Ukrainian victory is a victory for the free world. The battle is not only for the future of Ukraine but for the future of the world. Our common freedom is at stake.
Volodymyr Zelensky is the Winston Churchill of our time. Ukrainians are dying and suffering for the world with incredible bravery and resolve. We should resolve to be the arsenal of democracy and not abandon them.
I am proud of President Biden and the Democrats and the American people for supporting Ukraine. The only hesitancy or opposition to supporting Ukraine is coming from a handful of Republicans and right-wing pundits. They disgust me. I stand with Ukraine!
Zelensky spoke to the American soul
He reminded Americans that they are the shining light of liberty in a world of tyranny
by John Pietro, The Spectator, Dec, 22, 2022- When Volodymyr Zelensky entered the chamber to address Congress, the applause and cheers took on a particularly emotional character. It was not the stilted, forced applause that the president receives at the State of the Union; it was an affectionate show of admiration for a man who has come to embody the twenty-first century struggle for freedom.
Though delivered to Congress, the opening words of the Ukrainian president’s speech revealed his true audience: “Dear Americans… all those who value freedom and justice.” It was a speech for all of us. He pulled the dusty tarp off of America’s deepest identity as the shining light of liberty in a world of tyranny. He revitalized the American understanding that the Free World stands because of America’s strength and resolve; that without the United States, there is no Free World. And he conveyed the deepest sense of gratitude for the steadfast support of the American people. (read more)
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Tuesday, December 20, 2022
Tennessee Titans stadium term sheet approved, setting up Tuesday's full council vote
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| Nissan Stadium in Nashville, Tennessee at sunset. The stadium would torn down and replaced by a new $2.1 billion stadium if city and team officials have their way. Steve Heap / Shutterstock.com |
By Jon Styf, The Center Square, Dec.20, 2022- Nashville’s Budget and Finance Committee voted
11-2 on Monday to recommend a non-binding term sheet on the basics of the deal to build an estimated $2.1 billion new stadium for the Tennessee Titans.
The non-binding term sheet will head to the full council on Tuesday night for a vote, along with eight attached amendments.
The committee voted against recommending amendments that would have given the city rights to the funds for selling naming rights at the stadium, asking the state to allocate $50 million toward the Department of Children’s Services instead of the stadium and an amendment to require a 27-vote super majority to approve a new non-NFL ticket tax at the stadium that is defined in the term sheet at Titans rent.
"The idea that 'fixing up Nissan is the path with the lowest GO bond debt for Metro' is an aspiration (fairy tale?) and not a fact," Councilmember Bob Mendes wrote about the deal. "Mark your calendar to fact check this in 5 years — the GO bond debt within 0.5 miles to build the neighborhood will be more than updating Nissan."
The deal, as it stands, would require the state to pay $500 million, the city to bond $760 million and the Titans/NFL to pay the remainder to build the stadium. Then, a tax fund projected to bring in $2.9 billion of state and local taxes over the 30 years of the agreement, would be used to pay off the $760 million of bonds and send money to a Capital and Repairs Fund to pay for future stadium upgrades.
That means that, over the span of the deal, $3.4 billion in public funds are set aside for the stadium project not including future tax deals the city is planning to create for a new neighborhood and district on the East Bank next to the stadium.
The stadium will use more public taxpayer funds than any stadium in history.
Titans CEO Burke Nihill said at the meeting that the new stadium lease would again have a "first-class" clause requiring the stadium to continuously meet NFL peer standards but that the team would have to pay for future improvements beyond the projected $2.9 billion tax fund.
When asked about the team’s finances or the amount that the team makes on the current Nissan Stadium deal or would project to make on a new naming rights deal, Nihill said that all of those details are "confidential."
Forbes estimates the Titans are worth $3.5 billion with $481 million in annual revenue, which would likely expand under a new stadium deal where the team retains in-stadium sales from any additional events at the stadium.
In response to Councilmember Emily Benedict’s term sheet amendment that would give Metro Nashville the revenue from a naming rights deal, Nihill claimed that the debt the team is taking on to pay its negotiated portion of the deal requires the naming rights funds in order to happen, saying conceding the naming right revenue was "quite literally an impossibility."
Nihill wouldn’t say how much debt team ownership would take on but said that the naming rights funds would not pay off "less than half" of the debt.
When asked why the deal was so urgent now, Nihill said that Nissan Stadium improvements have become more of a priority for the NFL. Nashville Deputy Mayor Sam Wilcox claimed that "Time can kill deals. ... the landing zone is now."
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