A UT Board of Trustees committee will discuss the possibility of selling the President's House at a meeting in Nashville on May 5.

The home, in Sequoyah Hills, was sold to UT  back in 1960 for $60,000.  At the time, it was appraised at $90,000. It's value is considerably higher today.

It's also a very expensive perk.  It's annual budget for maintanance and staff is $180,000.

UT's Gina Stafford says the idea of selling the house actually came up in 2007.

So, I get an e-mail today asking why Larry Van Gilder had slammed me in his weekly Halls Shopper News column?

I hadn't - at that point - read the column.  I quickly read the column.

Larry was complaining about the use of the word "drastic" in describing Knox County Commissioner Mark Harmon's proposal to reduce the Knox County fleet, by a "local news anchor."

He didn't think it was an appropriate descriptor.

He may be right, though some surely will argue the point.

-- It was a who's who of Republicans at tonight's Lincoln Day Dinner.  And why not, not one but all four of the major GOP candidates for governor were on the program.

Bill Gibbons, Bill Haslam, Ron Ramsey and Zach Wamp each had 7 minutes to make their appeal to the gathered crowd.

I asked newly elected Knox County GOP chairman  Ray Jenkins who was responsible for letting the candidates know when their time was up - he said Judge Dale Workman had that duty.

We talk with Speaker of the Senate, Ron Ramsey this Sunday on Tennessee This Week.  The Republican State Senator from Blountville talks about his run for Governor and if the legislature is focused on the budget.

Also on our program is the newly elected Mayor of Farragut, Ralph McGill. McGill talks about his agenda of being more "business-friendly" to developers.

And in the Final Word, it's George Korda and Cortney Piper.

Tennessee This Week airs Sunday at noon on WATE.

A viewer from Maryville is upset over the Obama Administration's High Speed Rail Corridor Designations. 

Here's the map.  Gary Wynn points out that the President leaves Tennessee out of the mix for any targeted stimulus money regarding light rail.

"A lot of Tennesseeans are angry, he said. "And those that don't know about it should be angry. However; without media attention, I'm afraid that we'll be left out in the cold on this one, and the problem will fade away."

A U.S. Navy Laboratory is reporting a potential breakthrough in cold fusion.

Read more here.

Congratulations to everyone who competed in this weekend's Covenant Health Knoxville Marathon, Half Marathon and 5K.   Yours truly, trudged around the 5K course more than a minute "slower" than last year.

WATE's Running Crew, however, was well represented finishing second in the Team Competition.

For the record our team this weekend was: Don Dare, Kristin Farley, Matt Hinkin, Jill McNeal, Prentice Elliott, Brian Englestad, Angie Froemel, Dan Froemel, Doug Patterson, Blair Patterson and Patty Weaver.

State Representatives Joe Armstrong and Ryan Haynes join us on Tennessee This Week Sunday.

The two discuss the Governor's budget proposal.  Surprisingly, Armstrong, a democrat, has some issues with the Governor's spending plan.

The program marks Haynes first appearance on Tennessee This Week. 

Kelvin Moxley and Cortney Piper wrap up the program with the Final Word.

A local Knoxville restaurant is hoping to sell beer and liquor at its location next door to the Muslim Community Center.  The restaurant - dubbed The Hill - is a work in progress, including applications for both liquor and beer permits.

If  you thought it was illegal to serve beer within 300 feet of a church or school in Knoxville, you're correct. But there is a loophole in the law.

If you're able to get a state liquor license - it voids Knoville's beer sales restriction.

The Tennessee Center for Policy Research - testifying today before the House State and Local Government Committee - says Tennessee's ban against wine sales in grocery stores is "bad policy" and that "these restrictions leave consumers without meningful choice and inflated wine prices."

TCPR's Justin Owen and Shaka Mitchell told Committee members today that because of that "bad policy," Tennessee's wine industry isn't contributing to the state's economy as it should.