Here’s a hint to you boys with the pens: the Third Reich comparison was clever the first 150 or so times it was used in reference to Arizona’s new illegal immigration law. Now it’s just boresome.

It ain’t original no more, fellas.

Another sunset stroll through Big South Fork Country…

The mangled wreckage of a Dodge pickup truck is pulled to the top of a 200-ft.-deep ravine in north Oneida this afternoon, capping six hours of work by rescue workers and investigators after this morning’s accident that claimed the life of a six-year-old Winfield girl.

The scene has been cleared but the investigation continues into the cause of the single-vehicle accident, which occurred on the “back side of the Four Lane” shortly before 9 a.m. Witnesses said they heard a noise and stepped outside just in time to see the truck strike a dirt hump and go airborne.

A Tennessee Highway Patrol Critical Incident Response Team worked the scene. THP Sr. Trooper Brian Boshears is in charge of the investigation.

The driver of the vehicle—the mother of the girl who was killed in the crash—was said to be in critical condition after being airlifted to a Knoxville hospital.

One good thing about the months of April and May: they may start out dry every now and then, but the rain gauge can fill up in a hurry.

The National Weather Service in Morristown has issued a rare hydrologic outlook for East Tennessee:

…PROLONGED RAINS THIS WEEKEND HAVE THE POTENTIAL TO CAUSE FLOODING…

A MAJOR SPRING RAIN SYSTEM IS APPROACHING THE TENNESSEE VALLEY AND MAY BRING HUGE AMOUNTS OF GULF MOISTURE INTO THE REGION THIS WEEKEND. DIFFERENT COMPUTER MODELS SHOW DIFFERENT TIMING AND AMOUNTS AND SO IT WILL BE NECESSARY TO WATCH CLOSELY AND SEE EXACTLY WHERE THE RAIN DEVELOPS AND HOW FAST IT MOVES.

RIVERS IN EAST TENNESSEE…EXTREME SOUTHWEST VIRGINIA…AND EXTREME SOUTHWEST NORTH CAROLINA ARE ON THE LOW SIDE. ALSO…TOTAL RAIN THIS YEAR HAS BEEN QUITE A BIT BELOW NORMAL.

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THIS WILL HELP TO LESSEN THE LIKELIHOOD OF FLOODING. NEVERTHELESS…PLEASE KEEP AN EYE OUT FOR THE POSSIBILITY OF A PROLONGED RAIN EVENT THIS WEEKEND.

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MORRISTOWN TENNESSEE WILL ISSUE UPDATES TO THIS NOTICE…AS NEEDED.

Hoping to sneak in a turkey hunt before heading to the office this morning, I found myself running late and in a hurry. I figured 65 mph in a 55 mph speed zone wouldn’t be enough to catch the attention of any speed patrol, but I was wrong. I saw blue lights in my mirror and pulled to the shoulder of the highway.

The police officer asked me to show him my driver’s license to prove that I am a legal driver. I complied, he asked me to slow down, and

I was on my way.

After an uneventful morning in the woods, I was headed back to my truck when I bumped into a game warden doing routine checks of the area. He asked me if I had any luck. I said that the birds were quiet where I was hunting this morning. He asked to see my hunting license to prove that I am a legal hunter. I showed him the license, he wished me luck, and got into his green truck and was on his way.

On my way back to town, I stopped at a store to pick up breakfast. A county sheriff’s deputy was in the store at the same time. He saw the bulge of my shoulder holster under my jacket and asked if I was carrying a weapon. I said that I was. He asked to see my handgun carry permit to prove that I’m licensed to carry. I showed him the permit, he thanked me, and we went our separate ways.

This afternoon I attended an invitation-only luncheon and small business seminar. A security guard posted at the door asked for a photo identification to prove that the invitation in my hand belonged to me. I showed him my driver’s license and he allowed me inside.

So, remind me again: What’s so un-American about Arizona’s new illegal immigration law?

As a fan of good music, I feel that one type of music that is overlooked is movie scores and themes.

The best modern composers are behind the musical compilations we hear when we’re watching our favorite films. Usually the music is heard only by our sub-conscience. But a good score is as essential to a good movie as good acting and good settings.

Fortunately, most of the themes and scores are also available for purchase. They’re easily found on iTunes or Amazon (Amazon being the much better choice for all music downloads, but that’s another story for another day). They’re relaxing and they’re also good choices for those who, like me, listen to music while they work.

