by design | Jun 1, 2026 | Columnist, Steely
A Day Away By Mike Steely Maybe my interest in curious East Tennessee town names is because I’m from a little town with an unusual name. I was born in Jellico, Tennessee, an 1880s coal mining and railroad hub on the Kentucky border. I found that the name comes...
by design | Jun 1, 2026 | Columnist, Ferguson
The truth has no defense against a fool determined to believe a lie. Mark Twain By Dr. Jim Ferguson No one in the universe, not even Allah, trusts the Iranians. During nuclear disarmament discussions with the Soviet Union in the 1980s, President Ronald Reagan...
by design | Jun 1, 2026 | Columnist, Mattingly
By Tom Mattingly AUTHOR’S PREFACE: In my quest to identify Tennessee football’s “Best of the Best, By the Numbers,” sometimes the best selection is clear-cut, e.g. linebacker Steve Kiner (1967-69) for No. 57 or Hacksaw Reynolds (1967-69) for No. 64. Other...
by design | May 31, 2026 | Columnist, Hunley, Stories In This Week's Focus:
By Steve Hunley Tom Spangler Is A Great Sheriff – Mayor Williams Should Be Ashamed Sheriff Tom Spangler has launched a blistering letter to Ron Williams, the mayor of Farragut. The letter comes after Williams appeared on WBIR-TV to express his dismay that the...
by design | May 31, 2026 | Columnist, Hill, Ray Hill's Archives, Stories In This Week's Focus:
By Ray Hill Some years ago, both political parties in Connecticut were careful to bolster their respective tickets with ethnically balanced tickets. Aside from the old “Yankee” population, there were Jews, Italians and a substantial Polish population to think about. ...
by design | May 26, 2026 | Columnist, Steely
A Day Way By Mike Steely Most Tennesseans know that Huntsville is the seat of Scott County and has a historic and spooky jailhouse and the Howard Baker family home. But the little town, just about an hour northwest of Knoxville, has something that gets little...
