A little St. Patrick's Day history. Or, what we selected to reference from the Austin American-Statesman newspaper.

Ireland and its neighbors across the pond have commemorated Saint Patrick since the ninth or 10th century, according to the History Channel.

St. Patrick was never canonized by the Catholic Church but has enjoyed longstanding historical popularity. Saint Patrick died on March 17, 461, which later became the day we celebrate him and the Irish.

Gas prices are up 23% from a year ago, as of March 17, 2026. Gas prices are up 30% from a month ago.

According to AAA, as of 3/17/2026, the national average for a gallon of gas is $3.79. In Tennessee, the average is $3.494.

The highest gas prices are in the West Coast states, except for Florida. You have to wonder if Spring breakers are being scammed.

From KnoxTNToday,

Getting time with a doctor is becoming increasingly difficult—and the situation is only expected to worsen.
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Advances in artificial intelligence (AI) now make it possible for ordinary people to access, organize, and understand complex medical information.
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Most truly useful medical information today is obtained by reading articles, watching YouTube videos, or consulting AI tools such as ChatGPT or Google Gemini.

Using AI to gather medical information can be dangerous. AI tools such as ChatGPT or Google Gemini can be very unreliable.

Yes, we do need to become more self-reliant. However, we should be very careful what data we use.

Many major medical facilities, e.g. Mayo Clinic, Cleveland Clinic, John Hopkins, Vanderbilt, and more have great reference information.

If you insist on using AI, you really need to confirm any of the resulting information from a separate source.

I have a lot of my medical information filed and stored in envelopes in a large plastic box, easy to reference.

You may not be able to see a doctor, but you may be able to see a NP or PA or ask the practice a question that they can get back an answer. It is scary as the shortage of doctors increases. But, be careful where you turn for medical information.

On Thursday, March 12, 2026, Rockford Mayor Carl Koella III and commissioners Matt Hester and Kenneth Arwood introduced and passed a resolution condemning the proposal to reduce the Blount County reappraisal schedule from 3 to 2 years as an unnecessary burden on the average resident and business owner, and directed City Recorder April Payne to send a certified copy of the signed resolution to the state Board of Equalization.

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr on Saturday renewed his criticism and threats against broadcasters over their content,

Broadcasters who air “fake news” must “correct course before their license renewals come up,

The FCC chair "posted on X, in remarks accompanied by a screenshot of Trump’s Truth Social post earlier in the day accusing the New York Times, Wall Street Journal and “other lowlife ‘papers’ and media” of “terrible reporting” on the U.S. and Israel’s war with Iran."

“Broadcasters must operate in the public interest, and they will lose their licenses if they do not,” he wrote.

Thus, we will have lawsuits over every newscast?

1984 novel, "The Party brutally purges anyone who does not fully conform to their regime, using the Thought Police and constant surveillance through telescreens (two-way televisions), cameras and hidden microphones. Those who fall out of favour with the Party become "unpersons", disappearing per damnatio memoriae with all evidence of their existence destroyed."

The Fulton boys basketball team is headed back to the state tournament for the fifth year in a row.

Since 2008, the Falcons have won five state titles, including two in the past three years.

Fulton (23-7) is set to face Portland (28-6) in the Class 3A State Quarterfinal on Wednesday, March 18, at 5:30 p.m. CST, 6:30 p.m. EST.

As of 2025, Fulton High School has 933 students.

March 14 is celebrated every year as Pi Day to commemorate the Mathematical constant Pi. The day also marks the birth anniversary of physicist Albert Einstein and is observed as a national holiday in the United States.

Pi represents the ratio of a circle's circumference to its diameter. When the circumference of any circle is divided by its diameter, the result is always approximately 3.14, whether the circle is as small as a pie plate or as large as a planet.

The date March 14 is written as 3/14 in the month/day format, which matches the first three digits of Pi. This makes it a fitting day for mathematicians, students and enthusiasts to celebrate the mathematical constant.

March 14, The International Day of Mathematics

Lenoir City has voted to extend its pause or Moratorium on new “apartment style” housing developments for another year, starting this June.
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Lenoir City Administrator Amber Scott Kelso shares that the growth has risen tremendously, but the city is recognizing the need to manage it, and community members feel the impact too.

Good work on the part of Lenoir City. It would be nice if more municipalities would recognize this need.

It's time for a road trip or 2.

From Southern Living, The South’s Most Legendary Restaurants Have Outlasted Trends—And Still Set the Standard.

The Old Mill and Restaurant is included.

Back in the 90s we went to the Highlands Bar & Grill in Birmingham, owned by the same chef for Bottega, we were thoroughly impressed.

Never been to Commander's Palace in New Orleans, but went to Brennan's for brunch, again in the 90's. What a wonderful experience. Was introduced to the best grits ever.

My parents went to The Historic Boone Tavern Hotel & Restaurant in Berea, KY, several times when traveling from Knoxville to Cincinnati to visit family. Don't know if they liked the food the best or the arts and crafts community. We've been to Berea a few times for the arts and crafts.

It’s the home stretch for Alcoa officials working to secure a Costco on the outskirts of the Springbrook Farm downtown center.

Approval by the Alcoa Board of Industrial Development opens the City of Alcoa's pocketbook.

It frees up the "Alcoa Commission to release funds to help develop public infrastructure in the surrounding areas, complete necessary remediation work and purchase and sell land to Costco to be used for its commercial endeavors..."

Did the "Alcoa commissioners approve the final resolution Tuesday, March 10, to approve the IDB as the fourth and final signatory"?