Some of my favorite themes:

• Lane’s Theme, from 8 Seconds (which also happens to be my favorite movie by far).

• Claudia’s Theme, from Unforgiven. (It’s a little known fact that Clint Eastwood composed the main melody of many of his films. Claudia’s Theme begins as a unique guitar solo and is transformed by a brass accompaniment. The composer of Unforgiven’s score, Lennie Niehaus, is used exclusively on Eastwood films, and composed the scores of Outlaw Josey Wells, Pale Rider and many other Eastwood classics.)

• The Patriot, from (surprise!) The Patriot. (Performed by the O’Neill Brothers, noted pianists…these guys are America’s gold standard for piano performances.)

• Feather Theme, from Forrest Gump (another by the O’Neills).

• Legends of the Fall. (This is far and away my No. 1 favorite movie theme. Like so many great movie themes, it’s performed by James Horner and The City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra. A beautiful, beautiful song.)

As for complete movie scores, my favorite also comes from one of my favorite movies: A River Runs Through It. The entire set is good. Noted film composer Mark Isham is responsible for the compilation, but it’s a long ways from Isham’s traditional jazz and blues roots. Interestingly, Robert Redford originally chose Elmer Bernstein for the score, but rejected his work and chose Isham instead.

Good choice, for Isham’s musical composures made this movie complete. It would’ve won an Oscar if Disney hadn’t released Alladin the same year. In fact, it might be my second-favorite movie soundtrack overall, behind Pure Country and just slightly ahead of O Brother, Where Art Thou and The Maverick.

Anthony Lay’s announcement that he will resign his position as Scott County Sheriff in two weeks creates a lot of interesting possibilities that could play themselves out over the next few weeks.

An interesting sheriff’s election was on tap for Aug. 5. Lay unseated the once-popular, three-term incumbent Jim Carson in 2006, winning by an overwhelming margin to become one of the youngest sheriffs in Scott County’s history, at age 29. But Oneida Police Chief Mike Cross was poised to give him a serious run for his money this fall, and Carson was looking for redemption as well. Former employees Doc Hall and Brian Keeton and Winfield resident Brad Lay were also in the race.

With Lay’s resignation, Cross automatically becomes the front-runner in the general election. It’ll be up to Hall, Keeton and Brad Lay to campaign well enough to make the race competitive.

Of course, Carson can’t be totally written off. Lay won election in part by capturing areas that were traditional Carson strongholds, such as the 1st District. Theoretically, Carson can recapture some of the votes from those areas (though, like Lay, Cross is a resident of the 1st District). Despite his distant finish in 2006, the former sheriff has a number of supporters throughout the county. But most pundits agree that the shooting death of Sgt.

John John Yancey in 2003 will prevent Carson from winning another sheriff’s election.

Even though it’s too late for Chief Deputy Bobby Ellis to get on the ballot, it appears that the long-time veteran of local law enforcement will mount a campaign as write-in candidate. Though Ellis indicated today that he will hold his options close to the vest, there were indications today that he will campaign for the vacant seat. And he appears to have the support of the Sheriff’s Department; almost every employee of the department showed up at the Scott County Office Building this afternoon in a show of support for his candidacy to succeed Lay.

Which brings us to the next point, which is the first step in this road to Sept. 1, when a new permanent sheriff will take office: Scott County Commission will appoint an interim sheriff to fill the office for the remainder of Lay’s term. Lay has endorsed Ellis for the interim position. There were no immediate indications whether one of the candidates officially on the ballot will appeal to the Commission to be named to the post, though it seems likely that at least one or two of them will.

How quickly County Commission will take up that issue remains to be seen. Commissioners will meet in committees on Monday but the full body will not reconvene until May 17, nearly a week after Lay’s resignation becomes official. County Mayor Rick Keeton was unavailable today, so there’s no word on whether the Commission will convene in special session to consider the looming vacancy. If a special session is deemed necessary, the most plausible solution would be Monday, since most commissioners will be present already. However, there isn’t enough time to meet public notice requirements. And Ellis can assume Lay’s duties on May 12 until such time as the Commission takes up the matter of naming an official replacement.

