Newscoma

As Squirrel Queen and I are out in Murfreesboro experiencing the world of high school basketball playoffs, I had a few minutes this morning as we are waiting to go to Murphy Center.

We went to the General Assembly yesterday to do a Day in the Life on our REP, Mark Maddox, who was very kind to include us on his day, which we are doing for the paper.

I would not want to be an elected politician.

Mark met with several of the freshmen, had a couple of meetings with Jimmy Naifeh (who SQ called Big Daddy. Not my Big Daddy, but he does seem to command an entourage wherever he goes), did the floor session and we went to the set time for press availability. There was education discussion, the English-only bill was brought up several times and Naifeh read a statement by former president Ronald Reagan as a good-hearted jab against the Republicans. Then it was budget meetings, Cover TN and the thing that struck me was that he kept talking to his kids and how he couldn’t wait to see them. SQ also said she was amazed by the set casualness of it all. It was formally informal if that makes any sense.

And that’s what struck me from the whole day. Mark talked about his daughter winning a symphony contest and he was quite excited for her, that will be held on Saturday. He talked about if he got home in time, he was going to go into the office. (He didn’t.) He’s the technology director for the Weakley County Board of Education. Then he was going to try to get back up to see the game today but said he didn’t know if he could work it out in his schedule. When he’s not in session, he’s very active around athletic programs in the area so this didn’t surprise me.

I would not want that schedule. The life of an elected official, although I knew this, is not their own. I feel that way at the paper sometimes but it was just a reminder yesterday.

Anyway, it was interesting and somewhat eye-opening because as I see Rep. Maddox all the time in Hooterville, I just see him as Mark.

Yesterday I saw him as our elected guy in Nashville and although I’ve been to the legislature quite a bit, for some reason, I had a personal reaction to it.

And I had at least one person call me Newscoma, which was weird and everytime any one does that, it just wigs me out.

Needless to say, it was all very intriguing.

An actual, real church sign from Weakley County that has caused people to talk a little bit.  I took this picture from my car (you can see my windshield) before I came to the state-playoffs.

Yeah, it’s caused a bit of a stir.

There is so much going on today that I don’t know where to start.

• Sharon Cobb is reporting that John Wilder is in serious condition at Regional Medical Center in Memphis. Here is more from the Tennessean.
• Newt Gringrich apparently cannot not practice what he preaches, even when he was spouting off about morality during the Clinton years.
• Apparently the Patriot Act was used a lot. I’m talking a lot.
• Go Sevierville. Cuppa has more on newspapers dropping Ann Coutier.
• Having worked with battered women in a shelter environment for years, this is so true. Bet you didn’t think about it but it really is something needed in Domestic Violence Shelters, as well as diapers. We were always out of diapers.
• Should journalists blog?
• Silence does a poll.
• Bush threatens veto. Senate says So What.
• Sarcastro is going to be changing diapers.
• The Cubs have won some games. Smiley must be a happy camper but then again, so have these guys.

I’ll be at the playoffs today in Murfreesboro and Toots Restaurant between 4:30 and 5 p.m. Come out to visit if you would like. There is beer, tons of fried food and witty conversation. Not from me, I can assure you, but from somebody. Most likely Squirrel Queen.

UPDATE: Wilder is out of critical condition according to Carter over at Volunteer Voters. I went to the Tennessean and they say he’s been upgraded to stable condition. The surprise to me is that he rides a bike “10 to 20 miles a day.”

Umm, wow.

A plea agreement was made in Carroll County yesterday in the case of a McKenzie man named Jonathan Wayne Goodrum who was accused last year of raping a one-day old baby.

According to the story from today’s Jackson Sun, the district attorney made a plea agreement where this man gets a year in jail (he’s already spent 11 months so he gets out next month) and then another nine years in a community corrections facility as well as on the Sexual Offender’s State list.

The mother of the baby also entered a guily plea for failure to report child sexual abuse.

The plea came from what the D.A. said was serious time-line problems regarding who was around the baby and DNA evidence regarding the rape itself and whether or not it had actually occurred.

“There was a conflict of who was around the baby and when they were around the baby,” McCadams said. “There was also a conflict of time when the defendant was in contact with the baby that included comparing the video monitoring they have at the hospital with the statements of medical personnel and witnesses.”

McCadams said his office also found conflicting medical proof as to whether a rape actually occurred.

McCadams went on to say that there was evidence that something, did indeed, occur and Goodrum plead out.

Rape, in any form or level, is disgusting and horrifying.

Raping a baby, one that is less than 24 hours old, is horrible. Absolutely horrible.