“The whole site is a brownfield area. Based on its use by the (ALCOA) West Plant in the past, there are some things that are known under the ground, and there are some things that are unknown under the ground,” said Applegate. “The expectation is that anytime there is construction in these areas, there’s going to have to be remediation of some of this dirt or some of these contents.”

Initially, Costco will lease 10 acres for about five years and pay property taxes as if was undeveloped. After five years, Costco will buy the land back and begin paying full property taxes.

The estimated cost for "land purchase, remediation efforts and closing costs, is roughly $4 million."

The city [of Alcoa] "has also agreed to construct Warner Avenue and all associated utility infrastructure, install a traffic light at the intersection of Faraday and Tesla, acquire the necessary stormwater easements..." They don't say how much that will cost the City of Alcoa and it's residents.

I don't have a problem with adding a Costco in Alcoa, heck I may finally join. I do have a problem with a small town the size of Alcoa spending so much money on the development in Springbrook Farm. As of July, 2024, it is estimated the city has 13,588 residents and 5,000 households.

From 2020/2021 to 2024/2025 our City of Alcoa property taxes increased 24.2%. It's not sustainable.

In January 2025, the newly elected President... declared a “national energy emergency” during his inaugural address.

“We will bring prices down, fill our strategic reserves up again right to the top, and export American energy all over the world,”...

Since he began his second term, the reserve’s volume has only risen by around 5%.

The U.S. is considering coordinating ​sales of oil from the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve with ‌releases from other countries as prices soar during the war on Iran, the Energy Secretary said on Monday, 3/9/2026.

When students moved out of the University of Tennessee, Knoxville campus in May 2025, they left 191 dumpsters full of discarded material such as clothes, food and electronics, UTK professor Chris Mayer said.

This year, the university plans to hold an art project to raise awareness as it pursues a “zero-waste” goal.

A public exhibit called “From Discard to Trashterpiece” is scheduled to open on March 21 from 2 to 6 p.m. at the Sustainable Future Center on Ogle Avenue, featuring artwork and performances. A smaller version of the exhibit is scheduled to remain open on Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. through April 18...

That's a lot of trash. You have to wonder how much of the clothing and electronics are still useful.

Uber launched a feature Monday to allow both women riders and drivers across the U.S. to be matched with other women for trips, expanding a pilot program aimed at addressing concerns about the safety of its riding-hailing platform.

Kind of sad/scary this option had to be enabled.

In January, 2026, Tennessee State Senator Janice Bowling filed Senate Bill 1949, the “mRNA Bioweapons Prohibition Act,” prohibiting the manufacture, acquisition, possession, or distribution of mRNA injections and products; requires state and local government officials to use all lawful means necessary to investigate or enforce suspected violations; punishes violations the same as manufacturing, acquiring, possessing, or transferring a weapon of mass destruction, which is a Class B felony."

Bowling 's district 16 covers a 6 county area south and east of Nashville, including Tullahoma.

From Wikipedia, Sen. Bowling, In 2021, said she believed early voting created “mischief”, "said the Covid 19vaccines could lead to genetic modification", "claimed that her rural district were providing litter boxes in schools to children that identify as cats."

As witnessed by an Alabama transplant.

If you haven’t spent much time in D.C., this might seem a bit different, perhaps because it is. The military-industrial complex isn’t some paranoid fantasy. Here, it advertises on TV and in magazines.

But especially on the Metro.
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“Physical AI commands the sky,” a banner for Applied Intuition promises next to a picture of an AI-empowered jet fighter. “Intelligent software guides autonomous systems to deliver a decisive advantage for the warfighter.”

Watch the video version here. You will see more of the military ads. You don't have to login, just hit the X to close the sign up/login window.

Tomorrow morning is the time to change the clocks forward for Daylight Savings Time.

March 8, 2026, at 2:00 A.M.: Clocks are set forward 1 hour (“spring forward”), losing an hour. Sunrise and sunset will be about 1 hour later than the day before. There will be more light in the evening. (Again, we generally change our clocks before bed on Saturday.)

We'll lose an hour of sleep.

“We are living in a time when it can be hard to hope. Each day we wake up to some new assault on our democratic institutions, another setback to the idea of the rule of law, an offense to common decency. Every day you wake up to… to things you just didn’t think were possible...

From the man of Hope...

Anthropic, the artificial intelligence startup, is fighting the U.S. government.

Anthropic has until Friday evening to decide whether it will accede to the Defense Department’s demands that it be able to use the company’s AI models how it sees fit.

The U.S. government could "force it to comply by invoking the Defense Production Act."

Amazing that one company can wield such power over the U.S. government. Why doesn't the government just move on to one of the several AI companies declaring their prowess?

One of Knoxville's oldest businesses, Mayo Garden Center, is shutting down.

Crouch Florist (1865) is the oldest, followed by Knoxville Iron (1868, now Gerdau Long Steel North America, more recently known as CMC Steel, still at 1919 TennesseecAve.), and Mayo's (1878).

They have announced a closing sale starting Friday, March 23, 2026.

They might not have been the oldest, but I wonder if they are the oldest with relationships to the original owner.

I have shopped there off and on for many years. They have great employees and service. I wish them well. They will be missed.

For some reason the U.S. House Oversight Committee felt it critical to force and subpoena President Clinton and Secretary Clinton to testify about Epstein.

The videos are now available.

President Clinton deposition

Secretary Clinton deposition

I watched some of Secretary Clinton's deposition. She was very poised and serious. She did her homework. I admire her even more. One specific instance was about an email, not to or from Clinton, but mentioned Clinton and Mr. & Mrs. Epstein. She mentioned there were a lot of Epsteins in the district and the criminal Epstein had no Mrs. Heh.

What a waste of time and money.