Winning the Commission’s approval to succeed his former boss would certainly give Ellis a leg up in his write-in campaign, should it materialize. But while he has experience and the qualifications—and the support of many law enforcement officers locally—his campaign, like any write-in candidate, would be an uphill battle due to the fact that while he can place signs and ads and go door-to-door, his name still won’t appear on the ballot.

Another theoretical scenario: While it’s too late for Ellis to get his name on the ballot for Aug. 5, it’s also too late for Lay to get his name off the ballot. Administrator of Elections Gabe Lowe confirmed today that statute will not allow the ballot to be amended at this stage of the game. So, Lay could theoretically win re-election in August and then resign once again, allowing County Commission to again appoint a sheriff. Likely? No. But a possibility.

It’s a good thing that Facebook is private.

That old gym has been standing since 1942, serving Robbins School and the Robbins community for 68 years.

I remember when it underwent a major renovation in 1985. It was an old gym at the time and no one really thought it would stand for another 25 years.

I don’t remember graduating kindergarten there just a few months later, but I’ m sure I did.

I remember the old locker room attached to the gym after a lot of sweaty football practices.

I remember our football coach, Kares Stonecipher, calling the team into the gym on the night we played Burchfield in 1992, our final game, and telling us 8th graders to give it our all because we would remember that night for the rest of our lives, no matter how many levels of football we went on to play…and he was right. (I even remember the score of the game: 34-8. We got thumped. I also remember Burchfield’s quarterback laughing after throwing a touchdown pass late in the game and saying, “That was easy.” So I blind-sided him and got a personal foul penalty. I hope he remembers that.)

I remember graduating 8th grade there in 1993…they made us sing “The Rose.” How bad is that? And I was wearing a blue silk shirt…were those things really in style in the early ’90s? Gross.

I played a lot of games of dodge ball in that gym, shot a lot of hoops there…even participated in a play or two on the stage and played the air guitar in an air band one time. (Aaah, the ’80s…)

When I graduated middle school, I was happy to be going on to high school and bigger and better things. On that night, I never thought I would want to step foot in Robbins School again. But now I’d like to go back again…just for a week or two, though. A couple of paddlings from Donald Branim (our old principal, who is now retired) and Tom Tinin (my 5th grade teacher who is still teaching at Robbins and who was one of my favorite teachers I ever had…he denies ever taking a paddle to me but it’s a lot easier to forget when you aren’t on the receiving end…but I deserved every one of ‘em, I’m sure), and a couple of Gary Watts’ spelling tests would probably be enough for me.

Yep, it’s kinda sad to see the old thing torn down.

But leave it to the fine people of Robbins to turn it into an amphitheater.

Dogwood winter:

…FROST ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM 3 AM EDT /2 AM CDT/ TO 9 AM EDT /8 AM CDT/ WEDNESDAY…

A FROST ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM 3 AM EDT /2 AM CDT/ TO 9 AM EDT /8 AM CDT/ WEDNESDAY.

* TEMPERATURE: TEMPERATURES ARE EXPECTED TO FALL INTO THE MID 30S IN MOST LOCATIONS LATE TONIGHT…WITH SOME ISOLATED VALLEY LOCATIONS POSSIBLY FALLING INTO THE LOWER 30S.

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* IMPACTS: AREAS OF FROST ARE EXPECTED TO DEVELOP LATE TONIGHT… ESPECIALLY IN VALLEYS. SENSITIVE OUTDOOR PLANTS MAY BE DAMAGED OR KILLED IF LEFT UNPROTECTED.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS…

THOSE WITH AGRICULTURAL INTERESTS IN THE ADVISORY AREA ARE ADVISED TO HARVEST OR PROTECT TENDER VEGETATION. ALSO…SENSITIVE POTTED PLANTS THAT ARE OUTDOORS SHOULD BE COVERED OR BROUGHT INSIDE AWAY FROM THE COLD.

Patchy frost will be possible again tomorrow night and Thursday morning, as well.

An example of the cold airmass was seen earlier today, as many folks experienced small hail. That’s due to the freezing level being relatively close to the surface and an airmass that is unstable enough to bring us rain showers.

Meanwhile, there’s still much uncertainty over whether another severe weather threat will develop this weekend, but it sure looks like we’ll get more rain, and lots of it…possibly a deficit-erasing rain, even. This is what this morning’s GFS computer model depicted for this weekend:

The midday GFS run isn’t as impressive, but continues to paint copious amounts of rain across much of the region.